6 | DISCOVER SHANXI Friday, January 17, 2020 CHINA DAILY Regional specialty noodles are a cut above the rest

By SONG MENGXING that really gets most people salivat­ [email protected] ing. Local eateries such as Shanxi With its landscape of plateaus Huiguan, Shunliu’er and Datong bound by mountains, Shanxi prov­ Knife­sliced Noodles have been ince in North China is regarded serving satisfied customers in the across the country as being associ­ city for generations. ated with fields of wheat and iconic Like daoxiaomian, chefs have wheat products. intertwined spectacle with the It is said that the people of techniques to make other dishes. Shanxi know as many as 100 differ­ At restaurants operated by Tai­ ent techniques of cooking with yuan Qingxurenjia Jinyunlou wheat flour, using them in the Catering Culture Development, making of many unique and spe­ customers watch in amazement as cial noodle dishes. talented chefs perform a dance None of Shanxi’s noodle dishes is while making lamian, which more iconic than that of daoxiao­ means pulled noodles. mian, translated as knife­cut noo­ The chefs swing the noodles dles. around with elegance as they To add to the allure of the dish stretch longer and longer, thinner the element of spectacle is key, and thinner before finally making with chefs using a special knife to their way to the pot for boiling. The quickly and elegantly slice dough routines are always met with rap­ — the process propelling the thick turous applause. in the center and thin at the edge Qu Yong, an executive from Tai­ noodles in the air until landing yuan Qingxurenjia Jinyunlou with a splash in a pot of boiling Catering Culture Development, Cattle graze on a mountainous pasture nearby a wind farm in Qinyuan, Shanxi province. MA LIMING / FOR CHINA DAILY water. said Shanxi abounds in wheat Locals say that some of the most crops and other coarse cereals such skilled chefs can slice up to 200 as buckwheat, maize, sorghum and noodles a minute. millet, and so that’s why there is The dish, which is believed to such a wealth of wheat and noodle Shanxi residents relishing date back to the beginning of the dishes. Yuan Dynasty (1271­1368), is often Another specialty of Shanxi is served with a rich, meat­based huamo — a method of decorating sauce to the delight of diners specially shaped steamed buns. So across the province and beyond. intricate are the designs that the clean­energy improvements In the city of Taiyuan, capital of techniques have become a folk art Shanxi province, any number of unique to Shanxi, particularly the fine restaurants can be found serv­ province’s Wenxi county where hun­ Greener transportation and power­generation methods have locals living better than ever ing up delicacies from across the dreds of huamo are made during country such as from Sichuan and Tomb Sweeping Day in early April Hunan. shaped as animals such as fish, By ZHANG DANDAN mining engineering at Taiyuan save 172,000 tons of coal per year But it is the local Shanxi food birds, tigers and dragons. [email protected] University of Technology, is com­ and cut 131,000 tons of dust, mitted to researching exploita­ 480,000 tons of carbon dioxide, While showing his photography tion technologies of next­ 15,000 tons of sulfur dioxide and works of local scenery, amateur generation energy, including 7,100 tons of nitrogen oxide each photographer Zhu Mingyuan from coalbed methane and oil shale, to year. Xiaoyi, Shanxi province relished in realize low­carbon and clean The wind power generation the atmosphere. energy development and use. system in the county has generat­ “Now in the city, the air is fresher, Zhao and his research team have ed significant economic, social the plants greener, and local resi­ developed a technology for exploit­ and environmental benefits, the dents have a happier mood than Now in the city ing the oil shale, which he said will local government said. before,” Zhu said. “The sky here lead to a technological revolution Lu’an Group, one of the leading used to be gloomy and gray.” (Xiaoyi), the air is in exploiting the oil shale and inject coal enterprises in Shanxi, takes Du Zhanmei, a 66­year­old villag­ fresher, the plants momentum into Shanxi’s energy advantage of advanced technolo­ er in Qingxu county in Shanxi, said reform. gies, turning pollution­intensive that in previous years, heavy fog greener, and local Achievements made in fostering high­sulfur coal into a “treasure”, and haze haunted the county in residents have a the