liuzhou

I'm not sure exactly, but certainly days, if not weeks. I have watched that young man spend an hour just making one flower petal.

Good question. The food allergy problem seems to me to be confined to the more "developed" countries. I've never heard of anyone here being allergic to peanuts (or any other food) here . As you say, peanuts are very difficult to avoid - peanut oil is the cooking oil for example.

Indeed. I've been working and living alongside these people for 21 years and still, every day, my awe overwhelms me. The most awe-inspiring is still to come. It makes my eyes well up every time. Hopefully, I'll be able to post that one tomorrow. China has blocked access to Youtube and I have to use all sorts of trickery to get round their censorship which slows me down.

Yes, It is similar to the bridges I mentioned before. Unfortunately, access to the side of the bridge wasn't really an option so I don't have an overall view. The Miao aren't particularly known for their bridge building skills, but the Dong certainly are. I'm working on sorting pictures and will be posting pictures of one of their bridges, probably tomorrow.

After dinner, we crossed this bridge to a silversmith workshop where they make the elaborate hats and necklaces worn by the women. The man on the left is hammering a piece of silver to make into fine thread which the man on the right slowly and carefully presses into a small mould to make the petals of the flowers which decorate the hat. When the sun set, almost all the villagers came out to entertain us with singing and dancing. The woman in the centre was the compère, but also the check-in person at the hotel we were staying in. This video ends rather abruptly because the young woman walking towards me was about to hand me a cup of rice wine which etiquette demands I accept with both hands, so I had to put the camera down. We were also treated to the best lion dance I've ever seen and I've seen hundreds. After the show was over, we headed back to the hotel and bed. In the morning we partook of a typical Miao breakfast. Again we had oil tea, but there was also boiled eggs, steamed bread, fried noodles, pickles and rice porridge. After breakfast we left on a three hour journey further north, leaving behind the Miao people and moving into Dong territory. to be continued...

Today, I had lunch with one of my oldest and dearest Chinese friends. She now lives in the UK, but is back to make care arrangements for her mother who is suffering from Alzheimer's Disease. So good to see her, but sad as to why she is here. Her mother was very kind to me in the past. Now she can't even remember who I am. Anyway, we had a pleasant lunch together and caught up with each other's news. Her mother and sister joined us for lunch. We ate Vegetable Soup Pork Ribs with Snails Sizzling Beef (铁板牛肉 tiě bǎn niú ròu) Water Spinach

Yubu village (雨卜村 yǔ bǔ cūn) is tiny. One street and surrounding fields. A four dog village. But deep in the heart of Miao territory. Village Gate The Street The Dogs Houses But enough of this , I'm hungry after all that mountain climbing lark. So to dinner in the village's only restaurant, which specialises in local freshwater fish. Fish and Tofu Soup Purple Potato Braised Chicken Deep fried fish stuffed wonton-like things. Duck Pumpkin A different kind of fish fritters Daikon Radish Pickled Bamboo Steamed Fish - this was GOOD. Beef with Green Chilli Peppers Another egg and vegetable pancake - this time with a vinegar and soy sauce chilli dip. Vegetation Again, everything we ate was grown, raised or produced in the village's surrounding countryside.. More to come....

After lunch, we relocated to 双龙沟 (shuāng lóng gōu), twin dragon gorge, a sort of protected area of natural scenic beauty (they tell me). It is basically sub-tropical mountain forest. We passed through the gate and climbed slowly up the mountain. The gate. The name at the top reads 双龙沟 (shuāng lóng gōu), but in the older traditional script (traditional Chinese characters) - 雙龍溝 We passed through many bridges over the streams trickling down the mountainside. This one is called "Lucky Bridge. But mostly we we just went up and up, till we reached the top. Here we found a glass bridge across the gorge, high above the treetops. I am not at all good with heights - standing on a chair to change a light bulb terrifies me, so this I was not looking forward to. But I made it. On the other side we headed back down. Apart from the bridge, I really enjoyed the fresh air and the trees. Then, we headed to Yubu, a Miao village where we would have dinner and spend the night.

I have edited the first post to add a couple of relevant videos. Working on dinner.

There is no such thing as a silly question. This is going to be a guess answer, although I will try to have it verified next time I'm there. It won't be wool or goat hair. No sheep anywhere within thousands of miles of here. And few goats. I'm guessing cotton as I know they do grow limited amounts of that. I'll get back to you if I hear any different.

