National Tide 1980.

For twelve days, Ning Weimin packed the schedules of the "Dream of Red Mansions" crew members, and the main actors were particularly busy.

After attending the welcome banquet hosted by TBS TV at Tokyo Dangu Restaurant on the evening of my arrival in Tokyo.

After that, the crew members had no leisure time.

Everyone needs to continuously deal with various press conferences, tea parties, live TV interviews, performance programs, university teacher-student seminars, costume exhibition openings, stills exhibition openings, book signing events, etc., leaving them with very little spare time to arrange freely.

There are not many opportunities to return to the hotel before 10 pm every day.

So even Ouyang Fenqiang, Chen Xiaoxu, Zhang Li, and Deng Jie, the "troublemakers" who always loved to play pranks on each other, stopped on their own accord and no one bothered them anymore.

You know, when they were in Hong Kong a few months ago, they were still passing false information to each other over the phone at night to trick people into going downstairs to meet guests.

From this we can see how busy and tired they are here.

In fact, sometimes the people in the crew are so tired after a day of activities that they don’t even want to have a midnight snack.

Go back to your room and wash up as soon as possible, and you will fall asleep as soon as you lie down on the bed.

But even so, no one in the crew had any complaints.

For no other reason than Ning Weimin gave enough money.

In addition to generous remuneration, logistical arrangements for food, clothing, housing and transportation are also in place.

We were provided with good food and clothes, and were picked up and dropped off by car, with an interpreter accompanying us. It was extremely convenient and I am extremely grateful.

Since everyone is grateful for his kindness, they will naturally cheer up and cooperate with him fully.

In addition, the activity plan arranged by Ning Weimin for everyone was also very appropriate.

Although they are busy and rushed, Ning Weimin told everyone in advance that the crews in Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka will be busy for three days and rest for one day.

That day was set aside for them to visit and shop.

The famous Disneyland in Tokyo, Gion, Kinkaku-ji Temple, and Kyoto Imperial Palace in Kyoto, and Osaka Castle Park, Shinsaibashi, and Dotonbori in Osaka are all arranged.

They are also accompanied by tour guides and drivers who provide services for them and take care of all chores for them.

  Then who wouldn’t feel at ease?

You know, in the mainland of the Republic, up to now, the policy is still to have a single day off per week.

Being able to rest for one day after working for three days in Japan is already a blessing for the crew members of "Dream of Red Mansions", as it is equivalent to earning a day's worth of work.

They all felt that this work process arrangement was very humane and quite kind.

Anyone who is not satisfied will have higher expectations and will be picky about something.

That's simply hypocritical and too ignorant.

He will be attacked by everyone and called heartless.

That’s not all. Even the specific working environment and content are much more interesting than people imagine.

As a result of his deep involvement in the Japanese market in recent years, Ning Weimin not only has the strength to be an organizer, but he was also good at organizing activities in Beijing and likes to be unconventional.

This time was no exception. He used the resources at his disposal and came up with some innovative ideas that were ahead of his time.

The result broke the rigid pattern of cultural exchange activities which originally consisted of only indoor interviews and performance programs.

In his hands, this activity became three-dimensional, vivid and interesting.

Not only did it have great appeal to the Japanese, but even the crew members of "Dream of Red Mansions" found it quite novel and learned a lot.

It turns out that in order to promote the exchange activities held by Ning Weimin for the TV series "Dream of Red Mansions", he did not let the crew fight alone, but dispatched a "group army" to carry out "coordinated operations" - holding a "cultural festival" with the theme of "Dream of Red Mansions" at each event site.

Businesses like Tan Gong Restaurant and Hui Wen Tang Bookstore were directly managed by him, so naturally he would give orders wherever he wanted.

There were also two friendly cooperative companies, Jinniu Palace and Yamato Tourism, who, for Ning Weimin's sake, sent people to join in the fun and set up booths at the event.

In this way, it is equivalent to holding a mobile theme tour, or a theme garden party.

Compared with traditional practices, the form of declaration is much more flexible.

