Sights of China

I believe these are lotus flowers.  Displayed in the lobby of the Jin Jiang Hotel. Beautiful sight to see every morning. 

I dove into the alleyway off of a very busy road while in Beijing and found a whole alley community alive and buzzing within it. This guy was making an Onion Pancake.  A huge Onion Pancake.  

Fun to watch.

In the middle of an area I can only describe as the Amsterdam of Beijing, amongst pipe houses, flower-child clothing stores, was this roasted duck place.  Oddly fitting, but still entirely curious, and emitting some pretty good aromas.

 While walking randomly through Shanghai, I came upon this older man playing Chinese chess on a homemade cardboard chess board.  He was furiously sucking on his cigarette, which had only a millimeter of tobacco left to go, and all the while, his opponent was heckling him, and a bystander was yelling instructions to him.  He never wavered.  Nerves of steel.

There's an area off a main road with all of the common fashion brands one would find anywhere else in the world called Tian Zi Fang.  Once you dive into the maze of alleys off that road, you're transported into this Bohemian-type world that's definitely worth visiting.  Here are a bunch of pictures from that area. 

The guard dog of an art gallery.  
This dog was better dressed than its owner

I can't even remember what this store was selling.  I was completely and utterly distracted by 
how cool their lighting system was...

Ah yes.  At the Beijing Airport.  
Even the shape of the cups and graphics 
on them are a dead-on rip-off.

Top Stories from China

Okay, feeling the last vestiges of jet lag slip away from my body.  So now I can get onto posting about my travels... because not being able to get onto the large majority of my regular websites while in China had nothing to do with it...

Chinese Driving
I must admit, I had the same stereotypical bias as just about all Americans do about Asian driving, and the worst part about it all is that I AM Asian!  Each time I witnessed a bone-headed move on the road, I would think, Man, an Asian driver!  Giving us all a bad name!  After being in China a few times now, though, I have come upon an epiphany and feel compelled to defend the Chinese driver.

In China, driving is like dancing a Tango.  It's close, personal, and fluid.  Two partners dance closely together, incorporating intricate dance moves, all the while managing to avoid the other Tango-ing couples on the dance floor.  It's smooth and amazing.  

In the States, it's more like Country Line Dancing.  No one really touches anyone else, and for goodness sakes, there are set steps, here people!  If you don't know how to dance, well, come an hour before everyone else gets here for the tutorial, and then stand in the back and watch how it's done before you get your two left feet on the dance floor and mess everyone up.

Separately, the two are just fine.  It's when someone tries to dance the Tango in the Line Dance that everything gets screwed up.  It's then that everyone who's Line Dancing is like, "What the hell is going on, and what are you doing?  You're messing up the line!!"  The Tango-ists are like, "What?  This could be a much sexier dance if you would just shimmy your hip up to mine."  And all hell breaks loose.

On the flip side, no Line Dancer in their right mind would try to join in on the crowded, tango-ing dance floor.  They're the ones who are stopped on the ramp, even though it says 'Yield', trying to find a space to get onto the highway.  Hours later, they're still there, looking for a lull...

Now, don't get me wrong.  I had a few close calls at high speeds in China, and some abrupt stops that may have given me whiplash, but for how crazy the traffic is?  It's a pretty amazing scene.

And just so you know, I am an excellent, albeit aggressive, driver.

The DVD Store
I have a second cousin, Helen, who lives in Shanghai.  She was raised in Brazil, and in a much higher branch of the family tree, the family split to the States and Brazil.  So it's really cool to have a multi-continental family - you never know where you're going to be and who you'll meet.

Anyway, one night, Helen wants to show me a fake DVD store.  When the World Expo started in May, the Chinese government began cracking down on knock-off vendors of purses, DVDs, everything.  After all, folks from all over the world would be there, and they can't have these people seeing what really goes on in China, can they?  So this particular store gets the pressure and when Helen goes by the next week, she finds it has changed to a clothing store.  Only it's a really small clothing store.  Turns out that the front part of the store is just a facade, and that the back wall is fake.  A little bump here and special tap there, and voila!  You're in the recesses of the backroom where now the DVDs are stored and still available for purchase, as long as you're not the Chinese police.

Helen is amused to no end by this, and on the last day of the Expo, when I happen to be visiting, we walk over so I can see this craziness.  Only when we arrive, it's back to being a DVD store.  "What happened to the clothes?" she asks the working help.  To which the reply was, "We remodeled all day today.  You know, the Expo is over."  Ah, yes.  Of course.

