Clissold has also diversified her client base: Having found that many Westerners living in China want to eat Chinese food at home but lack the ability and time to cook it themselves, she began running a course for people's ayis, or housekeepers. While most of the ayis already know the rudiments of Chinese cooking, Clissold has found that much of what they are eager to learn is simply what Westerners like to eat. "They'll quite often not cook [a certain food] for foreigners because they think that they won't like it because they haven't seen them buy it," she explains. "But [the foreigners] won't have bought it because they didn't know what it was."

　　Though Clissold admits some of her students are merely interested in learning a few dishes they can later whip up to dazzle their friends back home, she finds most of them are genuinely interested in the cuisine. "I think [my work] is worthwhile in that it gives people a better life experience when they're here," she says. "They can go to the market and buy from local traders, they can eat more healthily and feel more positive about being here if they know their way around the food."

　　As Clissold has progressed in her understanding of the intricacies of Chinese food - which has involved formal study of the subject at the China Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine - she has become increasingly convinced of the health benefits of the Chinese diet. "I believe it's a much better balanced and nutritious diet [than that of most Westerners]," she states. "You only have to look out there and see people eating a traditional Chinese diet, what good shape they're in. And they're not running marathons."

　　Clissold is certain the West can stand to learn a lot from the Chinese concepts of a balanced diet, and she hopes to write a book as the next step in her role as a bridge between East and West. She's not giving up any details at the moment, but does venture this hint: "I don't think selling the Chinese diet per se in the West is ever going to work, but the Chinese attitude towards food I think can work."