At first, it refers to gangs or groups formed by regions in various industries in the Qing Dynasty, which were used to ventilate and take care of each other among fellow villagers and relatives and enhance their foreign competitiveness.
For example, from the late Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China, there were Shaoxing Gang, Ningbo Gang, Suzhou Gang, Guangdong Gang and Shanghai Gang.
These industries, which are divided by gangs, have a common feature. Although the practitioners are all foreigners, they are all oriented to the consumers where the gangs are located. Therefore, there is a competitive relationship and it is necessary to find a fellow villager to hold a group. With the development of modern cities and the acceleration of personnel flow, chefs all over the world are competing in big cities. In the market competition, villagers unite to safeguard their rights and interests, resulting in "local dishes", "hangzhou dishes" and "Sichuan cuisine". For the catering industry leaders or chefs in many places, the competition in modern urban catering industry greatly promoted their mutual learning and innovation, and gradually developed into a relatively complete catering school in later generations.