A Bite of China
A Bite of China is a Chinese documentary television series on the history of food, eating, and cooking in China directed by Chen Xiaoqing, narrated by Li Lihong with original music composed by Roc Chen. It first aired 14 May 2012 on China Central Television and quickly gained high ratings and widespread popularity. The seven-episode documentary series, which began filming in March 2011, introduces the history and story behind foods of various kinds in more than 60 locations in mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. The documentary has also been actively encouraged as a means of introducing Chinese food culture to those unfamiliar with local cuisine. Various notable chefs such as Shen Hongfei and Chua Lam were consultants on the project.
A second season of A Bite of China, also consisting of seven episodes, aired from 18 April to 6 June 2014. The third season is aired from 19 to 26 February 2018, during the Spring Festival holiday.
Foods Featured
Season 1
Season 2
Some of these English translations are based on China Daily so may not be accurate.| Episode | Title | Dish | Dish | Location |
| 1 | Footsteps | 麻辣香肠 | Spicy sausage | |
| 1 | Footsteps | 蜜汁鳗鱼 | Honey-glazed eel | |
| 1 | Footsteps | 清炖跳跳鱼 | Stewed mudskippers | |
| 1 | Footsteps | 山东煎饼 | Shandong-style jianbing | Shandong |
| 1 | Footsteps | 潮州春卷 | Chaozhou spring rolls | Chaozhou, Guangdong |
| 1 | Footsteps | 雷山鱼酱 | Leishan fish sauce | Leishan County, Guizhou |
| 1 | Footsteps | 酥油蜂蜜 | Honey shortening | |
| 1 | Footsteps | 蓝田裤带面 | Lantian Biangbiang noodles | Lantian County, Shaanxi |
| 1 | Footsteps | 煎饼卷大葱 | Scallions in Shandong-style jianbing | |
| 1 | Footsteps | 泉州萝卜饭 | Quanzhou radish rice roll | Quanzhou, Fujian |
| 2 | Heritage | 菜籽油 | Rapeseed Oil | She County, Anhui |
| 2 | Heritage | 挂面 | Hung-dried Noodles | Shaanxi |
| 2 | Heritage | 糯米卷 | Sticky Rice Rolls | Suzhou |
| 2 | Heritage | 苏式小方糕 | Suzhou-style Little Diamond Cakes | Suzhou |
| 2 | Heritage | 蕨根糍粑 | Fern Root Cake | Chenzhou |
| 2 | Heritage | 蚝烙 | Or Luak | Shantou |
| 2 | Heritage | 烫干丝 | Dried tofu threads in consommé | Yangzhou |
| 2 | Heritage | 扣三丝 | Chicken, Mushroom, Ham Threads in Consommé | Shanghai |
| 2 | Heritage | 油爆河虾 | Flash Fried River Shrimp | Shanghai |
| 2 | Heritage | 黄鳝啫啫煲 | Swamp eel clay pot | Guangzhou |
| 2 | Heritage | 三套鸭 | Santaoya | |
| 2 | Heritage | 脱骨鱼 | Bone-free fish | |
| 2 | Heritage | 船点 | Boat pastry | Suzhou |
| 2 | Heritage | 枣泥拉糕 | Jujube paste cake | Suzhou |
| 2 | Heritage | 苏州头汤面 | Suzhou noodles cooked in first-time soup | Suzhou |
| 2 | Heritage | 重庆小面 | Chongqing small noodles | Chongqing |
| 2 | Heritage | 凉拌猪耳 | Pig ears dressed with sause | |
| 2 | Heritage | 蒜泥白肉 | Thin-sliced pork belly with minced garlic sauce | |
| 2 | Heritage | 红油 | Chili oil | |
| 2 | Heritage | 油炸锅巴 | Fried Scorched rice | |
| 2 | Heritage | 回锅肉 | Twice cooked pork | |
| 3 | Seasons | 雷笋炒肉丝 | Fried shredded pork with early spring bamboo shoots | |
| 3 | Seasons | 笋干炖鸡 | Stewed chicken with dried bamboo shoots | |
| 3 | Seasons | 铁锅炖鱼 | Fish and tofu stewed in iron pot | |
| 3 | Seasons | 咸肉蒸黄泥拱竹笋 | Steamed bacon with Huang-ni-gong bamboo shoots | |
