Interesting meals in China

Anhui & Beijing - Ladies and Gentleman -  just got back from a leadership retreat and had some fantastic food including mongolian hot pot and BBQ.  I must say I really do like the traditional food in general, unfortunately so much that I'm feeling a little Buddha-like. And the whole thing about being hungry 15 minutes afterward is just plain wrong.  I don't think I've been hungry since I moved here.

After visiting Anhui province, I was treated to three special meals by our hosts.  The variety and amount of food was impressive, as was the number of toasts - even at lunch there were more than any wedding I've been to.  I was encouraged to eat (and did, sadly) well more than my stomach could hold.  Must make up for the big meals with some light fare in the next few days or I will look like Buddha.

 

Lunch at the Shouzou Hotel in Co (pronounced tso) county (about 3 hours outside Hefei, the capital city of Anhui Province) had several dishes familiar to (U.S.) southerners:

chunks of yams cooked in sugar - yum

hunks of corn on the cob - couldn't figure out how to pick up with chopsticks

what appeared to be leaves of a tree or flower - yum, tasted like fried green onions

chunks of chicken served with the feet and head  - okay but bony and hard to eat

sizzling dog - did not eat

boiled peanuts - good, not slimy like the ones I've had in Georgia

slices of lotus root - good, kind of like a potato

tiny river shrimps (whole, with heads & skins) served with sliced hot peppers - yum

soup with bean sprouts & translucent dumplings - yum

collard greens - eh

sweet yogurt to drink - good but filling

Chinese wine (more like moonshine) - one sip was enough to sterilize my stomach lining - I was able to avoid drinking the whole glass they poured me but probably caused offense.

rice at the end of the meal - no room

 

And now for the tofu (do fu), which my hosts explained was invented in Co County:

chunks of soft tofu with greens - good

tofu "ribs" with spicy sauce - yum

tofu dumplings - yum, but slippery and hard to eat with chopsticks

tofu strips with sticklike green veggies - good, tofu tasted like mushrooms

and STINKY tofu - advertised appropriately.  I tried a tiny bit, but didn't like it

 

Breakfast was a buffet of many of the same items, plus noodles, boiled eggs, and cooked chunks of acorn squash.

 

Dinner in Hefei at a famous hot pot place called Shung Fu.

We cooked thin rolls of beef

chunks of chicken (served w head and feet)

spinach

parsley

some kind of organ meat

tofu skins

mushroom variety

 

Other dishes:

twisted buns (like flattened croissants)

spicy cucumber

chicken stomach with peppers

 

Washed down with Snow beer (managed to have one glass), tea. more toasts than a wedding.

 

Lunch in Tao Lou -

eel (with bones) - okay, hard to eat

chicken with feet, head, & liver - okay but hard to eat (bony)

salty duck (including the bill & bones) - a little too salty

soy beansprouts - excellent

pumpkin 'pie' (fried patty with bean paste in middle) - yum

rice balls - very good, ate several of them

whole fish with peppers - good but it ended up on the wrong side of the lazy susan so I only got one bite

tofu w greens - good 

winter melon sauteed in soy sauce? - okay but would probably be better fresh

tripe w peppers - did not try this time

pig foot - tried to eat but wasn't much to it

spicy cucumber chunks - yum

sizzling dog into which they tip noodles and greens near the end of the meal - again, avoided this dish

Washed down with oj, hot tea, warm coca cola, or yogurt drink. (I chose the orange drink today

Thoughts on the road in Anhui

Anhui - We are 2.5 hrs outside Hefei (capital city of Anhui Province, China).  I am joining consultants Y.T. and Dr. X on a visit to three rural schools as part of a feasibility study for the upcoming water in schools program.   I am intuiting the rules of the road.

The roads are decent but pocked in places.  Development reaches even this far from the city.  As we get close to one of the schools we cross an enormous area that has been carved out for a new road.  Lane choice is optional and constantly changing.  Rule #1 (I imagine) is DON'T BE PREDICTABLE. 

We zoom by dogs, ducks, goats, chickens, and people, many of whom, upon appearance of our vehicle, have a sudden and seemingly random urge to cross the road. Oh my god oh my god I can't look oh my god phew we missed them.  Rule #2 NEVER SLOW DOWN. 

