In my country, there are many cities in China that can be called gourmet deserts, among which Harbin, which I know well, is the most prominent. Harbin is a big city in the north of China, with rich history and culture, but the food culture has not been well developed.
First of all, the catering level in Harbin is low, and some so-called high-end restaurants only provide some ordinary dishes with a single taste, lacking innovation and breakthrough. Although Harbin is a cold city, it has not developed seasonal delicacies, such as providing hot pot or mutton kebabs in winter. On the contrary, its catering industry relies on crowds brought by activities such as the Ice Sculpture Festival to attract tourists with exotic decorations and services instead of providing delicious food.
Secondly, the types of restaurants in Harbin are very single, mainly northeast dishes, lacking foreign specialties. Although Northeast cuisine has its own status and style, it cannot meet the diversified needs of modern people. In other cities, you can find many excellent restaurants with Sichuan cuisine, Guangdong cuisine and Hunan cuisine, but it is rare to find such restaurants in Harbin.
Finally, Harbin's food culture has not been well inherited and developed, and some traditional foods are disappearing. For example, Harbin's cut sausage (a snack made by filling pig intestines with glutinous rice and soybean powder) was once a very famous food, but now it can only be found in a few places. Some local young people don't know much about these traditional foods, preferring fast food and western-style restaurants.
Generally speaking, Harbin can be called a gourmet desert, because its catering level is low, its restaurants are single, it lacks innovation and breakthrough, and it has not been well inherited and developed. This is a place that needs improvement and development. I hope there will be more innovative restaurants and food culture in the future, making Harbin a real food capital.