Matter of taste

A scene from A Bite of China 2 Photo: Courtesy of CCTV 9

No matter what part of the country we live in most Chinese people grow up to have pride in our cuisine. The tastes we get to enjoy growing up are one of the most remarkable part of our lives, and no matter where we go or how old we grow they will always be an indelible part of our memories. Even if we can't always agree as to who has the best local food, people's love for food is universal throughout the nation.

With this in mind it's no wonder when a documentary showing mouth-watering Chinese cuisine and amazing cooking skills while telling stories that show the cultural significance of this food comes along, people throughout China can't help but watch and talk about it with their friends with a certain amount of pride.

This is the phenomenon that the first season of A Bite of China became when it first aired two years ago to high acclaim both at home and abroad. So of course when the sequel was announced, expectations ran high as TV watchers awaited the culinary delights of the eight episode second season.

Since the first episode of A Bite of China 2 began airing last month, the show has once again received quite a bit of attention among audiences. Meanwhile, some of the traditional local dishes shown have become popular outside their local areas. For instance, a local museum in Yimeng, Shandong province, is capitalizing on the sudden popularity of the city's local pancake-like snack after it was shown on the show to ensure the delicacy gets listed as part of the Province's intangible heritage. Meanwhile, restaurants mentioned in the series have experienced unprecedented popularity, especially over the recent May Day Holidays at the beginning of this month.

With each new episode, audiences around the country look forward to possible mentions of their own favorite local delicacy to appear in the program.

Saliva or tears

During the build up to season two, the series creators mentioned that they wanted to place more focus on human relationships and the stories behind all the different food in China. True to this promise, last Friday's episode, "Jiachang" (lit: everyday family life), had the largest amount of story-telling than any other episode to date. Seemingly a special Mother's Day tribute, the episode told five provoking stories centered on ethnic families in China. Out of these five, the story of a mother of a 14-year-old violinist may have the least to do with food.

This meticulous mother has dedicated herself to every aspect of her daughter's life: attending her daughter's classes, tracking her daughter's musical progress, preparing her daughter's visa and of course cooking nourishing meals for the young musician.