Xinjiang food festival debuts in San Francisco East Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO - A food festival was held Saturday in San Francisco's East Bay Area to offer Americans "a bite of unique traditional foods" from Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

The first Xinjiang, China Food Festival, hosted by Eden Silk Road Cuisine Restaurant in Fremont as part of the 6th edition of the Across Pacific-China Arts Festival, showcased not only specialty cuisines in Xinjiang, but also local traditional costumes such as velvet hats, silk embroidery, as well as bronze plates commonly used by the Uygur ethnic group.

The arts festival to last through Oct 18 features Chinese dances, folk songs, acrobatics, visual arts events presenting Chinese and US paintings, Chinese tourism shows and intangible Chinese cultural heritages among others.

Chinese Deputy Consul General in San Francisco Ren Faqiang said the food festival turns Xinjiang food into a bridge connecting the peoples of China and the United States.

"Foods are beyond borders, and the foods from different cultures and countries contributed to the diversity of the thriving food culture across the world," he said.

"Events like the food festival makes it possible for people to come together to share their love and food experience, which plays a positive role in their joint efforts to build a better, harmonious world," Ren said.

David Haubert, mayor of Dublin City in Northern California, said each town has its own food and flavor.

"I love having a diversity of food, and having a restaurant like this with the great food that is different than other foods only helps to make the selection of restaurants more appealing to more people," he said. "Variety is very good for all of our lives and our city."

Restaurant owner Zulpikar Abaidula said, "The Xinjiang cuisine actually represents the integration of different ethnic groups of the Chinese people with their own local cultures."

"With this restaurant and its wonderful foods, I want the American people and the world to know that the majority of the people of the Uygur ethnic group love peace and unity among China's various nationalities," Abaidula noted.

He hoped that his restaurant will serve as a window through which the people from around the world could know more about Xinjiang.