“Stride with purpose” I chanted silently to myself, as I marched through the entrance of Sun Yat-sen University in downtown Guangzhou, China - mercifully hoping it would disguise my pre-conference jitters. I’d slid into China’s third largest city largely unscathed the night before, that is, all bar a 'war of words' with the taxi driver on the way from the airport! I’m unashamedly a little smug, because the 'feud' was in Mandarin. Er hello! Yes, that’s me, speaking in the native tongue about fares, meters and foreigners! (To be fair we were almost equal in the language stakes, given in Guangzhou they generally speak Cantonese, not Mandarin!) Naturally, he’d taken one look at me and put me in that foreign box of naivety about China and the scheming ways of some taxi drivers. With my heavy (for a weekend to be spent in lecture halls) suitcase lugged into the boot, he’d driven about twenty metres up the highway before slowing down and trying to frantically shove a scrap piece of paper through the metal caging at me. I could barely make out the numbers scribbled down in the dark, but could tell it was a high price to pay, in China at least. It was then I noticed the metre was off…not a light to be seen. A little panicked, I looked around in earnest …cars were tooting, weaving erratically around us. It was decidedly going to be all too hard to get out and heave that suitcase up the freeway, in darkness. Puffed out chest, I attempted to say it was too much and simply “not gonna happen mister!” (or words to that effect.) My outer bravado hopefully hiding my inner fear as I calculated the level of risk. Unfamiliar city, unfamiliar destination, random taxi driver! But, I reminded myself, this is China! He started driving, his sheepish laughter putting me at ease a little, all the while he was still trying to negotiate the price on that scrap piece of paper… Eventually he realised he was getting nowhere and this ‘Waiguoren’ wasn’t going to fall for that old chestnut, again! “Can I smoke,” he asked? “Definitely not,” I replied, indignantly! (As he offered me a cigarette, with a wink!) An hour and 20 minutes later (it wasn’t quite the ten minute drive to the university I had anticipated via Google Maps), we'd pretty much driven from one side of the city to the other! It’s suffice to say, we’d become firm friends. I learned he’d never been out of Guangzhou. “What’s Australia like he pressed? Is it like Hong Kong? What about Xi’an?” He’d taken to calling me “Ma fan” the equivalent of “trouble”….which I’ll take as a friendly gesture in this instance….considering we were utterly lost in China’s back streets and I was directing him in bungled Chinese via Google Maps. It was the start of a weekend that both surprised and amused me on many levels; my first and hopefully not my last writers' conference or “Con-Fest” as it’s been dubbed. A mix between a conference and a festival, it certainly was. As I entered the lecture hall - greeted with the universal fluorescent auditorium lighting, flooding rows of flimsy pull-down chairs and tabletops, sloping down to a giant projector screen - I was instantly taken back to the early nineties and those heady university days drifting in and out of intensive lectures (probably hungover to boot!). Surprisingly I was early (and not hungover), so I scanned the empty seats for a suitable place for a ‘newbie’ to park herself….. I watched as people jostled in to the room, many looking jovial and familiar with one another, others almost as wide eyed as me… That awkward reality of finding yourself in a room full of people, yet alone, is a confronting place to be. Thankfully, I was saved from floundering for too long in my own trepidation, when a lovely lady sat next to me and introduced herself. She was from Tasmania, ahh a good ol' Aussie lass. And then another from Indonesia. I immediately felt at ease, until my stomach started rumbling conspicuously (a result of having fled my hotel at the crack of dawn). As all good Aussie mums do, she immediately pulled out an emergency muesli bar from her back pack! A muesli bar, in China - I was chuffed. The conference theme was aptly named 'ideas and realities' and what followed over the next two days was a whirlwind of ideas that came in the shape of lectures, panels, books and mesmerising discussions against a backdrop of ‘made in China’ reality moments. A refreshing flurry of Aussie accents filled the air, along with those from India, Malaysia, Thailand, England and beyond. Seeing the above image flash