Rare Lunar New Year fare makes it to big screen

But despite the sentimentality and nostalgia in the film, Chen says the movie's tone is joyful.

Explaining his philosophy behind making the film, the 36-year-old director says: "I always regard the vanishing of a culture or the disappearance of dishes as an unavoidable, normal trend in a rapidly changing society.

"But people in the future will at least have a chances to see these things recorded clearly on film, which makes our job more significant than only defining it (the movie) as a commercial documentary."

Meanwhile, despite its significance, the film does not expect to become a huge commercial success.

And the example given is that of French director Jacques Perrin's Ocean.

The world's highest-grossing documentary feature earned only 25 million yuan ($3.8 million) after a one-month Chinese mainland release in 2011, a figure easily accessed by a domestic blockbuster on its first day.

Chen Xiaoqing, the chief director, says: A Bite of China is not the kind of commercial title "born for money".

"I will never do a movie just aiming for the box office, and I rarely care about the reviews," he says.

But Li Yansong, president of iQiyi Motion Pictures, says some TV series have led to "amazing" click numbers on the site, and believes its popularity will influence the moviegoers.