Food for thought

Discussions on restaurants, eating habits and cooking highlight Open Day events in Beijing.

Chuang Tzu-i from Taiwan was studying anthropology in the United States about 12 years ago. One day the doctoral candidate came across Cambridge Cookery School in the neighborhood of her lodging. Watching through the window, she could see a busy class shrouded in steam.

It was the sixth year of her PhD program when she was preparing for her final dissertation.
In a surprise move, she quit university and registered as a student at the cookery school, a decision unimaginable for many Chinese, especially a decade or so ago.

Chuang eventually became a popular blogger, and her writings about the experience at the cookery school and her observations of kitchen operations at ritzy restaurants fascinated her online followers. In 2008, she published her first book, Anthropologist in the Kitchen.

She shared her stories with more than 200 audience members recently at Open Day, a series of events organized by Vistopia, a sister brand of the publishing brand Imaginist.

"I never regret my seemingly imprudent decision. ... In the last 10 years, what I did has gradually been understood and accepted by more people. I know now an increasing number of young Chinese people try to pursue the meaning of life according to their own will," Chuang says.