Next week I have a couple of weeks to travel and see some sights, so I am going to the provincial capital of Hefei in Anhui province to see my old Chinese handler and then I am going to Shanghai. I expect that Hefei will be rather boring. The main attraction to Hefei is a park dedicated to an ancient battle and another site dedicated to the most famous Chinese judge of all time. I expect Shanghai will be more interesting.
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Fanguan
It is weird when I tell people I am going to eat Chinese food, and I am in China. I have done it several times.
There are several tiers of restaurant here in China. The lowest rung are street vendors. The most ubiquitous (and tasty) of these are run by members of the Hui ethnic minority. The Hui are muslim, and they often wear islamic prayer caps. This group have an exclusive niche market in the meat on a stick variety of street food. You will often encounter a Hui vendor selling Chuan (meat on a stick) outside of tourist attractions, at busy intersections, outside the modern shopping mall, or anywhere people might want meat on a stick.
The Chuan that the Hui sell are very spicy. The meat is cooked over hot charcoal, brought to a high temperature by fanning. The meat is doused in rather hot spices. It is tasty, but I am kind of leery of buying meat of dubious origins sold from random muslim men on the street. The vendors often have loud pakistani pop music or techno music blaring. A single skewer of meat is usually 2 RMB. 5 chuan can constitute a rather austere meal.
The next tier is taken up by the various noodle shops that occupy what are ostensibly large open rooms on the first floor of buildings. In Wuhan, this is where you get your Ra Ga Mian (as outlined in earlier posts). There are a variety of noodles that people can buy. Ra Ga Mian is one of many varieties of noodles to be found. Ra Ga Mian costs about 3 RMB a bowl.
Above the hold in the wall noodle shops are sit down restaurants. The lower end of these is depicted in the pictures below. I am not sure, but I think there are three levels given to restaurants by the state licensing powers that be. The rankings are A, B and C. I do not know how or what the criteria are for distinguishing an A restaurant from a C restaurant. In fact, I have eaten good, clean food at restaurants given a C. I think it has something to do with the menu and the kitchen size. I should probably know this, but I don't.
Below are pictures of a local restaurant. In Chinese, such places are known as Fanguan. There are better places than this, but I enjoy this one for the fried rice and the spicy green beans.
Fried Rice in a large bowl costs about 1.25 USD or about 8 RMB. It is greasy and tasty and has eggs in it. Also has green onions.
This group of guys were eating a hot bot. A metal pot full of vegetables and broth and meat are brought to a rolling boil over a sterno flame on your table. I found this type of eating/cooking makes the food to hot to eat.
One thing I do not understand about the Chinese are their love of bones. When they pull or suck the meat off the bones, they are pretty casual about letting a pile of bones build up on the table.
Needless to say, this is a small restaurant.
Spicy green beans cooked with green and red peppers and some fatty pork. It is quite tasty.
Above the TV is a statue of one of the various ancient Chinese generals who guard business from jealous or hungry ghosts.
There are several tiers of restaurant here in China. The lowest rung are street vendors. The most ubiquitous (and tasty) of these are run by members of the Hui ethnic minority. The Hui are muslim, and they often wear islamic prayer caps. This group have an exclusive niche market in the meat on a stick variety of street food. You will often encounter a Hui vendor selling Chuan (meat on a stick) outside of tourist attractions, at busy intersections, outside the modern shopping mall, or anywhere people might want meat on a stick.
The Chuan that the Hui sell are very spicy. The meat is cooked over hot charcoal, brought to a high temperature by fanning. The meat is doused in rather hot spices. It is tasty, but I am kind of leery of buying meat of dubious origins sold from random muslim men on the street. The vendors often have loud pakistani pop music or techno music blaring. A single skewer of meat is usually 2 RMB. 5 chuan can constitute a rather austere meal.
The next tier is taken up by the various noodle shops that occupy what are ostensibly large open rooms on the first floor of buildings. In Wuhan, this is where you get your Ra Ga Mian (as outlined in earlier posts). There are a variety of noodles that people can buy. Ra Ga Mian is one of many varieties of noodles to be found. Ra Ga Mian costs about 3 RMB a bowl.
Above the hold in the wall noodle shops are sit down restaurants. The lower end of these is depicted in the pictures below. I am not sure, but I think there are three levels given to restaurants by the state licensing powers that be. The rankings are A, B and C. I do not know how or what the criteria are for distinguishing an A restaurant from a C restaurant. In fact, I have eaten good, clean food at restaurants given a C. I think it has something to do with the menu and the kitchen size. I should probably know this, but I don't.
