Thousands of Jinhua hams are hung to dry on the campus of Jinnian Ham Co in Jinhua's Jindong district on Jan 10. [Photo/IC]

Rows of Jinhua Ham, a famous local dish, have recently been hung to dry on the campuses of food factories all over the city of Jinhua, East China's Zhejiang province.

The city's history of ham processing can be traced back to the Tang Dynasty (618-907).

Traditional Jinhua Ham uses the hind legs of a unique kind of pig native to Jinhua and the preparation process involves around 80 steps, including curing, modeling, washing, drying, and fermenting. The entire process usually takes around 100 days.

Jinhua Ham is pipa (a four-stringed Chinese lute) -shaped, aromatic and tasty. It has been inscribed on the list of Zhejiang's intangible cultural heritage items and designated a geographical indication (GI) product by the National Intellectual Property Administration.

Workers cure ham with salt at Jinnian Ham Co. [Photo/IC]