From now on Dénia and the Marina Alta They have a point of promotion and experiences in a large Chinese food theme park. The city of Shundé has opened a space specifically dedicated to the UNESCO network of Creative Cities that all its members can use for promotional actions, meetings and all kinds of cultural and commercial exchanges. It is a small embassy in an area of China with great economic growth.
The inauguration of the pavilion, located in the gastronomic area of the OCT Shundé Harbor, has been coincided with a Week of Food Culture full of activities, which has been attended by 18 cities of the UNESCO network.
Dénia was specially invited to present a paper, offer a sample of native cuisine and attend institutional events organized by local authorities. The Dianense delegation was formed by Floren Terrades, director of the Office of Innovation and Creativity, and chef José Manuel López, of the Peix i Brases restaurant in Dénia.
During his stay in Shundé, the Dianense representation played a prominent role in different scheduled events. Floren Terrades gave a presentation on Gastronomy, Education and Sustainability, focused on the diagnosis of the local agri-food system carried out by the Office of Innovation and Creativity, and educational projects in which he has been involved as a UNESCO Creative City, including the Erasmus + Youth4Food program. On the other hand, José Manuel López starred in one of the live cooking sessions, preparing before the public and explaining step by step the whole process of one of the dishes most linked to the Marina Alta, the arròs a banda.
The delegation of Dénia participated in a meeting of the Creative Cities of UNESCO and visited the Culinary Institute of the University of Shundé, one of the most advanced and prestigious in the Chinese region that practices the internationally known Cantonese cuisine.
The OCT Shundé Harbor park had a central area dedicated to hospitality establishments, a conventional shopping center and a large hotel. Last weekend the International Center for Culture and Gastronomy was inaugurated, a modern space that has a Museum of Local Cuisine with multimedia exhibitions, classrooms for culinary demonstrations and spaces to meet international gastronomic projects. It also has a room dedicated exclusively to the Creative Cities of Gastronomy of the UNESCO network, where these days material with information about the projects they are developing and brochures and publications of tourist promotion of the cities is exposed. Each city also has a permanent information panel. The Chinese authorities have made the newly opened pavilion available to the UNESCO network.
