From famine to feast: Street food Beijing

Beijing, the capital of one of the fastest growing countries and economies in the world, is also home to interesting, and sometimes bizarre, street foods.
From silk worm cocoons that are crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside, to eating barbecued seahorse, which is believed to be good for your blood circulation, Beijing is well-known for its night and food markets that offer a variety food.
The Chinese love their food, but dietary habits have changed rapidly in the past few decades.
In a very short time, China has gone from "famine to feast". Today, the food in Beijing is as varied as it is plentiful: traditional or modern, Chinese or Western, China's capital caters to all tastes and needs.
But while the narrow streets of Beijing used to be crowded with street vendors selling snacks day and night, many of these streets have now been demolished to make way for more high-rise buildings.
The arrival and expanding nature of the Western fast-food chains in Beijing now cater to the ever-growing and bustling population that eat on the go and now rather favour these foods to traditional Beijing street food.
With new-found wealth, many Chinese are also eating more than they used to and obesity rates among teenagers and children are rising.
Although the high level of obesity is a problem, that is not the only concern. According to professor Li Liu Bai, a nutritionist from Beijing University, another big concern is the danger of increasing cholesterol as diets and eating habits have changed. While the Chinese diet was mainly based on vegetables and protein-substitute legume products such as tofu, more people have started to eat meat more frequently.
"We used to eat three or four meals, mostly carbohydrates, and now people are eating more meat," says Li.
While there are economic reasons that point to this problem, Li explains the social motivators behind teenage and child obesity: "We only have one child, and because of that, all our hopes are on his shoulders. Many parents push their children to learn more skills from a very young age. If the child then asks for any food, we will not refuse."
Traditional Chinese food, rather known more to be fast and tasty, but also healthy, has not entirely died out. Street vendors and stalls have learned to adapt and use recipes that are speedy to make, but are healthier than that of the fast-food chains.
The food of the streets in Beijing tells the story of a culture torn between tradition and modernity, the customs of an ancient past competing with the convenience age of the new.
What will survive and what will be lost? In a China which has gone within two generations from mass starvation to obesity, what does the future hold? Can fast, healthy and tasty alternatives help the Chinese to decrease in size?
Update: Since the making of this film in 2008, obesity has gone down and recent statistics suggest that 62 million people in China are currently classified as obese. Although this shows a decrease, this still makes them the second largest obese population behind the United States.
Editor's note: This film was first broadcast on Al Jazeera English in 2008.

[@masaharumorimoto4761]

Fantastic episode!!! Love from Canada!

[@isunlloaoll]

This was from 2008, 9 years is a H U G E difference in China. Within those 9 years, literally cities have grew out of no where.

[@armv7-m603]

Some of them empty

[@luigicadorna8644]

Most of them not.

[@monkeydog8681]

Luigi Cadorna half is not most.

[@shakilkolkata]

There is a great deal false impression about Chinese system and machinery.

[@erbium4308]

China's Nominal GDP has more than doubled since 2008

[@JLMetaMix]

10:29 best guy in market place.

[@Fapple]

i laughed so hard and had to rewatch that part

[@woorichgaming2674]

Lol, that street vendor lady yelled that foreigner speaks great mandarin

[@thesouroppe4460]

That 'Hello' vendor had me ROFL.

[@maggs__s]

haha I thought I was the only one who noticed that

[@fazlya.9488]

Lol I agree

[@rayli7972]

SAME!!!

[@ronen124]

10:30 ✔👍

[@savagemiss5081]

Me too!! I chuckled at that

[@ezekieledzelnadia8291]

Nakakatuwa ganitong school yung pag mataba student pinapag excercise... hehhe.... nice

[@PhoenixWang]

Al Jazeera English needs to market itself more when it provides exceptionally quality content such as this one, that far surpasses any party-line-drawn contemporary media outlet such as CNN and FOX.