Chinese Massages
One day, when walking around Shanghai, trying to shake off the jet lag, I happen upon a hair salon.  Now, I LOVE Chinese hair salons.  I usually go just to get my hair washed.  For 50 yuan, which is about $8-9 USD, they'll massage your head while washing your hair, then give you a shoulder and back massage for about 30-45 minutes, and then style your hair.

That day, I thought, you know, I should get my hair cut, too.  I lost my hairdresser in the States so she could be a stay-at-home mom, so what the heck, what's the worst that can happen here?  Well, the worst that can happen is that you get a Chinese hairdresser who can't speak a lick of English.  I always thought my Chinese was pretty decent, but when it comes to Hairdresser Chatter?  Well that requires a whole new superior level.  When I can rap with the hairdressers with gossiped impunity, I'll consider myself fluent.  Oh, the hair?  Yeah, that looks really good...

Then when in Beijing, I thought, I'm going to try out the Blind Massages.  What's that, you say?  Well, they've trained people who are blind, or even partially blind, in the art of massage.  I've always read that these massages were really incredible because without the use of one sense, they're sense of feel is that much more heightened!  So off I went for a traditional Chinese massage.

Now, the traditional Chinese massage is different from the Swedish massage in what I think are two major ways.  The first is that disrobing isn't required.  They'll get to all your knots through your clothing. The second is that it's much more vigorous, with some hand-chopping and the rapid working of muscles.    It's not as soothing as the Swedish massage, but boy, will they get all those kinks out.  And honestly?  There was enough of a rhythm to it that I found myself drifting off to sleep anyway.

I got an excellent 60-minute foot massage and a 70-minute body massage.  My masseuse kept finding these knots and would start really digging in, saying, "Boy, does that hurt?  That should hurt."  Between clenched teeth, all I could say was, "Oh, just a little..."

Granted, the ambience wasn't great, but it didn't matter, because the total cost of a 2-hour and 10-minute massage?  $13 USD.  As my coworker said when I told him, "That's criminal..."  I can't disagree.

Hutong Cooking in Beijing

One of the best events of my Beijing trip was a cooking class.  It took place in a Hutong, which are old clustered neighborhoods connected via alleys and with a traditional courtyard. 

Our instructor was Chunyi Zhou, a young, gregarious, and witty woman.  I first saw her in an article in Saveur magazine, which I didn't quite realize until I came upon her website in a Google search.  There are quite a few classes available in Beijing, and perhaps I will choose another when I visit again, but I chose mighty well with this class. 

There were 7 people in the class, each armed with an apron and a very sharp cleaver.  I mean, honestly, if this were taking place in the US, there would have to be pages of waivers signed.  But before I totally bust on my citizenship, I do have to give it props for making the rest of the world speak English.  In the class, there was a Chinese woman, her American boyfriend, three Germans, and us two Americans.  Everyone had to make do with the English, which is fine for the rest of the world because they all learn English as a second or even third language.  But it still makes for some entertaining situations.

While cooking the beef stew, Chunyi mentioned that you could cook it with bamboo.  "What's bamboo?" asked one of the Germans.  "You know, like what a Panda eats," said Chunyi in her very charming accented English.  "A panda?" I heard murmurings among the three as they tried to figure out what that might mean.  "You know, like a panda," says my coworker, as she starts to imitate what she thinks is conveying what a panda would do, which apparently is not much but some slow, waddling movements.  "Black and white, you know?"  "Ahhh!  A Panda!!" they cry in unison as the lightbulb goes off above their heads.  Hilarious.

Dry Stir-Fry of beef and chicken.  Not my favorite.  Anytime you cook a meat until it's "dry," it kinda gets dry...

A very simple dish - Blanched vegetables topped with a sugar and soy sauce concoction with sauteed spring onions and ginger

Rich and flavorful beef stew with Chinese radish.  After 2 hours of slow cooking, the beef tenderly falls apart and practically melts in your mouth.  And with all the different spices that braise and develop deep flavors, it's sumptuous.

Ma Po Tofu - spicy Sichuanese tofu dish with layer upon layer of flavors that are strong, and yet well balanced.  It's one of my favorite dishes to make now.

I took video of every dish, but to show them would be so rude.  Just go to Beijing and take the class, I say...