Below are pictures of a local restaurant. In Chinese, such places are known as Fanguan. There are better places than this, but I enjoy this one for the fried rice and the spicy green beans.
Fried Rice in a large bowl costs about 1.25 USD or about 8 RMB. It is greasy and tasty and has eggs in it. Also has green onions.
This group of guys were eating a hot bot. A metal pot full of vegetables and broth and meat are brought to a rolling boil over a sterno flame on your table. I found this type of eating/cooking makes the food to hot to eat.
One thing I do not understand about the Chinese are their love of bones. When they pull or suck the meat off the bones, they are pretty casual about letting a pile of bones build up on the table.
Needless to say, this is a small restaurant.
Above the TV is a statue of one of the various ancient Chinese generals who guard business from jealous or hungry ghosts.
Friday, January 25, 2013
Lunar New Year/Chinese New Year
Well, the school where I live is closed from now until February 24th. While American students may not envy the long days of study of their Chinese counter parts, they definitely must envy a month long vacation in February.
The country basically goes on holiday for most of February. Some workers only have one week off work. I am fortunate that I have two full weeks off. I plan on traveling to visit my Chinese handler at his home in a village near Hufei in Anhui province. As I posted previously, his mother is supposed to be a good cook. This travel plan is dependent upon getting one of the difficult to obtain train tickets. It is only a two hour ride via high speed train, but there is no telling whether I can buy a ticket.
Because everyone in this country of a couple billion people goes on holiday at the same time, it tends to clog up the routes of mass transport. Fortunately, you can only buy a ticket 10 days in advance, so I have some hope I might get a ticket.
I also might just go fly there.
After I get back from Anhui, I am invited to another teachers family home for a few days. I think I am going to someone's wedding, but I never know what the plan is until it is just about completed. That is pretty much the Chinese way of things. Who needs to prepare when you can go and do it.
For the Lunar New Year, people will hang hand painted calligraphy on both sides of their doors. These banners contain ancient confucian pronouncements about the importance of learning and how learning how to write and read well makes one a better person.
People will also hang a picture of an ancient Chinese general on their door to scare away ghosts. The general will snap the necks of any hungry ghosts who try to come mooch off the living. That is how it has been described to me.
Chinese new year is traditionally a 15 day holiday that starts on the day of the lunar new year and ends with the red lantern festival.
I hope it will be a good time.
Below are pictures of a calligrapher painting some banners at a school where I work. He is the parent of one of the other teachers.
The country basically goes on holiday for most of February. Some workers only have one week off work. I am fortunate that I have two full weeks off. I plan on traveling to visit my Chinese handler at his home in a village near Hufei in Anhui province. As I posted previously, his mother is supposed to be a good cook. This travel plan is dependent upon getting one of the difficult to obtain train tickets. It is only a two hour ride via high speed train, but there is no telling whether I can buy a ticket.
Because everyone in this country of a couple billion people goes on holiday at the same time, it tends to clog up the routes of mass transport. Fortunately, you can only buy a ticket 10 days in advance, so I have some hope I might get a ticket.
I also might just go fly there.
After I get back from Anhui, I am invited to another teachers family home for a few days. I think I am going to someone's wedding, but I never know what the plan is until it is just about completed. That is pretty much the Chinese way of things. Who needs to prepare when you can go and do it.
For the Lunar New Year, people will hang hand painted calligraphy on both sides of their doors. These banners contain ancient confucian pronouncements about the importance of learning and how learning how to write and read well makes one a better person.
People will also hang a picture of an ancient Chinese general on their door to scare away ghosts. The general will snap the necks of any hungry ghosts who try to come mooch off the living. That is how it has been described to me.
Chinese new year is traditionally a 15 day holiday that starts on the day of the lunar new year and ends with the red lantern festival.
I hope it will be a good time.
Below are pictures of a calligrapher painting some banners at a school where I work. He is the parent of one of the other teachers.
Glass Bead Game
Herman Hesse wrote a book about highly educated and evolved people who spend their lives playing a completely frivolous game. The game involves moving around little glass beads. There is no doubt in my mind that he had some familiarity with the game Chinese checkers.
I spend a not insignificant amount of my day playing students and teachers. You have not played Chinese checkers until you have played against 5 real Chinese players. So far, I have not won, excpt against younger students.
