Old cold noodle dish becomes hot new favorite

题材 体裁饮食 说明文 3 7 5 ★★★文章词数 难度建议用时6分钟

In a factory workshop,cold noodles and seasonings are packed into bags on an assembly line in preparation for delivery to dinner tables across the country and the world.These cold noodles,called ganmianpi in Chinese,are a specialty of Baoji,a city in Northwest China's Shaanxi Province.Xu Lu,an office director of a food company,said they receive more than 500 orders a day via e-commerce platforms,with each order averaging seven bags of noodles.

With a registered trademark,an industrial park and a special cold noodle industrial school,Baoji has turned the once handmade snack into a business worth more than 5 billion yuan($782 million)a year.

The dish dates back as far as the Tang Dynasty,but it was during the Qing Dynasty that imperial chef Wang Tongjiang returned to his hometown in Qishan County,after retiring and taught fellow villagers how to make ganmianpi.Today,the snack has become a local symbol.

About an hour after the dough is made,it is repeatedly washed in water and then left for eight hours.After a series of steps,including fermentation,rolling,steaming and cooling,the dough is sliced into pliable but chewy noodles.Chili oil,gluten and vinegar are commonly used as seasonings.

In 2014,ganmianpi hit online shopping platforms,attracting orders from across the country.In the Baoji Panlong New Area,three companies have become the first to begin operations at the Baoji Ganmianpi Industrial Park.In 2020,the Baoji ganmianpi industry reached the 5 billion yuan mark and now employs some 50,000 people across different sectors.The noodles have been exported to more than 20 countries and regions,including the United States,Canada,Japan and Australia.

A cold noodle industrial school was also set up in May in Shaanxi.Yi Xunzhi,Party chief of the institute,said that in combination with the institute's professional competences,which extend to mechanics,electronics,automation,industrial robotics among other disciplines,the new school will be helpful for the integrated development of business,universities and research in the cold noodle sector.

The city has registered the Baoji ganmianpi trademark with the aim of opening 10,000 chain restaurant outlets in 1,000 cities.It is also applying to register the snack as a protected geographical indication product.

Reading Check

1.What do we know about the cold noodles of Baoji?

A.They are a specialty of Baoji.

B.They are a kind of food sold by e-commerce platforms.

C.They are a highly mechanized food.

D.They are a protected geographical product.

2.What does paragraph 4 mainly want to tell us?

A.Cold noodles differ from normal ones.

B.The dough is the key to making cold noodles.

C.Cooks must possess good cooking skills.

D.Making cold noodles is not an easy task.

3.What do the figures in paragraph 5 stress about ganmianpi?

A.Its cost.

B.Its scale.

C.Its popularity.

D.Its status.

4.What is the purpose of this text?

A.To introduce cold noodles of Baoji to readers.

B.To advertise Baoji's attractions.

C.To explain people's great passion for cold noodles.

D.To appeal to investors to open chain restaurants of cold noodles.

Language Study

Difficult sentence in the text

The dish dates back as far as the Tang Dynasty,but it was during the Qing Dynasty that imperial chef Wang Tongjiang returned to his hometown in Qishan County,after retiring and taught fellow villagers how to make ganmianpi.这道美食的历史可以追溯到唐朝，但是在清朝，御厨王同江退休后回到他的家乡——岐山县，他才向乡亲们传授如何做擀面皮。

【点石成金】本句中的it was...that是强调句，强调时间状语during the Qing Dynasty。其中dates back(to)意为“追溯到”，as far as意为“远到；就……而言”。