Er Dan's grilled catfish with Zao Hua honey from a friend's home. Lanzhou's lamb skewers with meat, garlic, and wine. Fujian's Quanzhou ancient house's barbecue with vegetables for a healthy taste. Gu Cuojia's restaurant's grilled chicken wings with sweet peanut sauce. "Yueyashan Barbecue" at Southwest Jiaotong University's Emei campus is a hidden gem for students to gather and enjoy grilled skewers. Drinking fermented glutinous rice and wolfberry beer adds to the experience. Graduating students enjoy ordering grilled skewers from the "Worldly Temptations Guide" takeout.

Everything can be barbecued. Some barbecue restaurants specialize in lamb's "lower three roads," while others even put rats on the grill. Snakes have also appeared on the grill of a barbecue restaurant in Hunan. "Society, you Er Ge, tough but silent," the secret of Er Ge's barbecue restaurant lies in his poker face. The "stern and sharp" Er Ge claims that there are treasures all over the lamb's body, which he has elevated to "supplier anatomy." But in front of his sister-in-law, Er Ge's fierceness towards lamb disappears without a trace. This forms a wonderful family combination, with Er Ge taking care of the lamb and his sister-in-law taking care of him, which is very uncommercial.

In Dandong, a must-have vegetarian dish for barbecue is the grilled bean skin, which has been a nostalgic delicacy for locals. Laofei is known as the queen of grilled bean skin in Dandong and has been running her business for over a decade with her partner Xiaodi. Despite the changes in titles and body shape, Laofei's pursuit of the perfect grilled bean skin has remained constant. Chili is the soul of grilled bean skin, and Laofei's secret lies in the combination of different chili peppers with varying levels of spiciness. She grinds together hot, medium, and mild chilies to ensure both the heat and vibrant color of the chili powder. After the charcoal is lit, the bean skin is placed on the grill and cooked to perfection by Laofei's skillful flipping. With the addition of garlic chili sauce for freshness, sweet Korean chili sauce, and sesame sauce for nutty flavor, the grilled bean skin has a silky texture with a sweet and spicy aftertaste, making it a dish that customers can't resist.

This is Changchun - the Detroit of the East. On a street near Guangfu Road, vendors sell foreign currency and breathe the lively atmosphere. In a small shop, customers are crowded, and the buying and selling gods of Guangfu Road are the main consumers. Fast and warm food like a plate of dumplings is a must-have for fast food. Grandpa Sun's small shop has only sold three types of dumplings for over a decade: pork and pickled cabbage filling, pork and celery filling, and pork and chives filling. The beef platter of Grandpa Sun's is the perfect match for dumplings: beef marrow, beef tendon, and beef kidney are grilled together, with an unchanging taste for over a decade.

Every barbecue stand in Wuhan has grilled "ganzi," but the delicious ones require some skill. In fact, Wuhan's "ganzi" is not the brown-black tofu that people imagine, but a soft and tender tofu that is slightly wrinkled on the surface after being smoked and grilled over an open flame. Although it's called "ganzi," the ones grilled at "Qixingke BBQ" near Tiesi Hospital are tender and juicy, and are known as the "best grilled ganzi in Wuhan" by foodies. People come from all over just to taste this unforgettable flavor, waiting from day to night. Foodies believe that a good ganzi should still be slightly moving when picked up and have a "ambiguous" texture that melts in your mouth. The key to grilling such a ganzi lies in the knife cuts: one-third deep and one-third wide, without cutting through both sides.

Muslim Snack Street of Xi'an has a traditional eatery called Liu Family Gan Bang Kao Rou, which uses only cumin and chili to flavor their skewers, resulting in a nostalgic taste of childhood barbecue. Over the decades, the dry sticks have become a beloved classic. Meanwhile, in Huangpi, a young couple runs Xiangxi Jishou BBQ. The husband, a former bar singer, entertains guests while the wife, known as the "butter Western beauty," grills the signature dish, roast beef with butter, which has a rich yet non-greasy texture and a mouth-watering aroma. Sprinkled with red chili powder, the spicy and salty Xiangxi flavor has won over many diners in Wuhan who typically prefer milder fare.