up on the screen with two books I'm currently (attempting to) read had me feeling like less of an imposter. Immersing myself in all things writing, it felt like I'd been transported into my own version of being a ‘kid in a candy store’. Break time and navigating the squat toilets brought me back to my own reality with a thud. This is still China. Dinner in the university hotel restaurant with chopsticks, cheap red wine and chicken feet had me chuckling, as those not from this part of the world eyed up the goods with a mix of intrigue and apprehension. The atmosphere was buzzing and I had my first foray into the ‘spoken word’ in the literary world. Outside a television news report, I’d been unaware that writing involved so much air time! One by one, courageous writers stood up, microphone in hand, proudly reading excerpts from their novels, works of non-fiction and poems to the cheers of an enthusiastic crowd. Day Two and we each lost ourselves in discussions of publishers, agents, authors, editors, translations and the reality of being a writer in Asia Pacific today. Rain bucketing down, conference over -- to congratulate ourselves on a successful event, a few of us decided to brave the elements and head back to the hotel of one of my new-found friends before the closing dinner. The girls spied the ubiquitous ‘Chinese foot massage’ sign and it was on…although it was almost off, as my dear Aussie friend tried to pay, there was that undeniable raucous chatter in Chinese, when something is not quite right. I managed to work out that they thought her money was fake. A quick inspection of the notes and their plastic texture a surefire giveaway, the 900 RMB she had withdrawn from the ATM, to her dismay, was all bogus! It was my first encounter with counterfeit money in China but finally the notion of cashiers tediously checking every bill through a machine makes sense. Money problem solved, we found ourselves seated in plush massage chairs lined up in a row. Masseuses in teeny pink hot pants limbering up to tend to our tootsies. Hot tea all round and a rather ‘bloody’ Chinese movie on the tele…we were given a foot massage with the works…shoulders, legs, exfoliation you name it! It’s fair to say the “experience” accelerated the bonding process! Feet tended to, we headed out for the final hurrah…off the crowded Saturday night subway, we found ourselves trapped in a maze of glaringly gaudy Chinese shops, going around and around in circles, desperately searching for an exit that kept leading us straight back to Walmart! It was mildly funny, for awhile. Finally we came across fellow writers and made our escape to a local restaurant specialising in all things unique to Yunnan Province! Living in China, I’ve learned to expect the unexpected, so when the restaurant staff began making their way from table to table serenading every body with shots of liquor, it was only mildly absurd! Our bellies full of Chinese fare and a little bit of Dutch Courage, it was time for the ‘spoken word’ in a local Guangzhou watering hole. Hailing taxis is never an easy job for a foreigner in China at the best of times, let alone peak hour in the rain on a Saturday night but somehow we managed to pile into several taxis mid street and made our way to our destination - a dark car park. There we were led down a back alleyway flanked with graffiti stained walls. This was not the China I know. Climbing a dark, concrete stairwell, we found ourselves in a nondescript room, scattered with little other than a few chairs, a stage and a makeshift bar, featuring half a dozen bottles of spirits and a cocktail menu that reminded me of something from the seventies. Down the corridor a jazz bar and a marijuana room were in full swing! White Russian in hand, the spoken word began. I have always assumed writers are shy, retiring types… hiding behind their keyboards, but i’m clearly mistaken… With passion, intense emotions and quite a bit of humour, poems were performed on stage with surprising energy and gusto! Excerpts from clever, witty and daring authors were revealed under the spotlight. I found myself nodding, laughing and quietly stunned. To be honest, the idea of standing on stage reading my own words, scares the bejesus out of me. This was no high school talent show (although they didn’t exactly fill me with confidence either)! I’m not sure I’ve ever been in a room filled with a more diverse group of people, yet at the same time, so many obviously like-minded people. Thoroughly educated, entertained and exhilarated, I knew I’d entered a brave new world filled with ideas and realities…..and this time, it wasn’t China. … [Read more...]