| 3 | Seasons | 榆钱饭 | Steamed elm seeds with cornmeal | |
| 3 | Seasons | 紫苏炒青蛳 | Purple perilla fried with water snails | |
| 3 | Seasons | 玛仁糖/切糕 | Xinjiang cut cake | Xinjiang |
| 3 | Seasons | 抓饭 | Xinjiang polu | Xinjiang |
| 3 | Seasons | 虾子小刀面 | Noodles with shrimp roe | |
| 3 | Seasons | 桂花糯米藕 | Steamed lotus root stuffed with sticky rice and sweet olive flower | |
| 3 | Seasons | 板栗烧鸡 | Braised chicken with chestnuts | |
| 3 | Seasons | 老鸭雁来蕈 | Old duck stewed with lactarius deliciosus | |
| 4 | Home Cooking | 小凹馍 | Steamed concave buns made of maize flour and Chinese chives | |
| 4 | Home Cooking | 莜面凉皮 | Naked oat glass noodle | |
| 4 | Home Cooking | 天门蒸菜 | Tian-men steamed dishes | |
| 4 | Home Cooking | 红烧肉 | Red braised pork belly | |
| 4 | Home Cooking | 泡菜鱼 | Stewed fish in paocai | |
| 4 | Home Cooking | 泡菜 | Paocai | |
| 4 | Home Cooking | 西瓜酱 | Watermelon jam | |
| 4 | Home Cooking | 虾子焖茭白 | Shrimp roe stewed with manchurian wild rice | |
| 4 | Home Cooking | 蒲菜涨蛋 | Cattail omelette | |
| 4 | Home Cooking | 蒲菜水饺 | Cattail dumplings | |
| 4 | Home Cooking | 奶汤蒲菜 | Stewed cattail in milky soup | |
| 4 | Home Cooking | 蒲笋干烧肉 | Braised pork with cattail | |
| 4 | Home Cooking | 陈皮红豆沙 | Orange flavored red bean paste | |
| 4 | Home Cooking | 红豆姜撞奶 | Ginger milk with red bean | |
| 4 | Home Cooking | 莲子龟苓膏 | Lotus seed Guilinggao | |
| 4 | Home Cooking | 木瓜雪耳羹 | Dessert soup with snow ear and papaya | |
| 4 | Home Cooking | 鹌鹑蛋白果糖水 | Tong sui with quail eggs and ginkgo fruit | |
| 4 | Home Cooking | 黄糖糍粑 | Glutinous rice cake with brown sugar | |
| 4 | Home Cooking | 猪脚姜 | Stewed pig's feet with ginger | |
| 4 | Home Cooking | 冬瓜荷叶煲老鸭 | Boiled old duck with winter melon and lotus leaf | |
| 5 | Encounters | 小鸡炖蘑菇 | Stewed chick with mushroom | Jilin |
| 5 | Encounters | 烩南北 | Stewed mushrooms with winter bamboo shoots | |
| 5 | Encounters | 重庆火锅 | Chongqing hot pot | Chongqing |
| 5 | Encounters | 北京涮肉火锅 | Beijing hot pot | Beijing |
| 5 | Encounters | 云南菌子火锅 | Yunnan mushroom hot pot | Yunnan |
| 5 | Encounters | 潮汕牛肉火锅 | Chaoshan Beef hot pot | Chaoshan |
| 5 | Encounters | 鸡蛋仔 | Egg puff | Hong Kong |
| 5 | Encounters | 粉圆 | Tapioca Pearls | Hong Kong |
| 5 | Encounters | 烤香肠 | Toasted sausage | |
| 5 | Encounters | 葡式焗扇贝 | Portuguese-style baked scallops | Macau |
| 5 | Encounters | 豆腐蒸桂花鱼 | Steamed mandarin fish with tofu | |
| 5 | Encounters | 金汤水煮鳜鱼 | Stewed mandarin fish in pumpkin soup | |
| 5 | Encounters | 水煮海鲜 | Poached seafood | |
| 5 | Encounters | 盆菜 | Poon choi / basin meal | |
| 5 | Encounters | 西湖醋鱼 | West Lake fish in vinegar gravy | |
| 5 | Encounters | 鲤鱼焙面 | Baked noodles with sweet-and-sour carp | |
| 5 | Encounters | 开封灌汤包 | Kaifeng soup dumplings | Kaifeng |
| 5 | Encounters | 杭州小笼包 | Hangzhou soup dumplings | Hangzhou |
| 5 | Encounters | 片儿川 | Noodles with pork, bamboo shoot and Chinese mustard green | Kaifeng, Henan |
| 5 | Encounters | 罗宋汤 | Borscht | Shanghai |
| 5 | Encounters | 炸猪排 | Deep fried pork cutlet | Shanghai |
| 5 | Encounters | 牛肉球 | Steamed beef ball | |
| 5 | Encounters | 纳仁 | Stewed mutton with noodles | |
| 5 | Encounters | 大盘鸡 | Saute spicy chicken with potatoes and noodles | Xinjiang |