I have a teacher who is my coach. She firstly demands that I speak no english while I play, which usually means I say very little while playing. When she is not around, I do speak some.
It is surprisingly engrossing, especially when you have 4 or 6 players playing.
I like to think of it as what Herman Hesse referred to in his novel The Glass Bead Game.
I spend a not insignificant amount of my day playing students and teachers. You have not played Chinese checkers until you have played against 5 real Chinese players. So far, I have not won, excpt against younger students.
I have a teacher who is my coach. She firstly demands that I speak no english while I play, which usually means I say very little while playing. When she is not around, I do speak some.
It is surprisingly engrossing, especially when you have 4 or 6 players playing.
I like to think of it as what Herman Hesse referred to in his novel The Glass Bead Game.
Saturday, January 19, 2013
I need to avoid entropy and make more posts on this blog
IThe really slow pace of things here has led me to shirk my blog writing duties, that is for sure. In many ways this is because, as mentioned previously, I have alot of down time, and fill that downtime with sleep and streaming video from the USA.
I believe I have made it through a couple of stages in being an ex-patriot. First there was the honeymoon period full of wonderment at all the strangeness of a new culture and place. That lasted for about 6 weeks.
After 6 weeks, I sort of hit an awkward patch. I had a great time going to Hainan, but during the period from mid-december until the past couple of weeks, I think I have honestly been battling an overwhelming feeling of anxiety and depression. I kind of have had a hard time doing more than feeding myself and doing my laundry.
It is different than merely being depressed. I think you reach a point when moving to a foreign culture when you sort of recoil in the face of so much that is different and cling onto anything that reminds you of your native country.
In the past, I am sure that is why immigrants tended to stick around each other. When you are surrounded by a foreign culture, it is surprising the degree to which you will go to hear your language spoken to you or to eat food approximating what you are used to.
I think that I have been coming out of this phase over the past couple of weeks. As proof of this, I am back writing on this blog!
The experience of living here in China has given me a new respect for my ancestors who immigrated to the USA. It must have been so tremendously frightening to have immigrated to a foreign land, especially with no help from anyone.
By comparison, I am coddled like a baby. I have been treated very very nicely by people I have met at the agency I work for and the schools where I work. My ancestors probably did not have benefit of that.
The chinese do not rely on their government to help them in the way that you think socialists would. In fact, I have seen that the complex web of relationships that Chinese people have is a way for them to ensure that they have a safety net. Because life is very difficult here, and people earn less money, they need to rely on their friends and relatives a lot. It just seems to me that people try harder to cultivate relationships because without them people's chances of survival are diminished.
This would certainly make for an interesting sociological or ethnographic investigation. The degree to which people's concept of society is really a way of creating a safety net.
I can only suppose that the ethnic neighborhoods of my ancestors were places where people really did have each others back. I can see now how living in a place where your next meal really might just depend on who you know.
China is a place that I am still understanding. It sounds cliche, but all those cliches about china and chinese being difficult to understand is pretty apt. There are very different social and cultural ideas that guide people. I see alot of the good, because I am surrounded by well educated and polite people who treat foreigners like guests.
When I say that I am treated like a guest by chinese people I work with, I really literally mean that I am being treated like a guest.
Anyway, just to update folks about my work, I am currently working on Saturday and Sunday from 8:45 to 6:00 PM at the private school run by the teacher at the foreign language school. Then I work on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday from 5:30 to 6:15 giving lectures to students at the school where I live.
The topics of lectures I have given so far have mostly revolved around holidays. I gave lectures about Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukah, January Holidays, and my home town of Boston.
In a lecture I did about January holds, I talked aboiut what New Year's Resolutions are. I gave personal examples of what New Year's resolutions are by making some, like "I need to lose weight" and "I need to find a new job this year." When I made the comment about a new job, one of the students said, "but if you find a new job you won't be our teacher anymore." How sweet!
There are days where I feel like I am just here on a mission of survival. My tasks those days usually revolve around getting myself fed, getting bottled drinking water, getting cigarettes, and watching as much streaming video as possible.
There honestly isn't much to do here in Wuhan. I shouldn't say that though. The truth is that I am just as reclusive and aloof here as I was back in Boston.
I think here though, I tend to get cloistered a little more tightly. It gets to the point where it just becomes easier and more calming to avoid the annoyances of dealing with the language barrier by avoiding situations where you have to use language.
