The 2021 list of the top 100 county-level cities and counties with Chinese characteristic cuisines was recently released by Insight China, a national news magazine.

Eleven places in Zhejiang province were among those selected. They are Taizhou's Linhai city (ranked 8th nationwide), which is home to as many as 141 kinds of local snacks, Quzhou's Kecheng district (15th), which features the spiciest foods in East China, Shaoxing's Shengzhou city (18th), which is home to delicious steamed buns and fried rice cakes, Shaoxing's Shangyu district (30th), which is most well-known for local fruits, Ningbo's Fenghua district (34th), which boasts delicious beef noodles, Hangzhou's Chun'an county (64th), which is known for its fish netted from the lucid Thousand-Islet Lake, Jinhua's Wuyi county (68th), the home of tasty wontons, tofu, and chicken, Lishui's Jingning She autonomous county, which features the traditional cuisine of the She ethnicity, and Jinhua's Lanxi city (84th), a paradise for breakfast diners. 

Though it accounts for only 1 percent of the national territory, Zhejiang is a significant contributor to China's cuisine culture. The province is often dubbed "a land of fish and rice".

A breakfast stall in Youbu Ancient Town in Jinhua's Lanxi city, Zhejiang province. [Photo/CFP]