Sichuan in Beijing

I have a craving for Sichuan.  Of all the Chinese regional cuisines, I may like this one the most, dare I mention that it tends to be quite greasy, but I don't fault French cuisine for its uninhibited use of butter, do I?  I reserve judgement on my favorite call until I can fairly try them all.  I better get to China again, huh?

Though Beijing isn't anywhere close to Sichuan province, it's the biggest city in China, so not only can all the food of China be found there, it tends to be trustworthily authentic.

I can't believe I didn't post these photos because just looking at them makes me drool just a bit in the corner of my mouth.  This place was pretty packed, and the word on the street was that the service wasn't stellar, but as long you know this from the get go...  All this to say that details aren't their forte, so there was a lot of sloppiness when the dishes came - sauce running over the sides, disheveled appearance, etc.  But the taste is what matters, and in that department, it was more than fine.

Dan Dan Noodles is such a classic Sichuan dish.  Spicy, a bit sour, a tad sweet, it's always what I start with because I see it on the menu and I just can't help myself.  But whatever you do, don't wear a white shirt.  It's oily slick with the Sichuan essence and if you're not an expert chopstick user, don't say I didn't tell you.  This is one of my gauges for comparison across different Sichuan joints.

Ah, yes.  This is pork strips stir-fried with strips of hot peppers.  You would think this would be the most fiery of the bunch, but if you're careful with the veins and seeds, as most of the restaurants are, it's manageable and can be maddeningly addicting.

Here's my other go-to - Sui Ju Niu Ro, or Boiled Beef.  See what I mean by a bit slick?  But that is one of the best oil slicks to ever touch your lips.  This is probably the spiciest of everything we had on the table.  Underneath that pond of red goodness is extremely tender slices of beef and Chinese vegetables.  On the right, you can see the elements I had fished out.  If I didn't think I might immediately die of a coronary, I'd mix some rice into all that saucy yumness and eat it all up. 

 We finished off the evening with these lightly deep fried (hmm - is this an oxymoron?) pumpkin balls.  One of the things I really like about being in Asia is that their version of "sweet" pales in comparison to the sickly sweetness that you'd find in the States.  These were made of glutinous rice flour, so it had a chewy consistency, but the flavor was fairly delicate, with the crunchiness of the crunchy broken rice on the outside.  The more amazing thing of it all?  We had a lot of food left over, and my coworker asked to take these back to the hotel.  I remember thinking, man, bad idea.  These things are only going to be good right now, right here.  I was wrong.  The next day, she heated them up, and they were almost as good.  I like to be pleasantly surprised. 

Now, what to do about my Sichuan craving here in Lancaster, PA?

Breakfast in China - Take 2

Just when I thought I couldn't get a better breakfast than the noodle bowl I got in Shanghai, I ended up at the Grand Hyatt in Beijing.  Unfortunately, the breakfast buffet is not included in the room rate, and at $40 it's a bit of a bad value because I just don't think one can really eat that much in the morning, or should, but with this buffet?  I certainly tried. 

I was more than thrilled to see such a traditional Chinese breakfast offered - fried dough that is amazingly light without the heaviness of the kind of fried food you might find at a Nebraska State Fair, and its counterpart, hot Soy Milk.  I love the simplicity and the elegance.  But darn if that plate on the right isn't bugging the heck out of me.  The next day, I tried to take another picture of this with a cleaned up background, and wouldn't you know it, I just couldn't replicate the lighting, which I love...

Another traditional Chinese breakfast - congee, or rice porridge.  It's cooked rice from the day before recooked with lots and lots of water to make a porridge.  You can add all sorts of stuff to it - I have a special penchant for salty pork and preserved eggs.  So good!  Here, it was pumpkin porridge, to which I added dried shredded pork, pickled radish, and scallions.  Simple and filling.  I used to hate it when my mom made it when I was young.  I think it's because there just didn't seem to be enough condiments.  It's the little things on the side that make this congee world go round...

These are cubes of radish cakes.  If you've ever gone to Dim Sum, you might have seen this on a cart in a larger rectangular patty.  Here, they cubed it, then stir fried it with bean sprouts and egg.  I hadn't ever had it stir-fried like that, but dang if this wasn't as tasty as a savory radish cake could be. 

And then there was this hot little number.  Sichuan-style noodles.  Same method of boiling the noodles to warm them up, but then they kicked it up with their own spicy sauce and flavorful broth.  I added some cilantro, and truly, that was all that was needed.  This thing was bursting with greatness and it took an enormous amount of discipline for me to not get another bowl.  Or four...