A week in China

Haven’t had much time to blog lately… In the month of April, I probably logged close to 10,000 flight miles, and worked 27 out of 30 days that month. In May, I found myself sick at the beginning of the month, while traveling to LA on a “slow week”. I had to use all my hotel points to stay two nights at a hotel in Santa Monica, because I was too sick to drive home to San Diego, or even drive a few miles to a lower point-level hotel. It was odd to be staying at a hotel in a city I used to call home. I smile every time I think of Santa Monica… but right now, I’m missing San Diego, following a week of meetings, dinners, a walk on the wall and braving the crowds of tourists at the World Expo in Shanghai.

We arrived in Beijing on Wednesday morning, and believe it or not, after a 12 hour flight, I was not ready to get off the plane. I was actually looking forward to that flight, as I’d finally get to sleep a full 8-10 hours (following a week-long conference in Kansas City, and a spontaneous 48-hour road trip back to San Diego). Beijing was rather grey as expected, but we were fortunate to have relatively cool weather for the first few days we were there. I could probably write an entire blog about the food we ate in China.

As most of our advisers’ tours go, food would be an integral part of sharing the culture of the region where we place students abroad.
The first night, we hopped on a parade of rickshaws and snapped pictures while our drivers peddled through small alleyways to an old authentic Chinese Restaurant where Peking Duck was the featured dish. We were served sliced roasted duck, and provided with small wrappers (similar to those used for cold Vietnamese spring rolls), and were instructed on how to prepare the treat with plum sauce, cucumbers or other vegetables and slices of the duck meat. I was surprised at how much I actually liked the dish. I’d once ordered duck from a fancy restaurant in the U.S. only to be completely disappointed and resigned to eating bits of steak and grilled prawns from off of my date’s plate. But this suck was fantastic, lightly glazed in a sweet sauce, and sliced thin to lay easily into the wrapper. Side dishes included a plethora of Chinese staples such as rice, steamed vegetables, tofu, and beans. It was the first of many feasts we would have in China.

Feeling a bit dehydrated from all the travel, I drank my weight in water and tea the next day. Jasmine, green tea, and chrysanthemum were among the varieties I consumed, and of course, bottled water so as not to risk illness this early in the trip. And after another abundant lunch at on e of our Chinese partner universities, we headed out for a Tibetan meal, because unfortunately our previous reservation at a Mongolian restaurant had been canceled. Still full from the previous meal, I found it difficult to put anything down. And if any place could be more perfect for fasting, it was the Tibetan restaurant. I don’t think I’ve eve seen so much food in my life (and this includes 30+ years of Thanksgivings, Christmases, pot-lucks, and various large meals at my Spanish grandparents and other relatives’ homes). Did you parents ever tell you to eat all of your food because there were children starving in China? We could have fed several villages of children with the food that was left on our table. Somehow that just didn’t sit right with me.

The following day, we visited our other partner university in Beijing and again, were treated to an abundant (though this time quite delicious) meal. We dined at a Manchurian restaurant, which was adorned with beautiful bright colored décor and waitresses that wore elaborate headdresses and served us more chrysanthemum tea. Typical Chinese fare was brought to us again, and served on a revolving table so items could be passed around. A familiar dish was presented again that I had taken to in one of our previous meals. It was a light glaze with lima beans, lotus seeds and shrimp. And it was delicious. I was learning to eat slowly and take in only small portions, as you never knew what dishes would come out next. I didn’t want to fill up on the early dishes, only to be too full to consume some of the delicacies that would come later in the meal. And when the steamed pork dumplings arrived on the table, I was oh so glad I had saved room! Steamed dumplings just might be the best invention the Chinese have ever produced. The remainder of my time in China, I would eat nothing but dumplings. Steamed, fried, Shanghai-style with broth on the inside, I’ll take dumplings any way they serve them. My mouth is watering now at the recollection of those fine little morsels of deliciousness.

To work off the gluttonous meals we’d enjoyed, our fearless leader had arranged for us to hike 10 kilometers on a portion of the Great Wall of China where very few tourists go. We stayed in a rustic hotel near the wall, and woke at 4:00am to head to the wall for our early morning, “sunrise hike”. And while it was too foggy (smoggy?) to see the actual rising of the sun, we did have an amazing experience trekking up and down the wall that morning. We were lucky to have a cool and misty morning, as the heat would have made the 10k hike unbearable. We saved the unbearable heat and trekking for later that afternoon when we went to visit the forbidden city. All I could think of during that little cultural outing, is that I wished the city and the palaces within were somehow still “forbidden”. That night, however, we had a lovely massage at beautiful salon, where we were again served steamed pork dumplings and chrysanthemum tea.

After four days in Beijing, we hopped a flight to Shanghai, a city of 21 million inhabitants, and perhaps about a million more who had descended on the largest city in China for the 2010 World Expo. Shanghai is quite beautiful at night, which was about the only time I enjoyed going out of the hotel. During the day, Shanghai is swampy, smoggy, humid and hot. Walking around in Shanghai, it is easy to feel drained from just a short jaunt through town. But of course, we were touring campuses and sight-seeing, so extensive walking was on order. But despite the treacherous daytime wanderings through a crowded and smoggy city, experiencing the night in Shanghai was rather striking. Our first evening, we dined at a gorgeous restaurant overlooking the Bund, the river and the amazing Shanghai skyline. That dinner, I believe consisted of 14 courses, though I tried to hold myself to under 10 of the dishes. There was duck tongue (very salty- not my fave), fried shrimps, steamed shrimps, lobster, steamed grouper, boiled pigeon soup, tender beef on the bone, two types of dumplings, and a cheesecake and fruit desert. It was positively indulgent. We reasoned that the 10k hike on the Great Wall and a few trips to the gym would make up for all of this overeating in China.

And now, we are off to Chiang Mai, Thailand for what I can only assume will include more gluttonous meals and cultural dichotomies. There is much more I could write about China, but I’ll save the rest for stories I may tell on the return home.