In China and eating

[jokhm]

Hi everyone..

I've made it through nearly 8 months of traveling through south-east asia + a quick stint in Israel and Jordan... to find myself in China as of this week. I'll be spending four months here, beginning with a bit of Guangxi, Sichuan (In Chengdu right at the moment), Yunnan and then moving back out east for the remainder. Though I might make a second visit into Sichuan, since I'm blown away by what I'm eating.. both from spice content as well as taste. There is simply too much to sample here. Where do I begin.... ? and this goes for all of China. Every meal feels like I potentially missed out on another unknown! Can anyone invoke some order into this? What does one do to maximize 4 months of traveling china, with emphasis on Food and language??

Joel

http://www.jjd-distribution.com/thetrip

[Ben Hong]

All I can say is don't think, don't plan and just EAT. You are one lucky foodie.

[Susan G]

The only place in China that is NOT considered noteworthy for it's food is Beijing. I used to hear Chinese tourists complain all the time how the food there wasn't as good as home.

Street food! You lucky, lucky traveller! In Chengdu I had the most amazing dish of garlic prawns with glass noodles.........I dream of it still. Go see the Da Fo,(Big Buddha) too, if you're in the area...........food is all well and good, but I hope you're hitting the sights, too?

[jo-mel]

Chinese food and language -- at the same time! Lucky you!

One of my cherished possessions from my visits to China are my food logs. Are you keeping one? Even after all these years, just reading some of them brings the meal back.

[Qing]

Joel, Four months! Lucky You!

Maybe you could find a Chinese girlfriend, and let her introduce food and culture.

I think, when you are eating, your taste is also effected by your feeling very much. I hope you enjoy the food with nice friends, you would have unforgetable time in China.

We are waiting for your news.

Have Fun, and enjoy.

Edited August 15, 2004 by Qing (log)

[chengb02]

Language classes would be the easiest to find, but you would need to be in one place for an extended period of time for them to have any real benefit. It seems like you are a very seasoned traveler so I don't think there are any tips that I could offer that would be of any benefit. I know the feeling of being overwhelmed about where to eat in China, I live in Beijing for a few months each year and every time I go back, its always a difficult decision where to eat that night as there are so many options and so much not to miss...Just be adventurous, poke your head into some restaurants and enjoy!

[liuzhou]

I guess you have already left Guangxi, which is where I live. I could have given you some recommendations.

All I can say now is to be sure to sample some minority restaurants, particularly in Yunnan. Dai, Bai Miao. Also the Xinjiang Musilim area in Kunming is not to be missed.

[jokhm]

Liuzhou, I'll be back I am sure!

In two days I'll be back in Chengdu from Emei Shan.. then into Yunnan for a few days.. and back to Hong Kong to meet another friend. Then another 3+ months begins. Not sure where I will be headed.

I could probably write for hours describing my time picking through Chengdu food. I am positive I'll be back there to do more. And it is evident that I only scratched the surface of some of the food in Nanning. Incredible.

I hopefully will get to 'stop' moving for a short period of time, maybe a month, in a short while. Hopefully in Beijing, just so I can better orient myself language-wise. I'll restart my efforts in Pimsleur any day now.. 54 lessons to go (out of 90 total). Though I am absolutely floored by what it has done for me alone up until now. Best way to kickstart a language ever.

Anyone know of good places or ways to learn here? and cheaply? I would love to find people willing to trade services (not those kind) for languages and room+board.. if such a thing exists. I know it does in some other countries.

I'll have some photos and loggings of my travels posted soon. Until then, things will remain backlogged for 3 weeks. Before I write, I'll need to get over my new and profound love for sichuan peppercorns. !!*%$ Never did I experience such wonders with the 10 year old jar I have in my kitchen. Just - not.. the same spice..??.

Joel

http://www.jjd-distribution.com/thetrip

[jo-mel]

The Beijing Language Institute (now called Beijing Language & Cultural Institute) used to have 6-week accelerated Chinese language courses. You might get a start -- or leads -- from there. It was a fall program when I was there.

Edited August 15, 2004 by jo-mel (log)

[ecr]

As a former (long ago) Chengdu resident and, as a result, life-long addict of Sichuan cuisine, I beg of you .... please post your Chengdu food (especially street food) experiences! It's been 5 yrs since my last visit but hope to make a quick trip this fall....

[chengb02]

Check out some of the expat magazines (i would suggest www.thatsbeijing.com), they should offer info on language courses and their classifieds will have a number of people looking to take part in language exchanges. When in Beijing, I would head straight to the Foreign Language College (or whatever it is calling itself this week) as mentioned by another poster (actually I think the current name is the Beijing Language University) and they should be able to help you.

