Venturing around China

[david_dawei]

Naturally sun dried

Ah.... how I miss hand washed and naturally dried clothes... if folding these stiff cardboard like clothes doesn't bring back the memory, then putting on the sandpaper like clothes will. No need to reach underneath the clothes to scratch something, just rub the clothes from the outside will create the effect!

 

life without a car

I often return back to the US wondering why I even have a car; I just love being in china for the mere reason that I tend to walk a few miles a day which I would otherwise never do... I have already walked so much that my legs were restless for two days, and my body felt slightly dehydrated from the warm yet wet air... that means it's time to refuel and have another beer. All manner of services seem available in terms of people coming to your home to deliver or pickup; whether mail, or cigarettes, or beer; two small girls come with a few boxes of beer and they are happy to do so with two guys drinking almost a box a night.

 

Cleaniness is not next to goodliness

But the practice of it may be... in a land covered in dirt and a sky covered in overcast gray, there is a symbiotic relationship with nature and accept the natural dirt is overcome (or attempted to be) with the practice of extreme cleanliness.

 

"Your hands are dirty clean them before eating"; ok... but I'm using chopsticks and I am not going to touch the food anyways since everything was prepared into small portions. I think we should go to the kitchen and ask the cook to wash their hands before making our dish.

 

"Don't eat that, it's looks dirty"; ok, for a country which will eat any bug or bird, eat weeds as a vegetable... I should not eat something they feel is 'dirty'. I responded with the 140 proof jiu is going to kill any micro-organism that may find its way into my stomach. I think the logic of this was lost on them.

 

"Put on your indoor shoes in the shower"; ok, wearing them in the house is one thing but the fear of falling in the shower seems to spurn the command to wear them in the shower. I discovered they provide good footing while in the shower.. Now I suddenly realize their true value.

 

"sit... sit... sit"; The command to sit occurs more than most any; sit while I go inside to get something; sit while I ask some question; sit while there is a seat available; sit because it's better than standing. There is so much energy expended in sitting and standing up that just staying up may be easier to do in some cases.

 

"chi chi chi"; if 'gan bei' isn't enough to cause you to put on weight, then the command to eat till your stomach explodes adds in the knockout punch. And you can even eat anything that has been left out on the counter for a few days; it's been well calculated over the centuries how long noodles or eggs can remain outside of a refridgerator; I just wonder why they don't think it's simply 'dirty'... oh.. they boil it again to kill any micro-organism... I already tried a variation on that argument and could not win.

[david_dawei]

Davids secret CFL mission-drinking wine with ex-pats

speaking of wine.. if we mean 'hong jiu'; I've had a few people tell me that [red] wine is really 'in' in china now. I saw at the bar that a couple ordered a bottle and left with about half of it undrunk; that's sacrilegious for a country which rather end the night with a stumble to the local clinic for an IV due to drunken dehydration than leave a drop of bai jiu at the bottom of a bottle.

 

I had someone give me a box of wine; I brought two bottles to Nanjing; it was actually fairly good compared to what I recall previously trying in china... dry and smooth for the most part. But buying wine in the US is like buying beer; there's thousands of choices which leave one simply wanting one good bottle... or maybe a few more.

[david_dawei]

You can walk there from here

Back to the walking theme... I always like that one can practically walk very short way to get most anything desired. Forget the shopping list, just walk and buy as you want. Today on a brief walk we went to go buy some 'cake'.

 

Along the way I mentioned my incredibly sore throat and swollen gland... and murmured maybe some penicillin may be needed. Within a few steps we went into the local 'drug' store and bought it over the counter, where you can buy all manner of vitamins, juice and even cigarettes; come here and buy to live longer or shorter.

 

Then I mentioned I wanted some bai jiu... next door store... a small bottle will do. a "well known" brand is picked for me and we move on. Next we pass many 'fast food' fronts; I stop and ask if this thinly sliced item is beef tongue and they say just beef... ok, forget it... we ask another for pig intestine or ear... keep moving along... finally I see some duck neck and stop! Spicy duck neck (and brain) is among my favorite. We are asked how spicy we want it and we say the most spicy... we are not disappointed; this may be the best spicy duck neck I've had.

 

I pop one into my mouth and walk along as we window shop some more... between deep chomps and slurring up the spicy juice I announce that this is just like a spicy candy; we finally pass a trash can so I spit out all the contents.

 

Now time to go back home with cake, jiu, spicy duck neck and pencillin; no shopping list could of been conceived like this.

 

Fire food and drink

Back at Jesse's, I sit down to chomp and suck on more spicy duck neck which was also cooked in my favorite 'ma jiao', the spicy, tingly pepper ball which leaves your mouth numb. Even the two chinese ladies said this was too spicy leaving their lips and cheeks feeling numb; I just relish it.

 

But I finally get around to topping it off with some jiu; I pour some in a small cup and lift to my nose and I realize this is not the average jiu; I am used to the smell of various jiu and it's alcohol strength, so I quickly draw it away from my nose which is already burned from the smell. I look over the bottle and they realize what I want to know and say it is "62%".

 

In most cities I am used to being in, this is high octane; 38% is low, 58% is high (Er Guo Tou). But then I realized I was with someone from Liaoning and the high content there is 70+%; so 62% is medium. I realized a built in reaction to drinking this stuff is to just hold your breath on the upswing of the cup and this does two things: It prevents your nose hairs from burning and goes down a little more quickly since if you breath during the gulp your going to feel like you swallowed 10 flames instead of 5. I opted for the feeling of 5.

