La la land: how spicy food set China on fire

China has many different regional cuisines, but increasingly the local palate is craving spice, or la in Chinese. Look back a few hundred years, though, and chillies were nowhere to be found. David Rennie, The Economist’s Beijing bureau chief and Jiehao Chen, a producer of “Drum Tower”, ask: how have chillies become the flavour of contemporary China? Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts. Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+. For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.