Every city is not a food desert, it has its own local characteristics. As for why Hangzhou is criticized as a food desert, I think it has to do with the region, and the tastes in each place are different.
1. People in the Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai regions like sweet tastes, and the characteristics of Hangbang cuisine in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions are that they pay attention to light oil, light pulp, light and fresh taste, and focus on the combination of fresh and salty. This has led to many people who like spicy food to eat spicy food directly.
It’s blacklisted and has no price advantage.
2. Hangzhou is a famous tourist city. Many people complain about the lack of "fireworks atmosphere". The so-called "fireworks atmosphere" refers to night market culture, street stall characteristics, and snack culture. Due to the needs of urban management, this aspect is relatively concentrated in Hangzhou, such as
Wulin Night Market, Wushan Road Night Market, and Laxi Street are not as rich in snack culture as night markets in Changsha, Chongqing, and Chengdu.
3. Specialty dishes from other places will be modified according to local tastes in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai. Authentic Sichuan cuisine will also be modified to make it less authentic and become fusion cuisine.
4. Local food and catering are being counterattacked by Internet celebrities. Hangzhou is an Internet celebrity city, and the Internet celebrity check-in culture is prevalent. The food ordered by many Internet celebrity restaurants is not outstanding, but the marketing is good, resulting in many people being stepped on, so it is even more popular.
Complain about Hangzhou food culture.
4. Generally speaking, the old city is the place where the city’s food culture is best preserved.
But Hangzhou is not large in scale, whether it is within the Ten City Gates or the "Old Five Districts".
Future Science and Technology City, Binjiang, Xiasha, etc., where young people gather, were all barren rural areas a few years ago. Even the cultural district in the west of the city only experienced large-scale development at the beginning of the century. It is difficult for a drop of water to moisten a pot of flowers.
5. When we think of places with rich food culture, most of them have a large number of street food and fly restaurants, but this needs to be supported by relatively cheap rents. Needless to say, the housing prices in Hangzhou.
6. Hangzhou does not have as strong a dock culture as Wuhan or Chongqing, and there are fewer spicy and oily foods that many people particularly like.
7. Hangzhou cuisine relies heavily on seasonality and slow work. It is difficult for the modern catering industry to pass on its original taste. At the same time, there are very few people willing to cook authentic local dishes, and many good tastes are gradually disappearing.
8. The development of Hangzhou’s catering industry still has not caught up with the development of the city. Although there are many new stores and new products every year, there are still too few high-quality ones.