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It’s Trevor James
Today I am in rural Guangdong, China
And we are going to eat a whole roast pig
Just look at this beauty
I can’t believe it
So we just drove out from Guangzhou, two hours
We are now in rural Guangdong
And we are going to have a traditional Chinese feast today
Whole roast pig
I’ve heard all about this
I’ve been looking forward to this for so long
But first, before we have the feast
We have to take the pig to a bunch of different grave sites
The family members are going to pay respect to the deceased
And then we are going to bring it to the final location
There’s going to be a lot of people there
And we are going to have a whole roast pig feast
I can’t wait
Every year all across China
Families gather for the Chinese celebration of qingmingjie tomb sweeping festival
They go back to their hometowns to honor their ancestors by cleaning and sweeping graves
And by burning joss sticks and fake money
That will ensure their ancestors are living wealthy in the afterlife
They also honor their ancestors by pouring rice wine into the ground
Lighting firecrackers, and bringing a lot of food
So when Ting Ting told me about eating a whole roast pig in the countryside
I knew I was definitely in
But what I didn’t know
Was that the pig was a gift for the ancestors in the afterlife
And that it was going to be part of observing the qingmingjie festival
But that was really part of the fun
To learn more about the tradition
And to be immersed right in there
Especially when they gave us permission to film
A true once in a lifetime experience
This is a Guangdong tradition
We come here every year
And we call it Taqing
Which means climbing the mountains
And we see the older generation and the people that have already passed away
But my younger generation, we don’t
Maybe the last time was 10 years ago
And we will have a shaobing
And a big whole pig
We will carry the whole roast pig for hiking the mountain
Two people have to carry it around for the whole day
And in the afternoon at the last spot
We will cut it on there on the mountain
And then share the pig all together
In the past, everyone would just walk it
But now, everyone has cars
So you can put the pig in the back of the car
And then just carry it out to the grave
And pray there
Honoring the ancestors is done in a few steps
First, candles are lit and the food offerings are placed down in front of the grave
The nicer the better, with a whole pig, roast goose, rice, flatbread and fruit
Then rice wine is poured into cups
And the family does a quick prayer
After which the alcohol is poured out into the ground
And the food is covered up and packed out
And the firecrackers are hung up on a nearby tree
Or placed down alongside the grave
And everyone runs away while they explode
Watch this
Here we go
Watch this
That was insanely loud
So we just got to the next family home
We are in a rural rural area
This was so cool just to drive through here
We are going to grab the pig
Go for a little hike
And then have a feast
OK we are going to carry this in to the forest now
Oh like that, nice work
Here we go
Look at this
This is incredible
We spent the whole morning
Bringing this pig around to the different graves
And now we get to eat it
This is insane
This whole pig
It’s a whole pig in rural china
I can’t believe I’m here right now
Are we going up?
We’re going up
We’re going steep
After making it to the top of the hill
And finding the last burial site
Ting Ting’s family did one last prayer before we began to feast
So we are starting to cut into it
That’s beautiful
Just look at that
Look at how beautiful that is
Wow!
That is so beautiful
Oh look at this
So we have a bing
Like a flatbread covered in sesame
And a huge crispy piece of that pork
Oh yeah
The bread is actually quite sticky and sweet
And this pork has a crispy glaze over it
It’s actually quite a sweet treat here
It’s almost like a dessert
Apart from that amazing crispy whole roast pig
The real secret was the assortment of sticky rice flatbreads to wrap it in
My favorite being the super sweet one packed with sugar and pork fat and covered in sesame seeds
It’s rolled out and stuffed and then put onto a huge circular baking device that can spin
And then pushed underneath into a huge hot fire to bake
You’ll love these beauties
Especially when wrapped over the delicious roast pig
The sweetness of the bing combined with the ultra juicy pork and crispy skin will leave you in heaven
Actually I think this bread is made from sticky rice
And it’s covered in sesame and tastes like crystal sugar
That is so good
Look at that succulent meat
There is a fatty layer on there
That pork belly is just packed with flavor
The pork itself is quite fragrant from the five spice powder
And it tastes like there is a touch of bean paste on there
Alright guys
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So everyone is done
We had a little taste of the pig at the grave site
And now they are taking it back and are going to share it amongst the whole family