An annual culinary event celebrating that quintessential Taipei City specialty, beef noodles, kicked off Monday, with 103 restaurants and shops competing this year for the chance to be listed as purveyors of one of the 10 best bowls of beef noodles in the city. The first round of the two-phase competition that is the centerpiece of the 2010 Taipei International Beef Noodle Festival will give the public a chance to decide which 30 entrants will advance into the final round, in which a panel of judges consisting of chefs and gourmets will select this year's top 10 winners, Taipei City Office of Commerce Director Liu Chia-chun announced in a press conference Monday. The preliminary round will run through Oct. 15, with the final results announced Nov. 2, city government officials said. The contestants will present the dish in a variety of different cooking styles ranging from traditional stewing with soy sauce and clear simmering, to boiling with tomato, curry, satay and bean sauce, prepared with varying choices of noodles and beef cuts. Now in its sixth year, the festival has attracted many followers and fans over the years and has become a landmark event on Taipei's culinary calendar, said the officials. To encourage the public to vote for their favorites, there will also be a prize draw for voters who send in their stamped polling cards to the organizers, while Facebook users who become fans of the festival's Facebook page will have the chance of winning some free beef noodles. 