[@FmSafdar]

Thank you Al Jazeera, you guys are really commited.

[@congren917]

I thought this episode is about street foods of Beijing... how did it turn into a philosophical issue about childhood obesity and fast food? The title is a bit misleading.

[@Miumiu0404]

Maybe that's what they said to the Chinese officials. "We'll make a documentary about Chinese street food". They have an ulterior motive of course. lol

[@kamikuru4014]

It's because it's middle eastern. They lie a lot

[@violinpracice6440]

I was expecting famine part to be true.

[@ktkska8886]

@@violinpracice6440。。。Famine in China was true. China not only exported the communist venom to North Korea, but also sent troops to help establish the dictatorship regime. If South Korea had also fallen into communism, it would not have the ability to help China to develop with Japan, Taiwan and Singapore together with the US. North Koreans are suffering from hunger and famine from time to time. It is China's obligation to really liberate them now. Note: China exported the communism venom to Malaysia and Singapore too, but thankfully, the two countries successfully defeated the communists. It they had become communist, they would be today's Vietnam and Cambodia.

[@ktkska8886]

@@violinpracice6440...The Great Chinese Famine was a period in the People's Republic of China between the years 1959 and 1961 characterized by widespread famine. The policies of ruler Mao Zedong contributed the most to the famine. Estimates of deaths due to starvation range in the tens of millions.

[@sosmcs]

Crazy chef totally shushed the lady vendor. lol

[@ronen124]

3:10 😉

[@SurferrGold]

Sosmcs See 😂😂😂😂his eyes looked crazy right then too

[@whifflingtit9240]

Seeing the deep fried swallow's spit saddens me deeply. They make their nests out of their spit. To collect the spit they steal the swallow's nest, and this has resulted in the rapid decline of their population as the swallow no longer has a nest that year to use and misses mating season, or more tragically the baby birds occupying the nest are discarded, or perhaps also harvested to be eaten.

[@theuglykwan]

The smart harvesters will replace it with a synthetic nest if they want the golden goose to keep laying. Also, those were not real birds nest. Those would not be affordable for street food.

[@ellenmcintyre1247]

Baby Swallows, shark fin, whale meat....it's all horrendously tragic for the environment.

[@apalala4166]

@@ellenmcintyre1247 So is beef, chicken and pork. Beef produces methane and CO2, chickens eat feed that is produced on rainforest land and pork sewage poisons the ground and water. All meat is tragic for the environment at today's meat demand.

[@euniceprather6478]

@@apalala4166 bs so killing all the buffalo was a good thing by your logic god bless those hide hunters haha moron

[@karlakarla4357]

@@euniceprather6478 yeah of course, because buffalo at that time were also in mass production. The hole in your argument is quite big, I wonder how you will either make excuses to fix it or educate yourself

[@subzero_757]

higher quality upload thankfully👍

[@dma8728]

so much delicious food

[@monkeynumbernine]

I'm always fascinated by the food people eat in other parts of the world.

[@indiebaby]

10:30 I love that man lol that was great what a spark he has.

[@somerandomedgyguy1723]

The fatty pork or in general "naturally" fatty stuff is the least of their concerns. All the biscuit stuff and fast food, the artificially fatty stuff is the problem

[@ArnoldPranks]

7:05 what is an Emporor?

[@colonyofcellsiamamachine6175]

The fermented bean drink is actually made from fermented green mung bean by product left behind after the starch had been extracted to make cellophane noodles, and is not made from fermented soybean.

[@josephineblum5506]

that last dish looked so good oh my god.

[@generalpurpose772]

Valentine Ricci YES! It had the perfect amount of veg, a tiny amount of meat, lots of noodles and lots of flavour. I would eat that, and I hate veg! 😍😍😍

[@monkeynumbernine]

I would love to eat that 💞

[@BarryWaterlow]

How safe is the food?

