Chinese people remain faithful to those time-honored dishes and delicacies although their diet has diversified. And time-honored chefs are making efforts to pass on their unique skills so that the local specialties will not disappear. Today, we will introduce to you an accomplished noodle chef from Shanxi province and a noodle training center.

This is the noodle training center for Shanxi province. These apprentices are preparing for the commencement ceremony. In a couple of hours, they will work with their teacher, Zhang Suxiang, to prepare dishes for a panel of demanding judges.

Known as the home of the Chinese noodle, Shanxi province has a two thousand year history of making delectable dishes from flour and dough. The region currently boasts nearly three-hundred traditional noodle dishes. The most renowned is the shaved noodles.

Zhang Suxiang, noodle chef, said, "This is Shanxi's shaved noodles. This is pulled noddles. This is called Zhuan Pan noodle. "

Shaved noodles, pulled noodles, Zhuan Pan noodle, and chopped noodles are the four most famous dishes of their kind Shanxi.

For these young apprentices, the craft of making shaved noodles is a prerequisite on their journey to becoming a qualified noodle chef. Xiao An is one of Zhang Suxiang's favorite pupils in the three-month program.

Born and bred in Shanxi, Zhang Suxiang has been cooking noodles for nearly twenty years. Her extraordinary skills have won recognition at a string of national cooking contests. Among her students she is a big star.

But the fame did not come easy. In 2006, Zhang Suxiang took part in a competition organized by CCTV. To defend the honor of her home province, she went through a highly intense training session for the finals.

Zhang said, "I just kept practicing. Blisters soon appeared on my hands. It hurt so much when they broke. I couldn't even hold the knife properly. But I just applied a couple of pieces of plaster and kept on practicing. I worked day and night for several weeks on end."

The competition was held in four sessions. In the first three dishes, Zhang Xuxiang was leading the pack. However, in the dish called "single ribbon noodles", she faced a stiff challenge. But, she finally made it and carried away the trophy.

For the commencement ceremony, Zhang is eager to work with her pupils. For her, turning flour into dough and finally forming the noodles brings joy and contentment.

After three months of diligence, Xiao An has become an insider of Shanxi noodles. However, he is nervous about facing the jury.

Now the moment of truth has arrived. Following the display of Zhang Suxiang, Xiao An pulled off an impressive performance in making shaved noodles and Ti Jian noodles. The half hour performance of the two deeply impressed the audience.

Now, their creations await the judgment of the jury panel.

Sun Sipu, senior noodle chef, said, "Xiao An's dishes are basically up to the standards of Shanxi pasta. He has worked very hard. I can see that from his use of knife. He did a good job in making shaved noodles. Also striking is the innovation by Zhang Suxiang in making the chopped noodles. She blended in some vegetable juice to give the dish beautiful colors."

Following the performance, both master and pupil can relax and smile. This is a significant moment for this training center in the art of making Shanxi noodles.