"Bringing Cultural Relics to Life and Making Culture Go Viral: The 2024 China Food Culture Museum Alliance Annual Conference Held in Baoding, Hebei"

From January 8 to 10, 2024, the annual meeting of the China Culinary Culture Museum Alliance will be held at the Baoding Banquet Food Museum in Hebei, aiming to further leverage the advantages of the culinary culture museum alliance, undertake the important task of cultural inheritance and dissemination, and promote exchanges and mutual learning among various museums.

Former Vice Minister of Culture and Tourism Xiang Zhaolun, President of the World Chinese Cuisine Federation Xing Ying, Researcher of the Palace Museum and Consultant of the World Chinese Cuisine Federation's Food Culture Expert Committee Yuan Hongqi, Deputy Director of the Service Trade and Commercial Service Department of the Ministry of Commerce Li Hao, Director of the Service Trade and Commercial Service Department of the Hebei Provincial Department of Commerce Li Wanying, Secretary-General of the World Chinese Cuisine Federation Zhao Wenke, Deputy Director of the Baoding Municipal Bureau of Commerce Zhang Xinquan, Chief Engineer of the Baoding Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television and Tourism Zhou Junli, Deputy Director of the Culture, Radio, Television and Tourism Bureau of Changyuan City, Henan Province Zhang Jie, Director of the Education Bureau (Cultural, Sports and Tourism Bureau) of Baoding High-tech Zone Feng Xiaoqing, Director of the History Department of Zhejiang Gongshang University and Director of the China Culinary Culture Research Institute Zhou Hongcheng, President of the Baoding Cooking and Catering Hotel Industry Association Meng Lanying, Secretary of the Party Branch of the Baoding Cooking and Catering Hotel Industry Association Lin Tong, President of the Baoding Time-honored Brand Association Li Guang, Chairman of Hebei Yulanxiang Baoding Restaurant Co., Ltd. and Director of the Baoding Banquet Food Museum Liang Lianqi, as well as experts, scholars, heads of catering museums, industry association leaders, and corporate representatives from across the country attended the meeting. The meeting was hosted by Zhao Wenke, Secretary-General of the World Chinese Cuisine Federation.

Vigorously developing cultural heritage undertakings is an effective way to showcase the level of social civilization, enhance public cultural standards, and strengthen regional cultural soft power, serving as a strong driving force for promoting economic and social development. In October 2018, the World Chinese Cuisine Federation took the lead in establishing the Culinary Culture Themed Museum Alliance in collaboration with well-known domestic culinary culture museums, aiming to use catering museums as a carrier to inherit Chinese culture and tell the Chinese story well.

Liang Lianqi, Chairman of Hebei Yulanxiang Baoding Restaurant Co., Ltd. and Director of the Baoding Banquet Food Museum, welcomed the leaders and guests in his speech. Consultant Yuan Hongqi elaborated on the importance of culinary culture museums in inheriting traditional culinary culture in his keynote speech titled "The Historical Position of Culinary Culture Museums"; Professor Chen Kejie, head of the Chengdu Culinary Culture Museum, delivered a keynote speech on "Strengthening Functional Characteristics to Promote High-Quality Development of Culinary Culture Museums" on behalf of Du Li, the invited Vice President of the World Chinese Cuisine Federation and Chair of the Food Culture Expert Committee; Zhou Hongcheng, Director of the History Department of Zhejiang Gongshang University and Director of the China Culinary Culture Research Institute, delivered a keynote speech titled "Flavors in Paintings: The Chinese 'Food View' in Chinese and Foreign Museums."

