It's easy to be an underdog with little to lose; it's much harder to meet expectations when people expect greatness. Looking back at the development of luosifen, it is a history of setbacks and counterattacks.

Its amber and meaty snail broth is augmented by fermented sour bamboo shoots, dried beancurd sticks, peanuts and other toppings, and chili and vinegar are added to balance its richness. Herbs in the soup lend vegetable notes. In all it boasts a mixture of contrasting tastes.

Snail noodles originated in the late 1970s, and until 10 years ago luosifen was the preserve of the streets of the small town of Liuzhou in Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region as a cheap snack. But in 2012 luosifen was given a starring role in the television series A Bite of China, and Liuzhou's well-kept secret instantly became a national phenomenon. It was then that those who run Liuzhou sniffed a huge business opportunity.

More recently luosifen has been given a fresh burst of life thanks to online commerce, but Ni Xiaoyang, president of the Liuzhou Luosifen Association, told Economic Daily in June that the current rage for luosifen cannot be all ascribed to the internet. Rather, he says, it is a late bloomer whose development path was set down through wise local government planning long ago.

Liuzhou is an important industrial town that accounts for a quarter of Guangxi's total industrial output. It is also one of the five largest motor vehicle production centers in the country, its production and sales of vehicles of exceeding 2.5 million last year, which makes it one of the national leaders.

Jia Jiangong, deputy director of the Liuzhou Municipal Bureau of Commerce, said that although one out of every 10 cars sold in the country is made in Liuzhou, this has not translated into national renown for the town. Into this breech luosifen eventually fell, becoming synonymous with the town, and contributing 6 billion yuan ($867 million) to its industrial output of 500 billion yuan last year.