My new years resolutions are to work on learning more chinese, going out more and quitting smoking.
I believe I have made it through a couple of stages in being an ex-patriot. First there was the honeymoon period full of wonderment at all the strangeness of a new culture and place. That lasted for about 6 weeks.
After 6 weeks, I sort of hit an awkward patch. I had a great time going to Hainan, but during the period from mid-december until the past couple of weeks, I think I have honestly been battling an overwhelming feeling of anxiety and depression. I kind of have had a hard time doing more than feeding myself and doing my laundry.
It is different than merely being depressed. I think you reach a point when moving to a foreign culture when you sort of recoil in the face of so much that is different and cling onto anything that reminds you of your native country.
In the past, I am sure that is why immigrants tended to stick around each other. When you are surrounded by a foreign culture, it is surprising the degree to which you will go to hear your language spoken to you or to eat food approximating what you are used to.
I think that I have been coming out of this phase over the past couple of weeks. As proof of this, I am back writing on this blog!
The experience of living here in China has given me a new respect for my ancestors who immigrated to the USA. It must have been so tremendously frightening to have immigrated to a foreign land, especially with no help from anyone.
By comparison, I am coddled like a baby. I have been treated very very nicely by people I have met at the agency I work for and the schools where I work. My ancestors probably did not have benefit of that.
The chinese do not rely on their government to help them in the way that you think socialists would. In fact, I have seen that the complex web of relationships that Chinese people have is a way for them to ensure that they have a safety net. Because life is very difficult here, and people earn less money, they need to rely on their friends and relatives a lot. It just seems to me that people try harder to cultivate relationships because without them people's chances of survival are diminished.
This would certainly make for an interesting sociological or ethnographic investigation. The degree to which people's concept of society is really a way of creating a safety net.
I can only suppose that the ethnic neighborhoods of my ancestors were places where people really did have each others back. I can see now how living in a place where your next meal really might just depend on who you know.
China is a place that I am still understanding. It sounds cliche, but all those cliches about china and chinese being difficult to understand is pretty apt. There are very different social and cultural ideas that guide people. I see alot of the good, because I am surrounded by well educated and polite people who treat foreigners like guests.
When I say that I am treated like a guest by chinese people I work with, I really literally mean that I am being treated like a guest.
Anyway, just to update folks about my work, I am currently working on Saturday and Sunday from 8:45 to 6:00 PM at the private school run by the teacher at the foreign language school. Then I work on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday from 5:30 to 6:15 giving lectures to students at the school where I live.
The topics of lectures I have given so far have mostly revolved around holidays. I gave lectures about Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukah, January Holidays, and my home town of Boston.
In a lecture I did about January holds, I talked aboiut what New Year's Resolutions are. I gave personal examples of what New Year's resolutions are by making some, like "I need to lose weight" and "I need to find a new job this year." When I made the comment about a new job, one of the students said, "but if you find a new job you won't be our teacher anymore." How sweet!
There are days where I feel like I am just here on a mission of survival. My tasks those days usually revolve around getting myself fed, getting bottled drinking water, getting cigarettes, and watching as much streaming video as possible.
There honestly isn't much to do here in Wuhan. I shouldn't say that though. The truth is that I am just as reclusive and aloof here as I was back in Boston.
I think here though, I tend to get cloistered a little more tightly. It gets to the point where it just becomes easier and more calming to avoid the annoyances of dealing with the language barrier by avoiding situations where you have to use language.
My new years resolutions are to work on learning more chinese, going out more and quitting smoking.
Saturday, January 12, 2013
Another train ride through Hubei province
Last thursday I took another train ride from Wuhan to Yichang. I travelled through many small farms that look like they are still worked mostly my hand. They are nothing like the huge commercial farms you see if you drive through the midwest. They kind of remind me more of small family farms you see in rural parts of Massachusetts and New England. They do tend to be bigger though.
One thing that is undeniably better in China are the trains. Amtrack is a pale comparison to the modern high speed railway system here in China. The trains here are new, clean and are serviced alot better than in the US.
I have been on four round trip train rides so far. Only one trip was anything approaching uncomfortable.
Both trips to Yichang from Wuhan were very smooth. The seats are clean and reasonably spacious.
Below is a picture of the train I took from Yichang to Wuhan on Thursday night.
There are stewardesses that roam the aisles purveying drinks and snacks. On the train in Sanya they also sold beer.
