Searching the forests for raw food and natural happiness

Nestling alongside the saffron and Chinese caterpillar fungus in the shop of Zhang Xiaowei in Lhasa, Tibet are jars of honey from Nyingchi gathered from low to high altitudes in the Yarlung Zangbo Grand Canyon. It is honey of a rare purity with beekeepers taking advantage of blossoms which are free from pollution and pesticides but production is limited by the comparatively short blossom season. To justify the annual trek into the Canyon beekeepers need a higher price than their peers from down on the plains but Zhang Xiaowei found it hard to convince his customers to pay it.

Until, that is, last month when Nyingchi honey featured in the first episode of the popular China Central Television documentary A Bite of China II. Almost immediately after the program was shown, featuring the story of a Tibetan family searching the forests for raw food and natural happiness, Zhang’s honey sales began to increase and he has now sold 3,500 bottles to customers online.

The China Daily reports that this year, Tmall, an online retail platform, has been authorized to launch a website featuring sales information about food mentioned in the documentary.Among the first batch of 100 food products, most of which went online on April 18 when the program’s second season made its debut, Sichuan sausages, Peking duck and Nyingchi honey were the first to sell out.

CCTV head Hu Zhanfan has described the program as a record of Chinese people’s “living wisdom and cultural traditions”. A Bite of China, which explores the relationship between people and food, was the most recognized TV production in China in 2012.
Staging a high-profile return, the documentary’s eight-episode second season travels to more than 150 places nationwide to focus on artistically crafted urban banquets, simple home cooking and nature’s raw offerings. ...

The Chinese food series becoming popular around the world

Zhang, the online shop owner in Lhasa, hopes the documentary will help to boost development of an industry. The local government had been supportive of beekeeping, and after the documentary was shown, some businesspeople had also begun to show their interest, Zhang said. “I hope the popularity of Nyingchi honey is just a start,” he added.