Lanzhou stretched noodles cultural ambassador on Silk Road: AFP

The Agence France-Presse published a report on the connection between spaghetti and the famous stretched noodles of Lanzhou, northwest China's Gansu Province.

The report says that although the hometowns of the two kinds of food are thousands of miles apart and have a different evolutionary history over hundreds of years, spaghetti and stretched noodles do seem like long-lost cousins.

Being both delicious and similar in appearance tends to mask the minor differences between them in relation to their own flavors which are manifested from the distinctive cultural traditions behind the food.

The two kinds of noodles acted as a sort of cultural ambassador during a gourmet activity in Beijing on Oct. 11 co-hosted by the Lanzhou city government and Italy's embassy in China. Chefs from the two countries showed off their culinary skills to the guests.

Ma Wenbin, a master of stretched noodles from Lanzhou, made a piece of base into five kinds of noodles with different shapes and breadths.

China is strengthening its ties with Europe through the Belt and Road Initiative. The railways, roads, air routes and shipping lines revive the historical Silk Road. Lanzhou, which used to be a hub on the ancient Silk Road, will harvest new opportunities of development with the booming of the Silk Road Economic Belt. Its famous stretched noodles can be a cultural ambassador for Lanzhou on the modern Silk Road.