| 5 | Encounters | 架子肉 | Meat roasted on skewer | |
| 5 | Encounters | 烤包子 | Roasted samsas | |
| 5 | Encounters | 拉条子 | Lagman noodle | Xinjiang |
| 5 | Encounters | 上海桂花糕 | Shanghai osmanthus cake | |
| 5 | Encounters | 红烧牛肉面 | Noodles with red braised beef | |
| 5 | Encounters | 壳菜肉/淡菜 | Dried mussel meat | |
| 6 | Secret Realms | 酸辣华子鱼 | Hot and sour Amur ide | |
| 6 | Secret Realms | 沙蟹汁 | Ghost crab extract | |
| 6 | Secret Realms | 韭花酱 | Chive flower sauce | |
| 6 | Secret Realms | 羊肚包肉 | Roasted mutton wrapped in lamb tripe | |
| 6 | Secret Realms | 红柳枝烤羊肉 | Mutton cubes kawap on rose willow branch | |
| 6 | Secret Realms | 手抓羊肉 | Boiled mutton / Mutton eaten with hands | |
| 6 | Secret Realms | 馕 | Xinjiang naan | Xinjiang |
| 6 | Secret Realms | 清蒸石斑鱼 | Steamed grouper | |
| 6 | Secret Realms | 清蒸鱼干 | Steamed dried fish | |
| 6 | Secret Realms | 清蒸虾干 | Steamed dried shrimps | |
| 6 | Secret Realms | 炒鸡枞 | Fried termite mushroom | |
| 7 | Three Meals | 煎饼果子 | Tianjin-style jianbing | Tianjin |
| 7 | Three Meals | 面窝 | Mianwo | Wuhan |
| 7 | Three Meals | 三鲜豆皮 | Seafood tofu skin | |
| 7 | Three Meals | 热干面 | Hot dry noodles | Wuhan |
| 7 | Three Meals | 艇仔粥 | Tingzai porridge | Guangzhou |
| 7 | Three Meals | 肠粉 | Rice noodle roll | Guangzhou |
| 7 | Three Meals | 干蒸烧卖 | Siu mai | Guangzhou |
| 7 | Three Meals | 榴莲酥 | Crispy durian cake | Guangzhou |
| 7 | Three Meals | 虾饺 | Har gow | Guangzhou |
| 7 | Three Meals | 咸鸭蛋 | Salted duck egg | |
| 7 | Three Meals | 剁椒蒸鱼头 | Steamed fish head with pickled peppers | |
| 7 | Three Meals | 蒿子粑粑 | Crown daisy rice cake | |
| 7 | Three Meals | 干子烧肉 | Braised pork with dried tofu | |
| 7 | Three Meals | 时蔬彩虹蛋糕 | Seasonal vegetables rainbow cake | |
| 7 | Three Meals | 冰皮月饼 | Snow skin mooncake | Hong Kong |
| 7 | Three Meals | 生煎包 | Shengjian mantou | |
| 7 | Three Meals | 锅盔 | Guokui | |
| 7 | Three Meals | 豌杂面 | Noodles with peas and meat sauce | Sichuan |
| 7 | Three Meals | 麻辣鸡 | Chicken cured with chili and flower pepper | |
| 7 | Three Meals | 酸木瓜煮鱼 | Stewed fish with pickled papaya | |
| 7 | Three Meals | 爆炒见手青 | Stir-fried Jian-Shou-Qing mushrooms |
Reception
A Bite of China attracted high ratings during its nightly airing on CCTV-1, drawing an estimated 100 million viewers. It also has an overall approval rating of 91% on Douban. Oliver Thring of The Guardian praised it as "the best TV show I've ever seen about food. I'd hazard it's the best one ever made."Criticism
In the Episode 2 of the Season 3, the voice-over indicates that Huifang as a community in Xi'an dates back to Tang dynasty. The remark was refuted by a history scholar, Yu Gengzhe. Yu commented on Weibo that where present-day Huifang located, was the Central Secretariat of Tang, along with the barracks of the imperial guards. And a mosque supposedly was sited there in the Song.Controversies
The background Chinese painting appeared in the documentary's poster is "Ridge cloud with rain" by Xu Qinsong. At first, the poster designer used the painting without permission of Mr. Xu, However, this copyright issue was later solved by reconciliation between the artist and the documentary producer.International Broadcast
- -8TV