How to make cultural relics speak, how to make history speak, and how to make culture speak is the responsibility and commitment of every museum person. At the meeting, around the theme of "Making Cultural Relics 'Come Alive' and Making Culture 'Fire' Out of the Circle," Liang Lianqi, Chairman of Hebei Yulanxiang Baoding Restaurant Co., Ltd. and Director of the Baoding Banquet Food Museum, presented on "Innovative Consumption New Scene - Entering the Edible Museum"; Xu Liang, Chairman of Pixian Douban Co., Ltd. and Director of the China Sichuan Cuisine Museum, spoke on "Promoting Sichuan Cuisine Culture and Industry Development"; Li Dong, head of the Quanjude Museum and Deputy Director of the Party Office of Quanjude Group, presented on "A Century of Good Stories, Renewing the Dejing Color"; He Qingyin, General Manager of Fujian Fobiao Restaurant Industry Development Co., Ltd. and Director of the Fujian Cuisine Culture Museum, spoke on "Helping Enterprises Develop - Opening New Cultural Frontiers to Empower Enterprise Development"; Ju Ya, Deputy General Manager and Vice Chairman of the Labor Union of Yangzhou Huaiyang Cuisine Museum Co., Ltd. (China Huaiyang Cuisine Museum), presented on "A New Cultural Journey Empowered by National Cultural Heritage and Canal Heritage Points"; Jiang Mang, Director of the China Huaiyang Cuisine Culture Museum, spoke on "Construction and Development of the China Huaiyang Cuisine Culture Museum"; Li Yanghui, Director of the Ningbo Cuisine Museum, presented on "The Seeker - The Story of the Ningbo Cuisine Museum"; Gao Shaojun, Chairman of Shanxi Restaurant Culture Co., Ltd. and Director of the Shanxi Noodle Museum, spoke on "Shanxi Cuisine is an Important Component of Chinese Cuisine," introducing the construction and development of their respective museums, cultural and functional aspects, as well as ideas and measures for integrated development.

The China Culinary Culture Museum Alliance is both a platform and a bridge. During the discussions, the attendees expressed their views and unanimously agreed that vigorously developing cultural heritage undertakings is an effective way to showcase the level of social civilization, enhance public cultural standards, and strengthen regional cultural soft power, serving as a strong driving force for promoting economic and social development. They all expressed their commitment to promoting Chinese culinary culture, striving to be advocates for the construction of culinary culture museums, effective communicators of excellent Chinese food culture, and practitioners of creative transformation and innovative development, helping the integration of cultural tourism and the catering industry.

At the same time, the China Culinary Culture Museum Alliance held a re-election conference. The "Regulations on the Work of the China Culinary Culture Museum Alliance" and the "Suggested List of Organizational Institutions of the China Culinary Culture Museum Alliance" were reviewed and approved. Xu Liang, Executive Chairman of the China Culinary Culture Museum Alliance, delivered a speech upon taking office.

President Xing Ying expressed heartfelt thanks to everyone for attending the annual meeting at the beginning of the new year in his speech and summary. He stated that in line with the trend of the times, vigorously developing culinary culture museums must strengthen cultural confidence, innovate thinking, overcome difficulties, take initiative, and contribute to urban brand building, industry development, and enterprise management. He pointed out that the functions of culinary museums mainly include education, display, communication, marketing, research, and social, cultural, and commercial functions; the characteristics of culinary museums are closely linked to the historical culture and development of the city, local folk customs and culinary flavors, and local cuisines, with the key being "specialized, unique, and refined." The operation of culinary museums should focus on "Museum +", and the construction of museums should be integrated with urban IP, food and tourism, and research and study. He expressed that the World Chinese Cuisine Federation fully supports the work of the museum alliance, strengthens business exchanges among museums, enhances the social influence of the alliance and each museum, plans and organizes cultural and creative activities of Museum + N, aligns with the development of the times, improves supply capacity, cultivates development momentum, specializes, refines, and differentiates, achieves greater value, and aids in the global dissemination of Chinese culinary culture.

At the meeting, certificates were awarded to Xu Liang, Executive Chairman of the China Culinary Culture Museum Alliance, and Honorary Consultant Yuan Hongqi; certificates were also awarded to co-chair units, member units, and the Secretary-General.

During the event, attendees observed the opening ceremony of the Baoding Banquet, visited the Baoding Banquet Food Museum, tasted Baoding's special snacks, experienced the distinct regional dishes and banquet culture of Baoding, and learned about the banquet culture management concept of "Baoding Banquet · Banquet for the World."