App puts Chinese chefs abroad on right track

Since more visa barriers have been set by many countries when it comes to allowing chefs in from China, such an app could offer a way out, according to Fu Bing, who runs a Sichuan restaurant in London.

"Londoners like genuine Sichuan food, but it's a headache to improve our skills," he says. "English tests are demanded for those Chinese chefs who want to come to Britain, which is a major obstacle."

According to Jimmy Zhao, founder of the American Chinese Restaurant Alliance, there are 47,000 Chinese restaurants in the US, but there is a bottleneck when it comes to developing culinary skills.

"Perhaps, these restaurants are 20 years behind their counterparts in China. Most are small-scale and low-quality. I wish such convenient applications could make things better."

Liu is confident of the future.

"An app doesn't get restricted by geographic regions and is faster when it comes to circulation of information, which is more suitable to promote Chinese cuisine. It should be a pathfinder for Chinese culture to go abroad."

"Communication and collision of different culinary cultures inevitably happens when we open Chinese restaurants overseas," says Yeh Chenyu, who has run Chinese restaurants in the Netherlands for over 40 years. "However, any creativity should be based on Chinese flavors and the cream of traditions must be preserved.

"Standardization and modernization is the trend for the whole industry, and Chinese cuisine is no exception. New technology should be better used to expand our influence."