As Pingtan county in Fujian province speeds up economic growth, many migrant workers have arrived to offer their skills – as well as the specialties of their own regional cuisine - and workers from Sichuan and Chongqing are proving to have the most influence on local palates.

Pingtan residents are now familiar with well-known Sichuan dishes - such as Chongqing grilled fish, boiled fish with Sichuan pickles, and boiled beef - due to the many Sichuan restaurants around the county.

Zhang Xianhua was the first native of Kaixian county in Chongqing to open a Sichuan eatery in Pingtan two years ago – following the suggestion of a customer who talked about Pingtan's potential.

Zhang had been running a restaurant in Quanzhou city in southern Fujian for more than 10 years. He conducted some research and decided to move his business to Pingtan, opening a Sichuan restaurant featuring grilled and pickled fish in October 2011 – and he soon started to attract many loyal customers.

His success led other Kaixian county natives to open restaurants in Pingtan – and competition among local restaurants soon became more intense.

Teng Jun, owner of another Sichuan restaurant in Pingtan, said that his employees have to handle their delivery service in an efficient manner – in addition to meeting the expectations of customers in the restaurant. He also said that they sometimes tailor the dishes to suit the tastes of local residents.

Edited by Chen Zhilin and Niva Whyman