China news agency, Nanjing, April 19, by wire: Taiwan's youth, Nanjing, as a photographer blogger, "food and travel", an ancient capital of six dynasties
China News Service reporter Zhu Xiaoying
"Always wear a baseball cap in reverse. It is the most serious thing to walk around the streets and look for food. The weight has risen a lot accidentally, and the traffic has been tepid." Starting with a self mockery, Taiwan food blogger Tan Jun told the reporter of China News Agency about his "shopping and eating" in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province.
From the "four masters" of plum cake in Nanjing, the "king of line" in the fried rice industry, to the "ceiling" of mutton pot, the private dishes in the alley, to the homesick Taiwan oyster omelet and pork sausage. In the past year, Tan Jun has explored stores at his own expense, taking photos while eating. "There are thousands of restaurants in Nanjing, and now there are hundreds of restaurants. The life of 'food' needs to be accelerated."
On April 18, in his studio in Nanjing, Tan Jun introduced his experience as a food blogger in Nanjing. Photographed by Zhu Xiaoying, a reporter from China News Service
From childhood, Tan Jun followed his family back and forth across the Taiwan Straits. In 2015, he went to Nanjing to develop catering business and got the idea of visiting food. "Nanjing is the ancient capital of the Six Dynasties, why not take netizens to 'eat and travel' to Jinling? At that time, there was no purpose, but short videos were very interesting." Tan Jun named himself "Uncle Maji", which means "good friend" in Taiwan's popular language, and hoped to make friends through food.
"What's the experience of eating pancakes at 2 o'clock in the middle of the night? I waited in line for 7 hours for this pancake, which was surprising. Sauce is the soul!" In the summer of 2023, he and the company's "food" team bought pancakes in the early morning, and sent the first video of exploring the store, which was out of control afterwards. Tangmian, fried rice, rice noodles, cold noodles, Tan Jun and his party have tasted street stores and husband and wife stores all over the place, becoming a "living map" of food walking.
During the Spring Festival this year, when Tan Jun returned to Taiwan, he saw that Chinese food such as plum cake, snail powder, pickled cabbage fish, string string, spicy strips and so on were "too hot" in Taiwan. "I saw plum cake at the Shilin night market in Taipei and wanted to buy it to compare with Nanjing plum cake, but the boss told me to wait in line for three hours, but I didn't eat it at last. The snail powder in Taiwan has a mild odor, while the pickled cabbage fish is the black fish selected by the mainland, which tastes more tender."
In Tan Jun's opinion, both sides of the Taiwan Straits have the same culture and similar dining habits. Food culture is an important part of Chinese culture. The love and understanding of compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Straits for Chinese food are engraved in their genes, which is also the reason why mainland food is easy to become popular in Taiwan.
As both a photographer and a blogger, he seeks food and records life. With more and more fans, Tan Jun has a growing sense of achievement. "I hope that through food and life videos, more people can see the goodwill between compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Straits and transmit positive energy."
"Food is the only thing in life." Tan Jun told China News Service that this year he plans to design short dramas, increase the interest of short videos of exploring stores, and go out of Nanjing to visit the delicious food of life in the Yangtze River Delta.
