Kylie Kwong: My China

Kylie returns to her great grandfather's ancestral home in Toishan village, Guangdong province. This is the south of China, the region of plenty, and roots for many of the Chinese of Australia, Canada and USA. As she helps to prepare a typical family meal, Kylie begins to wonder how much of her culinary traditions really spring from this small Cantonese village.

Kylie continues her search for culinary traditions in the familiar surroundings of Hong Kong. As she works her way through flying fish and urinating shrimps, Kylie wonders if there is such a thing as typical Hong Kong food. She finds the answer in a speakeasy.

Kylie works her way to the Fujian province and the south coast of China. The region is the ancestral homeland of millions of overseas chinese of Southeast Asia. It is from here that the word "Tea" came about. And a surprise for Kylie as she comes face to face with traditional versions of some of her signature dishes.

This Eastern city is the doorway to the Grand Canal and well-known for its scenic beauty. Amidst the lusciously green surrounds of a tea planation, Kylie is busy arm wrestling a 60 year old woman. Just to prove a point. The lyrical scenery accompanies her journey to a small town, home to a literary giant and the source of her favourite ingredient: Shaoxing wine.

The journey continues along the Eastern seaboard and leads Kylie into China's largest and youngest city. With her foodie friend in tow, Kylie goes hunting for the origins of Shanghainese food. The road leads her from fancy clubs to ancient fishing boats.

This small, olde worlde city has given its name to its fried rice dish. Kylie, however, finds herself in a school of fine cutting and failing miserably in pastry making. Yangzhou lies at the crossroads of the Grand Canal and is an ancient city known for its ultra refined dining and resplendent banquets. So how did our culinary explorer end up in a muddy lake, pulling up roots?

To tour China without petting a panda is forgivable. But to miss out on a Sichuan pepper farm is unthinkable. And so, Kylie braves the rough terrain to journey west to the tongue-numbing cuisine of Sichuan with dreams of plucking the peppercorn. She arrives in the wrong season.

Kylie heads North, the land of bone chilling winds, harsh winters, and spicy mutton soup. She pays homage to the greatest Chinese chef in history: Confucius and she savours dishes cooked to recipes created by the sage. But will she be in time for the beer festival?

Our culinary explorer completes her tour of China with a homage to the country's capital on the eve of the Olympic Games. The city is in the midst of landscape upheaval but despite that, Kylie manages to track down a traditional style Beijing duck place and uncovers the origins of spaghetti bolognese.