In Xishuangbanna, people love to eat "Xinhuo," a local delicacy made of raw pig blood, which may seem like a "dark cuisine" that locals enjoy while others avoid it. Meanwhile, for people from Shandong, scallions are essential. The owner of "Goryeo BBQ" is a great teacher to his apprentices but an outstanding husband to his wife, representing a typical Shandong husband. Yunnan BBQ, on the other hand, believes that everything can be dipped in water.

Uncle Aisanjiang in Yili is good at roasting lamb. In addition to lamb and lamb chops, his hidden roasted specialties, such as "saipi" and tender roasted milk foam, are unclear to even the locals. Roasted "pork head" (pork head) in Lishui, Zhejiang, is already considered a normal food, but the pig gums, pig nose tendons, and pig eyeballs that reappear after pig head segmentation start to challenge diners again. The roasted small intestine in Anshun, Guizhou, not only arouses the appetite of offal lovers, but also soothes everyone's tense nerves. In Lijiang, Yunnan, there is a group of noble chickens in Lao Hong's house, which are obviously not ordinary. Lao Hong considers them as "comrades-in-arms," and even won first prize in a cockfighting competition in Lincang thanks to them. However, the 200-meter away barbecue shop is their final destination, and it also makes Lao Hong's most highly praised roasted dish - roasted chicken feet.

Jilin BBQ has the bold and unrestrained style of Northeast China, and the BBQ in Yanji town, far away from the city, is equally impressive. Xiao Song, the technical leader of "Lao Song BBQ" in Daxinggou, had worked alone abroad for several years. He chose to return home to sell BBQ simply because it was "close to his own life." In Chele, Xinjiang, it is more common and convenient to barbecue a whole lamb. No complicated skills or seasonings are needed, just apply a simple dough on the lamb, sprinkle with sesame seeds, and for a moment it seems like giving the lamb a whitening bath. Then it is wrapped in several layers of cloth to prevent heat loss before being placed in the tandoor oven.

"Do you have fire?" "We have fire today." This question and answer is a necessary secret code for authentic barbecue in Changchun. Being able to say "Do you have fire?" is enough to prove your status as a regular customer and showcase your proficiency in Changchun barbecue slang. Getting a response from the boss of "We have fire today" means that the barbecue feast tonight is about to begin. The art of controlling the fire in barbecue reminds us to seize the opportunity and master the timing in life, but on a barbecue stall, it's better to let go of all that.

The addictive "Chongqing Fold" is a 3D version of grilled dried tofu that is unique to Chongqing. Unlike other regions where dried tofu is eaten flat, Chongqing's grilled dried tofu is rolled up with lots of pickled vegetables and scallions. Therefore, the grilled dried tofu, which is full of ingredients, looks like a wormhole model made by Einstein and is unique to Chongqing's barbecue stalls. Meanwhile, the combination of perilla and false bamboo shoots in Nanning's barbecue will also test the taste adaptation of unfamiliar diners.

In Wuhan, crayfish is a popular late-night snack. The owner of "Liangliang Shrimp Balls" speaks with pride about the secret to their grilled shrimp that has captured the hearts of Wuhanese: "My boss is dedicated to making the shrimp delicious." In addition to grilling shrimp, this shrimp-grilling couple takes a break from work every year to travel, using their actions to write their own romantic story.

Ningxia's Yinchuan Baozi's grilled lamb trotters have a soft and tender skin that regains elasticity in the subtle moment between charred and burnt. Liaoning's Jinzhou Wu Ge's grilled crab and chicken feet have a rough texture mixed with delicacy. Yunnan's Kunming Yin Dajie's raw grilled chicken feet have a precise timing to balance the taste and texture. Anhui's Chuzhou Lao Meng's grilled lobsters are strictly grilled for no more than two minutes with a salty and refreshing flavor and the charred aroma of high heat fused with the spiciness of thirteen spices.