province’s energy reform can be offering a clean, efficient and low­ winters. found in cities and counties, as well carbon solution of utilizing such “But more recently, we have happier mood than as in enterprises in Shanxi. coal in the province and the coun­ begun to enjoy more blue skies and before.” With more than 8,200 fully try. A performance by a chef preparing noodles at Jinyunlou restaurant better weather, even in the peak of electric taxies put into service, Through technical processing, in Taiyuan, capital of Shanxi province, impresses foreign visitors. winter when coal use is at its high­ Zhu Mingyuan, a local amateur Taiyuan, capital of Shanxi prov­ the coal company has established PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY est,” Du said. photographer who records ince, is the first city worldwide to five high­tech industrial chains of changes in the city with his As an important energy and camera realize the electrification of all its high­sulfur coal and produced 180 industrial production hub in Chi­ taxies, according to the local gov­ models of fine chemicals. na, Shanxi has mined 19 billion ernment. Shanxi’s coalbed methane extrac­ metric tons of coal over the past To cope with the issue, the Qinyuan county of Changzhi city tion has accounted for more than 90 Spectacular invention to seven decades, helping shore up province has made strides in in Shanxi has witnessed the opera­ percent of the country’s total. The the sustainable development of the reforming its energy supply, con­ tion of 166 wind energy­driven gen­ installed capacity of new energy Chinese economy, according to the sumption, technology, and coop­ erators, which can generate 482 power generation in Shanxi has make every voice heard local government. eration and innovation million kilowatt­hours of electricity exceeded 20 million kWh. The prov­ Yet an economic structure with mechanisms, aiming to forge an each year. ince also has the largest scale of pho­ By YIN RUOWEI excessive dependence on coal min­ advanced energy system. Compared with thermal power tovoltaic power generation in China. [email protected] ing has handicapped Shanxi’s over­ Keeping close to Shanxi’s generation in generating the all development and caused reform in the energy system, equivalent electricity, the wind Xie Yan and Li Yu Ren Yamin, an entrepreneur pollution. Zhao Yangsheng, a professor of energy­driven generators can contributed to this story. from Shanxi province, is using technology to make communica­ tion for the hearing­impaired eas­ North Terrace is the highest of the ier than ever before. World heritage mountains offering five, with an altitude of 3,061 meters. Ren, who has been deaf since The mountains make an ideal birth, has developed smart glasses A hearing­impaired customer habitat for flora and fauna, home to which use artificial intelligence and (right) tries on a pair of smart unique sights throughout the year 661 varieties of plants and almost cloud technology to translate voice glasses developed by 350 species of animals. They into text and project it onto lenses. SeeingVoice, with the aid of a include beech martens, leopards, The idea for the glasses first company employee. By HU YUYAN Wutai Mountains annually, which foxes and black­browed reed war­ came to Ren while he was studying PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY [email protected] 661 local hotel owner Bian Zhiguo blers, according to the scenic area’s at the University of California, Los described as “a land enfolded in website. Angeles in 2005. However, it was An unexpected detour gave sev­ varieties Buddha’s light”. In summer and autumn, cattle not until after his studies that he sion. A classmate from the Univer­ eral tourists a pleasant glimpse of of plants found Located in northeastern Shanxi, and horses can be seen grazing on could begin bringing his idea to life. sity of Science and Technology of snow­covered Wutai Mountains in in Wutai Mountains Wutai Mountains is one of the slopes and terraces. Every year, While working at a tech company China, Zhou Hui, who works as a North China’s Shanxi province. the major four Buddhist mountains a fair is held throughout the sixth called Integrine, Ren learned a vice­president at a Fortune 500 An early January snowfall in gram back in 2002. It provides an in China. The others are Mount lunar month to trade cattle, horses, great deal about cloud computing company, has provided the parts to Shanxi forced Li Jianing and his escape for