Executive director Zhang Xuejiao said the team did not set out to maintain a fixed balance between culinary content and broader discussion. "As long as the ideas emerge naturally in a particular situation and remain connected to food and the city, without disrupting the audience's immersion, we are happy to keep them," Zhang said.
The new season also shows Chen trying his hand at local cooking, despite feeling uncomfortable in front of the camera after years spent behind it. "I can be quite entertaining in everyday life, but once I face the camera, I become a little silly," he joked at the preview.
For Chen, food offers a way to examine China's social and economic changes. He first visited Leshan in 2006, before the recent boom in online food tourism. Today, dishes from Leshan and neighboring counties can be found side by side on busy commercial streets.
Greater accessibility, however, can come at a cost. As businesses cater to tourists, traditional dishes may be adapted to suit broader tastes, potentially losing some of the distinctive characteristics that set them apart.
"That was Leshan before the surge in online traffic," Chen said, referring to his earlier visit. He questioned whether bringing regional dishes together in tourist-oriented commercial areas necessarily preserves their original character.
Changing tastes offer another perspective on these developments. Chen observed that the spread of regional cuisines has made spicy food more commonplace in major cities, while tourism has encouraged some destinations to adjust traditional dishes to suit visitors.
