15.01.09
We left Dunhuang the morning the 13th by train, for the city of Jiayuguan. We were here until the evening the 15th when we jumped on the train to Lanzhou in the South of Gansu province. In Jiayuguan there are only 130000 people. But that doesn't mean the city cannot offer a lot.
An ancient fort, restored by the government, now serves as a museum and cultural park for tourists. Jiayuguan Fort is also the Westernmost part of The Great Wall. There were some great photos to be taken there, even though camel owners and shop keepers can be quite pushy at times. In addition we met a delightful young guy, at the age of seven, who had the best English we've heard so far in China. And yes, he was Chinese. He really astonished us and we had some fun, except from the fact that his mom continuosly asked about whether they could guide us somewhere in the district.
We also tried some exciting food here. Jiayuguan Bazaar really showed us that the point-and-taste tactic actually works. At least for most dishes, while others were a little bit too spicy for delicate Norwegian tummies.
That being said, the city also had some unpleasant experiences in store for us. The hotel room we stayed in, no name of hotel mentioned, was not cleaned and rather dirty. And that comes from Norwegians who like youth hostels and are used to sleeping in nature. But the fact that the floor had several used cigarettes and a lot of ashes. We also stayed next door to the common toilet, with screaming pipes and people coughing and spitting day and night. Last drop was spilled when we got a mysterious phonecall when we were going to sleep, someone asking if we wanted something that sounded suspiciously like massage. And with brothels just next door, we could only imagine what else is included in a massage.
But the room was only one part of it. Taxi drivers in the city gave us another surprise. Not only were they more noisy and persistent than in any other Chinese city (so far), but they also refused to use the meter even though we insisted several times. But it's not often as bad as it seems, and that goes for this trip as well. Because hard feelings towards the taxi drivers made us take more buses, and that gave us amazing experiences when it came to meeting people and discovering a cheaper way of sightseeing a city.
Even though we might be a little bit harsh here, we have no hard feelings at all. You have to experience both good and bad to really get a feel of an area, and we are still smiling when travelling through China.
Showing posts with label food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label food. Show all posts
Wednesday, 14 January 2009
Friday, 9 January 2009
Urumqi - The city that is furthest away from any ocean in the world
10.01.09
We are in Urumqi, Xinjiang. Trying to get a drift of the Uighur way of life. Went to Turpan yesterday. Nice little town with a great mosque and bazaar. Stayed in Silver Birches Youth Hostel, cozy and cheap. Leaving for Dunhuang tonight.
Urumqi is the capital city of Xinjiang province, and is situated in the North Western corner of China. The city has a population of approximately 1,5 million inhabitants (The whole region has approximately 20 mill. inhabitants). Urumqi is about 100 meters under sea level and is 2250km away from the nearest ocean.
Of things to see in Urumqi is the Xinjiang Autonomous Region Museum and the Erdaoqiao market.
The city of Turpan that we visited had an old beautiful mosque and minaret. Visiting the bazaar in Turpan was also a cool experience. The bread in this region is very tasty. We have tried out some of the different types of food like samsas (baked mutton dumplings), girde nan (nan tasting bagel), polo (a rice dish with fried meat rice and pumpkin) to mention some. Travelling here offers great views (mountains, plains, desert).
As long as one brings enough clothes, travelling here in January is no problem weatherwise.
We are in Urumqi, Xinjiang. Trying to get a drift of the Uighur way of life. Went to Turpan yesterday. Nice little town with a great mosque and bazaar. Stayed in Silver Birches Youth Hostel, cozy and cheap. Leaving for Dunhuang tonight.
Urumqi is the capital city of Xinjiang province, and is situated in the North Western corner of China. The city has a population of approximately 1,5 million inhabitants (The whole region has approximately 20 mill. inhabitants). Urumqi is about 100 meters under sea level and is 2250km away from the nearest ocean.
Of things to see in Urumqi is the Xinjiang Autonomous Region Museum and the Erdaoqiao market.
