China and Beyond

Salmon on the grill, fresh salad with oil and vinegar, French bread and a glass of red wine - all possible in a few hours. I am somewhere over the Pacific approaching the coast of Alaska and this last off-shore travel entry is the bookend to my first one.

I consider myself to be a relatively adventurous eater and the food in China was indeed a happy adventure - for the first four or five days. But it is amazing how much food can spell home and comfort. I think about this especially as I consider ways to make sure our new teacher is made to feel "at home" so far away from hers.

Our lunches and dinners were routinely something of a celebration with our various hosts outdoing themselves to put on a good spread. The standard is a large round table with a massive lazy susan in the middle. Different dishes are presented fast and furiously as the susan spins arond, giving everyone a chance at everything.

Mei Yehong of HANBAN hosts our first meal together.

Often the dish was unidentifiable in composition, and translations were not always easy (or accurate) for our hosts. The flavors were unique and the quality generally quite high. The Peking Duck at a 150-year-old family owned restaurant in Beijing was fabulous. Individual slices of the roast meat are served in a kind of small white crepe with a garnish of something like fresh spring onions and a rich dark sauce.

The specialty in Xi'an is dumplings and our hosts there were quick to point out that the best dumplings in China are from their region. Round after round of steamed, boiled and fried variations on the theme were delivered and immediately speared from the bamboo containers. Our chopstick technique was improving. Duck soup with small dumplings boiled in a large cauldron over a live fire in the center of our table. It was fabulous.

Duck soup boils over a live fire in Xi'an.

But we hit the wall in Shanghai. Perhaps it was the killer schedule that had us going all day then flying to Shanghai with a hotel arrival at 1:00 a.m. Perhaps it was the slightly lower quality of the restaurant that first evening. But the Susan was spinning very slowly and many of the dishes remained untouched.

"I just want steak and a baked potato," sighed one of our group. Two days later, he caved and bought a Big Mac and fries at 10:00 in the morning in downtown Shanghai.

Around a lazy susan in Shanghai.

So we've all gone our separate ways, headed back to home and familiar foods. The experience made me aware again of the importance of creating a welcoming environment for our new teacher. And it can start with the food.

Interested readers can return to this blog site over the coming days to find additional entries as I add various trip-related items, including wonderful emails from some of those featured in these stories and some additional images.