there was little to no advancement in the culinary tradition. Many fled to neighbouring Hong Kong and Taiwan to avoid starvation. In Beijing in the 1990s, a Communist-style cuisine, which is also called Cultural Revolution cuisine or CR cuisine has also been popular. Other recent innovations include the Retro-Maoist cuisine, which cashed in on the 100th anniversary of Mao Zedong's birthday, whether it was officially endorsed or not. The menu includes items such as cornmeal cakes and rice gruel. In February 1994 the Wall Street Journal wrote an article about Retro-Maoist cuisine being a hit in China. Owners of a CR-style restaurant said, "We're not nostalgic for Mao, per se. We're nostalgic for our youth." The Chinese government has denied any involvement with Retro-Maoist cuisine. One of the cuisines to benefit during the 1990s was the Chinese Islamic cuisine. The cuisines of other cultures in China have benefited from recent changes in government policy. During the Great Leap Forward and Cultural revolution of the 1970s, the government pressured the Hui people, to adopt Han Chinese culture. The national government has since abandoned efforts to impose a homogeneous Chinese culture. In order to revive their rare cuisine, the Huis began labeling their food as "traditional Hui cuisine". The revival effort has met with some success; for example, in 1994 the "Yan's family eatery" earned 15,000 yuan net income per month. This was well above the national salary average at that time. Crocodiles were eaten by Vietnamese while they were taboo and off limits for Chinese. Vietnamese women who married Chinese men adopted the Chinese taboo. Famous quotes A common saying attempts to summarize the entire cuisine in one sentence, although it now rather outdated (Hunan and Sichuan are now more famous even within China for their spicy food) and numerous variants have sprung up: Another popular traditional phrase, discussing regional strengths, singles out Cantonese cuisine as a favorite: The other references praise Suzhou's silk industry and tailors; Hangzhou's scenery; and Liuzhou's forests, whose fir trees were valued for coffins in traditional Chinese burials before cremation became popular. Variants usually keep the same focus for Canton and Guilin but sometimes suggest 'playing' in Suzhou instead (it is famed within China both for its traditional gardens and beautiful women) and 'living' () in Hangzhou. See also A Bite of Chinaa seven-part CCTV television series Notes References For references on specific foods and cuisines,