A rice field in Heilongjiang province. [Photo/Xinhua]

The press conference for the grand cultural feature series, The Road of Rice, was held in Beijing on Dec 1. Two episodes of the documentary are expected to be finished before the 2016 Spring Festival, and the remaining four are planned for broadcast before the 2017 Spring Festival.

The series tells the story of rice, which spread from China and connected China, Asia and the world before the formation of the Silk Road and the Marine Silk Road. It's a world that most people know little about and will be depicted in six episodes. The series is an important production of China Central Television (CCTV). Chief director Dong Haomin from CCTV directed another documentary, Porcelain Story.

Film crews started a field survey from the second half of the year 2015 and in October began large-scale filming during the autumn festival in Panjing. As one of the main suppliers of rice in China, Panjing produces rice that has the geographical indication protection product certification given by the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of China. The images of the blue ocean, the red coast and the golden rice fields of Panjing enrich the series'visual impact.

The conference also arranged a special program on how rice in the fields becomes the food people consume.