Confucius once said, "to the people, food is heaven", exemplifying the significant role that food has always played in the lives of Chinese people.

Demonstrating such a thought that has influenced Chinese culture for thousands of years, Shi Yang Zhong Guo (Food Feeding China), a TV variety show, recently concluded the run of its first season on Beijing Satellite TV, amassing over 360 million views on related topics on the popular social platform, Sina Weibo.

The first season — consisting of eight episodes — features the birthplaces of some of China's top quality ingredients, such as Linyi in Shandong province, Zhangjiakou in Hebei province and Dongtai in Jiangsu province.

Through the gourmet journey joined by several celebrities like singer Hu Haiquan and host Liu Jing, the show explores the traditional Chinese culture related to the delicacies and discovers how the younger generation optimizes cultivation of the agricultural products with the help of advanced technology.

For instance, the seventh episode features a special team of farmers, all of whom are graduates with master's or doctoral degrees from the School of Marine Science at Ningbo University, with an average age of 29. These young people quit work opportunities in big cities and dedicate themselves to utilizing technologies in the fields like microecology to significantly increase the production of Pacific white shrimps in Sanmen county in eastern Zhejiang province.

According to the producers, the show has traveled more than 10,000 kilometers and delved to stories of a total of 35 ingredients.

By Xu Fan | chinadaily.com.cn