"A hundred cities, a thousand flavors, and the world's delicacies, all in a bowl of smoke and fire." Recently, Dianping's "Must-Eat List" 2024 was unveiled in Beijing, with 2,797 restaurants from 119 cities and regions making the list. Our district has a total of 7 restaurants on the list, including international cuisines such as Palan Thai Cuisine and Ajit Korean Private Kitchen, as well as authentic local eateries like Anda Lobster, Barbecue & Food Stall, and Chongqing Spicy Hot Pot.

The number of cities and merchants on this year's "Must-Eat List" has reached a record high, surpassing 100 cities for the first time. Shanghai, Beijing, Chengdu, Chongqing, and Guangzhou are the top 5 cities with the most listed restaurants. Among the 144 listed restaurants in Shanghai, nearly 30 are small eateries rooted in the streets and alleys.

More Food Destinations

With the popularity of "taste bud travel," many tourists are willing to visit a city for a single dish. Dianping's data shows that in the past year, the proportion of non-local users on the "Must-Eat List" reached 42%. Jingdezhen's clay-braised chicken, Yanbian's Korean ginseng chicken soup, Xiangyang's yellow wine with beef noodles... A more comprehensive food list has further become a "food tour guide" in the minds of consumers.

This year's list has a notable increase in "sense of discovery" compared to previous years, with 58 new cities added, nearly half of which are popular "taste bud travel" destinations, covering more surrounding counties and regions. More authentic small shops and traditional old shops appear on the list, with nearly half being city-specific merchants. The 2024 "Must-Eat List" has become a "big stage for small merchants" and a "barometer of the catering industry," as well as a "city food calling card" that showcases the unique food and cultural heritage of each place, further stimulating consumption and supporting the development of brick-and-mortar businesses.

Qingyuan, Guangdong is a newly listed city this year. Xiangzai Farm Cuisine, located more than 50 kilometers from the city center, is a typical "mountain collar farm" in the hearts of Cantonese people. The owner introduced that their free-range chickens use Qingyuan Chicken No. 1 breeds, raised in a village 5 kilometers away, personally cared for by his 73-year-old father, truly adhering to the authentic way of eating "freshly caught chickens and freshly killed fish," restoring the most natural old Cantonese flavor for food lovers from all over the country.

The Arab owner Muhammad's BEYTI RESTAURANT in Yiwu has made it onto the Jinhua "Must-Eat List" this year. "The restaurant now has 'eight national chefs' and a total of more than 300 dishes, covering nearly 20 national tastes," BEYTI introduced. In recent years, Yiwu tourism has exploded, with more and more Chinese tourists, and the restaurant's signature dishes such as Turkish grilled meat are very popular.

More Authentic Small Restaurants

A food list "eaten by 800 million people" represents the true essence of a city's dining consumption. "In the past year, users have used 'authentic flavors' and 'strong wok aroma' to praise restaurants for exceeding expectations in taste, and also used 'prices under a hundred' and 'fresh ingredients' to rate restaurants for exceeding expectations in experience," said Zhang Xuejiao, head of Dianping's Must-Eat List, at the Dianping "Must-Eat List" launch and awards ceremony.

"Innovation without forgetting the roots, inheritance without being conservative." Based on the new trends in dining consumption, more authentic restaurants that insist on fresh ingredients and have a strong smoky flavor have appeared on the list. Among the 2,797 listed merchants, nearly half are city-specific merchants, with small eateries accounting for 46% and snack merchants exceeding 500.

At the entrance of Shekou Market in Shenzhen, Guangdong, Chaoshan native Ye Xiangjia, relying on the zongzi-wrapping skills passed down from his father's generation, started from pushing a cart and setting up a stall, and has turned the 20-year-old shop - Jiahua Snack Shop - into a "must-eat list" restaurant. The zongzi are steaming hot out of the pot, and the store entrance is crowded with queuing local citizens and out-of-town tourists. "All the zongzi are made fresh in the store. During peak periods, 4 'zongzi workers' are busy from morning to night, selling several thousand a day," Ye Xiangjia introduced.

Chongqing Gongdawa Tofu Noodles, which insists on making fresh tofu every day, Shanghai's "restaurant-level" Cantonese small restaurant Jiangxin Small Kitchen, the owner's wife's personally-run Chengdu Xinruiyuan Oil Braised Skewers, and Wuhan Lao Tongcheng Bean Skin King who starts working at three in the morning... "Small shops also have a big stage." These authentic small restaurants on the streets and alleys on the 2024 "Must-Eat List" have become the food of choice recommended by locals and planted by out-of-towners.

Food is the Best Calling Card of a City

Over the past 8 years, the Must-Eat List has always had three persistence: the first is to insist on "one in a million"; the second is to insist on selection based on users' real reviews of the year; and the third is to insist on no manual nomination.

On the basis of "delicious, inexpensive, and good experience," the 2024 "Must-Eat List" selected 2,797 restaurants from tens of millions of merchants based on hundreds of millions of review data, of which nearly 20% are non-cooperative merchants.

"We were very surprised when we learned that we were selected, because the store never does online group buying, which made us realize 'the credibility of the list'," said Jiahua Snack (Shekou Market Store) in Shenzhen. "The first time we were listed, we didn't cooperate with Meituan, and only knew when the trophy was sent. This is not only an honor but also a spur, and we must continue to improve so as not to let consumers down," the owner of Chongqing Leshan Xian Zhiwei Boboji also shared his journey.

With the enhancement of the list's "sense of discovery," users' enthusiasm for "taste bud travel" and consumption vitality have been further stimulated, and the "city food calling card" has further become a new driving force for local consumption. It is understood that in July, Dianping will also hold the second Must-Eat Festival, running out a new speed to help the development of catering and local consumption.

"Food is the best calling card of a city. The development of each city and the development of food are very closely combined," said Zhang Chuan, senior vice president of Meituan. The Must-Eat List and Must-Eat Festival aim to connect more authentic delicacies from the streets and alleys with more consumers, and pass them on for a long time.