The seafood noodles in East China’s coastal city Zhoushan. [Photo/Douban.com]
As winter arrives, getting out of bed in the morning has become so much more challenging.
Yet, with Breakfast in China, a food documentary directed by Wang Shengzhi recently dropping its third season on streaming site Tencent Video, many viewers say they've become more motivated to wake up early so as to grab a hearty breakfast before kicking off the day.
Just like the first two seasons, viewers can journey across the country to taste as many as 30 types of popular breakfasts, ranging from the seafood noodles in East China's coastal city Zhoushan and the beef small rice in Zhangye, Northwest China's Gansu, to the pork chop sandwich and charcoal brewing coffee in Macao and the tofu pudding, or tofu brains in Harbin, Northeast China's Heilongjiang.
All dishes are sold by humble breakfast shops and stands around street corners.
Though each episode is about eight minutes long, it is widely praised for doing a great job in pairing mouthwatering scenes of a breakfast with heartwarming stories.
Zhutang, pig soup, is a dish that combines pork off-cuts and offal in milky pork bone soup.
Zhutang is a popular breakfast in Yincheng, North China’s Shanxi province. [Photo/Douban.com]
For example, the first episode features a breakfast stand in Yincheng, North China's Shanxi province. Run by a senior, jovial couple, the nearly 40-year-old stand sells zhutang, literally pig soup, a dish that combines pork off-cuts and offal in milky pork bone soup.
Despite its strange, even a bit distasteful name, zhutang is a local breakfast hugely popular among locals, young and old, who wait in long lines before getting to enjoy the dish with gusto.
A scene from the first episode of
Breakfast China Season Three features a boy enjoying z
hutang, pig soup in Yincheng, North China’s Shanxi province. [Photo/Douban.com]
"My mouth is watering! Maybe someday I'll ask for a day's leave and fly to Shanxi simply for a bowl of pig soup!" reads a comment by Baipang'er, a user on Douban, a popular Chinese film and TV review site, where the show has so far notched up a staggering 9.1 out of 10.
"So far I've only watched eight episodes, but I want to try them all!" commented Douban user Clara.
A scene from
Breakfast China Season Three features a couple, owners of a breakfast shop that sells beef small rice in Zhangye, Northwest China’s Gansu province. [Photo/Douban.com]
Aside from appealing to the taste buds and inspiring wanderlust, the highly-rated show wins over the audience for peppering food with strong human interest by telling stories of the shop owners.
Like the pig soup stand in Shanxi, most breakfast shops and stands featured in the show are owned and run by couples, who get up around 3 am each day and toil for hours before having their own breakfast.
A scene from the first episode of
Breakfast China Season Three features the breakfast vendor serving customers with
zhutang, pig soup. [Photo/Douban.com]
When interviewed, each couple, despite complaining about one another, moved viewers with their deep love and mutual support for each other.
"I'm so impressed with the dedication and perseverance of those shop owners. They are the people who truly know about life," reads part of the comment by Douban user Joyce_Joyce.
"One shop, two people, three meals, and four seasons – those are enough for a good life," reads another comment on the site.
The donkey burger in Hejian, North China’s Hebei province. [Photo/Douban.com]
The duck rice noodles in Huaihua, Central China’s Hunan province. [Photo/Douban.com]
A scene from
Breakfast China Season Three features the beef soup, a famous breakfast in Luoyang, Central China’s Henan province. [Photo/Douban.com]
