Chongqing food

Chongqing fish soup

I cook with a wok, a small saucepan, and a rice cooker, that’s it.  Ovens are not part of the Chinese kitchen.  Some PCVs convince their schools to buy them a small toaster oven because they have a cooking club as a secondary project.  I occasionally have students or teachers over for dinner, but cooking has never been a priority for me and I’m actually a terrible cook.  

I am not even trying to learn how to cook the local Chongqing food because it’s ridiculously spicy hot and they use lots of oil, numbing pepper, and MSG.  Most people LOVE Sichuan or Chongqing food; it's nothing like the Chinese food we get in the US.  

Overall, the Chongqing diet has lots of wonderful fresh vegetables, which are varied, plentiful, and cheap.  I’ve never seen so many different types of mushrooms!  All parts of the plant are used: roots, stems, leaves, and flowers.  All that stuff we Americans trim off and throw away gets used.  I have a new appreciation about not being plant wasteful and I’m changing my ways.

meat-free beans and rice mixed with nuts and dates,
I buy this on campus

Meat is expensive, but it's in most dishes for flavoring at least.  It’s chopped up into very small pieces, usually with the bone still attached.  All parts of the animal are eaten, all parts, including the blood.  My American sensitivity finds this shocking and revolting.  The meat is very fatty and now people are worried about meat safety with the recent discovery of rat meat passed off as lamb.  I avoid meat.  I think I might have a vegan diet now.  

Food safety is always on my mind.  Everyone  in the US should be concerned too because last year the US imported 4.1 billion pounds of food from China.  Is the Agriculture Department confident this imported food is safe?  Will food from China be labeled and easily identifiable?  Are the American people even aware of the ubiquitous food safety problems in China?  

fried rice
does eating with chopsticks help us eat less, eat slower?

Even with food safety concerns, I still eat out several times a week, usually at one of the campus restaurants where I can get dishes to go.  The local Chongqing food has lots of fat and oil and rice is eaten at nearly every meal.  I wonder how the Chongqing people stay so thin; I rarely see someone overweight.  My students say it’s because Chongqing is the mountain city and everyone walks.  True. 

during a class activity

The girls are obsessed with being thin and it’s a frequent topic in formal speeches and daily conversations.  If their friend has gained weight, they say something about it; 
telling someone they’re fat or they’ve gained weight is socially acceptable.  
Several Chinese people have explained this to me, but I still don’t understand why it’s ok.  Being super skinny is considered beautiful.  I've heard about girls who do unhealthy things to be stick thin, but most of my students look very healthy.

Clothes shopping is a challenge for me because by Chinese standards, I'm a hard to find XXL!  I can find clothes that fit at some western stores, like H&M.

they are so cute

As much as possible, I cook for myself at home and I'm trying unfamiliar grains and vegetables.  It's been trial and error, and if I make something terrible, I try to eat it anyway.  I miss having an oven, but it's not so bad.

rice cooker failure: trying to make steamed buns,
...as bad as they look, uck!

success, sort of: corn tortilla 

Dafo, Leshan

What I admire most about PCV Stephanie is she’s so willing to attempt friendly conversations with people around us.  We usually understand what each other is saying even if no one else does, and we’ve had many laughs over this.  She makes a perfect travel companion: friendly, ok with silence, adventurous, open, flexible, happy, and relaxed.  But, a recent trip to the Big Buddha, Dafo, in Leshan tested Steph’s easy going nature and sent me into a crowd induced critical red zone.

The trip for me got off to a rough start on the subway.  A silent crush happens on Chongqing subways, especially at the interchange station Lianglukou.  People more or less line up waiting for the subway, and then when it arrives, everyone pushes on, a forceful silent push.  Everyone has full 360-degree body contact.  As an American, I like personal space, so this makes me very uncomfortable.  The Chinese don’t have the same concept of personal space, very, very close is ok.  Besides feeling crushed, I have the most trouble with the smell of humanity in all its stages of washed or unwashed bodies, clothes, teeth, and hair.  When someone’s hair is in your face it’s hard not to notice.  My coping strategy is to look up, close my eyes, and concentrate on breathing.

