CHENGDU, May 16 (Xinhua) -- As a part of the Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilizations, an Asian food festival opened Thursday in Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province.

The week-long festival, dubbed Chengdu Panda Asian Food Festival, aims to promote exchanges of Asian cultures by featuring foods from different countries and regions, including Thailand, Israel, Singapore and Pakistan.

The Asian Food Culture Alliance, initiated by a cuisine association in Chengdu, was founded on Thursday to protect traditional ways of preparing various cuisines and promote Asian food culture.

Sichuan is known for spicy dishes. It is also home to giant pandas.