CHENGDU, May 9 (Xinhua) -- A food festival featuring China's thousands of years old food and cooking culture has begun in Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province.

The Chengdu Panda Asian Food Festival, a part of the forthcoming Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilizations, is being held in Chengdu Museum and will last until June 9.

The organizer said that 130 items, including real food, photos and literature on the food and cooking culture from the pre-Qin period (pre-221 B.C.) to the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), are being exhibited.

The exhibits come from nine museums across China, including the provincial museums of Guangdong and Yunnan.

The exhibition also shows exchanges between different civilizations in the food culture, according to the organizer.