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Mozzarella of the East: History and possible origins of Bai Cheese
B ecause making cheese is a highly unusual activity in China, we
are particularly interested in its origins. We have examined all
historical records available to us, and have sought help from local Bai historians, but the fact remains that cheese is seldom mentioned in written records. According to the Dengchuan Gazetteer, rushan was already being made in the Ming Dynasty. In 1641 Ai Zixiu listed goods produced in Dengchuan: "felt hats, socks, blankets, bamboo arrows, butter, cheese, black tea, honey...". To be precise, it does not say rushan for 'cheese' but ruxian, meaning `milk thread or string`. The gazetteer also states that a family with four cows could produce 200 sheets of ruxian daily. This figure is commensurate with today's production levels.
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A Bai woman carries on the unique tradition of making rushan.

A book on Chinese minority cuisine recounts a legend describing the origin of rushan. At the time of the Nanzhao kingdom there was once a village headman called A Kuo. He raised a large number of dairy cows, and to look after them he employed long-term farmhands, whom he used to pay in milk. One day, one of these hands named Zhang Zhi poured some left over sour milk into a wok to heat it up. By mistake he added some fresh milk, and when he stirred it he found that the mixture quickly solidified. He scooped some out, moulded it with his hands, rolled it into thin sheets and left it to dry. After this, everyone else learned the technique.

This simple story would indicate that the Bai discovered cheese-making by accident, which is entirely possible. The fact is that these cheeses are extremely simple to make. There is therefore a strong chance that any people involved in dairy farming for long enough will find that they can extend the life of their milk by converting it into cheese. A cheese similar to rubing is found in South America, where it is called queso blanco. A similar cheese known as paneer is found in India. Thus one cannot rule out the possibility that the cheese-making process was independently discovered by the Bai themselves or by their ancestors. We do not wish to rule out, however, the possibility that they learned how to make cheese from another group. Buddhist monks could have passed on the skill, along with Mahayana Buddhism, when they arrived from India during the Tang dynasty, but the absence of historical records make this impossible to confirm. Perhaps more likely is the theory that the Bai learned how to make cheese from another Chinese group: the Tibetan, Mongolian and Sani peoples all make cheese, and all have had contact with the Bai.


Excerpted from: Allen, Bryan. 2002. Make Boluo de yihan: Ji Zhongguo shaoshu minzu de nailao [What Marco Polo missed: The cheese of China’s ethnic minority peoples]. (Liu Xiaofeng, trans.) Ethnic Guide 266. 35-37.