Daily Discovery

February 28: Wow, the end of February is here already... and you can tell that spring will be arriving in March. Outside of the park next to the campus here in Wuwei, the food cart vendors (mostly noodles, noodles, and noodles!) are already coming back during the lunch hours and setting up their rows of shops. They all are selling basically the same thing, so how would I know which one to buy? Do you have any ideas?

February 26 So, today is another reflection - discovery - to share with you about the train, since that is a big part of my life here in China, a part that is important and common for so many Chinese people, and yet, very rarely used in the US. The trip home to site yesterday was a bit challenging, since there wasn't a direct train from Chengdu to Wuwei, so I had to buy two tickets, from Chengdu to Lanzhou and Lanzhou to Wuwei; but luckily, I got a hard sleeper bunk for my trip to Lanzhou, so it was a comfortable experience. A cultural note? Most people in the bunks take off their shoes before using the bunks, even if they are not sleeping at the moment, even if they have the lowest (ground) bunk. I'm not sure why this suprises me, beyond that I might not have thought of that on my first trip... but it also reminds me of how the custom is to take off your shoes before entering the house here in China, and put on some slippers. But, no slippers for the train today.

February 24: A new little piece of cultural knowledge that I picked up - and experienced first-hand - today with my host family: it's very common to wait outside of a restaurant you'd like to eat at for a long time, waiting for a table. Luckily, it's not boring, though the waiting time can be quite long at places, particularly hot pot or other slowly-eat-and-chat-with-friends-and-family style food. Many restaurants have stools, benches and chairs that they set outside for you to use and chat with friends, while maybe starting on a few snacks like sunflower seeds that the hero of your group brought along for the wait. Last night, it was two and a half hours for hot pot. But, hot pot is delicious. Problem solved.

Also, please check out my new blog post today: Convergence of Culture and Cuisine: Pizza Hut and Beyond.

February 22: The first day of work has begun, and since my post yesterday was themed towards the conveniences of transportation between cities in China, this one should mention that there are so many convenient methods to travel around Chengdu itself... busses going everywhere, super clean, safe and fast subways popping up all around the city, and of course, elevated roadway rings that circle the city in concentric circles. Take a look and you'll see how it could help you get where you want to go in a city of 14 million people just a little bit more easily. Oh, and going to work? Or going for tea? Just take the bus system on the upper ring to bypass all the rush hour traffic in the bus-only lane for the price of $0.15 per as much bus transportation as you can take in two hours. But don't worry, it won't take that long.

February 20: This morning I found myself in Chengdu ... and in summer, for it was quite warm weather (~60F!). So, my Peace Corps supervisor, whose lives in Chengdu and whose family has come from all around China to visit for the Spring Festival, invited me to hang out for the day, walking through one of the bamboo parks near the Sichuan University campus, playing a few games with the family and then eating a lunch. It was a lot of fun - and it was particularly fun to make lunch with her children and nieces/nephews, for this year their family wanted to try something new: making a pizza for part of lunch. The real surprise? Check out the bottom corner of the cheese they bought at one of the larger stores in Chengdu: "Wisconsin Select Natural Cheese!"

February 18: Another day of Spring Festival, another day of no work and all relaxation for the majority of the Chinese people, and so we took a short road trip to a different little city about 40km outside of Chengdu. We stopped at a little outdoor cafe by the river and sat around - my host parents chatting in the local dialect with their friends, and I was trying to listen and understand as much as I could before just simply zoning out and enjoying the (Wisconsin summer) weather.

The picture you can't quite distinguish? That night we went across the street to a little restaurant to eat dinner and they had live music entertainment, a first for me here in China!

February 16: Happy first day of the Chinese Lunar New Year, the year of the dog, to you all! Surprisingly, Chengdu is deserted - the streets are empty, the shops are closed, the cars are gone, the busses are occupied solely by the driver steering them through vacant lanes... except for the one part of town where there is a special activity set up for two weeks at one of the attractions in the city: food stands, traditional art and activities, lights, flowers, it has it all, along with what felt like every single person left in Chengdu.

My most interesting sight? The incredibly popular 'french fries,' made like a footlong, fried together in a clump, and topped with a selection of sauces from sweet and spicy, to tomato, to salad dressing type, and sold at a premium, because, well, it's unique.

