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Published: 09:50, January 18, 2022 | Updated: 20:50, January 18, 2022
Chongqing hotpot adds spice to city
By Chen Bo and Chen Liang
Published:09:50, January 18, 2022 Updated:20:50, January 18, 2022 By Chen Bo and Chen Liang

Simple Ming Dynasty dish eaten by millions across the country

People enjoy hotpots in a restaurant on the bank of the Yangtze River in Chongqing's Yuzhong district. (LIU SONG / FOR CHINA DAILY)

Chongqing in southwestern China is famous for its spicy hotpot. And deservedly so.

It can be found everywhere. Served on beaches along the Yangtze River, in the woods behind the hilly city, hidden away down narrow lanes and under bridges, and even in some of Chongqing's bomb shelters left over from the 1940s, it dominates the city's culinary scene.

A wall-hanging representing a hotpot decorates a restaurant in Chongqing. (LIU SONG / FOR CHINA DAILY)

First invented by porters and boaters working in the docks along the Yangtze River during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), who put all the ingredients into a single pot of spicy, bubbling soup, conveniently allowing them to eat on their boats, it is now popular all across the country.

Thinly sliced lamb or beef, offal, seafood and vegetables, almost any kind of ingredients can be cooked in the sizzling pots of spicy soup, making Chongqing hotpot a dish that caters to everyone.

People enjoy a hotpot gathering by the Yangtze River in Chongqing's Jiulong district. (LIU SONG / FOR CHINA DAILY)

A hotpot restaurant hidden in an underground bomb shelter in Yuzhong district draws customers. (LIU SONG / FOR CHINA DAILY)

A hotpot banquet is held in a car display hall in Nan'an district. (LIU SONG / FOR CHINA DAILY)

A hotpot restaurant located on the roof of a building in Yuzhong district. (LIU SONG / FOR CHINA DAILY)

People have hotpot at a restaurant decorated as a bookstore in Yuzhong. (LIU SONG / FOR CHINA DAILY)

Contact the writers at chenliang@chinadaily.com.cn


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