About the China Food Trail Project
10,000 km journey in search of the origins and evolution of Chinese cuisine.

Chinese food history and culture has long been a source of fascination for me. In November when I set off on the first stage of a journey through China in search of the origins and evolution of Chinese cuisine, I will be realising a five-year-old ambition. The journey I have planned involves traversing twenty provinces, literally, and half a million years, historically.

Pork, first for the spirits, then the mortals.

Chinese is the world's most popular food. Not only does it sustain 1.3 billion people in its homeland, it is probably the most widely eaten ethnic cuisine on the planet. Did you know, for example, that in the United States alone there are more Chinese eateries than McDonald's, worldwide! With all the 'exotic' eating choices that modern cities now offer, Chinese still holds the power to stimulate, and even shock both our senses and sensibilities. And if you think you have seen it all at your local Chinese restaurant or down in Chinatown, think again. Anyone who has visited China, no matter how briefly, brings back colourful eating anecdotes. Many of these stories are grand, but some are almost guaranteed to gross out friends or family. The enduring popularity of Chinese food around the globe cannot be denied, but as familiar as it is, Chinese food culture is not particularly well understood.

For several years I have lived in Taiwan, an island with a largely ethnic Chinese population. Though Taiwan is even smaller than Switzerland, I am constantly discovering 'new' ingredients and dishes. But the variety available in Taiwan completely pales in comparison to China. The Middle Kingdom is two-hundred and sixty times larger than Taiwan, and it is a country with a more diverse climate and geography than any other. If measured by its range of ingredients, preparation methods, and dishes, Chinese is the world's most sophisticated cuisine.

An array of toppings for shaved ice.

What I want to know is how this extraordinary cuisine came to be – why do the Chinese eat the way they do? And that is why I am packing my bags and going on what I call, the 'China Food Trail.'

In China I will be meeting people from all walks of life and discovering how they live and eat. But most of all I'll be eating; in palatial dining halls, in rowdy night markets, savouring a variety of foods, some of which have intrigued or repulsed foreigners for centuries.

The China Food Trail Project will unwind in a series of trips through China beginning in November 2006, and continuing throughout 2007.

Chinese food, strictly defined, is the food of the dominate Han-Chinese, but I am also curious about the food of the other ethnic populations, and will travel to Tibet, Inner Mongolia, amongst other important locations. I expect to log around 10,000 km (6,000 miles), travelling by any means available.

While I won't be posting an epic travel journal on this site, I will be sharing experiences, anecdotes, photographs, and perhaps some recipes picked up along the way, whenever an internet connection can be found. I hope to provide some historical context, and some sense of the variety of Chinese food available today, as well as some of the fascinating minutiae of daily life in China.

Stephen Jack
October 2006