Being in mainland China, there are not many meal options beyond Chinese food. Only in the bigger, coastal cities will you find any international cuisine. The three Western restaurants here are McDonalds, KFC and Pizza Hut, all of which are expensive by Chinese standards. There is one Korean restaurant near the campus, but its menu has maybe five entrees. As for grocery shopping, there is one super market in Sha Shi (the neighboring city) that has a few western items, including butter, cheese, french bread (which is usually stale) and spaghetti.
So I've been eating lots of Chinese food! That means I eat rice just about everyday. The basics are rice, meat (chicken, beef or pork) and vegetables. The most commonly eaten veges are cabbage, peppers, onions and tomatoes - you find at least one of these in almost any dish. My favorite food here (which was new to me four months ago) are lotus roots. Everything is cooked. When I explain how Westerners eat uncooked veges (i.e. salads), people are just aghast!
Some other new and weird foods I've eaten: duck blood, milk bean soup, rotten tofu (called "stinky tof"), donkey, snake, chicken feet, and pigs blood, ear, tongue and balls (yes, balls...)
The spiciest Chinese dishes come from far Cantonese south or Sichuan province but, in general, Southern China is known for spicer foods relative to Northern China. So many dishes here are quite spicy. Most, especially meats, have chili peppers and/or peppercorns in them. Even now with it being 90 degrees and high humidity, people still indudge in these hot dishes. Us foreigners just get uncomfortably hot and sweaty!
Chinese do not consume a lot of dairy. Many of them have never even tasted cheese and most don't drink milk. Yogurt cups are very popular, but the servings are only a couple ounces. I assume the lack of calcium is why they are all so small, and why three of my students had broken bones this semester. Milk is sold warm in cardboard boxes. Frankly, I don't like it and I miss my 2%.
At restaurants the food is served family-style. Everyone shares the dishes, picking up the food with their chopsticks and placing it in their bowl of rice. Below is a pic of a typical dinner. The middle dish in the back is lotus root.
All in all, I really enjoy the food here but, admittedly, I sometimes overwhelmingly crave non-Chinese foods. I took it for granted that in America people can eat any ethnic foods they want. Within just a few blocks from Bren's & my apartment in Chicago we could go to a Thai, Mexican, Japanese, Italian, Ethiopian, Irish or Middle Eastern restaurant. Awhile back I actually had a recurring dream about eating a taco....
So I've been eating lots of Chinese food! That means I eat rice just about everyday. The basics are rice, meat (chicken, beef or pork) and vegetables. The most commonly eaten veges are cabbage, peppers, onions and tomatoes - you find at least one of these in almost any dish. My favorite food here (which was new to me four months ago) are lotus roots. Everything is cooked. When I explain how Westerners eat uncooked veges (i.e. salads), people are just aghast!
Some other new and weird foods I've eaten: duck blood, milk bean soup, rotten tofu (called "stinky tof"), donkey, snake, chicken feet, and pigs blood, ear, tongue and balls (yes, balls...)
The spiciest Chinese dishes come from far Cantonese south or Sichuan province but, in general, Southern China is known for spicer foods relative to Northern China. So many dishes here are quite spicy. Most, especially meats, have chili peppers and/or peppercorns in them. Even now with it being 90 degrees and high humidity, people still indudge in these hot dishes. Us foreigners just get uncomfortably hot and sweaty!
Chinese do not consume a lot of dairy. Many of them have never even tasted cheese and most don't drink milk. Yogurt cups are very popular, but the servings are only a couple ounces. I assume the lack of calcium is why they are all so small, and why three of my students had broken bones this semester. Milk is sold warm in cardboard boxes. Frankly, I don't like it and I miss my 2%.
At restaurants the food is served family-style. Everyone shares the dishes, picking up the food with their chopsticks and placing it in their bowl of rice. Below is a pic of a typical dinner. The middle dish in the back is lotus root.
All in all, I really enjoy the food here but, admittedly, I sometimes overwhelmingly crave non-Chinese foods. I took it for granted that in America people can eat any ethnic foods they want. Within just a few blocks from Bren's & my apartment in Chicago we could go to a Thai, Mexican, Japanese, Italian, Ethiopian, Irish or Middle Eastern restaurant. Awhile back I actually had a recurring dream about eating a taco....
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