urbanites who want to Emei in Sichuan province, Mount mules and donkeys. and AI technology. Upon leaving make the glasses. family from Hebei province to devi­ celebrate the holiday in the tradi­ Jiuhua in Anhui province and Wutai is also a rich repository of the company and establishing See­ At a recent event held in Toronto, ate from their planned route. But tional ways, according to the scenic Mount Putuo in Zhejiang province. human legacies. For more than ingVoice, Ren launched a cloud Canada, all 100 of Ren’s prototype they ended up getting to see the area’s website. The name “Wutai”, literally mean­ 1,600 years, it has been one of the platform based on AI and deep glasses sold out. “It is my ultimate sacred Buddhist site covered in In recent years, hundreds of ing five terraces, stems from the fact most important Buddhist sites in learning technologies in 2018 goal of realizing real­time recogni­ white. It was a stunning, tranquil thousands of visitors have spent that each of the five mountains that China. The attraction receives called 40DADOW. tion of Chinese language, though it sight that filled them with peace their Spring Festival holiday at constitute Wutai has a flat peak. The some 3 million visits every year. The first product to use 40DA­ is technically difficult. What I need and joy, Li said. Visitors get to see more than DOW were the smart glasses Ren is not wealth, but to help Chinese In winter, Wutai Mountains, 30,000 Buddhist figures at Wutai, had thought about at university. who can barely hear,” Ren said. which has been listed as a UNESCO either carved, cast, painted or Ren said the hearing­aid tech­ Ren achieved more success after world cultural heritage site, is more embroidered. nology based on the 40DADOW setting up his company Seeing­ than just a sight for sore eyes. Dur­ The East Hall of Foguang Temple cloud platform has intellectual Voice in the Shanxi Transition and ing the weeklong Spring Festival houses life­size clay Buddha sculp­ property rights, on which semantic Comprehensive Reform Demon­ holiday, starting on Jan 24 this year, tures. Shuxiang Temple features an recognition and acoustic models stration Zone in Taiyuan, capital of the scenic area will put on Buddhist overwhelming complex of 500 col­ are stored and executed, and at the the province. The company began Music performances each day at orful statues protruding from the same time, automatic deep learn­ selling the smart glasses last June, Pusading Temple and Shuxiang walls, silently telling Buddhist sto­ ing is applied. and according to its development Temple. Monks will perform Bud­ ries. “The cloud platform has good plan, production bases covering dhist tunes using more than 10 A whole ensemble of stelae, pla­ recognition and speech separation 5.33 hectares will be put into opera­ musical instruments including ques, couplets and poems catalogs results by using large models, ultra­ tion by the end of 2021. flutes and drums. the Buddhist tradition at Wutai high speed computing and other In the next five years, Seeing­ The Buddhist Music of Wutai, Mountains. technologies,” he said. Voice will provide 500 jobs and is listed among national­level intan­ Among the authors, Emperor “All calculations and operations projected to generate 20 million gible cultural heritage, has a long Kangxi during the Qing Dynasty are executed in the cloud, which yuan ($2.86 million) in tax revenue history. It is passed down orally and (1644­1911) wrote 20 inscriptions. ensures that the product can quick­ after 2023, local media reported. incorporates musical pieces popu­ His grandson, Emperor Qianlong, ly adapt to the hearing environ­ “My mission is to make the world lar in different periods since the composed 39 poems. The imperial ment and offer an optimized have no voice that cannot be Tang Dynasty (618­907), according patronage also reflects the impor­ solution,” he added. heard,” Ren said. “Next, we are to a website run by China’s intangi­ tance of Wutai Mountains as a cul­ With money coming in from looking to make visually impaired ble heritage protection center. tural and religious site. angle investors, Ren said the next people see through listening.” Wutai Mountains launched its stage for his company would be raw Spring Festival celebrations pro­ Wutai Mountains is blanketed in snow. JIAO JINQI / FOR CHINA DAILY Li Yu contributed to this story. material procurement and expan­ Yang Yu contributed to this story.

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