The Mount Tai Cold Noodle. [Photo/dzwww.com]

It is said that the Mount Tai Cold Noodle dates back to the Tang Dynasty (618-907) before Empress Wu Zetian was selected to be an imperial concubine of Emperor Tang Taizong. She once burned her tongue while eating hot noodles, so then developed cold ones, a new way of eating noodles.

When holding the worship ceremonies at Mount Tai, Empress Wu recalled the cold noodle and asked the chef to cook it. The cold noodle, cooked by using the food materials of Mount Tai, has a perfect combination of color, aroma, taste and appearance, which was then named by Empress Wu as "Mount Tai Cold Noodle".

A man who witnessed the process of a chef cooking the noodles helped the dish spread across the area and gain huge popularity. The dish was chosen to be included on the Tai'an intangible cultural heritage list in 2016.