The Liangshan small pig meat from Xiao'er, Xichang, Sichuan, is skewered onto long bamboo sticks and roasted on a big fire pit. The fatty meat is not greasy and the lean meat is rich in flavor. The Yunnan Zhaotong beef skewers are quickly grilled over high heat, ready to eat once cooked through. The meat is tender and well-seasoned, with an endless taste. The roasted whole lamb from Weili, Xinjiang is baked in a pit oven and cooked by both roasting and braising methods. The heat is evenly distributed, resulting in a moderate crispiness and delicious flavor. The grilled live oysters from Zhanjiang, Guangdong are opened, slightly cleaned, and placed directly on charcoal fire. The juice from the oyster meat makes for a delicious taste. Bringing together delicacies from all over the world, including land animals and sea creatures, this feast is a true temptation for those who cannot live without meat at night. It's a feast that satisfies both their senses and desires.

In Liaoyuan, Jilin, Xiaojun's roasted silkworms are freshly skewered and grilled until fully cooked with crispy skin and juicy meat. Roasted moth and green silkworm are also popular dishes. In Baise, Guangxi, Pingjie's roasted pig eyes are cooked to crispy perfection. Live Brother's grilled abalone in Guangzhou and Liuge's roasted pork brain in Chongqing are both savory delicacies. Lao Wang's grilled lamb balls in Xuzhou are tender, chewy, and aromatic. Oil belly is grilled until tender and rolled up in a special pancake for a unique texture. Barbecue with heavy flavors is a rare treat to share, and the alluring and slightly dark taste of barbecue and the night is an eternal understanding.

Brother Biao's Grilled Dry Tofu Rolls in Jinzhou blend chili peppers, ham sausage, and enoki mushrooms, with soybean flavor. In Changchun, Boss Guo's Charcoal Grilled Potatoes are steamed, grilled, and smoked, with a secret soy sauce. In Yunnan's Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Li Bi's Grilled Wet Tofu is slowly grilled for crispy skin and tender, chewy interior. In Yichang, Sister Qiezi's Grilled Eggplant is seasoned with secret garlic paste and runny egg yolk. In Changsha, grilled garlic chives from a roadside stall are fresh and spicy yet fragrant. You may forget the barbecue stalls you ate at, and your city may change, but you'll remember the taste and the person who shared it with you.

Zhao Lin's Grilled Pig Nose in Yibin, Sichuan, is cooked with high heat for fragrance and low heat for flavor, resulting in a thin and chewy texture that offers a satisfying crunch. Sanliqiao's Grilled Heart Tube in Haicheng, Liaoning, is grilled with high heat, creating a unique crispy texture. A Song's Grilled Sea Intestine in the Old City of Yantai, Shandong, is cooked with fast heat and boasts a delicious soup inside that perfectly complements its satisfying chewiness. Wang Yangli's Grilled Beef Fat in Yueyang, Hunan, is slowly grilled with low heat, offering a sensation of oil trickling between the teeth. Yang Jie's Grilled Tofu Skin in Xi'an has a firm texture that is not sticky, making the sensation of chewing an essential part of the barbecue experience throughout the country.

Fang Jiutian, a legendary figure in Harbin's barbecue scene, is a seasoned barbecue master who rose to fame with his barbecue shop in a narrow alley without even a restroom. Yangzhou's "Third Brother" Barbecue, famous for their large skewers, has been a favorite of generations of students. In Fuzhou, Fujian, the versatile Ah Long runs his barbecue stall amidst towering skyscrapers. In Guangdong, Feng Tonghui's invention of a wind tube has become the most handy barbecue tool. From north to south, these barbecue veterans are guardians of the joyous skewer, heating up the fiercely lived human experience with laughter and tears, and the ups and downs of life, amidst the bustling and dusty world.