[Photo by Wang Zhuangfei/China Daily]

"Hotpot is our city's signature cuisine with a long history," Yan said.

While acknowledging that "it's not too healthy", given hotpot's excessive oil and spices, "I am a huge fan of hotpot," Nukada said. "Pig brain is my favorite dish."

The students learned the history of hotpot at the museum and watched the chef making the soup. Some even cooked it themselves.

"When I first ate hotpot in Chongqing, I almost fainted because it's so spicy," said Khishigdelger from Mongolia, an undergraduate at Southwest University majoring in international trade.

"But now I have fallen in love with it."

During World War II, when Chongqing was the wartime capital, the dish gained global popularity.

Now from New York to Dubai, chain restaurants serving Chongqing hotpot are all over the world.

Last year, the city exported 400 metric tons of packed hotpot soup base to 10 countries and regions, including the United States, Australia and Southeast Asia.