Chef learns more about China while introducing foreigners to regional cuisines

If you visit the hutongs in Beijing you will often smell the fragrance of Chinese food wafting in the air. Sophia Du works in the area as a chef and nutritionist at a cultural exchange centre set up by two Australians. Du, 33, comes from Inner Mongolia and she is passionate about Chinese food and the stories and culture that surround it.

I happened to meet Stacey and Mark, the Australian founders of The Hutong, in 2008 when I was working at a hostel as a consultant providing help for foreign tourists in Beijing. As I studied English as an undergraduate at university, a travel consultant was an ideal job for me, and it was stable. However, I thought I was still young and needed a breakthrough in my life. The Hutong was at an early stage of development at that time and Stacey and Mark were still exploring what they could do to share their favourite parts of Chinese cultures with foreigners. Stacey asked me what I could do when we met. I thought about cooking, as this is something every ordinary family does at home. I don't consider myself a great cook, as it was my parents' and grandparents' job at home in Inner Mongolia, but I watched them cooking and thought I had learned a lot. So I told Stacey I could try teaching cooking, and started with some simple dishes we used to have at home.

I worked part-time at The Hutong from June 2008 and became a full-time chef in 2009. It was Stacey who supported me in starting my first cooking class. I remember there was one day when she asked if I knew how to make Chinese dumplings. My immediate response was - of course! People from northern China should know, as dumplings are our main dish. I was hesitant at first as I thought making dumplings at home should be different from teaching how to make them, but I eventually found it rewarding teaching foreigners what I knew.

Even though I am Chinese, I have found I don't really know the culture of some places in China that well. People in my classes are mostly foreigners living in Beijing. Some are newcomers, while some have lived in Beijing for years. As for those who have just moved to Beijing, they ask not only about what we eat and how we cook, but also about the culture and stories behind the food. When I had to tell them these stories, I realised I knew very little about the culture of my home country, and I tried to learn more to share with people in my classes. I am so happy to know that foreign people are so interested in Chinese culture and the stories behind our food. Their eagerness to learn inspired me to think about how we should treasure our own culture.