The Ultimate Guide to Getting Hot & Steamy with China’s Favourite Food: Hot Pot
"All the girls love hot pot!" he said, grinning at me like a Cheshire cat! The girls around him nodded enthusiastically in agreement. I was a little surprised - at the time, still rather new to Xi'an - because we were talking about 'favourite' foods (as I've since discovered is often the prime topic of conversation amongst my Chinese friends). Instantly those western temptations like chocolate, cheese and pizza flashed across my mind in all their gooey, scrumptious glory. But this is China and in Xi'an, noodles reign supreme; hot on its heels is Huo Guo - known as Hot Pot to you and me! (Which just for the record, also incorporates those stringy, slippery suckers!) "What about you?" they pressed! "Do you love hot pot?" I had to think about it for a few seconds...not wanting them to lose 'face,' I knew I had to answer carefully. "Yeh!" I said (as convincingly as possible). "Aside from my all-time-favourite, Dim Sum, Hot Pot is probably up there as one of the more palatable Chinese dishes, I've tasted." (They all let out a relieved sigh!) But to be honest, for me, hot pot is more about the fun! Think bubbling pots of broth in the centre of your table where you choose your own ingredients to boil yourself! I've even had my own mini hot pot beside me at the table. (Just don't put your phone down on said hot plate, hiding under the tablecloth)! I've fished out my fair share of tasty (and often unrecognisable) morsels from these sizzling cauldrons, many so spicy they feel like they could actually blow your head off. (Or as you'll see below, clear those sinuses!) Thankfully many large hot pots can be split in two, so you can opt for a milder version on one side! (And of course the broth of choice changes from north to south, east to west!) But perhaps my most memorable occasions have been at the renowned HaiDiLao. Here, it's not just a journey for the taste buds, it's an experience you surely will not forget! HaiDiLao is famed for its service as well as it's food in China and in my neighbourhood the restaurant takes up around six floors. It's always busy! At the bottom near the entrance to the lift, (to my surprise) is a makeshift nail/massage salon! Yep, it's that popular, the queues are often lengthy, so why not have a manicure for free while you wait! There's also a kid's playroom... even better, the staff take it upon themselves to look after your little ones while you dine four floors up! They even give the little critters gifts! (See above - musical gifts swinging from necks!) Upstairs, prepare to get steamy. (Who needs a facial, no wonder the girls love it!) Wear your hair tied back ladies..and if you forget a hair tie, don't worry HaiDiLao has them on standby, not to mention aprons and phone covers!! For a foreigner like me, ordering is a little like "Eeny, meeny, miny moe"...but at least there are pictures. My local haunt uses iPads, so it's a case of choose and swipe! So, you might get Tofu instead of Potato, but it's all fun and games. The crucial thing is to choose the right flavour for your broth especially if you're up north where most are swirling with hot chilli! There's also some fantastic entertainment just in case you forget where you are! ;) Don't worry though, the guys over at Spoonhunt, who've launched an App that helps you find the best restaurants in China with English menus, have nailed it with this special guide for Mint Mocha Musings readers. Hot Pot eat your heart out! When things cool down, especially up north, where we've already had a good dolloping of snow, Hot pot starts to look like a great stomach warming option. Unless you’re an experienced hot pot connoisseur, you may be intimidated by the wide variety of broths, ingredients, styles, and shapes hot pot can come in. This guide will help you through the types and strategies to maximize your hot pot experience. Chongqing Spicy Hot Pot (重庆麻辣火锅) Specialty: Spiciness Broth: Sichuan peppers and Meat Stock Popular Ingredients: Beef, Lamb, Tofu, Green Vegetables, Sprouts, Noodles This is the most popular form of hot pot in China. The specialty comes from the Sichuan peppers in the broth that will completely numb your mouth. Chongqing hot pot comes in a few different forms, such as Yuanyang (鸳鸯) hot pot and Qiaotou (桥头) hot pot, where the spicy broth and the mild broth