[jokhm]

damnit, I wish I spoke more chinese... figuring out what I'm eating or trying to order half the time is next to impossible. Usually I'm just pointing to the other table. If anyone has some ideas of what I should be asking for, let me know in pin yin. The only things I can consistently get and enjoy in Chengdu are the little pitas with tons of different vegetable and meat stuffings (what's it called again??), the Ma po tofu (obviously).. and of course the hundreds of different meat-on-skewer vendors that seem to impress me more than those in bangkok. I'm not saying that I don't enjoy everything else, I just can't name them and order them a second time around. But I suppose this is also what I love about China. There are simply too many things to eat !

Joel

[jo-mel]

Could you just use a pencil and paper and ask the vendor/food server/another customer --- to write down what you order?

[jokhm]

will do..

turns out that tiger leaping gorge is closed up... andddd after walking down emei shan in one day I can no longer..umm.. move. So we are headed to Yangshuo tomorrow morning for two days.

Luizhou.. looks like i'm heading back to your part of town.. or province at least. We figured that two days of boat trips and motorbikes would be a good way to end my friends trip.. at which point we head back to HK and then I don't know what happens - besides dim sum I suppose.

Tonight we had a massive meal of sichuan bbq. Fantastic stuff. Wow.. mutton, chicken skin, pork ribs, lotus, beef, tofu... on and on.. never ended.

Can't move. Sichuan food is simply brilliant. I need more. I am positive i'll come back in the next two months just to move through the food slower, and with my friend who also shares my sick need to spend a week analysing the food coming out of a single city-block.

Singing off..

I'm starting to take more initiative writing each thing down, so hopefully i'll have more to talk about soon enough.

-----

got to Yangshuo after quite a bit of planning mess and only two days to hang around before we have to be back in Hong Kong. Anyone have a clue why flights from guilin to HK cost three times as much as going to Chengdu? Bus will have to do.

So I've now done the boating through karst rock formations in southern Thailand, Northern Laos, northern Vietnam and now here... and there is NOTHING nearly as vast as what I have seen yesterday and today. Incredible.

Food-wise.. this place is loaded with jiaozi and baozi during the day, and massive street restaurants in the market area by night. The dumplings are cheap and sometimes great.. but the stuffed tofu and eggplant yesterday was something else. I just love how we can point at two raw ingredients and let them cook up a storm with it in 5 minutes. ALways something unexpected.. always better than we could imagine. Anyway... and the little playpots of rice and (anything) are fantastic too. Best part about Yangshuo is how everyone told me it would be a touristy mess, and I immediately envisioned Khao San road. There are maybe 11 white people here. And Chinese tourists I can appreciate, since we inevitably always end up taking photos of each other.

Well.. too bad I'm here for such a short time, maybe I'll return in a month or two... since the rice paddies do look unbelievable. That should merit a visit at some point. I'll post some photos soon; takes a while to go through so many.

Joel

[jo-mel]

You are in Yangshuo in August. Not a time many big groups go there, probably. In October, it will be loaded with tourists. I've been down that river 5 times, and the first time, there were very few tourists, but after that it became a frenzy just getting away from the boat-dock streets.

How is the heat?

[Susan G]

If anyone has some ideas of what I should be asking for, let me know in pin yin.

Hey Joel! Glad you're having a good time eating!!

My favorites were:

Yu xiang xiezi (stir-fried eggplant)

Mien tang (noodle soup)

Xiao long bao (soup dumplings!)

tang cu yu (sweet and sour fish, steamed and presented whole)

ba si pingguo (batter fried cubes of apples covered in a caramel sauce which hardens when you dip it in water - dessert, obviously!)

Is the heat affecting your appetite?

[liuzhou]

Yeah flights to Hong Kong are a rip-off. They treat them as international, hence the huge price difference. (You also have to pay international airport tax!)

It particularly infuriates me on the few occasions I go back to England. The Guilin HK leg costs about a third of the HK-London leg despite being a 45 minute flight instead of 10-11 hours.

When I have time (and not too much to carry), I prefer to go to fly to Shenzhen, walk across the border, then head to HK airport.

[jo-mel]

When I have time (and not too much to carry), I prefer to go to fly to Shenzhen, walk across the border, then head to HK airport.

Now THAT is using your noodle!!

[chengb02]

When I have time (and not too much to carry), I prefer to go to fly to Shenzhen, walk across the border, then head to HK airport.