February 14: Happy Valentine's Day! And it is time to leave Harbin and part ways as we head off to celebrate Spring Festival, which starts tomorrow! Given the incredible number of travelers over the next few days (I've heard it said that the Spring Festival is the greatest human 'migration' movement on Earth) we decided that it would be better overall - money wise, time wise, money-to-time wise - to fly out of Harbin to Beijing, which came with a few late night snacks on the plane... you know, like pretzels? Only this time we had a small pack of dried dates, which were interesting... especially considering the flavor: Donkey-hide Gelatin Flavor.

I'm still not sure what that is.

February 12: The first stop of the was a quick bowl of noodles for brunch, followed by the first of a few ice parks we are planning to visit in Harbin... it was incredible, and very fun, with a slight chill in the air (okay, perhaps slight isn't perfectly accurate if the ice sculptures just stand outside and don't melt for months...) to remind us to keep moving on to the next statue. You're probably expecting a picture of sculpture. Instead, you got a picture of bread. That's because I'm saving the sculpture pictures for my upcoming blog post, and I bought this raisin bread on the street and could save it past the next block, so it was definitely worth buying - and buying again tomorrow if I can find it. The closest thing to 'real' bread I have found here in China, in terms of the texture, flavor, and density.

February 10: A late train ride (or early train ride starting this morning at 1:21 AM ... er... delayed until 1:58 AM) brought us back to Wuwei for a day-long pit stop as we regrouped, rewarmed, and repacked for the trip to Harbin tomorrow! To encourage some activity on what otherwise could have been a lazy day inside, we devised a plan to make dinner - homemade 炸酱面 (zha jiang mian) or 'fried-sauce noodles,' which consisted of a stirfried sauce to cover noodles accentuated by a touch of vinegar, to which we could add any number of vegetables... we chose red pepper, carrots, cucumber, tofu, and blanched cabbage. It was quite delicious for our first attempt! Take a look. Try not to salivate.

February 8: The last day in Dunhuang today - and still, a busy day with many things to do. Therefore, we must start off the day right - with a filling breakfast. For the last two days in Dunhuang, breakfast has consisted of a bowl of noodles - Rebecca's with slices of beef, mine without - to warm and fill us up before heading off to see the sites. Today, a little bit different approach: I started with the sweet, fried doughnut like snack foods sold from a little stand in the market by our hostel, while Rebecca hit up the lamb kebabs and lamb soup from one of the small restaurants nearby.

My discovery to share for the day is the heating system I have seen in virtually every one of these restaurants: a little heater - using either real coal or charcoal, though I think it is real coal - that heats up the restaurant, provides hot embers to start the grills for cooking, and heats up a kettle of tea for the customers.

February 6: Today was the first day of a new set of adventures for me - my first time exploring a new city in China beyond Chengdu, Wuwei, or the occasional trip to Lanzhou for PC training, events or train connections. Rebecca and I headed out last night on the overnight train (11 hours!) to Dunhuang (敦煌）where we will explore for three days before heading to the next stop on our little 10 day tour of northern China ... or at least, a very very small fraction of it! Stay on the lookout for a blog post at the end of the trip.

Back to the daily discovery! In our first stop today in Dunhuang we went to the Mingsha mountains* and the crescent lake area park for a bit of exploring - it was incredible and you must see the pictures when the blog post is published, but for now, a teaser photo with the desert in the background: the entire park area, even high up on the sand dunes has free WIFI.

February 4: Another visitor to Wuwei, another trip to the market... or, just another day in Wuwei, another trip to the market. Though, this visit with Rebecca to the market was the first time that I saw such bountiful pork products for sale.. and by pork products, I mean very conscientious and purposeful use of the entire pig. There was a line and a crowd of people waiting to buy pork from one of the shops, so I waited a few minutes to get a look at what they were selling - every piece of the pig, from the feet to the ears to the heads. Im not sure why there are suddenly so much pork for sale, but I imagine that it also has something to do with the Spring Festival that is quickly approaching!

February 2: Hi fam! It's Rebecca here, reporting for blogging duty (although as the picture might suggest ... eating duty). Apparently today's daily discovery is me and my discovery of Wuwei. After waking up at 5AM for an 8AM flight from Beijing to Jinchang, and then a 37 minute train from Jinchang to Wuwei, I arrived in Wuwei safe and sound. Same for the platter of dumplings, now safe (somewhat safe) and sound in my stomach. My first thought of Wuwei in one word: ask-me-later.

PS: you're welcome for getting Bernard (whom the rest of you know as Isaac, or 一万）to finally update his daily discoveries.