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.