My "Visit China" Tips for Commissaires

When traveling for cycling (instead of just pure vacation), your time is often less flexible. There are meetings and deadlines and work that has to be done. On the other hand, when the work is done for the day, it's possible that your time is more flexible than the standard tourist who visits China with an organized tour group. Anyway, as I sit here in the San Francisco airport waiting for my last flight home I thought I'd jot down a few dos and donts, so... in no particular order...

• Bring some granola bars or similar so that you can skip a meal if need be. I LOVED the food, but I had to take it a little slow initially to give my stomach a chance to adjust. Every single thing you put in your mouth is new in flavor and sometimes texture, so I was glad I had something kind of bland to fall back on for a snack. After 72 hours I was pretty much ok for the rest of the trip, but it was nice to have a granola bar for breakfast sometimes instead of the odd Chinese breakfast choices (veggies, noodle dishes, etc).
• Cash is king. Bring your ATM card AND some US currency. Do currency exchanges at Bank of China (there's one on practically every corner). ONLY bring NEW bills for exchange. I had trouble using my ATM card, so I tried to exchange a couple of hundred dollars. But the smaller bank I tried to use closely inspected each $20 bill and then announced that all of my bills except for one $20 were "broken" and couldn't be exchanged. Not exactly sure what that meant, but take the time to go into your bank and ask for new bills just in case you can't find a Bank of China.
• Learn a few phrases before you arrive. I earned a lot of good will with my attempts at hi, nice to meet you, see you later, etc. I recommend the "Learn Chinese" app by Codegent available for Android and iPhone.
• Get a SIM card for your phone. China Mobile has stores everywhere, and everyone in China has a mobile (and expects you to have one, too). Make sure you get the data+voice plan or it gets pricey. You can add credit at any time by stopping at a China Mobile store. Being "connected" also made me feel less isolated, like I had a link to home. This feeling became more important to me the longer the trip lasted.
• Add "tye gway lah" to your vocabulary list. EVERY small merchant expects you to bargain and the first thing out of your mouth after hearing the price needs to be "too much." Rule of thumb is to cut the first price in half and go from there.
• It's easy to restock standard toiletry items, so no need to pack much of these. Most supermarkets are really "super" and carry food, clothes, electronics, alcohol, etc. You'll have no trouble finding what you need.
• Don't tip. Really.
• Don't expect to find wireless Internet in your hotel (never had wireless in my room in three weeks of hotels), but they do all have ethernet cables. So you'll need to travel with a laptop OR bring your iPad plus wireless router. There are some really small wireless routers that plug right into the wall and are very convenient; that's what I used.
• Download news apps to your iPad or phone and use them to get the news in English. There are great ones for BBC, NPR, NYT, etc. A huge conflict between Japan and China escalated during my trip but the Chinese government blocks most of the news sites familiar to US readers, so you're kind of SOL without apps.
• No need for plug adapters. Your US and even Euro plugs are perfectly compatible with all Chinese wall outlets.
• Leave your hotel. Walk the streets. Eat the street food!

I'm sure there are others, but that's what comes off the top of my head.

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Looking for Dinner

Cotton bedding for sale.

Instead of eating in the hotel last night, we decided to step into the street in search of something tasty. And as usual, we found lots of interesting activities and people. The first unusual shop that I had to take a look into was a small shop making cotton bedding. I never really thought about it, but most folks here don't sleep on a traditional mattress like we have at home. Instead, they buy thick cotton mats made locally (shown in image at left). Then we passed a grain and seed shop, complete with chickens wandering around in front. Our first food stop was a fried egg & bread pancake (another fried egg on top optional) for 1 yuan. After that we stumbled into a small outdoor market selling meats and breads. I have to say I am passing on the meats as most of them look like outside parts (feet, ears, etc) rather than inside parts. It was pretty dark by this hour even though it was only about 6pm or so. Remember, China is all on ONE time zone: China Standard Time. So nightfall comes earlier (at least, by the clock) this time of year the further east you are. Inside we found some wonderful breads with a sweet filling; very tasty.

Upon exiting the market we discovered a man selling traditional mooncakes. The traditional Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival (also known as the Mooncake Festival, a time for lunar worship and moon watching) is this year on 30 September (date changes every year, as the actual start is always the 15th day of the eighth month on the Chinese calendar). It's one of the most important holidays in the Chinese calendar, and one of the popular traditions is eating mooncakes. These are pastries filled with sweet or savory fillings like bean paste, lotus seed paste, fruit, or nuts and are often shared between friends or on family gatherings. The Festival itself is only a single day, but festivities can last several days. It is a time when many migrant workers and students travel long distances to be with family in faraway provinces. They're really yummy! We bought some to have today on our long transfer drive to Jining.

On our return stroll we saw a man stretching noodles by hand - gawd, they looked good! Then we stopped and bought delicious steamed dumplings and buns from another street vendor. Dinner was great!

This is the pure cotton, ready to roll into a casing.

Here the workers are tying up a bundle of cotton for a waiting customer.

Here's the outdoor market we walked into.

This woman is selling fresh bread.

Meat parts... I haven't developed a taste for this.

The meat is served with a spoonful of beans.

This grandma was selling some sort of bread.

These women were selling breads with a sweet filling. Though shy at first, they were happy to pose with only minor encouragement.

Here are the rounds of bread ready to throw on a hot skillet.

The next vendor was selling dumplings ready to throw Ina pot with boiling water.

Lots of fresh fruits and veggies are available.

Packages of mooncakes!

Fried stinky tofu... yuck!

I've only seen a handful of pet dogs on my trip (Bill calls them all Lucky... as in they're lucky not to be somebody's next meal...) and these are the first cats I've seen.

Here's the noodle man. He stretches the noodles by hand for each order.

Depending upon the order, the noodles are stretched into different shapes and then get dropped into hot water. They only need to cook for a minute or so.

The noodles are scooped out and put into a bowl which is then filled with a wonderful broth. Depending upon the dish, things like bean curd or eggs might be added.

This noodle customer is staring at me staring at him ;)

Another hard working Chinese.

Darkness can fall early when a country as large as China is all on the same time zone.

This young girl was pretty suspicious of me and my camera.

Another impromptu market where folks can stop to buy dinner in their way home from work.

Yum!

Ah, steamed dumplings. We ordered about 10 for 3 yuan.

For our order, she uncovered the next layer and scooped them into a bag.

The doughs are stretched by hand.

View of Huainan from my hotel room on the 18th floor.

I actually found drinkable red wine in China! Price varies from about 40 yuan to 120 yuan (about $6 to $20).

 

View of Huainan from my hotel room on the 18th floor.

 

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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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