The city of Turpan that we visited had an old beautiful mosque and minaret. Visiting the bazaar in Turpan was also a cool experience. The bread in this region is very tasty. We have tried out some of the different types of food like samsas (baked mutton dumplings), girde nan (nan tasting bagel), polo (a rice dish with fried meat rice and pumpkin) to mention some. Travelling here offers great views (mountains, plains, desert).
As long as one brings enough clothes, travelling here in January is no problem weatherwise.
Friday, 19 December 2008
Banquets
This fall we have experienced many things. Both work related and related to our spare time. Earlier we wrote about concerts we were invited to. One of the things related to work we have not told you about so far is the many banquet we are and have been attending. Since we came we have probably attended between 20-30 such events. The latest two was on Thursday 18th and Friday 19th of December. On Thursday we were invited to Ningxia University's and the School of International Education's Christmas Banquet/Party for their Foreign Students.
On Friday we were invited to a banquet sponsored by the Ningxia People's Government,and arranged by organizations that deals with foreigners here in Ningxia, like the Ningxia Personnel Department, The Ningxia Foreign Affaris Office and The Ningxia Foreign Expert Bureau. This was a banquet for the Foreign Experts in Ningxia, and held as a thanks to all of them, for their contributions to the developement of Ningxia.
Thanks alot for inviting us to all these occations. We meet people on these dinners, get to learn more about Chinese culture, and we get to try many interesting and delicious types of Chinese food. Sometimes at these dinners there are also different kinds of performances, from singing and dancing to acrobatics. We think it is interesting to see and hear, and feel priviledged to be invited and to take part in these events.
Thursday, 11 September 2008
Am I healthy?
Some days ago I was struck with a troubled stomach. If it was mild food poisoning or just Traveller's Diarrhoea, I don't know. But at least the Oriental bacterias did their job and made one day out of hell for me.
I've also been a bit harassed by mosquitos. For some reason they really like me, and on one arm only I had about 17(!) mosquito bites. While Christian (that lucky bastard), got none. The rest of my body also got their share of bites, but 17 on one arm is a record for me.
But I don't mean to share all my hypochondriac worries here with you. The real reason why I'm writing this is because of the Chinese and their ways of handling such happenings. In this country it is common to offer advice whenever you think you have something to contribute, and most Chinese can contribute in most cases. And when it comes to a common disease like with your stomach, advices, tips and tricks rain over you. People from the office, who normally shows us around, even came to our apartments and started preparing food for me. Now that's what I call a caring employer.
The focus on health in this country is rather amazing. And it has probably been like that for centuries. Everyone knows a lot about what's healthy and not, and it may be the biggest issue of their lives, from cradle to grave. When we were at the airport we found a hand-out called "The 3 Fives". "Five keys to safer food. Five keys to a healthy diet. Five keys to appropriate physical activity." And in this country it seems like everyone follows these keys, as they are of such importance.
For starters, we had to take a full health check when we were in Norway to get
a resident permit. The Doctor had to clarify whether we had Syphilis, STDs, back trouble or other scary illnesses. He even needed to give the form an official stamp. But when we came here, they weren't pleased with what the doctor had done in Norway. Because of other focuses, we had to take more blood tests and even an ultrasonic(!) test. This was a new experience for us two Norwegians, but we can assure everyone back home that none of us are pregnant.
In almost every block there are some red and yellow apparatus. These are for exercise, mostly used by elderly people. Just like an outdoors gym, where you can show off your muscles to anyone who's passing by. I think Christian and me will try them out soon, who knows, maybe we will fit in just perfectly.
But the old people also have other ways of staying fit. Every morning we can see people practicing their Tai Chi, which is a kind of Martial Arts dance performed slowly. It's graceful and impressive, at least when you see the synchronized movements between all the participants. Tai Chi is a dance/exercise which is a part of the legendary Martial Art of Kung Fu. Maybe I can write more about Kung Fu another time, but not in this article.
In his article about food, Christian mentioned something about healthy food. The Chinese think that everything they digest should be healthy. That's why even snacks are made out of dried fruits and vegetables, without adding sugar or anything artificial.