for cooking the food are separated. You can enjoy both spicy and plain broths which is perfect for a large group with different preferences. It’s a good way to clear the sinuses and make you sweat during the winter! One of the most popular Chinese chain restaurants that features the Chongqing hot pot is HaiDiLao 海底捞which you can find by searching for “HaiDiLao” on the Spoonhunt App. Beijing Style Lamb Hot Pot (北京羊肉涮锅) Specialty: Lamb Broth: Bone Stock Popular Ingredients: Lamb, Frozen Tofu, Chinese Cabbage, Mushrooms, Glass Noodles, Sesame Sauce Also known as Mongolian style, this hot pot originates from the Qing Dynasty, focusing mostly on eating lamb. The broth is not spicy, so it’s perfect for those who can’t handle the Sichuan peppers. The lamb is sliced so thin that when you take it out of the boiling broth, it just melts in your mouth. The lamb cooks really quickly and comes with some peanut or sesame dipping sauce for extra flavor. A popular Chinese chain restaurant Little Sheep Hot Pot 小肥羊 specializes in this style and can be found in virtually every city in China. You can search “Little Sheep” on the Spoonhunt App. Cantonese Congee Hot Pot (广东粥火锅) Specialty: Thick Soup and Seafood Broth: Congee (rice porridge) and Meat Stock Popular Ingredients: Fish, Prawn, Pork, Pan-fried Noodles, Tofu, Fried Dough Sticks (you tiao) Congee is rice porridge that Cantonese people love because of the believed health benefits it has on digestion, so they mixed it together with soup broth to get boiling congee hot pot. Typically, seafood is cooked in congee hot pot since Southern China has a long stretch of coast and fresh seafood, but like the other hot pots, you can eat meat and vegetables as well. The broth is thickened but not as thick as you might expect it to be given that Congee is a major ingredient. The rice is actually cooked until broken down so that it won’t stick to the bottom of the pot and burn. However, this special broth is used to bring out the freshness of its ingredients and is kept hot throughout the meal. Macau Bean Scoop Hot Pot (澳门豆捞) Specialty: Meatballs Broth: Chicken Stock Popular Ingredients: Beef, Pork and Fish Meatballs, Glass Noodles, Dumplings This hot pot actually comes from Hong Kong. The specialty of this hot pot comes from the quality of its ingredients and meatballs made out of beef, fish and shrimp that you can cook. The Chinese name sounds a lot like “everyone scoops,” implying that everyone eating this hot pot will scoop up luck and fortune. Plus, the meatballs are easier to scoop out of the pot then pick out with chopsticks. Hong Kong style hot pot comes with a variety of ingredients you can mix together to create your own dipping sauce for when the meatballs are ready to eat. You can search the Spoonhunt app for “Doulao” to find the nearest Macau Bean Scoop restaurant. Yunnan Flavor Hot Pot (云南滇味火锅) Specialty: Vegetarian (Mushrooms) Broth: Mushroom and vegetable stock Popular Ingredients: All kind of Mushrooms, Tofu, Sprouts, Rice Noodles, Chinese Cabbage Heads up vegetarians, this hot pot is for you! Yunnan flavor hot pot focuses on the use of fresh vegetables both as a base and dipping ingredients. It’s a very special and seasonal type of hot pot based on the freshness of the vegetables. In Kunming there is an entire street dedicated to serving this hot pot, and each place uses their own selection of exotic mushrooms. The broth is made from a variety of wild or planted mushrooms and utilizes a large number of mushrooms main ingredients to cook. When dealing with wild mushrooms, let your waiter/waitress take care of the cooking as they are experts in making they are thoroughly cooked and no longer toxic. You will never know how many different kinds of mushrooms there are until you try this hot pot. Spoonhunt's Top Tips for Eating Hot Pot Pre-meal If you drink a little bit of fruit juice or a yogurt drink before a spicy hot pot, your stomach will manage a little bit better. Remove any items of clothing that could get in the way, and if you have long hair make sure it won’t get into the pot by accident. Ensure that you have the proper utensils including clean chopsticks, ladles, napkins, plates, bowls and aprons if necessary. Make sure your phones aren’t on the table near the pot or your plates, as hot pot soup can easily splash onto it. During the Meal Make sure you have a steady boil before you put anything in the broth, otherwise you might undercook your meat. Meatballs will float when they’re done. While waiting for