Chan Mo-Li cooks beef noodles at his home in Fuzhou, Fujian province. He also sells prepackaged noodles online. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

With a soup made from scratch, high-quality ingredients and big cubes of beef, Chan Mo-Li's Taiwan beef noodles have conquered the taste buds of gourmets in Fuzhou, Fujian province.

More than two decades ago, Chan opened his first restaurant in Keelung Miaokou Night Market in Taiwan. In 2000, he expanded his business into Fuzhou, after a friend told him about the potential of the mainland.

"There are more than 3,000 beef noodle restaurants in Taiwan. Taiwan residents love beef noodles. But there were few Taiwan snacks in the mainland at the time, so I decided to come," he said.

At a cultural event in early September for Taiwan entrepreneurs to showcase their products in Fuzhou, Chan's booth was surrounded by visitors. Wearing a red T-shirt and baseball cap, he explained to everyone that "Taiwan beef noodles originate from the mainland".

"In the past, some veterans who came to Taiwan from the mainland missed food from their hometown so much that they created Taiwan beef noodles," he said.

That's why the noodles have the characteristics of different places: the way to braise meat in soy sauce is from Shanghai; the soup-making technique is from Guangdong cuisine; and the spicy flavor comes from Sichuan cuisine, he added.

"It proves that the cooking culture of both sides of the Taiwan Straits have the same roots," he said.

The entrepreneur, 56, opened six restaurants in Fuzhou, whose total annual revenue reached about 720,000 yuan ($102,000). However, business slumped because of the COVID-19 pandemic. He had to close all of his restaurants in 2020 and began to sell prepackaged products on the short video app TikTok in late 2021.

He also runs an account at Chinese news aggregator Toutiao, sharing what life is like in the Chinese mainland. In two years, he has uploaded more than 100 videos and attracted 160,000 fans.

Chan married his wife, a Fuzhou local, in 2010. He often travels around Fujian for business and records whatever interests him — a road tunnel under a blue sky with white clouds, a Taiwan delicacy he found, and his new apartment. He also shares his opinions on hot topics about cross-Straits relations.

He said Fuzhou has changed a lot and is developing fast, as are other regions in the Chinese mainland. He hopes more Taiwan people will reject stereotypes and see the mainland with their own eyes.

Since early 2022, more than 100 Taiwan families have moved to public housing offered by the Fuzhou government. The rent is just 70 percent of the regular market price. The program aims to benefit Taiwan people who are working or running a business in the city. Chan and his wife are tenants.

He said he felt "the friendliness from compatriots, the good policies and great potential in Fujian". He wants to share more stories and contribute to furthering the understanding of people from both sides of the Straits.

A Taiwan netizen commented on his video: "Life in the mainland looks so warm and comfortable." Another one wrote: "We are all one and should build China together."

Contact the writers at chenmeiling@chinadaily.com.cn