Usually pot noodles in China aren't spicy and all use the same Top Ramen/Manchurian style instant noodles. All except for these spicy oil noodles I bought at TESCO on a whim. They not only use a longer, thicker style of instant noodle but it was actually quite spicy. It seems like the company was trying to emulate biangbiang mian, a type of long spicy "belt like" noodles popular in Xi'an and the rest of Shaanxi Province. Overall they weren't bad, they did cost a whole 2RMB more than my usual noodles, but 2RMB is only a few cents so it is no big deal.
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On my second day in Xiamen, my group of ECNU international students was taken three hours away form Xiamen to visit the home of the Hakka People (客家民族), one of China's 56 ethnic groups. The particular Hakka community we visited, the Fujian Tulou Earthen Buildings site, is one of China's many UNESCO World Heritage Sites. We did have some delays in getting there though; one of the roads was ripped up for construction so it took us about half an hour just to pass that small stretch of street, eventually though we did make it to the site. The Tulou buildings are Earthen buildings built to protect the Hakka people from the roving bandits and wild animals that were common in the mountains of Imperial China. Each Hakka clan would have their own Tulou building that house all the essentials for relatively comfortable living at the time, such as water wells and Buddhist temples. Since most bandits just wanted to get the booty quickly and leave, they were unwilling to besiege the fortified Tulou buildings. The site was interesting I guess, I got a lot of good photos and the Fujian Tulou buildings were defiantly neat but I don't know if it was worth the six hours on the bus there and back to see them. Walking around the site, it was clear that many other people weren't willing to make the drive. While the buildings are a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a China National Tourism Authority AAAAA Tourist Site, for China there were hardly any people there. It felt like Zhangjiajie got more tourists in the off season than the Fujian Tulou did in far better weather. If you compare the Fujian Tulou to the number of tourists China's really famous world heritage sites get, like the Forbidden City of Beijing or the Terracotta Army of Xi'an, the Fujian Tulou felt down right abandon. For both lunch and dinner I had Hakka food. The Hakka were traditionally an agrarian people and their salty vegetable biased foods reflect this. I wasn't super into our lunch, I guess we went to a touristy restaurant that knew none of us would ever come back there for the food. Dinner was actually really good, the local Hakka restaurant in Xiamen proper was tasty and seemed thrilled to have such a large group of foreign customers. The food served for both lunch and dinner weren't pretty, I can't picture the Great Qing Emperor digging down on a plate of the tofu we had for lunch or the eggplant we had for dinner. It was all filling though which is what you want after a long day in the field. All in all, I guess I am glad I went if for no other reason than I can say I did.
Two days ago at the time of my Mom and I took a China Eastern flight to Xi'an, the ancient capital of China. We didn't have time to do more then get dumplings for dinner and see a bit of the city on the first night. Furthermore, my suitcase broke on the way to the airport so we had to have it wrapped before we left and we had to be extra careful with it.
\nThe next day our tour guide picked us up in the hotel lobby to take us to the Terracotta Warriors. The Warriors are always impressive, particularly in the off season when there are fewer people around. On our way to lunch we got to shake hands with Mr. Yang, one of the five farmers who discovered the Army back in the 1970s. We ate biang biang mian (a dish who's character is so complicated my phone can't actually reproduce it), eggplant with beans, and enjoyed a traditional Chinese tea ceremony complete with a wide array of very interesting teas. We then drove back to Xi'an city proper to check out the old city walls and the Muslim quarter. The Muslim quarter houses a very interesting old Mosque that is done in the style of a Chinese garden. The Mosque is surrounded by some great shopping. I was able to buy a full set of Mao pins and a new suit case. \nAfter a short break back at our hotel, my mom and I met our guide again to go do dinner and a show. Dinner was more dumplings; 11 different types to be exact. All were very good but the duck dumplings were by far the best (and shipped like little ducks). The show was interesting. It seems like every Chinese cultural show is a bit of a trip and this one was no exception. Even though they did spend a bit too much time recreating Tong Dynasty poetry as dances it was an experance. |
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
November 2021
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