Having started filming without much-heralded, "A Bite of China," a 2012 Chinese documentary television series on the China Central Television quickly gained popularity and moved a good number of the Chinese population. The series present audiences with the stories behind the various kinds of delicious food and the homesickness, heritage and national spirit it contains. Along with the hot broadcast of the documentary television series and the remarkable book "A Bite of China" sold, the topic around its brand, trademark intangible cultural heritage draws high attention among the public.

Cultural products favored widely

The large population and high variety of climates make China have gifts of the nature of potential food material more than any other country. Chinese never tie their cooking to a bored food list. People here use their wisdom to innovate and explore new flavors in traditional Chinese delicacies. "After aired on the television station, the series remain a hot topic for discussions, forming a ‘butterfly effect', have whipped up huge interest among the public." Hu Zhanfan, president of CCTV and the producers of "A Bite of China" , pointed out. The documentary was not only widely viewed hit show in China with high ratings but also attracted quite a lot of attention of communications agencies overseas. In the early April of this year, China International Television Corporation had signed letters of intent with Germany, South Korea, the United States, Taiwan and Hong Kong including more than 20 countries and regions during the Festival De Cannes.
The remarkable book "A Bite of China", published by Guangming Press, has caused many Publishing Houses' attention overseas. Now, Guangming Press has signed the copyright contracts for Korean, traditional Chinese and English versions with publishers from South Korea, French, Italian, and　Spanish publishers have already made appointments to further negotiations copyrights.

Reignited the brand power

CCTV's smash hit documentary "A Bite of China" has not only reawakened the taste buds around the country but also reignited the power of its brand. Shanxi fish mutton steamed stuffed bun's sudden rise to fame overseas was directly brought about by the brief screen appearance in this documentary. Wang Tongyun, the founder of the food company just with 30,000 yuan registered capital, insisting on the principle of enhancing quality and brand image outside, has spent eight years building the bun into a famous regional snacks with cultural elements overseas.

The trademark dispute of "little sheep" in 2003 made Wang Tongyun aware that the importance of the brand protection. He started to build the brand in the two ways of improve its popularity and applying for intellectual property protection. Wang has obtained a number of invention patents and trade mark registrations during the eight years.

With the hot broadcast of documentary television series and the remarkable book A Bite of China well sold，fish mutton steamed stuffed bun has continuously improved brand awareness. The company will step up operating the strategy of brand construction and developing more chain stores to expand the market throughout the country and go abroad.

Stepping up intangible cultural heritage protection

"A Bite of China" gives a 360-degree introduction from the beautiful and refined process of food-making techniques to various kinds of food preservation method like salting, sugaring, oiled, drying and freezing which including the intangible cultural heritage of making skills of Jinhua ham, fermented bean curd and pickles. In 2008, the making skills of Jinhua ham were enlisted in the national intangible cultural heritage. As the professional enterprise that manufacture and sell Jinhua ham, Jinhua ham company continued to step up inheriting culture and innovation and raise price to thousands of yuan. The enterprise made a successful IPO in 2010. By introducing those marvelous Chinese foods, "A Bite of China" has touched off a boom in the intangible cultural heritage of delicious food which also promoted the local government to strengthen the protection of the intangible cultural heritage.

This documentary offers insights into the unique etiquette and ethics culture that lie behind the time-honored history of marvelous Chinese food. The strong sales of documentary overseas ignite an intense sense of national identity of Chinese. Law on Intangible Cultural Heritage of China took effect on June 1, 2011， in hopes to ensure the better preservation of the country's cultural legacies. 

(Source: China IP News)