Poet takes his artful approach to food online

Poet and food critic Er Mao now lives in Beijing, but the 53-year-old often travels to his hometown, a small county in Southwest China's Chongqing municipality, to bring its local flavors back to the capital.

He often holds parties in his two Lord of Salt restaurants, Sichuan-style eateries in the 798 and Nanxincang areas, to treat his friends with authentic handmade foods that are not on the restaurants' menu, such as stewed pork trotters and tails, and sauced dry beef.

A few days ago, Er Mao, whose real name is Mou Zhenli, started selling such food online, through Taobao.com and WeChat, and says that in doing so, he hopes to protect such food traditions from extinction.