Although there are not many booths, the content provided by several units is not monotonous, and can even be said to be quite rich and three-dimensional.

First of all, the theme poster of "Dream of Red Mansions" with Bao, Dai and Chai as the background is eye-catching enough.

As long as it is placed in front of the venue, it will be eye-catching.

Regardless of whether anyone was invited over or not, the title of TBS TV station was eye-catching enough.

Anyone who sees it will have the impression that this TV series is being broadcast during the TBS morning drama time slot.

At least it will attract more viewers who will pay attention to the show out of curiosity, thus increasing the ratings.

If someone really comes over, the first thing they will see is the dazzling array of TV drama brochures, Japanese version of "Dream of Red Mansions" books and comic books on Huiwentang's stall, which are things that can directly reflect the cultural theme.

In addition, the joyful and festive "Chinese knots", various straw insects, round fans, scented fans, palace lanterns, brocade boxes, as well as silk figurines with the theme of "Dream of Red Mansions" and various Red Mansions-themed handicrafts displayed on the booth of Huiwentang Bookstore are also enough to attract people to stop and take a look.

In particular, the props and costumes brought by the crew were particularly eye-catching.

This was so much so that many Japanese girls who visited the site exclaimed, "It's so beautiful, I really want to wear it and take a photo."

Taurus and Yamato Advertising took the opportunity to promote their products vigorously.

One is to strongly recommend "Dream of Red Mansions", "Li Xianglan" and Teresa Teng's music tapes.

The other is to use the Chinese tourism brochure as a means to take over the Chinese tourism business.

You know what, quite a few people came to ask about it.

In addition, in order to increase the effectiveness and fun of interactive communication, Ning Weimin directly turned on the "entertainment mode" on the spot.

After the cultural exchange meeting, the actors will have a session at the cultural festival event to interact with the audience and take photos. Needless to say, this will definitely be well received by the audience.

In addition, Ning Weimin will also use the dough figurine master of Tan Gong Restaurant and the sugar painting skills of the cold dish chef to interact with the audience, adding popularity and momentum to the scene.

There are also cultural activities such as folk music performances, calligraphy demonstrations, and Go endgames to liven up the atmosphere.

There are also consumer lotteries, ring tossing, and money eye games, which are interesting and have prizes, adding to the pleasant experience for visitors.

But the most crucial thing, the thing that can attract the most popularity and keep the atmosphere of the event at its peak, is the experience of Chinese cuisine.

Ning Weimin has always been convinced that cultural exchange is easiest to start with food.

So this time, he also made Chinese snacks a key project.

He drew at least twenty chefs from the Altar Palace.

They lined up at the event site, setting up food stalls that were at least thirty meters long, providing catering services to people participating in the event and showcasing the charm of Chinese cuisine.

Above each stall, the food and drink offered is written in Chinese.

The first tier includes meat patties, pasties, pot stickers, hot pot dumplings, and simmered steamed buns, served with lotus leaf porridge and eight-treasure porridge.

The second tier includes fried rice, fried noodles, fried pancakes, fried dumplings, and braised cat ears, served with tomato and egg soup, and hot and sour soup.

The third tier includes steamed dumplings, boiled dumplings, siu mai, baozi, and lazy dragon, served with sour plum soup and mung bean soup.

The fourth tier includes jelly, steamed cake, sesame paste cold noodles, spicy cold noodles, and noodles with soybean paste, served with lemonade and beer.

In addition, there are scallion pancakes, silver thread rolls, sugar triangles, old-fashioned steamed buns, rice dumplings, glutinous rice chicken, cold rice cakes, pea yellow, donkey rolls, and Aiwowow for sale.

Cold dishes for sale include osmanthus lotus root, mustard pile, nut spinach, and celery bean curd.

Palace cheese, almond tofu, bayberry shaved ice, dried fruits, these refreshing desserts are on sale.

There are also cooked foods such as barbecued pork, pickled duck, pickled meat, smoked chicken, assorted vegetarian dishes, and vegetarian chicken, as well as meat-filled buns, grilled skewers, fried food, sausages, and pancakes for sale.

