A slightly stout man, wearing a chef's hat and a white apron, was cooking and explaining the cooking steps. There are always one or two graceful female hosts beside him to observe and explain on the spot, and from time to time they will be frightened and screamed by the oil splashing out of the oil pan. Finally, when the chef finished the dishes, the one or two female hosts picked up the chopsticks, picked up the dishes and slowly put them between their lips, then closed their eyes tightly, looking like they were intoxicated by the delicious food, and made a slurping sound from their mouths. The words of praise "It's really delicious!" The above description is roughly the usual routine of most TV stations' food programs. It is difficult to retain the taste memory created by fixed spaces such as chefs, beautiful hosts, and live cooking. However, CCTV's "A Bite of China" some time ago opened up a new horizon for food programs and opened up China's Audiences’ taste memories long victimized by food safety.

Before "A Bite of China", CCTV had produced many excellent documentaries. "Talk about the Yangtze River" in the 1980s, "Looking at the Great Wall" in the 1990s, "The Forbidden City" and "New Silk Road" in the new century, etc. Most of these documentaries are based on historical and humanistic themes, showing Chinese culture and history in a macroscopic way. However, "A Bite of China" starts from the perspective of food, showing the relationship between Chinese people and food through the integration of food, and microscopically showing the life behind the delicious food of ordinary Chinese people. From this aspect, "A Bite of China" seems more down-to-earth.

"A Bite of China" is not a documentary that simply talks about food. It uses multiple aspects of Chinese food and extends the multi-angle and diversified viewing effects from the particularity of its own subject matter. Various elements such as the living conditions of the Chinese people, traditional values, Chinese national culture, folk customs and customs are all vividly reflected through the stories behind the food.

"A Bite of China" *** has 7 episodes, each episode has a theme, and the main line of each theme adopts a fragmented editing method to combine different regions. and grafting. Regardless of the editing, the film projects its perspective on ordinary people from all over the world, and most of them appear in the film as family portraits. Lao Huang and his son in Dali, Yunnan, cure ham together; two brothers who are professional lotus root diggers in Jiayu County, Hubei; Bai Bo, a professional photographer, can only go home to eat dumplings with his family during the Chinese New Year; Jin Shunji, who has settled in Beijing, returns home I went to my hometown to learn how to make kimchi from my mother... Behind almost every delicacy is a family, carrying the happiness and warmth of the family and reflecting a strong sense of humanity. The issues discussed in "A Bite of China" are not just as simple as "eating". It uses food as a medium, through simple and delicate descriptions of food, and a subtle understanding of the relationship between people and ingredients, to quietly convey the story of China over thousands of years. The intelligent thinking and taste aesthetic produced by people's labor can make every food arouse the viewer's deep feeling of homesickness. All of this makes this documentary unique and charming.

For people who have lived in modern cities for a long time, "A Bite of China" provides people with a window to peek into the outside world without leaving their homes. The food culture, customs, and ethnic rituals of ethnic minorities have presented a strange and novel world to the audience, which is definitely a spectacle for secular urbanites. In the first episode "Nature's Gift", the mother and daughter of Dolma in Shangri-La walked to the virgin forest 30 kilometers away at three o'clock in the morning to pick matsutake mushrooms. When the matsutake mushrooms were unearthed, Dolma immediately covered the fungus pit with pine branches on the ground. Only in this way can the mycelium be protected from damage. In order to continue the gifts of nature, the Tibetans carefully abide by the rules of the forest. On the one hand, we can't help but admire the delicious food that nature has given to human beings, and marvel at the magic and mystery of nature. On the other hand, we lament even more the long-standing harmony between nature and humans.

Since the filming of "A Bite of China" started in March 2011, the filming cycle has been as long as half a year. It is the first large-scale food documentary in China to be shot with high-definition equipment. The crew spans more than 60 regions in China, covering various regions in China including Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. In China, apart from CCTV, there is probably no other large-scale shooting that consumes such manpower and material resources. However, as a mainstream television media that represents the image of the country, CCTV has become a loudspeaker for promoting national ideology, and the voice it emits must have the meaning of some kind of state machine or ideology. As a documentary shot by CCTV, it will inevitably have a main theme sound.

This film focuses on ordinary people in real life, reflecting the emotions of ordinary people's daily lives from a flat perspective, which is more likely to arouse the audience's emotional screams. Every audience can experience the pleasure brought by stimulating taste buds from these delicacies that are the most livelihood and closest to themselves, and thus read a kind of power that comes from the grassroots. The smiles of the ordinary workers in the film, the peaceful and contented lives of the simple people, the happiness and self-sufficiency of the small businessmen, etc. are obviously incompatible with the current reality in China, but the film provides the audience with an ideal utopia. In this ideal utopia , the audience temporarily forgets the depression and dissatisfaction in reality, trying to find a trace of spiritual suture and spiritual comfort in this beautiful utopia.

When serious hidden dangers arise in food safety in China today, when local gutter oil, tainted milk powder, clenbuterol, Sudan red, leather shoe capsules, etc. are challenging the public’s psychological defenses time and time again, "The Tip of the Tongue" "China" is a documentary that uses the name of food but actually promotes the truth, goodness and beauty of the mainstream national ideology. It was released at the right time, making people indulge in the food in the image and forget about it, temporarily forgetting all the unhappiness in reality. The dream-creating power of this image is exactly the same as the control of the people by the country's mainstream ideology.

If you want to interpret it according to a certain mainstream point of view, the entire content of this documentary can be expressed in one lyric: "The hard-working and brave Chinese people enter the new era with high spirits." Look at the hard-working and simple working people in the film, the humble and kind-hearted ordinary people, the people who live a simple life in an agricultural civilization, and the craftsmen who have inherited the wisdom and craftsmanship left by their ancestors. We can't help but exclaim "This nation is so great", and then we will have a sense of national pride.

For a documentary, "A Bite of China" has presented a very valuable perspective to show the living conditions of ordinary people. However, this kind of warm expression similar to the main theme deliberately conceals the true face in reality. Perhaps, we should not expect CCTV documentaries to solve more problems in reality.