liuzhou

Indeed. I live about 10 minutes drive north of the Tropic of Cancer - I used to cross it every day driving to work back in the day I did anything so undignified as work. The line is marked on the expressway. So, I believe that counts as 'hot climate'. All vegetation is kept in the fridge (except tomatoes - I'm not a complete philistine) or dies rapidly. It's not a big problem for people here; most only purchase what they will use that day. Chinese fridges are usually fairly empty.

Yesterday, I spent an inordinate amount of time attempting to open a roll of what you probably call "aluminum foil". I could open the box, but not in the neat manner they pretend turns the box into an ideal container with cutting blade. The big problem was they had glued the end of the roll down with what I can only assume was some kind of super-super adhesive developed by the local equivalent of NASA for some nefarious purpose. It was impossible to remove or unfurl the roll without shredding the foil to confetti. Gave up; binned it; bought another brand. No problems. (My spellchecker is screaming at 'aluminum'.)

Indeed, bread and dripping was common throughout the UK, not just England. I grew up in Scotland and until I moved to London at the age of 18, thought that "a piece" was the standard English to say anything on bread / any kind of sandwich. If no filling or topping was mentioned, jam was the default. The use of the word with that meaning is mainly western Scotland.

Well, I wouldn't dare try to speak for Anna but in England where she grew up the dripping would have been on bread, I'm sure.

I finally got round to defrosting my 'Russian style' smoked herring. To my delight it was full of roe. I added butter and broiled 🇺🇸 / grilled 🇬🇧 it for a few minutes. Delicious. The finished dish is on the breakfast topic. It was a bit bony but not excessively so and the bones were mostly soft and edible. Good source of calcium, I guess. Next time, I'll get a larger one. Roe

'Russian style' cold smoked herring with its roe. (Actually produced in China.) I added butter and grilled 🇬🇧 / broiled 🇺🇸 it. Served with buttered sourdough.

I haven't met anyone who disagrees with you and neither do I. It gets worse over here.

That's what I call dinner!

Another clanger from the Grauniad today. Good for the scientists. I hope they enjoyed their bonding over alcohol. I like a bit of alcoholic fruit. Preferably grapes. But what were the chimpanzees doing?

Very similar looking mangoes are common here. Same variety, probably.

You're almost there. Luosifen is 螺蛳粉 (luó sī fěn) with 螺蛳 (luó sī) meaning 'river snails'. However many people, including luosifen shops, mis-write it as 螺丝 (luó sī) meaning 'screws' or' bolts'. As you can see from the diacritics in the pinyin pronunciation guide they are homophones. And yes, there is an etymological connection. 螺 (luó) indicates spiral connotations. The snails used have spiral shells. So, some wag came up with this.

Yesterday, I posted this on the Liuzhou Luosifen topic where it was relevant, but it also belongs here as I have discovered it is but one of a range. Others include and finally a Liuzhou City in-joke. I'll let you stew about the last one for a bit before explaining.

Now, I can demonstrate my affinity with the locals and display my affection of my home city's signature dish by sporting this stylish Luosifen T-shirt, I just discovered on an online shopping channel. Or perhaps not.

It's been a vicarious pleasure to accompany you on your visit. Thank you. (My parents were of the firm opinion that the best place to eat in Paris was in the restaurant IN the Eiffel tower because it's the only place in Paris where you can't see the Eiffel Tower. I'm not sure they were wrong!)

Yes. Stir fried. Usually with garlic and chilli round here.