Job with strings attached

Liu Laiwang mass produces hollow noodles, contributing to rural vitalization, Yang Feiyue reports.

Huangchuan county, in Central China's Henan province, is covered with rice paddies, but the residents' favorite food is not made of rice. Rather, it is the Huangchuan hollow gongmian (tribute noodle), a distinctive dish that dates back to the Tang Dynasty (618-907).

The noodles are sweet and thin, cook quickly, do not get sticky in soup, and are famous for their hollow, tubelike shape.

"You can stick one in the water, blow into it, and bubbles come out," says Liu Laiwang, who has made a career out of making them, founding Wangxin Hollow Noodle Co in 2006.