Welcome to Huainan!

After a 500km transfer we have landed in Huainan in Anhui Province, and the city looks delightful so far. Immediately after checking in, Sophia, Elliot, Bill, and I went for a stroll and found more wonderful street food. First Bill and I ate an egg bread pancake with green onions inside (1 yuan), then I had a piece of bread cooked inside a tall pot (1 yuan), then Sophia & Elliot had a hot tofu drink, and then we finally shared dumplings with a beautiful 83 year old grandma whose grandson is in the US on a full university scholarship! This is the slice of China that I have fallen in love with, and it's a slice that most tourists never see or experience. I am indeed fortunate. Enjoy the images, and be sure to read the captions.

It's nice to be welcomed.

I can't resist snapping images of these guys.

Knee how!

Getting a ride home from pre-school with grandma.

Stacks of steamer baskets.

Lotus root! I've eaten a lot of this since I've been in China, but didn't know what the raw form looks like!

This is the griddle used to cook the egg &onion pancake that I ate.

This is the dough for the bread. First he stretched it into ovals.

Then he scored each oval several times.

Each oval was painted with some oil and sprinkled with sesame seeds.

Each oval was then placed directly to the inside surface of a very hot, tall pot. The dough adhered to the interior surface of the pot during the baking.

Here is the baker's arm, reaching inside to stick new ovals of dough to the inside of the pot.

You can see how far he must reach his arm in for every piece, and it's really hot!

After placing all the dough, he used a small whisk broom to fan the coal fire under the pot.

The puffy ovals are almost bread!

This woman sold hot tofu drinks and soup. The hot cup in her hand started with a raw egg that she lightly beat and then added a ladle full of broth.

Customers were lined up!

She also sold eggs cooked in tea.

Here's the enormous pot of tofu.

To make the hot tofu drink, she first scooped up some tofu into the cup, then added veggies and spice.

...and then it's all mixed together!

Here's some of the veggies she adds to the hot tofu drink.

The next customer in line brought her own bowl.

Happy customers!

Here's the dumpling vendor.

She had all the dumplings ready made, all set to drop into boiling water. We ordered ten dumplings as a snack.

The wikis set over some sort of homemade burner. You can sort of see the propane line feeding into the bowl on the bottom.

First she poured water into the wok.

The dumplings go in after the water starts boiling.

In go the dumplings!

They only need to boil for a few minutes.

As we were waiting for our dumplings, this delightful grandma walked by.

Bill invited her to sit and share dumplings with us.

Sophia & Elliot are enjoying their dumplings!

She's 83 years young.

She told us that if she lived closer she would invite us to her home.

Elliot and Sophia commented more than once that this grandma had a really good appetite. I think many older people in China are unable to chew as they age because the dental care in China is so poor.

We attract stares and smiles everywhere we go.

This vendor sold veggies.

They're beautifully prepared on skewers.

This vendor sold barbecued chicken skewers.

A newspaper & magazine kiosk.

Peppers & veggies.

In the guide book, Sophia read that Huainan is well known for meat soup. This must be it...

But after looking into this pot, we all decided we weren't interested in trying it...

This vendor was frying "stinky tofu." Not sure who would eat it... It smelled awful!

These kids greeted us with "how are you?"

Hi grandma :)

Hi grandpa!

 

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