Of course, there will also be cake gift boxes, tea gift boxes, pastry gift boxes, as well as candied fruits, candies, and rice wine named after Dream of the Red Chamber and Twelve Golden Hairpins for sale. Ning Weimin even "generously" gave away jasmine tea for free to all guests on site.

Sure enough, the situation at the scene was just as Ning Weimin had expected.

At the beginning, the flow of people was limited.

But after each stall put out a variety of hot and cold, delicious Chinese snacks, it didn't take long for the event site to be crowded with people.

Among the people attracted here, in addition to the main attendees, university teachers and students, there are also tourists in the park, passers-by who happened to pass by and were attracted by the fireworks, housewives and retired elderly people who came here because of the fragrance, and even old overseas Chinese who missed the taste of their hometown.

Especially at noon, when office workers who come out to eat also come to join in the fun, that is definitely the time when the busiest flow of people occurs.

Even though there were long queues and it even rained one day, it couldn't stop or dampen the enthusiasm of these diners.

It is clear that Chinese cuisine has an irresistible magic, and there are too many Japanese who love Chinese food so deeply.

Frankly speaking, in the eyes of Chinese people, these "Chinese delicacies" that have caused a sensation are nothing more than common home-cooked meals.

In Beijing, most convenience restaurants make it, and it can be bought at any food stall in the downtown area.

In fact, it is quite inconsistent with "Dream of Red Mansions" because it is full of folk life style and not "high-end" at all.

But then again, the blandness of Japanese food is a fact to be discussed, and even they themselves admit it.

Although Japanese restaurants are quite popular internationally today, the name of this cuisine is also quite catchy.

Udon noodles, tempura, sashimi, sushi, and sake are all very famous, and the business has expanded to Europe and the United States.

But in fact, there are only a few kinds of Japanese food.

Moreover, the taste of these Japanese dishes has been refined by Chinese chefs, otherwise Japanese food would be simply inedible.

Old Chinese immigrants in Japan all know that even when China was at its weakest and was being invaded, there were still restaurant owners in Japan at that time who were willing to marry their daughters to outstanding Chinese chefs in order to obtain the secrets of Chinese cooking.

But even so, because Chinese food is too complicated, the Japanese still cannot learn or cook it well.

This is why the Japanese taste buds can never resist the temptation of Chinese food and why Chinese restaurants in Japan are always crowded.

This is a worship that is ingrained in our blood and bones, so it is no exaggeration to say that Chinese food is the ancestor of Japanese food.

  In addition, although these diets are ordinary, you have to see who is making them, right?

There are no mediocre chefs in Tan Palace.

The old masters are all rehired from famous restaurants, and the middle-aged chefs are all backbones directly transferred by the Chongwen District Service Bureau from various famous restaurants in the district.

Not to mention that the people who came with Ning Weimin were all picked from the best of the best. Each of them is a skilled chef who can handle his own duties, and they are outstanding even in the Beijing chef industry.

Otherwise, how could the Tan Palace Restaurant become the leader in palace cuisine in just two or three years, even stealing the limelight from Beihai’s Fangshan?

Otherwise, why is it that even the snack bar on the first floor of Tan Palace Restaurant has long queues outside every day and sells out in advance every day?

That depends on the craftsmanship.

How could the food made by these people not be delicious?

Moreover, there is an old saying among the chefs in Beijing that being able to cook delicious sea cucumber, abalone and shark fin is not a skill, but being able to cook a plate of stir-fried cabbage is a real skill.

This is all about returning to basics, about finding the magic in the ordinary, and the chefs at Tan Palace have just that ability.

Apart from anything else, even the crew members who originally didn't take these things seriously were surprised when they tasted them at mealtime.

“Why is it so delicious?” “Lin Daiyu” was surprised.

"That's right, it's so weird. Is this what we eat every day?" "Ping'er" was also puzzled.