[@nunurbuisness5877]

most of those kids were not even fat.obesity is extremely bad here in the U.S. it's gotten so bad that there are actual people who think obesity should just be accepted

[@saadmanh]

The host looks like an older one punch man.

[@SuperAdobeFlash]

Same situation in India too.

[@captivating-culprit7484]

Let me fix the title for you: *From Famine to Feast to Sewer Grease* * There you go.

[@dhw14]

At minute 21, that chef added so little veggies, its difficult to even say veggies were in there!!

[@ktkska8886]

That dish is so oily and you can do without sugar. It is also delicious and healthier if it is cooked in broth.

[@weldon29]

Crazy chef embodies everything that is wrong with the modern generation of chinese youth.

[@sosmcs]

壹貳 lol. why? I wouldn't know, I'm not Chinese.

[@SuperAdobeFlash]

Why do you say so? It adds a little character to China

[@boxergirl84]

@Joffrey Lannister . Why do people always blame things on millennials like problems never existed before them.

[@kaikemmm]

lots of proud history

[@AndrewGayner]

That background music..

[@sheilabuxani2536]

how do i download this? help please asap...

[@sampathkumarsunkari94]

Click on the download button and it will be saved in your KZbin offline videos... That's it ☺

[@AntonioCostaRealEstate]

Hilarious. The Chinese Rapper, the cow tendons food vendor hustling, the Chinese girl on the food stall pushing skewered food

[@colonyofcellsiamamachine6175]

A healthy dish is maybe whole grain noodle soup with plenty of vegetables (no oil). Can use a small amount of animal products to flavor the dish. Should get protein more from beans, peas and lentils. Rely more on herbs rather than salt. Can get rid of salt if use a sweet dish instead and use real fruits as sweeteners.

[@colinyuan5404]

i mean, does this video really talk about street food?

[@raelcruz5909]

This is interesting. I've always viewed Chinese cuisine as having the most influence in every cuisine in the world that i quickly dismissed the idea that china can also be influenced by western cuisine. This made me hungry. Haha.

[@KayDejaVu]

Which is better for food Beijing or hong kong?

[@MixingSemaphors]

K Mcleod I preferred Hong Kong in terms of food - it's cheap, tasty, and everywhere in the city. Beijing has some famous traditional items, but you have to do your research on where to find them. The ordinary street food and casual restaurants there seem suited to typical 'Northern' tastes: very salty and greasy. But it's been a few years since I visited, so maybe the food scene has changed a lot since then.

[@sc_arriola382]

what's the rap called in the beginning?

[@nekkocakezx9158]

i believe it’s called chinese food, but i couldn’t find it when i looked it up.

[@simonetaddia459]

Like USA: Obesity, Diabetes, Cancer, Etc. All new customers for big-pharma.

[@d00dz]

Where is the Food Ranger!

[@poponachtschnecke]

I thought the nutritionist's name was Li Mu Bai at first, lol.

[@eisenjeisen6262]

That was a very nice video but the Chinese got a long way to go to get like the American waist line

[@macrick]

Hate to rub it in, I am of Chinese descent fyi. But all these vendors claim of long history and serving it to the imperial family is laughable.

[@pendejo298]

As a Westerner living in Australia i would say that the major problems are bad education, advertising only being performed by fast food companies, the ease at which fast food is available and the absence of inspiration to start eating healthy

[@asha8443]

Medicinal. That's how a lot of animals have become endangered because if this hovus pocus.

[@theuglykwan]

The sceptical argument is not a good one to use as inevitably some do work. At that point you will still be against it and have to shift argument. For example, science has proven bear bile works but we can now synthesize it but either way it was very cruel. When chinese call it medicinal it is not always medicinal but translated as such. To us it is food therapy and a form of nutritional discipline. Animals can become endangered just because they are tasty due to demand. Look at fish stocks even in western countries, many have collapsed and their populations are a fraction of Chinas.

[@marym1053]

3:15 gave that lady vendor the shush and eye roll......gross.

