A tasty approach to eating well
The documentary also tells the story of online influencers, such as Geng Rongpei, who reports on the market's most eye-catching events and personalities, leveraging his online presence to highlight the lively market scene on his social media accounts. Despite his flair for generating buzz, Geng shows a compassionate side, like featuring a mute cook and buying apricots from a vendor who's 80 years old. "Even though my own life may seem chaotic, I can't bear to see others suffer," he explains in the documentary.
Author Wang Kai, known for his book Adventure With Food, described the series as a visual equivalent to Along the River During the Qingming Festival, a revered painting that depicts daily life during the 11th and 12th centuries.
"True emotions emerge behind the scenes of the bustling crowd. The series captures the essence of life's deeper stories, beyond the surface of everyday scenes," comments Wang on the documentary.
Yang, the executive director of the documentary, observed that each bazaar is extensive and features a diverse range of goods, predominantly homemade or homegrown. There are many unpredictable situations, just like fresh plots; for example, vendors might offer vegetables today and switch to sweet potatoes next time when the bazaar is on.
"A bazaar is akin to a large social gathering," Yang says. "Shoppers engage in conversation with vendors and vendors chat among themselves like old friends. Some participants come not just for transactions but to spend some quality time."
