On July 26th, 2004, China Hotel Association and Chongqing Municipal People's Government jointly issued a document to hold the 5th China Food Festival and the 1st Chongqing International Hot Pot Culture Festival in Chongqing.

Chongqing International Hotpot Culture Festival was held in June 2004.

On March 20th, 2007, at the opening ceremony of the 3rd China (Chongqing) Hotpot Food Culture Festival, China Cuisine Association officially awarded Chongqing the title of "China Hotpot Capital". This is the first time in the history of China to name the city as the "hot pot capital".