We zip past cotton fields and narrowly pass tiny trucks overloaded with open bags of cotton. Rule #3 NEVER BE BEHIND ANYONE.  Of course this applies to all drivers and somebody has to be the last one on the road.  Some of the cotton blows out creating the illusion of snow flurries. A song comes to mind, "Away down south in land of cotton. ..." and oddly old times here are NOT forgotten.  Look away, look away, look away to - " - holy CRAP there is a person in the middle of the road - where was I? 

Although it was warm in Anhui, it is colder here than I expected (18c), and foggy.

Although it is a Sunday night, we stop at Tuan Ja middle and primary school, which has 700 students. This school is 30 to 40 yrs old. 100 live here, and several of them are lined up at a faucet coming out of the wall with buckets.  Although they only get water at certain times - once in the morning and once at night (sometimes it doesn't come, we are told) - coincidentally we show up right at water time.  This water comes from a local well and can only be used for washing. The 7 meter deep well was paid for (and installed by?) the government. Deep groundwater is supposed to be safer. 

They buy bottled water for drinking (the big bottles, aka bubblers). The school has a budget to pay for the bottled water. The school administrator says that students don't get sick because they are drinking bottled water (c'mon, didn't you eat paste a few times as a kid?). But I wonder.  Being kids, some of them must drink the well water that is "only for washing."  Yes, they admit, that is true. 

Because I always have to check out the sanitation, I ask for the toilets.  The good news is they do have latrine facilities and they are gender separated.  While there is a roof, the buildings are open air, which allows for good ventilation (and flies).  The pits seem to just go into the ground. I ask who cleans them out - workers or the students clean together.  The bad news is there are no handwashing facilities nearby, or anwhere that I can see.  I ask what they think they need.  They would like to have a kitchen. Currently the students eat their meals with nearby families.

It's dark when we leave the school.  Although there are electric lines along the road, the homes are dark.  The Kenny G-like music doesn't relieve the adrenaline rush of high speed obstacle course driving. Rule #4 - PLAY THE MUSIC LOUD.  Ah, finally the Kenny G CD is finished and now...the soundtrack for Annoyo the Klown. At least the Buick (the popular car in China) is comfy.

Snacks are offered.  They are brownish and chewy. And a little salty.  "Thank you so much - what is it?" It's tea-flavored dried tofu.  Well of course.  

That night we have dinner with the local school deapartment representatives.  They ask, do I like alcohol (does it show?).  I say, "sure, a little" - thinking they might order some beer.  The waitress brings in a whole bottle of the scary firewater (tastes like moonshine) for our table of six.  Yikes.  Fortunately there is a tiny glass in front of each of us on the table.  The waitress pours a full serving - in the larger glass I assumed was for water.  "Gan Bei!" they chirp at me ("drink it all!").  I pour from the large glass into the small.  I take a small sip from the small glass.  My throat closes up.  My stomach revolts.  I smile and think they will let me off the hook.  Several more toasts ensue - "gan bei" (small sip)! "gan bei" (miniscule sip), "gan bei" (microscopic sip), "gan bei" (nanosip, tummy flip)...Unfortunately I can't really strike up a diverting conversation (hey, anybody know some dirty jokes?) since I don't know how to say anything more than "I like to eat tofu." RULE #5: JUST SAY NO. 

Driving the elevator

I may have already pointed out to some of you how interesting the elevators are here for the simple fact that many of them eliminate the 4th, 13th, and 14th (optional) floors.  I am curious whether those floors actually exist - barren, unlucky, and inaccessible. Maybe they are much smaller in height - kind of like the office space in "Being John Malkovich."  

Anyway, the point of this story is elevator culture.  To get to my office, I have to take a two-story escalator to the 3rd floor, then an elevator to the 12th floor (which could really be the 11th floor, since we're missing a 4th floor - stick with the math here, folks).  If I want to visit the 17th floor, where the other Coca-Cola office is, I can either take the elevator down to the 3rd floor and another bank of elevators up to the 17th floor, or take my lungs into my hands (does that make sense) and use the stairs to go up to the 17th floor.  This is actually only 3 flights of stairs because there are no (or hidden) 13th or 14th floors.  Which makes the 17th floor really the .... oh hell, I can't figure it out.  The stairwell is also, cleverly, the SMOKING lounge.  And boy do people take advantage of it.  I kind of like the contrast of the healthy people taking the stairs and the differently-healthed (unhealthy is probably un-PC these days) smoking their butts off.   So I arrive at meetings on the 17th floor wheezing not just from the stairs but also from holding my breath for three flights.