This is definitely the way to go, but I prefer Guangzhou over Shenzhen. A friend needed to go from Beijing to HK, but direct tix were in upwards of $300, so I got her tickets to Guangzhou for around $100 and then take a train into HK (less than an hour). I would advise you to find a domestic flight to either Guangzhou or Shenzhen and go by train into HK, much cheaper!

[herbacidal]

turns out that tiger leaping gorge is closed up

Tiger Leaping Gorge is closed? Permanently? Dammit, I was going to check that out when I came back to China.

So I've now done the boating through  karst rock formations in southern Thailand, Northern Laos, northern Vietnam and now here... and there is NOTHING nearly as vast as what I have seen yesterday and today. Incredible.

Please elaborate on what you saw these few days.

[jokhm]

Sorry for my absence from my own thread,.. but I posted on two separate occasions and the net cafe's had problems with the network.. killing my post as well,; both times. Agh. Nothing more annoying.

Herbacidal, I was referring to the rock formations.

You can all check out the galleries and last post here:

http://www.jjd-distribution.com/thetrip

Finally got some photos up.

I'm craving getting back into CHina, though the variety of food in HK is astounding, it simply isn't nearly as cheap as the mainland. I'm traveling for a while, so I need prices like those in China. This is like being back home, both price-wise and language-wise. I almost don't feel right if I can get by in English. Too easy! Hah.

Anyway.. we ended up taking the most fantastic sleeper bus from Guilin for 220RMB. Avoided the whole flights to HK scam. I'm not sure where to head next... Guangzhou? Food is supposed to be great there.. big surprise!

I just sent off my friend from New York and am now waiting until tomorrow for my business partner and avid mass-eater to arrive in HK to continue traveling with me. You can bet that the photos and attention on the food is only just beginning. I'm scared to see how my body deals

with this. and thank you Susan for all the pinyined foods to look for. Definitely will work with your list in hand!

[Gary Soup]

Yeah flights to Hong Kong are a rip-off. They treat them as international, hence the huge price difference. (You also have to pay international airport tax!)

It particularly infuriates me on the few occasions I go back to England. The Guilin HK leg costs about a third of the HK-London leg despite being a 45 minute flight instead of 10-11 hours.

When I have time (and not too much to carry), I prefer to go to fly to Shenzhen, walk across the border, then head to HK airport.

I recall when I was on loan to our Hong Kong office and wanted to take a trip to Shanghai before returning to San Francisco. I determined it would be about as cheap to fly to Shanghai from San Francisco as from Hong Kong.

[Gary Soup]

Sorry for my absence from my own thread,.. but I posted on two separate occasions and the net cafe's had problems with the network.. killing my post as well,; both times. Agh. Nothing more annoying.

Herbacidal, I was referring to the rock formations.

You can all check out the galleries and last post here:

http://www.jjd-distribution.com/thetrip

Finally got some photos up.

Nice log, Joel. I look forward to seeing your end product.

Interesting to see you are a Montrealer. Montreal may be the best food city in North America, not just Canada (Chinese food aside). I made my annual swing through MTL two weeks ago. Next time I'll know who to ask for an insightful assessment of Asian food there.

[herbacidal]

The only place that I've been to of your picture log is Chengdu, and I recognize none of it! #@%$@$!!

All the pics look good, but I'm reminded of what I thought when I looked at the pics I took of my travels:

looks nowhere near as good as it did when I was standing there

[jokhm]

Herbacidal...

You got that right. But my photo taking has been quite lax the past few months... toned down my shutter impulses. Too many shots have got to me. That, and the past 3 weeks were devoted to a mad rush through HK, Guangxi and Sichuan.. or at least tiny parts of them. Eating and taking photos was left aside..... until tomorrow. It scares me to think about how much eating I'm going to be doing now.. and hopefully I'll have photos for a lot of it too!

Gary, yes, I'm a proud Montrealer. I haven't been home in almost 9 months now. But when I left I never told people I was leaving to eat... just leaving to eat more, and closer to the source! I love my city, and I especially love it for food. I invite anyone to swing by so I can run them through a food tour that starts at bagels, cheeses and smoked meat and ends with a pho or beef larb. It's ecclectic.. that's why I love it. But as far as Chinese food goes, I was beginning to feel quite restricted. I can find very good dim sum and decent to great cantonese cuisine, but going to singapore really showed me some fantastic dim sum... and cantonese food... well I've just begun with HK - wow.

Yeah,.. so.. stay tuned and pitch in any ideas that you've all got. My only backup is my trusty WenLin software (utterly brilliant beyond all description) and my annoyingly written but astoundingly informative Swallowing Clouds book by A. Zee. Both of which were obviously recommended by people in this forum and don't know what I'd do without either of them.

Lunch-time..

Joel