the broth to boil, make your dipping sauces. It takes a while to boil, so use that time to come up with a good dipping sauce. Make sure to mix it thoroughly. Be aware of what your chopsticks touch. If they just touched raw meat, dunk them in boiling broth. Don’t touch raw meat and then your cooked meat right after! Cook the seafood and meats first before the vegetables because leafy vegetables will soak up more of the great oils and broth flavor. The tofu will be molten hot when it first comes out, so don’t rush into eating it. Don’t splash. This isn’t the community pool; the boiling broth can easily burn you. Be careful. If you’re eating Chongqing Hot Pot, DON’T EAT THE PEPPERCORNS! They will instantly numb your mouth and you’ll have a bad time. Pretty good tips thanks to Spoonhunt! Yeh, especially about those peppercorns! So if you're travelling to China, you know you need to do yourself a favour and make sure you get hot and sweaty with the ultimate Chinese food experience! This is Hot Pot! This is China! **Oh and if you live in China (or even if you don't) and want to know the best ingredients to buy to cook up your own hot pot at home, look no further: Meats Sliced Beef, Lamb and Pork (肥牛／肥羊／五花肉) The most basic but still incredibly delicious meat you can order for any of the hot pots we've mentioned. You can order beef, chicken, pork or lamb, but beef and lamb are must tries. It’s typically sliced paper thin so that it will cook quicker while still having enough surface area to absorb the delicious oils in the broth. When the meat is ready to eat, it will literally melt in your mouth. Meatballs (肉丸) Meat for hot pot can also come in meatball form. They are quite easy to cook as they only take 4–5 minutes and will float back to the surface when they are ready to be eaten. Fried Pork (小酥肉) It may seem counterintuitive to put something already cooked, let alone fried, into the hot pot to cook, but you can put fried pork, called 小酥肉, into the hot pot to get a little bit more flavor from the broth, especially spicy broth. Since the meat is already cooked, you only need to stick it into the broth for a few seconds. Any longer and it will get soggy. Seafood Sliced Fish Fillet (鱼片) Whether it’s catfish (鲶鱼), mullet (鲻形目), snakehead fish (黑鱼), cod (鳕鱼) or any other type of fish that might be on the menu, sliced fish fillets are a classic seafood addition to any hot pot. The pieces of fish are sliced then to make cooking them in the boiling broth much easier. Fish tend to be featured more in the southern China-styled hot pots, like in Macau, Hong Kong and Guangdong, but can be ordered at any hot pot restaurant. Squid (鱿鱼) Squid for hot pot comes in two different forms: body and tentacle. Fresh squid has a spongey texture to it and is either left as the body or separated into tentacles. Squid is good at soaking up the delicious flavors of the hot pot broth, so it’s important to pick the right kind of broth to increase flavor. The body of the squid is usually the softer meat while the tentacles are chewy. Squid is naturally salty, and it’s important to find the right dipping sauce to complement the taste and texture. Minced Shrimp Slide (虾滑) Shrimp slide is a special kind of seafood ball you can put in hot pot. The shrimp is minced very fine and mixed with water and flour to get a thick gooey paste. It’s usually served in a scoop instrument with spoon to make your own fish balls from it. All you have to do is slide balls of the shrimp from the scoop into the hot pot using the tool, hence the name. Depending on the restaurant, they can also come premade or in a cake paste to make your own. When the balls are ready, they will float and be very soft. Vegetables Lotus Root (藕片) The first time I saw lotus root in China, I seriously thought it was pig snout. But it’s not. It’s a root vegetable, and quite delicious I might add. It’s a good substitute for potato. It’s very starchy and crisp when raw, but when cooked in the boiling hot pot, it becomes a little bit softer and flavorful. It absorbs the flavors from the hot pot very well but will sink to the bottom, so you’ll have to fish it out. Depending on how crispy or soft you want your lotus root, it can take longer to cook than most vegetables. Sprouts (豆芽) Sprouts are an easy, cheap and light vegetable addition to any hot pot. They usually come in large quantities (a pile) on a plate that might seem intimidating at first, until you remember how light they are. The arrive at your table cool and crisp, but when you