We have also noticed people with face masks, both here and in Beijing. Some of them say that they wear them to protect their skin, something which is quite understandable here in the dry and sandy desert landscape. But during football practice it started raining and everyone ran away to find shelter. We couldn't see why, because in Norway we are so used to the rain, but the reason was that they were afraid of the rain. It is actually dangerous to drink it. So another reason for the health focus and face masks might be the polluted air. Close to the University there is a big chimney that sends out tons of smog from a rubber factory. And it makes me think, maybe I should buy me one of those masks.
I've also been a bit harassed by mosquitos. For some reason they really like me, and on one arm only I had about 17(!) mosquito bites. While Christian (that lucky bastard), got none. The rest of my body also got their share of bites, but 17 on one arm is a record for me.
But I don't mean to share all my hypochondriac worries here with you. The real reason why I'm writing this is because of the Chinese and their ways of handling such happenings. In this country it is common to offer advice whenever you think you have something to contribute, and most Chinese can contribute in most cases. And when it comes to a common disease like with your stomach, advices, tips and tricks rain over you. People from the office, who normally shows us around, even came to our apartments and started preparing food for me. Now that's what I call a caring employer.
The focus on health in this country is rather amazing. And it has probably been like that for centuries. Everyone knows a lot about what's healthy and not, and it may be the biggest issue of their lives, from cradle to grave. When we were at the airport we found a hand-out called "The 3 Fives". "Five keys to safer food. Five keys to a healthy diet. Five keys to appropriate physical activity." And in this country it seems like everyone follows these keys, as they are of such importance.
For starters, we had to take a full health check when we were in Norway to get
a resident permit. The Doctor had to clarify whether we had Syphilis, STDs, back trouble or other scary illnesses. He even needed to give the form an official stamp. But when we came here, they weren't pleased with what the doctor had done in Norway. Because of other focuses, we had to take more blood tests and even an ultrasonic(!) test. This was a new experience for us two Norwegians, but we can assure everyone back home that none of us are pregnant.
In almost every block there are some red and yellow apparatus. These are for exercise, mostly used by elderly people. Just like an outdoors gym, where you can show off your muscles to anyone who's passing by. I think Christian and me will try them out soon, who knows, maybe we will fit in just perfectly.
But the old people also have other ways of staying fit. Every morning we can see people practicing their Tai Chi, which is a kind of Martial Arts dance performed slowly. It's graceful and impressive, at least when you see the synchronized movements between all the participants. Tai Chi is a dance/exercise which is a part of the legendary Martial Art of Kung Fu. Maybe I can write more about Kung Fu another time, but not in this article.
In his article about food, Christian mentioned something about healthy food. The Chinese think that everything they digest should be healthy. That's why even snacks are made out of dried fruits and vegetables, without adding sugar or anything artificial.
We have also noticed people with face masks, both here and in Beijing. Some of them say that they wear them to protect their skin, something which is quite understandable here in the dry and sandy desert landscape. But during football practice it started raining and everyone ran away to find shelter. We couldn't see why, because in Norway we are so used to the rain, but the reason was that they were afraid of the rain. It is actually dangerous to drink it. So another reason for the health focus and face masks might be the polluted air. Close to the University there is a big chimney that sends out tons of smog from a rubber factory. And it makes me think, maybe I should buy me one of those masks.
Sunday, 7 September 2008
A country of thousand tastes
One of the first things that impressed us when coming to China in general, and Yinchuan in special, is the enormous varieties of tastes and flavours. This goes for both food and drinks. It didn't take us many days to understand that China is paradise to food lovers.
Woman eating at a marketpalce, using chopsticks (kuaizi).
When we eat here, we use the same cutlery as the local inhabitants. For those who don't know they use chopsticks, made of wood. We must admit that this is the first challenge we meet. The first times we ate with these, our fingers hurt, and we lost alot of food on the table and in our lap. The good thing though is that since we are foreigners it's not considered such a big of a deal. The way we use our chopsticks so far seems quite amusing to the locals. They look, laugh and smile, which we think is fun. They are very helpful when it comes to giving advice about how to use them. Luckily for us the Chinese people are very friendly and polite.
