Luosifen listed as China’s intangible cultural heritage “螺蛳粉”上榜国家级非遗

肖萍

A total of 185 new cultural practices and expressions， including the preparation of luosifen， have been inscribed （列入） on the latest list of national intangible cultural heritage.

Luosifen is an iconic dish known for its pungent（辛辣的） smell in the southern Chinese city of Liuzhou. The smell can be repulsive（令人厭恶的） for the first-timers， but those who try it say they can never forget the magical taste. Luosifen is made by boiling rice noodles with pickled bamboo shoots， dried turnips（萝卜），

fresh vegetables and peanuts in spiced river snail soup. It is sour， spicy， salty， hot and stinky （发臭的） after being boiled.

Originating in Liuzhou in the 1970s， luosifen served as an inexpensive street snack that people outside of the city knew little about. It was not until 2012 when a hit Chinese food documentary， A Bite of China， featured it that it became a household name. And two years later， China had the first company to sell packaged luosifen.

The development of the Internet， especially the boom of e-commerce and online eating show， has brought this Chinese local food fervor to a new level. Luosifen often shows up in videos by food bloggers and eating show hosts. One of the most influential is Li Ziqi， who has 15.5 million subscribers on YouTube. Her video of how to make luosifen has gained more than 61 million views on the website.

The development of the Internet allowed luosifen to gain global fame. According to data from the year start， luosifen became the most popular Chinese New Years snack this year on e-commerce platforms， as Chinese people had a stay-at-home holiday due to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to data from Tmall and Taobao， both e-commerce platforms under Alibaba， the turnover of luosifen was 15 times more than last years， with the number of buyers growing nine times year on year. The largest group of buyers was the post-90s generation.

As luosifen becomes more and more popular， the local government is trying to establish official international presence of this unique delicacy. In 2019， authorities in Liuzhou City said they were applying for UNESCOs recognition of luosifen as part of intangible cultural heritage.