Shaped by the sea

As one of the 20-plus stories featured in the third season of Once Upon a Bite, a popular documentary series that is currently available on the streaming platform Tencent Video, Yan has garnered a lot of attention, with some online comments hailing him as "an interesting soul".

The depiction can be regarded as a shared characteristic of the people shown in the production. Helmed by Chen Xiaoqing and Li Yong, both serving as chief directors of a team of 10 directors for the eight episodes, the latest season-again featuring the renowned voice-over actor Li Lihong-has turned the lens to China's sprawling 32,000-kilometer coastline.

So far earning 8.7 points out of 10 on the popular review aggregator Douban, the project, which started filming in June 2020, took a total of 18 months to finish, with trips across eight provinces-from Liaoning in the northeast to Hainan in the south-as well as Southwest China's Chongqing city.

More than 30 types of traditional seafood delicacies are featured among a bunch of human interest stories, mostly starting from how local fishermen capture or raise the edible marine creatures, to joyful moments at family meals.