 

I'm leaving Jesse and Lan tomorrow and heading back towards N.E. China... hard to go but even the sun must come and go. tonight is our last dinner together but it's raining hard and there is alot of thunder. I guess even the nanjing sky is sad to see us go.

[GZBILL]

 

...

 

Along the way I mentioned my incredibly ... swollen gland ... .

 

 

Edited August 20, 2009 by GZBILL (see edit history)

[fineart]

fineart are you spanking Carl and Don

Hopefully they are not sore because I do NOT have a big Leo paw, so my spank should be a tiny one.

[Batmaniac]

'ma jiao', the spicy, tingly pepper ball which leaves your mouth numb. Even the two chinese ladies said this was too spicy leaving their lips and cheeks feeling numb; I just relish it.

 

 

 

I think I must've had this in hot pot once at a Little Sheep knock off restaurant. Never had it anywhere else and always wondered what it was. My wife and her friend encouraged me NOT to eat it. But the sensation is very cool. I liked it!

[david_dawei]

'ma jiao', the spicy, tingly pepper ball which leaves your mouth numb. Even the two chinese ladies said this was too spicy leaving their lips and cheeks feeling numb; I just relish it.

 

 

 

I think I must've had this in hot pot once at a Little Sheep knock off restaurant. Never had it anywhere else and always wondered what it was. My wife and her friend encouraged me NOT to eat it. But the sensation is very cool. I liked it!

I have most often had it in the popular fish dish, Shui Zhu Yu, which is fish cooked in water with hot peppers and the ma jiao (and some vegetable at the bottom). Since that first day of eating that, I have been hooked on these little peppers. Once in a while I'll find it cooked in something else.

 

We ate dog a few nights ago and I asked for ma jiao since I had learned to eat the ma jiao pepper balls uncooked in a small bowl with dog meat; just dip the meat into a saucer of these pepper balls and eat; but instead the restaurant brought me the ma jiao cooking oil. I plan to try again in a few days at another restaurant since the meat was not cooked as I like it; Now I've explained how I want the meat and pepper balls so we'll see what else gets lost in translation at the next attempt.

Edited August 21, 2009 by DavidZixuan (see edit history)

[Zhenghong]

Hong!!!! You are not supposed to tell that David is on a secret mission for Candle. He will be in danger of becoming gelded.

I already posted the gelding has started

 

and being here in nanjing with jesse and lan has been a 24 hour education in teasing and sarcasm...

 

@Hong:

Don't worry Hong, I appreciate your post. Michael only writes me to ask how much jiu I have consumed, and have a bottle for him!

 

Don't worry about Don's teasing; you've not revealed anything about a secret mission... that's still well guarded

 

but you did reveal to the public (and therefore Michael) and you and i have chatted in the past Maybe keep talking about Don's post and keep everyone's attention on that.. hey, that's the ticket

 

No problem david, It is not a problem if people understand we chat.

Michael already know we chat together and it is ok with him.

 

Yes!! Michael very like jiu.

 

Hong

[david_dawei]

Hong!!!! You are not supposed to tell that David is on a secret mission for Candle. He will be in danger of becoming gelded.

I already posted the gelding has started

 

and being here in nanjing with jesse and lan has been a 24 hour education in teasing and sarcasm...

 

@Hong:

Don't worry Hong, I appreciate your post. Michael only writes me to ask how much jiu I have consumed, and have a bottle for him!

 

Don't worry about Don's teasing; you've not revealed anything about a secret mission... that's still well guarded

 

but you did reveal to the public (and therefore Michael) and you and i have chatted in the past Maybe keep talking about Don's post and keep everyone's attention on that.. hey, that's the ticket

 

No problem david, It is not a problem if people understand we chat.

Michael already know we chat together and it is ok with him.

 

Yes!! Michael very like jiu.

 

Hong

Hi Hong,

 

I think Don and I are being too playful with you

 

Our sarcasm implies what you reply.. just ask your husband about "pulling one's leg"... but don't let him convince of you some third leg please ! Just tell him to go back to her beer if he gets going too much

[david_dawei]

Physician heal thyself

or at least dispense your own medicine... I'm always amazed at the ease with which to get medicine in china, particularly penicillin... and I'm glad, it seems that already in two days my throat/neck inflammation/swelling is going. Usually the only question they ask is at the counter is "how many" you want.

 

While the US is considering action against Yahoo for hosting ads of online pharmacies with suspicious dispensing, China takes a much ado about nothing attitude with it.

 

Traffic's small competitors

Today while eating on the third floor of a restaurant which overlooked the road, I was able to get a good look at the nighttime hazards of crossing the road; from vehicles swerving to pedestrians crossing under their own risk... and then I suddenly saw a dog NOT on a lease able to also navigate the death march. I recalled this last year in another city but even the dogs can survive this. I saw a young boy crossing with alot of trepidation in his eyes and nervous jerking motions; next to him were adults walking like a sunday stroll through the park.

 

I'm beginning to think that the dashed lines separating the lanes of travel in either direction are not for cars; nobody says in their lane, even the opposite lane is used. These dashes are very good points of reference of where to just stand still and let cars fly by, in front of you and behind you. Just don't move too much.