 

So, anyhoo, back to the elevators.  If you've ever seen video footage of the Japanese cramming onto subways, you'll get a sense of elevator culture here.  And the first person on helpfully pushes his/her floor and the CLOSE button as soon as possible.  Each following person also pushes the button for his/her floor and the CLOSE button.  So you really need to hustle.   I like to think of this as driving the elevator.  

Even though the doors close surprisingly soon (even on the rare occasions that you are the only person waiting on the elevator), each individual likes to feel the heady power of being IN CHARGE of where the elevator goes and how quickly.  I've even seen one person hit the CLOSE button on the way out of the elevator.  However, much like those who discover the joy of speed in a car hate to use the brakes, very few people like to push the OPEN door button, even when someone (for example, me) has one arm pinned between the jaws of death doors. 

 

People also like to pass the time waiting for the elevator making sure that the previous person waiting has correctly pressed the button requesting the elevator to arrive.  (My mother would call this "mashing" the button, but that's another cultural story.)  This is a phenomenon I have also experienced in busy cities like New York.  The city that never sleeps OR waits more than necessary for an elevator. 

 

The other phenomenon, and maybe this is just a different in the whole personal space thing, is that sometimes you are prevented from stepping off the elevator at your desired floor (whatever fake number it is) by the people entering the elevator.  Another phrase I would like to learn in Chinese is "if you let my big Western butt off this elevator there might be more room for you." 

 

And a last observation.  On the rare occasions there are just a few people on the elevator, they all face the walls.  Now you might think because they are trying to avert their eyes from the confusing list of numbers on the elevator buttons, but no, it's to check out how they look in the mirrors on the walls of the elevators.  I like that they are unashamed about checking their teeth after lunch or adjusting their pants.  I could learn from them.

 

Onwards and upwards.....

Blogging (and barf) in Beijing

Beijing - So, I've never blogged before, although I usually keep a journal when I travel.  So I'm not sure the kinds of things that people will find interesting.  Let me celebrate this week's successes:  received my official business cards; got a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed between UN organization and Mega-Corp. 

 

I've been walking to work and the weather the past couple weeks has been great.  Cool but not cold - blue skies, a little bit of a breeze.  Quite a pleasant change from the humid, hot days of August.  It takes me about 30 minutes to get to work.  Walking rather than taking a taxi serves a couple of purposes - one is that as Green Olympics Project Director, I don't want to contribute any more than I have to to the air pollution.  Of course I have to take taxis occasionally, but will try to learn about the subway and bus system so that I can reduce those occasions as well.  The other reason to walk, is, well, exercise!  As busy as I've been and will be, it's good to have some built in time to exercise.

 

During this hour each day I have learned the joy of the podcast.  I learn basic Chinese by listening to Chinesepod.com conversational language lessons.  Did you know that there is an innuendo meant by saying "I like to eat tofu?" (seriously - more on that in a future blog).   I catch up on the news with NPR podcasts - Driveway Moments, At Your Leisure, and Fresh Air.  I can also catch up on my reading with fiction from the New Yorker, and classics (Mom, you would LOVE these).  There's even 60-second Psych to keep me mentally balanced (did you know that women around the world prefer pinkish shades? fascinating). 

 

When I get home I can make a phone call or two using Skype (my apartment has high-speed internet) and bum out watching satellite TV (Discovery, National Geographic, CNN, ESPN, Star, Cinemax, AXN, BBC are in English). 

 

A biological note on Beijing.  I was told before I came that there was a lot of spitting here.  There is not nearly as much spitting as I was led to expect - perhaps it's more frequent in the countryside.  However, I HAVE noticed a lot of barf.  Some days I see two barf occurences.  One day I even saw barf in the middle of a crosswalk.    So far the barf epidemic is unexplained to me.  Perhaps because I don't yet know how to ask in Chinese "what's the deal with the barf?"