When Liu Yang went to study in France, little did he expect to develop a passion for cheese and make it his profession once he returned to China where it's viewed -- and smelled -- with suspicion.
But eight years later, Liu, 35, has become one of China's rare cheese-makers, setting up shop in Beijing where he produces cheese for expatriates and tries to convince his doubtful countrymen of its virtues.
Liu was first introduced to the art of cheese-making by a neighbour while he was living in the lush mountains of Corsica, a Mediterranean island off the coast of southern France, where he was studying international trade.
"He made me taste goat's cheese and I thought it was delicious," Liu said in French as he poured fresh milk into a large vat for a fresh batch of cheese in his north Beijing shop. “Sometimes he brought over his cheese, which really smelt, and I supplied 'baijiu' (Chinese white liquor), and we would eat and drink it together."
The encounter prompted Liu to study cheese-making at a local agricultural school.
"All the people studying with me came from cheese-making families and they were all French -- I was the only foreigner and I couldn't make cheese but they really looked after me," he said.
At that time, Liu had already decided to return to China to specialise in cheese-making.
In a picture taken on 29 May 2009, Chinese French cheese maker Liu Yang makes cheese at his kitchen in Beijing where he has started to produce cheese for expatriates and tries to woo doubtful locals
But unlike France, China is not a country of cheese lovers. Indeed, many Chinese people find dairy products difficult to digest and associate cheese with obesity.
But according to research firm Euromonitor International, cheese consumption in China has grown "dramatically" in recent years, although processed cheese is still the favoured variety.
"The product is more to the taste of Chinese consumers, and unspreadable cheese is often eaten for breakfast with toast or in a sandwich," the firm said in a report. "Unprocessed cheese is hardly seen in retail channels, as people do not know how to use it."
Still, according to a 2007 report by food industry website www.21food.com, rising cheese imports indicated "that cheese could follow liquid and powdered milk, and yoghurt in becoming another hot trend."
And so it was that Liu came back to Beijing in 2007 to set up shop.
"I started off making the cheese in my kitchen, and I would go eat at the restaurant every day as a result because I just didn't want to cook anymore," he said.
That year, Liu met his future wife, who supported his endeavour after initial reservations, but, said Liu: "At first, she didn't like eating cheese. But now she likes brocciu (a Corsican goat's cheese), and she is starting to appreciate camembert -- but she still doesn't like blue cheese."
Liu opened his shop last month after transforming part of the premises into a cheese-making operation, complete with a large cold room.
"I used all my savings to do this," he said of the operation that cost him nearly 100,000 yuan (14,600 dollars).
He imported some of the equipment from France but had his cheese-making vat, complete with thermometers, made in Beijing by an engineer friend. This alone cost him 50,000 yuan.
Liu Yang working in his kitchen in Beijing
Liu, who has not yet made money, is first targeting Beijing's large expatriate community through tastings and deliveries, but he also aims to slowly introduce Chinese people to French-style cheeses.
"Chinese customers like brocciu and fromage frais, although they do ask to put sugar in that," he said. "But I have not yet given Chinese people any stronger cheeses."
To prove his point over lunch at a nearby Chinese restaurant, Liu brought out some of his trademark "Gris de Pekin," which translates as "Beijing grey," based on French camembert.
He cut a piece for a restaurant employee, who picked it up suspiciously with chopsticks, sniffed it and the nibbled it.
"It's good," he said unconvincingly.
Marianne Barriaux/AFP/Expatica
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A Chinese cheese lover is trying to help his compatriots acquire a taste for the delicious yet smelly French-style delicacies.
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