shovel them into the boiling broth, they will go limp and be ready to eat fairly quickly. Baby Cabbage (娃娃菜) We all know the huge Chinese cabbages that are oddly worshipped. I’ve even seen the huge jade cabbage (art I guess). This is the smaller version of that. Baby cabbage is hearty leafy green vegetable that is worth giving a shot. Unlike spinach, baby cabbage has thicker stems, so it takes a few minutes longer to cook. But they still absorb lots of soup and spice from the broth with their large leaves, so they are best left for the end of the hot pot. When they are cooked, they come out a little bit sweet. Mushrooms Oyster (Ping Gu) Mushrooms (平菇) The Ping Gu mushroom is a very common mushroom found in a lot of Asian cuisines for soups and sauces. It is called the Oyster Mushroom because the cap fans out like the shellfish it’s named after. Chinese people love adding Ping Gu mushrooms to their hot pot because of its taste and health benefits. While the taste is mild, it’s fairly sweet and serves as a good replacement for meat. It is also linked to lowering cholesterol, blood sugar and blood pressure. Golden Needle Mushrooms (金针菇) Golden Needle Mushrooms, know as enoki in Japanese, are a must have in any hot pot. These long, thing white mushrooms are absolutely delicious, especially in the chili soup of Chongqing Spicy Hot Pot. They have a crisp texture, even when soaked. You know they are ready to eat when they have wilted from the soup, which usually only takes 30 seconds to a minute. They are high in antioxidants and are believed to be linked to lowering your risk of cancer. Black Wood Ear Mushroom (黑木耳) While not very popular in Western Cuisines, the Black Wood Ear Mushroom thrives in Chinese dishes due to it’s medicinal qualities. It’s use dates all the way back to the Tang Dynasty (618 to 907). This mushroom has more of a soft, jelly-like consistency and is thought to cure colds and fevers. While not edible raw, you can cook it in the soup for a just a few minutes. Black Wood Ear Mushrooms don’t have much taste themselves, but they soak in all the flavors of the soup, so it’s important to pick a flavoursome broth for hot pot. Tofu Soft Tofu (嫩豆腐) The most common type of tofu that everyone probably knows about is Soft Tofu. It is undrained and unpressed so it contains the highest mositure content, which is what makes it so soft. Even blunt chopsticks will slice right through it. The bland tofu absorbs some of flavor in hot pot, so the soup and sauces are extremely important. Since tofu is already cooked, you just warm it up in the hot pot, making it gooey and delicious. Be careful, it will be molten hot. Frozen Tofu (冻豆腐) When soft tofu gets frozen, the moisture crystalizes and the tofu turns yellow-ish. While it is just frozen soft tofu, it has a completely different taste and texture. Since the moisture is frozen out, it reabsorbs a lot of water from the hot pot broth. Unlike the soft and gooey fresh tofu, frozen tofu gets the hot pot flavors embedded within its spaces and has a much more bouncey feel to it. Fried Tofu Puffs (油豆腐) These deep fried tofu puffs are made by cutting tofu into squares and deep frying it. If the water gets squeezed out before getting fried, they will come out light and airy and float in hot pot. If the tofu is frozen before being deep fried, it will be heavier in the middle and sink in hot pot. Either way, they’re deliciously crispy on the outside and the broth will simply add flavor. Noodles Cellophane Noodles (粉丝) These see-thru noodles go by many names in English: glass noodles, crystal noodles, Chinese vermicelli, and bean thread noodles. Regardless the name, these clear noodles are a great add to any hot pot. They are typically quite thin, and when they are pulled out of the soup, they become slippery and spongey. When placed in clear soup, they look like they basically disappear. They are made with mungbeans and water, so they don’t have a lot of taste themselves, but they absorb a lot of flavors from the sauce and soup. Potato Noodles (土豆粉) Potato Noodles are used in a lot of different Chinese noodle dishes, so odds are you’ve had them before. But you’ve probably never seen them uncooked before. When they come to the table, they are brittle and stiff and get softened by the boiling soup. Fully cooked, they are very soft, chewy, whiter and thicker than the glass noodles. They are known for their savory natural taste and aren’t as greasy as other noodles. They’re a little bit heavier than some of the other noodles, but they are an old school classic (going back to the Ming Dynasty). Broad Noodles (宽粉) These wide noodles are actually made from sweet potato. Their width varies based on region and chef, but all of them get slippery and oily when cooked in hot pot broth (due to the special type of sweet potato flour used). They are naturally sweet but are great at retaining the flavor of the broth and sauce they are dipped in. Sesame, soy and peanut sauces are the best for this type of noodle, as they complement the natural sweet taste. Happy Hot Potting! … [Read more...]
