China #3: The people

If we did not have our hosts, guides, friends or students guarding, guiding, translating for use we would have missed 90% of this massive wonderful country.  We would not have known what we  were eating, looking at, what train to get, bus to ride, what road to travel or how to get to the hotels we were staying at.  They made sure we had water to drink, food to eat and a beautiful place to stay. They showed us the sights, showed us how much they love their country, their history and their stories. 

We saw old building, new buildings, towers, new places that looked like old places. We went to restaurants that had been around for 100 years, they showed us how to eat and what to eat these traditional savory dishes. They wandered with us in traditional places that they enjoyed as much as we did. They complained about the heat, the smog, the traffic as we did.

I had the privilege of visiting a school in Wuhu. They were just finishing their exams and were so excited to have me there. That was so much fun.

So from John in Beijing and his family, Tom in Shanghai and his family, to Fify, Andi, Flora, Agnes, Jay, and Jack in Guangzhou and family, to Qingwen in Wuhu to Wenlong and Eileen in Wuxi, to Frank,  Peter. Alyssa and Williams and their  parents. Thank you for introducing us to your cities and communities.  For helping us with all the places we needed to go and got to go...for everything you let us see and enjoy.  For driving us late at night, picking us up in strange train stations and airports,  walking through gardens and taking us to restaurants...we are so very grateful.

CHINA: Part 2...the love affair with the food

The moment we arrived to the last meal before we left was an event. It was a presentation for the senses, a new experience for the palate, an insight into the country through  its food.

One of the things you notice is these large cities is the lack of birds. Most the cities we visited were either by the ocean or by large lakes but not a bird could be seen or a seagull to be heard. We were commenting to a student this observation and he said.."if you want to see animals in China...look at the table".  If they flew or swam, they most likely would be presented with a great sauce on lazy Susan in a beautiful restaurant.

We started off with Peking duck and ended with Wuxi fish...I started by asking what it was we were eating in such a beautiful dish, to just eating it and realizing that it most likely was going to be good.
My favorite was probably the pigeon, my least was probably the squid and that was because of the texture. 

I wondered out loud on many occasion why the head had to come with the dish. I guess the presentation of the whole animal is what makes you not have to realize what it is you are eating.  The chicken feet and the ducks neck were just hard work and not much else. The shrimp were always looking at me with some disgust. The vegetables: the bamboo dishes, the seaweed, the greens, the cucumber like substance that I really hope was cucumber and not  sea cucumber and the lotus root was quite amazing.  KFC has influenced the Chinese plate and we had lots of corn on the cob.

On the meat side of things: Duck, pigeon, chicken, beef, lobster, crab, fish, sea snails,lamb, pork, shrimp and then all of these cooked in every kind of way. Duck fat with crispy skin was...great! If there is a fish dish...you will have bones. Bones makes a dish better...beware. Lots of soups...lots of wonderful tasty dishes. Duck hearts and pig guts were revealed after I ate, fortunately.

You sit around a huge lazy Susan and food begins to come and you begin to eat. Take a piece here, try something there and DON'T EAT TOO much right off the bat...there is much more coming.  The dumplings in Shanghai were amazing...amazing. The pizza in the hotel room with students was really good. The sea snails and little bitty lobster...well, I'm glad everyone else really liked them. 

Learn to use the chopsticks before you go...it makes sense when you see how things are eaten.

Two things were off limits for us and that was dog meat and snake blood and neither was offered.  Don't be squeamish, it wont help and it may offend.  You really don't need to eat a lot...just a little piece here and there.  Don't ask and just try. 

Food is the heart of a peoples culture. When you sit around and talk and laugh and tell stories...you become family. It is about the good food, but it's really about  good company. 

China has a love story with its thousands of dishes and if anything, they want you to hear it while you taste it.

CHINA: Part 1...first impressions.

First, it's big. the cities are big, the tables are big, the train stations are big, the hotels are big...Everything is SUPER sized and remarkable CLEAN.

Because it is BIG, it is BUSY.  traffic is horrible and waiting in line or pushing in line is normal.  The cities we visited, Shanghai, Guangzhou , Nanjing and Wuxi...Wuxi being the smallest are bigger than Seattle or Vancouver.  All the sites you want to see, everyone else wants to see them as well. It is busy.

You don't see a lot of other westerners... and being a westerner is no big deal. I love not standing out even though you know you look like no one else there. 

People/women dress really well, I mean really well. Walking in these huge cities it often looked like everyone was either coming or going to a formal gathering rather then just walking around like we were.

When you go shopping, there will be a lot of noise. It isn't enough that they have window displays...imagine walking in our malls and have the store employees standing right outside the front entrance with a mic, loud music blaring and yelling their wares while the store next door is most likely doing the same.

IT is all about the food. I will spend one whole post talking about this...but it is really about the food.


The Chinese love their country, their 5000 year history, the connections everything has to everything else They are proud of their enterprising nature and love showing it off to you. This is an impressive, HUGE, busy country.  What you think about China isn't what is China.  Our 10 day visit was like the view of  Shanghai or Guangzhou from their famous towers. You can see a lot, but you really have no idea how it all fits together.

It was a brief taste, but it gave me an idea of where our  Chinese international students come from. I loved following them around on their turf...what a turf !