[Photo provided to China Daily]

Auntie Wu's Dumplings

The owner of Auntie Wu's Dumplings doesn't know auntie Wu. In fact, the middle-aged man surnamed Lu isn't even sure she ever existed.

But the legend of Auntie Wu and her divine pork-and-vegetable dumplings in the water town of Wuzhen, which once had fewer than 10,000 inhabitants, inspired Lu to dedicate his eatery to the "dumpling goddess".

It worked. The small eatery, which covers about 30 square meters, sells over 8,000 dumplings a day. It served about 1,000 daily when it opened five years ago.

Lu believes the restaurant's success goes beyond the legend. A major part is that everything is made fresh daily, he says.