When Two Worlds Collide — Your Perception is Your Reality!
At the start of my Chinese class each week, my tutor asks me if I have any questions. Usually I have a bunch of things I want to say and need to know the best way to go about it. This week at the top of my list was the word “disgusting.” I immediately feel bad when I ask her. My eyes dart sheepishly to the floor. “Of course I don’t want to use it, not really,” I say…back pedalling faster than a fox in a lion’s den. “I just want to know if there’s a word for it, you know, just in case," I stammer. I can almost feel her heavy sigh…reverberating through my own body. Living in China, I am forced to constantly remind myself that what often seems inappropriate in my culture is certainly not in others. Of course, on this particular occasion, I’m thinking about my recent flight south to Guangzhou, which is when I found myself mentally searching for the Chinese equivalent of “disgusting.” On the trip down, a lady next to me proceeded to spit at random intervals into a paper bag, pulled from the seat pocket. She made no moves to disguise what she was doing and I guess I should be thankful she used a bag! And of course, no one but me batted an eyelid. Why would they? Spitting has been a 'thing' the world over since the dark ages and in China today, a good hoick (that's Aussie slang for spit) is largely par for the course. On my flight home, to Xi’an, a man next to me continuously made that loud, (to my untrained ears) cringe-worthy, hacking sound with this throat, you know, that guttural sound that signifies the build up of bodily fluids. I was tempted to reach over and pull out his paper bag! I desperately wanted to tell him to stop, because, well… it sounded “disgusting.” I didn’t though, mainly because I didn’t know the words — but mostly because I know to him it’s nothing of the sorts….and I was pretty sure I was also completely outnumbered in my disgust, as the only westerner on the plane! It begs the question about whether the belief that “it’s better out than in” is warranted. Given the amount of polluted air I’ve no doubt inhaled in the last few weeks as winter descends rapidly upon us, while I can’t quite bring myself to ‘flob’ on the ground, in a paper bag (or the floating candles in the hotel lobby for that matter - yes that's happened!) I am inclined to agree somewhat with the theory. Unfortunately, while the jury is still out, most evidence points to the fact that spitting does spread airborne diseases like tuberculosis, pneumonia and bronchitis. My tutor does agree that spitting on the footpath is “not so nice” but says it’s hard to educate the older generations. In many ways, she's right. I used to frown and shake my head profusely when I would see an elderly person or just for the record, a middle aged and often young person, spit directly in my line of sight…. suddenly causing me to veer sharply off my path to avoid colliding with said spittle. Now I realise it’s probably futile…locals have no idea why the strange, white woman is screwing up her face like a donkey’s ass, gesturing madly. Is she having conniptions? Does she need the toilet herself? "Spitting, my friends, is a sign of healthy lungs!" They proudly say. For me, living in China, it's often a case of two worlds colliding -- sometimes the clashing of my moral high ground with reality rumbles a little louder. The glamorous lady teetering on high heels up the main drag, so busy staring at my small person and I - with a cigarette swinging frantically in her pursed lips, as she shouts “Piaoliang!” (Beautiful) through her clenched teeth at my little blondie — all the while seemingly oblivious to the fact her own child is up against a tree, relieving himself in full view of a swarm of motorists and passersby on a busy tourist stretch. Or the car stopped outside the hotel, doors flung open, traffic banking up behind, daddy holding little Daisy over the gutter. “When you’ve gotta go….” