Vindication of the goodness of wheat

Last weekend I attended a wedding in rural Shandong province. But the wheat harvest was the most intriguing aspect of the journey.

All roads to the village were customarily carpeted in grains of wheat that were then "threshed" by our, and many other cars. The grains are generally raked over and left to dry for about four to five days before being sold at the market for flour.

China is set to produce a whopping 107.6 million tonnes of wheat this year. This is good news in northern China, where wheat is a staple and where growing conditions for it are most suitable. Wheat flour is used to make the most familiar of daily fodder, such as all manner of wheat noodles (mian tiao), steamed bread (mantou), dumplings (jiaozi and baozi), and the various bing (pancakes and snacks) available from hole-in-the-wall bakeries.