A guy pinned along my right side didn’t know this strategy and passed out.  The silent crush responded with impressive efficiency, getting him up and into a seat.  How, I have no idea because I couldn’t move with my backpack wedged between two other people behind me.  Then, someone attempted to revived him by dabbing on his face and neck some vile smelling green medicine used for insect bites.  He and his medicinal smell got off at the next station.

view of Leshan from Dafo, nothing to do or see there

We traveled from Chongqing to Chengdu by a very comfortable fast train, which takes 2 hours.  The town of Leshan is about 2 hours south of Chengdu and an easy day trip from there.  Dafo is a half hour city bus ride from the long distance bus station. The guidebook warns about crowds on weekends.  Why don’t I pay more attention to these warnings?  Is Dafo worth the trip and dealing with crowds?  Probably not.  It might be less crowded during the week, during bad weather, or during the winter.

civilized line for the stairs to see Dafo

waiting...time to admire fashion and habits,
guys carry purses for women

view from the stairs

crush on the stairs

typical Stephanie attitude

this large woman wedge herself between me and
the person in front of me, into about 12" of space 

look up and breathe

 stairs along Dafo

tour boats

view from the bottom

ok?

walk to Wuyou Temple goes through an
old fishing village with tourist junk
and restaurants 

view from the temple

Wuyou Temple, peace and quiet at last

lost voice

The excruciating news came a few weeks ago that yet another friend is facing down lymphoma.  Shock, fear, grief, and helplessness took over my state of mind, blocking my motivation to blog.  When someone is dealing with such physical and mental pain, everything else seems so small and irrelevant.  Faith put it perfectly, "This puts all things into perspective."  Totally.  What important or interesting things do I have to say?  Well, actually nothing. 

at a Buddhist temple, a calm and peaceful place

I know, we carry on with optimism and with as much normalcy as possible.  It's frustrating that I'm not there, lending my support along with her many dedicated and loving friends.  Happily, her treatment plan is straight forward, and I hope and pray for speedy success!  

My sister, Judy, was the caregiver for our younger sister, Denise, when she was critically ill with Hodgkin's lymphoma.  I asked her what was most helpful for Denise, or what should friends do when someone is going through cancer treatment?  She said it was best when friends would just be there, sit and talk or not talk, listening and paying attention to Denise.  Judy feels it's important to be as normal as possible.  She also said the worse thing was when friends would call or visit, needing help dealing with their own grief and emotions, and putting Denise in the position of comforting them.  It's hard to imagine anyone being that selfish. 

For now, I'm focusing on the end of the spring semester, writing final exams, meeting with students, and doing other outreach type activities.  Keeping busy.  More soon.  

Shapingba Park, Chongqing

About a 10 minute bus ride from the SISU campus is Shapingba Park, a tranquil oasis near a very busy shopping area of Chongqing called Three Gorges Square.

This nicely landscaped little park has paved walkways, flowers, sculptures, tea houses, Chinese exercise equipment, a small children's amusement park, a lake with boats, and some historical buildings.   I took some pictures there on a quiet day last fall and again today when I visited with a few friends from English corner on a perfect spring afternoon.  They tell me that Chongqing really only has 2 seasons, winter and summer, and it will soon be unbearably hot in here, so enjoy the weather now.

what's missing? a rare sight in China

what is this doing here?

sculptures of the Chinese zodiac,
I'm a rooster and I'm not sure how I feel about that

fountain area with exercise equipment 

Chinese exercise equipement

 torture device?

a little girl plays around the flowers

playing traditional Chinese instruments

English corner friends,
the guy on the left works for Foxconn
the guy on the right is a university student,
they both speak excellent English

everyday is a good day for pajamas

playing cards or mahjong

Three Gorges Square pedestrian shopping area,
I'm here several times a week