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A documentary chronicling the history and culture of Chinese food called A Bite of China rose to fame nationwide soon after its debut on China Central Television (CCTV), the country’s biggest national TV station, on May 14. The sevenepisode series averaged a rating of 0.5 percent, surpassing other TV programs aired in prime time.
The show is attracting food buffs as well as a general audience, becoming a popular search topic on the Internet with up to 10,000 clicks per hour. On discussion forums and microblogging sites, rave reviews of the show from ravenous viewers pour in. Weight loss diets are put on hold as tempted TV audiences admire mouth-watering local dishes from across China.
In addition to high ratings, A Bite of China ignites people’s passion for the local delicacies showcased in the documentary. Catering services and grocery stores have seen a spike in business following each episode.
Online food sales have surged since the show was aired. Taobao, China’s largest online shopping site, received a flood of orders for local food like Wuhan duck neck and Jinhua ham. According to site traffic statistics, Taobao’s snack category had over 4.5 million hits in seven days between May 14 and 20 when the documentary was shown.
A Bite of China caught on even in the international market. During the 65th Festival De Cannes in April, many foreign distributors signed contracts with CCTV to purchase the documentary at the film festival’s trade fair.
Zhang Lin, Director of the Overseas Market Department at China International Television Corp., said the outpouring of interest is rare for a Chinese documentary. “A Bite of China received many inquiries from foreign TV companies. At present, we are closing the deal with South Korean and Japanese purchasers. Some European distributors are also negotiating with us.”
A bite of success
Few TV programs on Chinese cuisines have received the wide praise given to A Bite of China.
“Its success can be attributed largely to three points: good theme, good timing and good job,” said Chen Xiaoqing, the director of the documentary.
“First, Chinese food is famous for its long history and great diversity around the world,”Chen said. “Second, CCTV offers a special time slot in the evening for documentaries. Third, and most importantly, the production team did an excellent job with the documentary.”
The documentary’s production team began work in March last year. In order to cover the great diversity of Chinese food ranging from haute cuisine to local delicacies and snacks, the crew traveled around China from the East China Sea to the west Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and recorded details of diverse people sharing stories about their experiences with food.
“Generally speaking, there are 800 scenes at least for each 50-minute episode,” Chen said. From the many hours of footage they craft a narrative highlighting the “deeper aspects of food,” he continued. “We try to show great respect to the custom and culture passed on by our ancestors.”
Beyond the colorful images of local foods, the sophisticated design brings a fresh perspective to the documentary. While most shows about Chinese cuisine focus only on the preparation process in the kitchen, A Bite of China offers broad and deep insights into the geographical, historical and cultural dimensions of what Chinese people eat, said Bian Jiang, adviser of the documentary and Deputy Secretary General of China Cuisine Association.
“The documentary not only shows how to cook abalones, but also depicts the hard work people put into breeding and acquiring abalones near the seaside,” said Bian. “Compared with the final product, the complicated preparation process and sweat put into it by the people can be more impressive for audiences.”
Home cooking
Another distinguishing feature of the show is its unique look into the everyday lives of the Chinese people. No matter what dish the documentary introduces, it always tells a true story of how a common Chinese family relates to a specific food. Fans of the show commented on the Internet that A Bite of China is “extensive,” “real,” and “impressive.”
One episode featuring cured meat, a delicacy in central China, is tied to a woman’s memory of her mother in a mountainous village of Hunan Province. The mother would prepare enough cured meat to sustain her family through the winter when there were no fresh vegetables. The documentary shows a woman rising before dawn to prepare a dish of fried bacon and dried turnip for her daughter’s lunch. After breakfast, she walks with her daughter along the way to a distant village school, stopping at daybreak to tell the young girl, “It is bright now. The way ahead is not difficult to walk. You can do it by yourself.”
The segment reflects the deep, universal love of a mother for her daughter. It also shows how food can unite an ordinary family together around a dinner table.
Locally made
All of the Chinese foods shown in the documentary are made by traditional means. Diversified local cuisines have formed throughout its 5,000-year history in the vast Chinese territory.
Ji Shaoting, a Xinhua News Agency correspondent, is a “foodie” and loyal viewer of the documentary. She recalled the feeling of nostalgia during a scene in which a steamed bun is filled with fricassee, a delicacy of Shaanxi Province. “My mouth watered when watching the show. I miss my hometown so much,” Ji said.
Ji grew up in Xi’an, capital of Shaanxi Province. She couldn’t be more familiar with her hometown’s famous dish. Having lived in Beijing for many years, Ji felt homesick when she saw her favorite food in the documentary.
Though people can find their hometown’s fare in large cities like Beijing, these foods cannot replace their memories of home. Many people believe that authentic local dishes can only be prepared in traditional ways using the material and water of the local place.
Traditional methods of cooking are often environmentally sustainable. For example, the documentary shows how farmers of the Shangri-La area in Yunnan Province carefully restore the land pits from which they dig mushrooms called tricholoma matsutake to avoid destroying the surrounding hyphae. Fishermen of Chagan Lake in Jilin Province use large mesh nets while fishing to make sure they get big fish and give little fish a way out so as to ensure the sustainability of fish resources.
Despite the changes China has undergone over the past 30 years, people respect the ancient wisdom of a balanced relationship between human and nature. This idea is presented in full by the documentary.
Liu Wen, General Supervisor of CCTV’s Documentary Channel, said at a seminar on May 30 that the second season of A Bite of China is going into production at the end of the year. The series will continue with the original season’s storytelling style.
“The channel serves as a window which allows the world to better understand China. The documentary aims to help a global audience not only appreciate Chinese cuisine, but also learn about Chinese custom and culture behind it,” Liu said.