[@unelectedleader6494]

We have a great gig going. My regime impoverished and starved millions of Chinese, and now we get credit when they aren't starving ! Ah hahaha

[@sushilover5367]

We have a great gig going. My regime enslaved and murdered millions of indigenous and black ppl, and now we get credit when they aren't dying ! Ah hahaha

[@33rizu53]

jumping over the fence thing on camera? ! seriously ?

[@mprototype]

This is definitely the best one from Tony Cheng. I actually watched him smile. :D

[@yiayang27]

Dude needs to move his bike away from the stair walkway.

[@centurione6489]

You may want to look into the food adulteration problem in China. It's mentioned all over.

[@petergarcia8225]

Street Food Fine dining Restaurant...all possible...together

[@cryptobradley2006]

i live in san diego

[@daniellee6912]

1:00 that's Chinese rap? lmao xD

[@steveb2145]

healthy meal at end !!! ..... Meat fried in unhealthy omega 6 vegatable oil and sugar added... Healthy??? might as well grab a Big Mac !! ( steamed Chinese food is the best )

[@quenz1036]

10:30 made my day AHAH

[@sampathkumarsunkari94]

Crazy chef not at all paying amount for the food vendors 😜😜😜

[@petergarcia8225]

Minimize your meat consumption once you have reached an adult age. Dont need to stop but make it a part of your diet. Horses are strong just by wheat and grains...

[@snakedoctor2048]

If you weight 1200 pounds like a horse you would be strong too.

[@MichellleBellle]

The 200 million covers all chinese people being overweight as well as obese. Less than 80 million are obese even with a scaling of the BMI limit of obesity to >28 to account for the health risks asociated with weight of asian people (compared to white europeans for who the bmi categories were originally intended).

[@jakeirrahearts6474]

They sure do got good taste in food:)

[@cleopatra1311]

Chinese rapper!?!?! Lol with braids no doubt! Lol

[@petergarcia8225]

It take 3 days to break down red meat 1 day for fish 2 days for white meat.

[@petergarcia8225]

Need to learn to save food for emergency cases also..learn to preserve the vegetables and fruits as long as possible with less preservatives and hormones. Less is more

[@fourtycents]

Too much peasant manners still today lol

[@nighatsaleem2401]

Is is horrible how it is not monitored by Chinese government. I think there need to be strong monitoring for each food items that is send to other countries from China.I will request government of Canada to have strict monitoring of food coming from China. Nutrias

[@wwlee5]

6:57 Chinese Hui person? (aka muslim) Wasn't paying attention but then something peculiar just popped out.

[@lmattscott]

Walter S. There are a lot of hui people here. We get along very well.

[@colonyofcellsiamamachine6175]

Soymilk and Tofu are very wasteful products bec the high fiber by product soy pulp (okara)(has some protein) is often just thrown away. Tons of by product soy pulp are thrown away in asia every day. I have tried buying both fresh tofu and fresh okara from japanese grocery. Better to buy soybeans in bulk, soak them overnight and boil them for about 20 minutes (pressure cooker is not needed).

[@kattarra8459]

School uniforms = rich Chinese kids ...look up "Ice Boy" no money/no food.

[@cryptobradley2006]

the smog is so thick there u can spread it on your hamburger --go some were else with your money

[@puluqemil]

welcome to China :)

[@larrydugan1441]

Guaranteed no sodium hydroxide, melamine or borox!

[@pandabear6245]

Got men doin triple takes

[@missgroov]

Food in the south is still the best... Sorry Beijing...

[@Fukoda]

Swear to God the kids dident understand when he spoke English

[@nzappazapp8360]

Exercise for overweight kids only is discriminatory all kids should take part

[@petergarcia8225]

We all live Chinese Food...Dont tease me and mess it all up for the rest of the world, just cause you couldnt ask for help...

[@baokkao9673]

Fast foods = Fast Overweight!

