HAIKOU, July 29./TASS/. The opening ceremony of the International Gourmet Season was held in Haikou, the administrative center of the southern Chinese province of Hainan. From July to September, gastronomic festivals will be held on the island, where Haikou residents and guests can enjoy the Chinese delicacies and foreign cuisine.

According to the Hainan authorities, in the coming weeks, a beer and crayfish festival, days of Western food, and a hogo festival (translated from Chinese as a "hot pot") will be held in Haikou. This is the name of the national dish, or rather, the way of cooking it, when guests of the restaurant cooks selected ingredients in the boiling broth themselves. As for the delicacies of the island, very soon everyone will be able to taste them - the Hainan cuisine festival starts on July 28.

During the days of the gastronomic season, the restaurants of Haikou will attract visitors with a various contests and discounts. Free tasting is also expected in some places. 

According to the authorities, “the International Gastronomic Season will help enhance Hainan’s openness, build a pilot free-trade zone there, and speed up the transformation of the island into an international center for tourism and consumption.”

The Hainan Association of Hotel Business and Catering Industry, as well as the Association of Catering Industry of Haikou City, with the support of which the gastronomic season will be held, are actively promoting these goals. The opening ceremony was attended by employees of about 100 of the largest restaurants in the city and across the island.