Last week, Liuzhou government invited a number of diplomats from Laos, Malaysia, Indonesia, Myanmar/Burma, Poland, and Germany to visit the city and prefecture. They also invited me along as an additional interpreter. We spent Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday introducing the diplomats to the culture of the local ethnic groups and especially to their food culture. First off, we headed two hours north into the mountains of Rongshui Miao Autonomous County. The Miao people (苗族 miáo zú), who include the the Hmong, live in the mid-levels of mountains and are predominantly subsistence farmers. Our first port of call was the county town, also Rongshui (融水 róng shuǐ, literal meaning: Melt Water) where we were to have lunch. But before lunch we had to go meet some people and see their local crafts. These are people I know well from my frequent work trips to the area, but for the diplomats, it was all new. So, I had to wait for lunch, and I see no reason why you shouldn't either. Here are some of the people I live and work with. This lovely young woman is wearing the traditional costume of an unmarried girl. Many young women, including her, wear this every day, but most only on festive occasions. Her hat is made from silver (and is very heavy). Here is a closer look. Married women dispense with those gladrags and go for this look: As you can see she is weaving bamboo into a lantern cover. The men tend to go for this look, although I'm not sure that the Bluetooth earpiece for his cellphone is strictly traditional. The children don't get spared either This little girl is posing with the Malaysian Consul-General. After meeting these people we went on to visit a 芦笙 (lú shēng) workshop. The lusheng is a reed wind instrument and an important element in the Miao, Dong and Yao peoples' cultures. Then at last we headed to the restaurant, but as is their custom, in homes and restaurants, guests are barred from entering until they go through the ritual of the welcoming cup of home-brewed rice wine. The consular staff from Myanmar/Burma and Malaysia "unlock" the door. Then you have the ritual hand washing part. Having attended to your personal hygiene, but before entering the dining room, there is one more ritual to go through. You arrive here and sit around this fire and wok full of some mysterious liquid on the boil. On a nearby table is this Puffed rice, soy beans, peanuts and scallion. These are ladled into bowls. with a little salt, and then drowned in the "tea" brewing in the wok. This is 油茶 (yóu chá) or Oil Tea. The tea is made from Tea Seed Oil which is made from the seeds of the camellia bush. This dish is used as a welcoming offering to guests in homes and restaurants. Proper etiquette suggests that three cups is a minimum, but they will keep refilling your cup until you stop drinking. First time I had it I really didn't like it, but I persevered and now look forward to it. L-R: Director of the Foreign Affairs Dept of Liuzhou government, consuls-general of Malaysia, Myanmar, Laos. Having partaken of the oil tea, finally we are allowed to enter the dining room, where two tables have been laid out for our use. Let the eating, finally, begin. In no particular order: Steamed corn, taro and sweet potato Bamboo Shoots Duck Banana leaf stuffed with sticky rice and mixed vegetables and steamed. Egg pancake with unidentified greenery Stir fried pork and beans Stir fried Chinese banana (Ensete lasiocarpum) Pig Ears This may not look like much, but was the star of the trip. Rice paddy fish, deep fried in camellia tree seed oil with wild mountain herbs. We ate this at every meal, cooked with slight variations, but never tired of it. Stir fried Greens Our meal was accompanied by the wait staff singing to us and serving home-made rice wine (sweetish and made from the local sticky rice). Everything we ate was grown or reared within half a kilometre of the restaurant and was all free-range, organic. And utterly delicious. Roll on dinner time. On the trip I was designated the unofficial official photographer and ended up taking 1227 photographs. I just got back last night and was busy today, so I will try to post the rest of the first day (and dinner) as soon as I can.

Arrived home at 9 pm after a two day trip, tired and hungry, but was able to pick up the makings of a meal and put it together. I did a sort of 青椒肉片 (qīng jiāo ròu piàn) which is stir fried pork slices with green chilli peppers. Also has the usual suspects: garlic, ginger, Shaoxing wine, soy sauce, and scallions. A very common fast food type dish around these parts. It is normally served with rice, but I'm not normal so I served it with 刀削面 (dāo xiāo miàn) or "knife cut noodles". I'd like to claim that I made the noodles myself, but it would be an outrageous lie. I bought them dried from the local store. Tomorrow morning, I have to leave again for a three day trip into rural ethnic minority territory. Hope to have some interesting food to report at the weekend.

I'm twitching with envy and lust for just such a dish!

I was there in early September. Not bad at all!

Which year?

My apologies. I have corrected the link. Thanks for letting me know.

I'm not a great pizza eater, but did buy these, mainly for amusement value, but found them ideal for pizza cutting

As promised, Ｉhave updated.

Yes. Nothing if not resourceful. The joys of youth!

This wasn't my dinner but I thought some of you might be interested. The 20-year-old daughter of a friend is studying in university in China. Like almost all college students here, she lives in a dormitory about 30 feet by 12 feet - with 7 other students. They have a bed (bunks), a small space for their belongings and a table for study. There are lavatorial and shower facilities, but there are no cooking facilities. Institutional food in canteens. Last night, she sent me a picture of an illicit hotpot dinner they prepared in their dormitory (one of them having smuggled in a portable induction cooker and an electric pan for rice). I have sent her a message asking her what everything is in those containers, but it is the weekend and she has a part-time job. I'll edit if and when she gets back to me. Edit: I have now been duly informed that the front left bowl, marked below, is chicken and coriander/cilantro. The two bowls top right are various metballs (pork, beef, shrimp, fish). Everything else is vegetables. This is neither meat or vegetable, but looks like fun.

Thick chicken soup with rice, leeks, garlic, ginger, carrot and chilli. Served with a piece of baguette (shop bought) for the holy ritual of dunking. Followed by cheddar cheese and ham sandwich with home-made spicy mango relish and the same baguette.

De-boned a couple or three chicken legs and cut the meat into bite size chunks. Browned them with garlic, ginger and chilli, then bunged them delicately into the slow cooker. I had half a can of anchovies left over from breakfast, so they went in too. At the time I was thinking to have this with rice, local style, but for some reason decided to go with simple boiled spuds. Added some okra to the slow cookering chicken then ate it. Then had seconds. Happy mouth.

Looks great. Stuffed with...?

Scotch Woodcock. (Scrambled duck eggs with anchovies - on toast).

Another roadside dinner. A spicy hotpot stock with pork and bean sprouts. Extras of sliced beef and pork meatballs. Rice.