[@vince1987]

asian heston blumenthal

[@scarlettgard1771]

Those plastic bags are triggering me

[@mrkjsmooth16]

Moab will eat anything

[@prabhakarsingh2961]

nice healthy youghurt but full of sugar :p

[@zebrastrippesable]

Bro the braids....

[@HAIRHOLIC_1]

I would say that the only overweight people we saw where the children which is more disturbing. I always wonder how Asian people remain so slim even tho they consume a lot of fatty oily foods, it must be down to their metabolisms

[@rhyndawatson4173]

Yet there are so many youtube videos titled "why Asians don't get fat" smh

[@saadmanh]

我不是中国人， 可是我爱中菜。

[@user-tz3qf4gv7t]

2008, one child policy that time.

[@youssefhiggins.6945]

Al jazeera is trying to be like Vice so much.

[@mprototype]

It's interesting that you mention it. Al Jazeera is certainly being what once Vice was... Kudos to Al Jazeera. (And this is coming from a long time fan and follower of Vice.)

[@armv7-m603]

Vice still has some gems, if you look hard.

[@daniellee6912]

all Vice does are documentaries about drugs

[@ladiekelly857]

No

[@pendejo298]

You should see the series on the Libyan invasion, where they hyped up the rebels as martyrs fighting for freedom then the following videos they go oops. Theyre actually Islamic terrorists all along, with crime syndicates running the oil production :O

[@md2v4]

EAT CHINA EAT to your satisfaction, because only on a full stomach can one have time to improve and develop other aspects of their society.

[@fujiso3076]

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[@YummYakitori]

4:00 Ice cream was indeed invented in China

[@fourtycents]

Get em USA! Give them death by KFC McDonald's Pizza Hut! Lol

[@fitkit69]

gutter oil!!! 😮😮😮

[@calvindisc]

Not a great show for those wanting to learn more about food.

[@TiempoNuevo-ew7ty]

LOL Chinese rap? What happened to their own beautiful culture? I don't even count Rap as a music genre.

[@nekkocakezx9158]

rap is indeed a music genre. if you listen to the oldies, you’ll get that quality sound. old rappers like tupac, biggie, coolio, salt n pepper, tlc, etc etc. all have wonderful sounds and clever lyrics. rap today is just mumbling with a bass for a beat.

[@trytorememberallthis]

It's ridiculous for Chinese to eat dairy, since over 95% of Chinese are lactose intolerance. I'm Chinese. After I adopted a vegan diet, my autoimmune disease rheumatoid arthritis, irritable bowel disease and acid reflux are all gone! No wonder studies show vegan diet is the healthiest for us.

[@colonyofcellsiamamachine6175]

Diet guide of china and taiwan now promote dairy as good sources of calcium. My guess is the lactose intolerant asians are now consuming lactose free dairy. Harvard Healthy Eating Plate says to limit dairy which is linked to cancer.

[@BJ-bi9xv]

😂 I think I know a fat person when i see one!

[@tanabui]

ok but the presentator also looks obesed...🤔

[@colonyofcellsiamamachine6175]

The usual causes of obesity are probably refined substances like oil, sweeteners, juice, refined flour, protein powder, salt, etc. Can also reduce or eliminate animal products and take b12 supplement. All animal products have 0 fiber so they are not health food.

[@LADrandomproduction]

In any Asian culture, food is a part of the culture. Asian bodies have adapted to starvation due to either flooding and droughts throughout history, so food is valuable. That's what the doctor meant as "different metabolically." Now because of the abundance of food and Chinese culture the kids are getting stuffed af

[@im_paimon]

Muslim people never sell haram food

[@younissumaling8744]

2020 this is the cause of the coronavirus

[@FatherLand56]

toxic foods

[@trinhkets]

From communism to cap

[@andrebarros7703]

obesity? much food?? that's what you get when you start to embrace capitalism...