Customers hold on to their chosen ingredients at a crowded malatang restaurant in Tianshui, Gansu province, on Thursday. [Photo by JIGME TENZIN for China News Service]

Delicacy: Special pepper seen as key to unique flavor

It took six hours for Liu Yi, 26, to get to Tianshui, Northwest China's Gansu province, by train. It took another two hours of waiting in a queue before he could finally get his hands on a bowl of local malatang — a mix of foods boiled in hot, spicy broth.

While choosing the ingredients he wanted, Liu picked wide, thin rice noodles and a lot of chillies, along with the usual vegetables and meat. Spicy food is a must for Liu, a native of Southwest China's Sichuan province.

The malatang did not disappoint. "It has a kind of rich fragrance," Liu said, after wiping his bowl clean.

The popularity of the dish is suddenly soaring. Thousands of diners like Liu have been making their way to the little-known northwestern city to try malatang, overwhelming local restaurant owners and contributing to local wealth.