Panorama of Xijiang Qianhu Miao Village in Qiandongnan near Kaili.

Food · Customs · Craft

How people across China
eat, live and make things.

23 topics · 93 cities · 27 landscapes

Panorama of Xijiang Qianhu Miao Village in Qiandongnan near Kaili.

Food, customs and craft: 23 topics, each about one concrete thing — what a bowl of noodles tastes like, how water is divided between fields, how clay becomes a bowl.

Tea leaves opening in a white porcelain bowl in People's Park, Chengdu.
Food

Terroir in a Steeping Cup

Why does the same camellia sinensis leaf produce such profoundly different infusions and rituals across regions?

Hangzhou · Wuyishan · Chengdu
Water-filled Hani rice terraces following the hillsides in Yuanyang.
Customs

Ancient Rules of Shared Water

How do communities across dry valleys and terraced hills fairly divide living mountain water?

Ceramic vessels in a courtyard with white walls and tiled roofs in Jingdezhen.
Craft

Earth, Water, and Kiln Fire

Why does raw earth from riverbanks yield earthenware, unglazed stoneware, and luminous porcelain in different kilns?

A temple and its lake inside the Badain Jaran Desert. The dunes stand far higher than the water; the reflection is the only thing that levels them.
A temple and its lake inside the Badain Jaran Desert. The dunes stand far higher than the water; the reflection is the only thing that levels them.

Topics

Food

10 pieces

  1. 01Rice and Wheat in Everyday BowlsGrain
  2. 02Sour Flavors from Earth and JarSour
  3. 03The Warm Complexities of HeatHeat
  4. 04Savour of Mountain and SeaUmami
  5. 05Sweetness in Festive and Quiet DaysSweet
  6. 06Cured by Salt, Wind, and TimeCuring
  7. 07Brews Born from Grain and YeastDrink
  8. 08Slow-Simmered Pots and Warm BowlsSoup
  9. 09Terroir in a Steeping CupTea
  10. 10Morning Steam in the StreetsBreakfast

Customs

7 pieces

  1. 01Dwellings Shaped by Earth and ClimateDwellings
  2. 02Shelter and Passage: The Covered BridgeBridge
  3. 03Ancient Rules of Shared WaterWater
  4. 04The Hearth at the Centre of the HomeHearth
  5. 05Ancestral Halls at the Village CoreAncestral hall
  6. 06Festivals on Diverse CalendarsNew year
  7. 07Country Towns Beyond the City EdgeBeyond the city

Craft

6 pieces

  1. 01Handmade Paper from Forest and StreamPaper
  2. 02The Art of Woven BambooBamboo
  3. 03Reeling Silk into Woven LightSilk
  4. 04Indigo Born of Wild PlantsIndigo
  5. 05The Patience of Natural LacquerLacquer
  6. 06Earth, Water, and Kiln FireKiln

Places

All 93 cities
  1. ChengduSichuan · Chengdu Plain
  2. ChaozhouGuangdong · Han River
  3. QuanzhouFujian · Jin River Estuary
  4. ShaoxingZhejiang · Lake Jian
  5. JingdezhenJiangxi · Chang River
  6. PingyaoShanxi · Fen River
  7. DaliYunnan · Erhai
  8. KashgarXinjiang · Eastern Pamir Foothills
  9. LanzhouGansu · Yellow River Valley
  10. GuangzhouGuangdong · Pearl River Delta

Destinations

All 27