During this period, the spread of food culture in China intensified. Zhang Qian and others not only introduced gourd, walnut, coriander, flax, carrot, pomegranate and other products from the western regions, but also introduced peach, plum, apricot, pear, ginger, tea and other products and food culture from the Central Plains to the western regions. Nowadays, among the cultural relics unearthed from the Han tombs in the former Western Regions, there are wooden chopsticks from the Central Plains. One of China's traditional barbecue techniques, iron plate barbecue, also spread to Central Asia and West Asia through the Silk Road very early, and eventually formed kebabs that local people like to eat.
Chang 'an in the Tang Dynasty was the center of world culture at that time, which provided convenience for the exchange and integration of various ethnic food cultures. Great changes have taken place in the traditional diet structure of the Hu Hanmin ethnic group. During the Han and Tang Dynasties, "eating meat and drinking cheese" began to become the common dietary feature of the Hu Hanmin ethnic group in the whole northern and northwestern regions.
We eat about 160 kinds of vegetables every day today. However, about half of the 100 common vegetables are native to China, and about half are imported from abroad. During the Han and Tang Dynasties, the Central Plains introduced alfalfa, spinach, Brassica, gourd, beans, garlic, coriander, grapes, almonds, watermelons, pomegranates and other vegetables and fruits, as well as spices such as pepper and sugar. At the same time, the cooking methods of the western regions were introduced into the Central Plains.