A restaurant in Zhongshan's South District is popular among diners. By Xu Junzuan

July 6 and 7, the first weekend after the ShenZhong Link opens to traffic, a multitude of tourists from Shenzhen and Hong Kong crossed the passage to seek authentic delicacies in Zhongshan.

It seems that every tourist from Shenzhen and Hong Kong brings a self-made food map of Zhongshan, which is a renowned city for Cantonese cuisine and home to over 6,000 restaurants of various sizes.

"According to social media posts, food rankings and recommendations from bloggers, we have prepared a food map of Zhongshan. We plan to try them all this weekend," said Xu Fei, a 19-year-old girl from Shenzhen, at the Baobaodian restaurant in Shiqi District.

Xu and her friends specially visited Zhongshan during that weekend for authentic food. In just one day, they had already enjoyed roasted pigeons, crisped grass carp fish, curry chicken wings, clay pot rice and coconut jelly. "There are too many options! I need to come back (to Zhongshan) with my parents next weekend," Xu smiled.

The influx of tourists from Shenzhen and Hong Kong for delicacies greatly propels the development of Zhongshan's catering sector. Many local restaurants were crowded with diners.

"We didn't expect that many customers," said Zhang Weixiong, owner of Shiqilao Restaurant, adding that the business has boomed since the opening of the ShenZhong Link. Most of the customers were coming for Shiqi Pigeon, a specialty dish in Zhongshan.