CHONGQING (CQNEWS) -- The differences between Malatang and Maocai have become a hot topic on the Internet recently. Some netizens even drew a “genogram” to classify some spicy food including hot pot, Maocai and Bobo Chicken.

Puzzle of the "century" confused numerous people

An unintentional question on Weibo has become a “puzzle of the century”. Numerous netizens began to debate drastically on the differences between Malatang and Maocai recently.

The question has been reposted for over 30,000 times rapidly, attracting about 4,000 netizens to discuss online. This is even as drastic as a colloquium.

It is said that Maocai is a traditional Sichuan snack originating in Chengdu. After continuous innovation, it has become another delicacy with Sichuan characteristics sweeping across China after hot pot and Malatang. Meanwhile, Malatang is a traditional special snack originating from Sichuan and Chongqing, which has inspired the creation of spicy hot pot, a representative delicacy with “Sichuan flavor”.

However, such explanation is still insufficient for many netizens to tell Maocai and Malatang apart.