Unlike in the country we come from it is accepted to eat loudly and noisy in China. It seems that people enjoy the food alot and they can eat it the way they want to. To understand how important food and the meal is to the chinese we can just look at a common way of greeting: ni chi le ma (have you eaten)...
All the meals that are served are hot, even breakfast. It is considered to be better for the digestion than eating cold food. This does not mean that it is not possible to get cold dishes as well, like vegetables. But warm food is common to every meal.
When we are served soup in China, we are given a small porcelain spoon to use. Soup is also a very important dish, and very often served with all of the daily meal.
Rice is an essential part of a meal, as long as you don't eat dumplings. Those two dishes rarely come together in the same meal. Cooked is the most common way to both prepare and eat rice in China.
Dumpling come both cooked, steamed and fried. The number of fillings they have witness how much effort, pride and creativity they put into making food. Amazing mixtures between vegetables and meat and vegetarian dumplings. To mention a few, dumplings with lamb and carrot, beef and onion, mixed vegetables, seafood and vegetables.......(i'll stop there, because it makes my mouth drool)
Dumplin
gs are rarely eaten alone, usually they are eaten together with fried, raw or cooked vegetables, and different spices and sauces. Usually people dip the dumplings in a spice mixture and add soy oil and vinegar to the spice. Really tasty...
This man is making noodles
In the North of China noodles is also very common for people to eat. The North is famous for it's spicy food, noodles and mutton (lamb meat).
This man is making hotpot
Huo Guo (Hotpot) or directly translated Firepot is a spicy meal made of mutton in iron pans over open fire. This is a dish for those with strong stomachs....
Woman eating at a marketpalce, using chopsticks (kuaizi).
When we eat here, we use the same cutlery as the local inhabitants. For those who don't know they use chopsticks, made of wood. We must admit that this is the first challenge we meet. The first times we ate with these, our fingers hurt, and we lost alot of food on the table and in our lap. The good thing though is that since we are foreigners it's not considered such a big of a deal. The way we use our chopsticks so far seems quite amusing to the locals. They look, laugh and smile, which we think is fun. They are very helpful when it comes to giving advice about how to use them. Luckily for us the Chinese people are very friendly and polite.
Unlike in the country we come from it is accepted to eat loudly and noisy in China. It seems that people enjoy the food alot and they can eat it the way they want to. To understand how important food and the meal is to the chinese we can just look at a common way of greeting: ni chi le ma (have you eaten)...
All the meals that are served are hot, even breakfast. It is considered to be better for the digestion than eating cold food. This does not mean that it is not possible to get cold dishes as well, like vegetables. But warm food is common to every meal.
When we are served soup in China, we are given a small porcelain spoon to use. Soup is also a very important dish, and very often served with all of the daily meal.
Rice is an essential part of a meal, as long as you don't eat dumplings. Those two dishes rarely come together in the same meal. Cooked is the most common way to both prepare and eat rice in China.
Dumpling come both cooked, steamed and fried. The number of fillings they have witness how much effort, pride and creativity they put into making food. Amazing mixtures between vegetables and meat and vegetarian dumplings. To mention a few, dumplings with lamb and carrot, beef and onion, mixed vegetables, seafood and vegetables.......(i'll stop there, because it makes my mouth drool)
Dumplin
gs are rarely eaten alone, usually they are eaten together with fried, raw or cooked vegetables, and different spices and sauces. Usually people dip the dumplings in a spice mixture and add soy oil and vinegar to the spice. Really tasty...This man is making noodles
In the North of China noodles is also very common for people to eat. The North is famous for it's spicy food, noodles and mutton (lamb meat).
This man is making hotpot
Huo Guo (Hotpot) or directly translated Firepot is a spicy meal made of mutton in iron pans over open fire. This is a dish for those with strong stomachs....
China also has an amazing variety of tea. The tea is usually with water or milk. In the Ningxia region you can get tea of all kinds.
Ningxia is famous for their wolfberries, which is thought to be very healthy, among other things for it's high level of antioxidants.
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