The english messages on the intercomm system are rather weird. Passengers are told that "Smoking is harmful." and "Do not let the smoke touch the annunciator." In other words, don't smoke or it will set off the smoke alarm. I had to check my dictionary for the meaning of "annunciator". It is a valid use of an english word, but is very stilted and wierd to my American ears.
Chinese people pretty much disobey all posted signs. They smoke in train stations, on elevators, in banks, and on trains in between cars. On the shiny new high speed train, I noticed no one smoked. I kind of got the feeling people are kind of proud of their train. They have every reason to be. It is a pretty good rail system.
I was presented with a cigarette at a school and joined another representative of the school in a smoke. We stood literally in front of a no smoking sign, inside a school.
People after my own heart.
One thing that is undeniably better in China are the trains. Amtrack is a pale comparison to the modern high speed railway system here in China. The trains here are new, clean and are serviced alot better than in the US.
I have been on four round trip train rides so far. Only one trip was anything approaching uncomfortable.
Both trips to Yichang from Wuhan were very smooth. The seats are clean and reasonably spacious.
Below is a picture of the train I took from Yichang to Wuhan on Thursday night.
There are stewardesses that roam the aisles purveying drinks and snacks. On the train in Sanya they also sold beer.
The english messages on the intercomm system are rather weird. Passengers are told that "Smoking is harmful." and "Do not let the smoke touch the annunciator." In other words, don't smoke or it will set off the smoke alarm. I had to check my dictionary for the meaning of "annunciator". It is a valid use of an english word, but is very stilted and wierd to my American ears.
Chinese people pretty much disobey all posted signs. They smoke in train stations, on elevators, in banks, and on trains in between cars. On the shiny new high speed train, I noticed no one smoked. I kind of got the feeling people are kind of proud of their train. They have every reason to be. It is a pretty good rail system.
I was presented with a cigarette at a school and joined another representative of the school in a smoke. We stood literally in front of a no smoking sign, inside a school.
People after my own heart.
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Back to work in Wuhan
I am back at work in Wuhan. It is alot colder in this part of China, and I miss the warm weather a lot.
My trip to Hainan was great. Another teacher I work with really helped me out by calling her students in Hainan.
She made a couple of phone calls, and two of her students picked me up at the airport when I arrived at 11:30 PM on New Years Eve. They then took me to dinner, brought me to a hotel, and then picked me up the next day and drove me to the train station. They paid for dinner, my hotel and my train ticket. If I had paid, this would have cost at least 100.00.
I am extremely impressed by the level of hospitality that people have shown towards me. I am also very impressed at the lengths people will go to impress or help out someone who is merely a friend of a former teacher. Very impressive. I wish I could say that my fellow countrymen are the same way, but I fear that they are not.
Today I gave a lecture about the December holidays of Christmas and Hannukah. I wanted to explain that there is both a secular and religious aspect to christmas, and to teach the students that not all Americans are christian.
One of my students came up after the lecture and made a copy of my power point presentation. I was surprised that he wanted a keepsake of the lecture!
My new years resolutions are to improve my chinese and to join a gym.
I will also try to get back to making regular posts.
My trip to Hainan was great. Another teacher I work with really helped me out by calling her students in Hainan.
She made a couple of phone calls, and two of her students picked me up at the airport when I arrived at 11:30 PM on New Years Eve. They then took me to dinner, brought me to a hotel, and then picked me up the next day and drove me to the train station. They paid for dinner, my hotel and my train ticket. If I had paid, this would have cost at least 100.00.
I am extremely impressed by the level of hospitality that people have shown towards me. I am also very impressed at the lengths people will go to impress or help out someone who is merely a friend of a former teacher. Very impressive. I wish I could say that my fellow countrymen are the same way, but I fear that they are not.
Today I gave a lecture about the December holidays of Christmas and Hannukah. I wanted to explain that there is both a secular and religious aspect to christmas, and to teach the students that not all Americans are christian.
One of my students came up after the lecture and made a copy of my power point presentation. I was surprised that he wanted a keepsake of the lecture!
My new years resolutions are to improve my chinese and to join a gym.
I will also try to get back to making regular posts.
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Beach fun in Hainan
I have had a relaxing time on the beaches of sunny Sanya City in Hainan. The water was very nice and the weather has been great. I enjoyed it a lot. Wifi has been an issue, so I will try and post more succinctly when I get back to Wuhan.
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