Ever since China and Costa Rica established diplomatic relations in June 2007, about 50,000 Chinese people have settled in the beautiful Central American country.

The Chinese community has influenced local society - including the cuisine - as a result.

Li Changhua, former Chinese ambassador to Costa Rica, said more Chinese restaurants have opened in the country, and today they even offer the most famous Chinese dish - Peking duck.

"Local people prefer dishes with sweet and sour flavors, and they like duck as well," Li said. "In the past, local restaurants offered only Cantonese dishes, such as Cantonese roast duck, roast goose, and barbecued pork. But in recent years, Peking duck has been provided as well."

A Chinese man named Wu has been running a Chinese restaurant in San Jose, the capital of Costa Rica, for five years. He said local customers prefer Chinese fried rice and roasted chicken.

"Running a restaurant in San Jose is much easier than in China. The process of getting a restaurant license is much shorter and simplified here," he said.

Local people like Chinese food so much that they produced a record serving of fried rice in San Jose's Chinatown in February. About 50 Chinese chefs and local cooks used 700 kg of rice, 200 kg of chicken, dozens of eggs and 100 kg of ham and sausage.

Costa Ricans are enthusiastic about President Xi Jinping's trip to their country. Many waited to greet the Chinese leader along the route from the airport to his hotel after Xi arrived in San Jose on Sunday night.

Xi's state visit aims to promote cooperation between the two countries.

A Chinese president first visited Costa Rica in November 2008, when then-president Hu Jintao paid a state visit.

zhaoyanrong@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily USA 06/05/2013 page3)