The plan to journal in China via my blog was a good one, but unfortunately I couldn't access Blogspot from China. Fortunately I was able to log in to Facebook everywhere we went so I was able to post pictures and short descriptors daily of our experiences. For those of you without Facebook I've set up a website for sharing pictures on Shutterfly.com called: Chamber Singers in China. You can go to chambersingersinchina.shutterfly.com to see photos I've posted. We may soon have pictures from other members of the tour group as well.
So, everyone asks: "What was your favorite place, event? How was the food, How was the trip?" A few people have asked about the culture and how we managed in China. Other than saying "It was a great trip" it's been harder to answer these questions than I thought it would be.
I thought I'd start with one entry here, and add more thoughts over the next week or so.
FOOD
Before I left for China I was nervous about the food. I knew that I liked Chinese food, but I knew that what I was used to was Americanized Chinese. So I wondered... would I find foods I liked? would I get tired of it? would there be "gross" things I didn't want to eat? Dennis said we'd have great breakfast buffets and that we'd see lots of vegetables and chicken as well as fish for dinners. He did warn us about some of the unusual foods he'd experienced on his previous trips, which made me a bit nervous... but then I thought "I made it through Israel/Palestine, I can do this too." We ate Mandarin on the mainland and I found it to have mostly mild flavors. In Hong Kong the Chinese food was Cantonese. There were a number of other kinds of Chinese as well. I avoided (mostly) things that were too spicy and had fun eating in China.
Breakfasts were good. There was always a variety of bread, eggs (cooked to order), bacon and sausage, cereal, fruit and a variety of traditional Chinese dishes that we might see at dinner like things to build a green salad, fried rice, dim sum, and more. I stuck with fruit, an egg, cereal and yogurt or bread most mornings. I did enjoy french toast and waffles a few times and had pot stickers a few mornings as well.
At the large group meals things were served family style on the lazy susan and we could take a little taste and go back for more if we wanted. That worked out great. I tried almost everything and always discovered something new that I liked even if I didn't know what it was. I'm not a huge fan of tofu, but even found several tofu dishes that I liked. We were surprised to see the skin, head and feet on top of the chicken at our dinner in Dalian. Not a problem, just lift up the skin and grab the good meat underneath! I had my first abalone and one of the best scallops (big single scallop served on a half shell) I've ever had. Fish were often served whole (like they were in Israel) but that wasn't a problem. We all became quite adept at using our chop sticks. Food was an adventure each day, and I think we only scratched the surface of what China had to offer.
We were lucky to have Tony (our courier) and Han (choir member) who both read/spoke Mandarin with us on the trip. I ate in groups with one or the other of them a few times and they helped with the ordering. One fun dish we had was a soup that was served inside a wonton... it was sort of like a garlic shaped water balloon... You use your chopsticks to pick it up at the top and slip your soup spoon underneath it. Then a quick dip in soy sauce, set it down on your spoon, take a small bite off the top to let the steam out and then try to eat it without spilling/splashing yourself with the soup and mini pork/meatball that was inside.
A few times Carey and I relied on pictures in menus. One day we ended up in a group of six in Hangzhou with an hour to get lunch. We walked down a small street lined with small places to eat. We saw one was quite busy and decided it was a good sign. They had to clear a table for us and while we waited we observed what everyone was eating. One thing a number of people had on their tables was what looked like a tomato based crab soup. It turned out the menu was without pictures and without any English subtitles, and no, the waitress didn't speak English. So... Laura who could read Japanese was able to figure out which thing was the crab soup, and what she thought would be a veggie, a tofu, and a chicken dish. So, we ordered and it turned out to be a great meal!
A few surprises... rice was seen at breakfast but not lunch or dinner unless we asked for it. We would have seen it more if we were to visit villages in the country. I was told by one person that rice was considered peasant food and mostly eaten at breakfast by some folks. We saw lots of noodles (a big variety of kinds). Of course there were the clear rice noodles we've seen in the US and some pasta type noodles that were thicker than spaghetti, and tasted more like homemade noodles do here. We did see ice cream in some places. It was expensive and served in very small scoops. There were ice cream bars tho in lots of the tourist places and it was more reasonably priced.
When we needed a break from Chinese we either ate in the hotel (where we could always get western food) or found an Italian place. I had pizza a couple of times. I must admit that the "Hawaiian" pizza I ordered for lunch along the river one day in Shanghai was a bit different... in addition to the pineapple and "ham" it had peas and canned peaches on it! We saw Starbucks, McDonalds, Pizza Hut, Haagendaz, and KFC in every city... Sometimes there were KFC's within blocks of each other. Lots more of them throughout the country than McDonalds. One day we had 1 hour to eat and shop in a market place so I joined Janet and a few others in a quick meal at Burger King. I must say the cheeseburger and soda tasted just like home! All in all food turned out to not be a problem for me. I only had a one day where my stomach wasn't happy unlike Carey who had problems most of the trip even tho we ate the same foods.
I avoided tap water, green salads, and tried to eat smart. When I got home I was craving green salads and fruit like peaches and strawberries. We mostly saw melons at breakfast and an occasional apple and/or banana. Boy was the Farmer's Market a joy to behold on Thursday! I'm back to fresh, raw and steamed veggies (bye bye oil, and fats) and lean meat and poultry. :)
