For those of you who don't know, Hunan Province, the province who's capital is Changsha, is the home of Chairman Mao Zedong. Mao was born in a village about an hour away from Changsha and graduated from Hunan Normal University in Changsha. It is only fitting then that one of Changsha's major sites is a massive bust of a young Chairman Mao. Forentually, this bust is located on Orange Island (橘子洲), basically a large park on an island, within walking distance from my hotel. The walk might possibly have been nice in warmer weather, but alas it is a chilly 43F in Changsha so it wasn't that nice of a walk. I did notice that the Changsharen are much more interested in me than the Shanghaiese. I caught several people openly talking about me (I guess under the assumption I don't know any Chinese so couldn't understand them talking about the 外国人), more people quietly pointing me out to their buddies, and one little girl who just openly took pictures of me. Obvious foreigners are still a novelty in Changsha, unlike Shanghai who gets a large amount of white folks passing through. After my long walk I went to get some lunch. Octopus is one of Changsha's kings of street food and I must admit the spicy grilled octopus I had was very good. I actually had two versions, one which was spicier dry rub and the other was a smokier sauce. I also had these doughnuts that were most like Israeli Chanukkah Sufganiyot without any jelly. I would also like to note that Hunanese stinky tofu, the other king of Changsha street food, is less appetizing then Shanghaiese stinky tofu since it is black, in addition to reeking of death. I will never understand why in a country with such good tofu do the locals insist on eating the tofu that smells like sewer. I then went to Walmart to pick up some gifts for Chinese New Year. If you are worried about American companies, I can tell you Walmart of Changsha is having no problems getting customers in the door. Walmart is kind of like McDonalds in that they can adapt their business to any environment. Unlike the Walmart of Huntingdon, PA, which is the kind of place where you can pick up bread, a radar detector, and a shotgun, the Walmart of Changsha feels like any other Chinese grocery store. I picked up some gifts, a small bottle of nice baijiu, and a small bottle of Chinese brandy. I really didn't want the baijiu though, a local girl insisted on helping me pick Chinese New Years gifts in the alcohol section with myself being unable to tell her I was buying for myself. I am having a harder time with the language here then I thought, but I refuse to take responsibility for this. The locals don't seem to speak standard Mandarin and aren't use to foreign accents. It didn't prevent me from doing anything, it is just a bit annoying.
1 Comment
Dad
1/16/2017 10:20:55 pm
I guess you have no shortage of alcohol for the new year.
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AuthorI am a junior at Juniata College spending a year studying abroad at East China Normal University. Please feel free to join my on my journey to China and beyond. Archives
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