The idea of vegetarianism started in China thousands of years ago. So, let's find out why people started to become vegetarians.

It feels good to start the New Year off with a bowl of veggie noodles.

Longhua Temple's veggie noodles are a traditional dish that one eats for the New Year. Six hundred bowls of these noodles can be made in just one hour.

As the most delicious vegetarian dishes come from the temples, a visit to one may be in order to try top vegetarian dishes.

The Jade Buddhist Temple in Shanghai is famous for its vegetarian meals. It is a must-try if you are into veggie dishes.

Behind every dish, there is a meaning. This vegetarian dish is called "Understand and Embrace."

The lotus flower is a symbol of Buddhism. Therefore, a vegetarian dish is made with this concept in mind.

One needs creativity to cook an impressive dish. The Bead Curtain is a very interesting vegetarian dish that uses aloe as its main ingredient.

Olive Oil-Fried King Oyster Mushrooms: a simple but delicious dish.

Getting the freshest ingredients is also a very important step in making delicious vegetarian dishes.

Auntie Wang wastes no time in getting the freshest ingredients. She heads out at 2:30 am to go to the farmer's market in order to buy the freshest food.

It is tough to get the best ingredients so that's why Auntie Huang started out early. And without taking any rest, Auntie Huang rushes back to the temple in preparation for the new day.

Shopping for food might seem like an easy task but it actually requires lots of work and knowledge.

One of the most important ingredients in a vegetarian meal is the tofu skin. In order to buy the best tofu skin, the food purchaser Auntie Wang found a factory that is about three hours away from Shanghai.

Making tofu skin is very hard, especially when you have to put your fingers into a pot of boiling soy milk.

It might seem very easy to do, but picking tofu skin requires a lot of skills.

Water is an important ingredient to make the best tofu skin.

Gong De Lin is a vegetarian restaurant that was found by the Jian brothers in Shanghai in 1922.

Over the years, Gong De Lin became a representation of the vegetarian culture in China.

Pine nut Wealthy Fish is a famous dish in Gong De Lin. Not only that it is hard to make, it is also comparable to the famous Shanghai dish of Pine nut Yellow Croaker.

With the development of technology, soy bean fiber is used to make vegetarian food, which enrich the taste and texture of a vegetarian meal.

Not only that it is delicious, the vegetarian meal is also very meaningful.

In this episode of The 25th Hour, we first meet 82-year-old Wu Ren Di who is looking for love in his native Shanghai.

82-year-old Wu Ren Di was married for over 40 years before his wife passed away in 2001.