East China's historical city Quanzhou sets to be added to UNESCO's "City of Gastronomy" list, focusing on not only preparing tasty cuisines, but also building a mature supply chain.

As a famous historical and cultural city in China, Quanzhou used to be selected as an UNESCO heritage site. This city is currently endeavoring to establish a new signature of gastronomy.

"These are traditional dishes with a long history, like this beef. Quanzhou has along history of cooking beef. This dish has curry inside, which was an import from southern Asia. This black chicken is a specialty of Quanzhou," introduced by Liu Shuwen, the president of Quanzhou Cuisine Association.

Liu said that becoming a city of gastronomy can promote the sales of local agricultural products and ingredients to the whole country and even the whole world.

When it comes to culinary, the origin of an ingredient can strongly affect its flavor. Some local dishes can only be made with local ingredients to obtain the special flavor, strengthening the uniqueness of food.

"Our ingredients including Dehua Black Chicken, Fujian Wine, Dehua Camellia Oil are all from local places," said Hu Canhui, the chef of Zayton Courtyard.

An hour and a half away from the center of Quanzhou City, Dehua County is situated as a distribution center for local agricultural products. The Dehua Black Chicken is a landmark agricultural product which is raised free-range in the mountains.

As the head of Daiyun Farmers Cooperatives, Zeng Xianzhong started to raise black chickens since 2011. Now around 350,000 chickens are raised every year.

"Our chickens are widely sold in supermarkets and communities. We are now planning to build an industrial park, because we have to make pre-cooked food for cross-provincial and even global trade," Zeng said.

The mature industrial chain and the increasing food consumption market are the bases to support Quanzhou's bid for the "City of Gastronomy".

"Behind the delicious cuisine lies the service industry which is related to people's wellbeing. We want to engage in this industry because food connects everything. The purpose of our bid for City of Gastronomy is not only to enhance the Quanzhou's reputation, but more importantly, to gain benefits for our people," said Lin Wenchao, Deputy Director of Quanzhou's Special "City of Gastronomy" Team.