Sunday, February 17: 4:45 pm e.s.t.
Melissa, I sent you another email about an hour ago. I can't believe I woke up at 3:30 this morning...well I'm showered and ready to go. I'll bet I hit a wall about 9 or 10 tonight. Mark and I seem to hit it off really well, he and his wife will be married 8 years in July. He is late to be married, but I didn't ask his age. They Live in De Moines, Iowa. I need a haircut--I didn't realize it until i started drying my hair this morning. The weather here is similar to home, but maybe about 10 degrees cooler; no snow but the pond in Beijing near my hotel was frozen, of course Beijing is a 2 hour flight north of Ningbo (or Belun); it's about like Pennsylvania I think.
Monday, February 18: 5:30 pm e.s.t.
Until today all of my dining experiences had been of the hotel sort. Good food to be sure, but perhaps not as accurate a cross section as could be had. At lunch time we left the factory and arrived, on what had turned out to be a very chilly winter day with rain, at a Hunan style restaurant--a name used to describe food from that region near by, but the monotone representation of the way word sounds in English is the only thing about the Hunan style that is translated into English at all--regarding the food it self, at least in my experience, their is no comparison. Perhaps some hole in the wall place in Chinatown, New York or San Fransisco one might find a fair representation, but likewise, one might also be afraid to enter without some personal connection.
The food itself really was fantastic. I think it would be the equivalent of going to Carter Brothers or Olde Orchard Dinner for lunch. The hostess seated us at a round table about 48 inches diameter and pass out hard plastic ware, including a saucer, bowl, small water glass, and a handle less tea cup, all of which would later be washed and reused, and were tightly packaged in a plastic similar to the type that is used as a window for chocolate Easter bunnies...oh yes, and chopsticks, the hard black plastic type which one will wash--not the wood ones. When we entered the small crowded place we were greeted by very earthy smells that might best be described as brown, sienna and umber. We were seated, the waiter took our drink order--I had the predictable shway (water--and all four of us had ta, hot tea of course. Several dishes were ordered: a fish soup with cabbage and red peppers, which had a strong ginger appeal, an offering of the finest julienned strips pf potatoes served with pickles red chilies which had a pungent aroma, beef and pork stir fried in what I think was either peanut or sesame oil--which had a decidedly charbroiled flavor that could not be ignored, a bowl of cabbage with red bell peppers, chilies, and whole garlic cloves--that was my favorite--green beans also with red chilies and lastly--skewered shrimp which apparently had been fried in hot oil with the shell on, the flavor of which was incredible, but the shell with legs, was so tightly gripping the meat that you would probably only eat one of them by trying to remove the shell first, but because the flavor was so good you would soon develop a taste for the shell and all (a texture we are not used to, but one that is not offensive for very long).
All in all, the variety of food I've had thus far has been bold in flavor, colorful in appearance and is in many ways, severe just like the flat land in the surrounding area is often rudely interrupted by a mountain; high in contrast--just like the advertisements and much like the people when you compare them to Americans.
Melissa, I sent you another email about an hour ago. I can't believe I woke up at 3:30 this morning...well I'm showered and ready to go. I'll bet I hit a wall about 9 or 10 tonight. Mark and I seem to hit it off really well, he and his wife will be married 8 years in July. He is late to be married, but I didn't ask his age. They Live in De Moines, Iowa. I need a haircut--I didn't realize it until i started drying my hair this morning. The weather here is similar to home, but maybe about 10 degrees cooler; no snow but the pond in Beijing near my hotel was frozen, of course Beijing is a 2 hour flight north of Ningbo (or Belun); it's about like Pennsylvania I think.
Monday, February 18: 5:30 pm e.s.t.
Until today all of my dining experiences had been of the hotel sort. Good food to be sure, but perhaps not as accurate a cross section as could be had. At lunch time we left the factory and arrived, on what had turned out to be a very chilly winter day with rain, at a Hunan style restaurant--a name used to describe food from that region near by, but the monotone representation of the way word sounds in English is the only thing about the Hunan style that is translated into English at all--regarding the food it self, at least in my experience, their is no comparison. Perhaps some hole in the wall place in Chinatown, New York or San Fransisco one might find a fair representation, but likewise, one might also be afraid to enter without some personal connection.
The food itself really was fantastic. I think it would be the equivalent of going to Carter Brothers or Olde Orchard Dinner for lunch. The hostess seated us at a round table about 48 inches diameter and pass out hard plastic ware, including a saucer, bowl, small water glass, and a handle less tea cup, all of which would later be washed and reused, and were tightly packaged in a plastic similar to the type that is used as a window for chocolate Easter bunnies...oh yes, and chopsticks, the hard black plastic type which one will wash--not the wood ones. When we entered the small crowded place we were greeted by very earthy smells that might best be described as brown, sienna and umber. We were seated, the waiter took our drink order--I had the predictable shway (water--and all four of us had ta, hot tea of course. Several dishes were ordered: a fish soup with cabbage and red peppers, which had a strong ginger appeal, an offering of the finest julienned strips pf potatoes served with pickles red chilies which had a pungent aroma, beef and pork stir fried in what I think was either peanut or sesame oil--which had a decidedly charbroiled flavor that could not be ignored, a bowl of cabbage with red bell peppers, chilies, and whole garlic cloves--that was my favorite--green beans also with red chilies and lastly--skewered shrimp which apparently had been fried in hot oil with the shell on, the flavor of which was incredible, but the shell with legs, was so tightly gripping the meat that you would probably only eat one of them by trying to remove the shell first, but because the flavor was so good you would soon develop a taste for the shell and all (a texture we are not used to, but one that is not offensive for very long).
All in all, the variety of food I've had thus far has been bold in flavor, colorful in appearance and is in many ways, severe just like the flat land in the surrounding area is often rudely interrupted by a mountain; high in contrast--just like the advertisements and much like the people when you compare them to Americans.
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