"Well, it's definitely a five-star restaurant. That's why people say that Tan Palace Restaurant is a golden brand." Wang Xifeng was convinced.

"Well... I... I'm afraid I need two more five-star silver curls, would you like some?" "Baoyu" felt hungry and teased "Wang Xifeng" at the same time.

"Wait, bro, I'll go with you. I need some more five-star kebabs and a beer, too."

What is even more unexpected is that even "Jia Lian" has "gone with the flow" and has lost his reserve.

  Just think about it, if even these pure descendants of the Chinese nation are like this, how amazed would the Japanese be when they eat it?

For ordinary Japanese people, being able to eat food prepared by these chefs is definitely a blessing.

The skills of these chefs are invaluable.

  If it wasn't for the purpose of promoting "Dream of the Red Chamber" and exporting culture, how could it be sold to the public at an affordable price?

The same thing would cost at least five times as much at Tan Gong Restaurant.

Finally, there is one crucial and very true point that best explains the reason - wild boars cannot eat fine bran.

You know, every place has its own unique food culture, and every ethnic group has its own unique eating habits.

Specifically for our country, there are even more special historical backgrounds, the evolution of the humanistic environment and the objective conditions of vast land and abundant resources.

It is these complex factors that have created our eight major cuisines and countless local specialties, making Chinese cuisine rich, colorful, and profound.

But this is where Chinese cuisine makes or breaks itself.

Because high-end cuisine has a corresponding cultural threshold, not everyone can understand and know how to eat it.

Whether in the East or the West, foreigners have no concept of the harmony of the five flavors. The taste buds on their tongues are not well developed and most can only distinguish sweet, sour and salty.

They have no appreciation for numbness, bitterness, or spiciness, and are even unable to taste the multiple, complex flavors.

For such an ignorant foreigner, if you feed him real delicious food, it would be like playing the lute to a cow and throwing a wink to a blind man.

He doesn't even know how to start eating, what's the point of it.

I just feel it is troublesome, tedious and confusing.

If you still have to find faults and pick bones, that would be even worse, and would probably make the foreigners feel embarrassed and awkward.

Under such circumstances, it would be strange for them to have any good impression of Chinese food.

To put it bluntly, only things that are popular, common, and have low cultural thresholds are conducive to going global and exporting culture.

This is why Japanese cuisine is more easily recognized and accepted by European and American countries.

It's nothing more than simple, straightforward and pure.

This is also why American fast food has become popular all over the world: it is rough, straightforward, and high in salt, oil, and sugar.

French cuisine, which is recognized as high-end in the Western world, is also facing difficulties in exporting.

The situation of French and Chinese cuisine is similar. Although there are many of them, there are actually very few authentic French restaurants, and most of them are just fake ones.

However, few people in China understand this truth, and even someone as smart as Jiang Nianyun still cannot see through it.

They always want to bring out the most profound and exquisite things in Chinese cuisine, but the result goes against the original good intention and instead makes foreigners stay away from it.

Fortunately, Ning Weimin and Kang Shude had already discussed this issue thoroughly when they went to Tianjin.

He would naturally not make such a mistake, so he successfully awakened the taste buds of the Japanese by using these most common and popular snacks with the most simple and purest flavors.

This was their first experience of authentic Chinese cuisine, which left them raving about it and shocked them.

These basic snacks and desserts in Beijing are better than anything else for Japanese people! They are so popular that they are loved by everyone!

In fact, many Japanese at the scene told reporters that they had never been to China and had never expected that Chinese cuisine would be so different from that in Chinese restaurants in Japan. The cooking level of local restaurants is far from that of these chefs.

After tasting these delicacies, they simply couldn't stop eating them.

Now I am not only interested in the TV series "Dream of Red Mansions", but also want to learn about Yamato sightseeing's tourism projects. I really want to fly to China to feast on them.

During the interview, some Japanese people told the reporter that there are so many kinds of Chinese food that they want to eat everything they see. Even though they are a little full, they still want to buy more after digesting it for a while. (End of this chapter)