Luosifen is an iconic dish in Liuzhou, famous for its sour-spicy taste and unique smell. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Sales of instant Luosifen, a rice noodle with a distinctive odor cooked with river snails, soared during the pandemic as people around the world were forced to stay home and order food online.

According to the Liuzhou Bureau of Commerce in Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, Luosifen's output value reached 4.98 billion yuan ($716 million) in the first half of this year, and its export value was eight times that of the whole year of 2019.

Experts said the popularity of Luosifen shows one aspect of the so-called home-bound economy. People tend to stay at home and buy daily necessities online. More enterprises are taking advantage of e-commerce to develop their domestic and overseas markets.

In a workshop, the workers are packaging the instant Luosifen in Liuzhou. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]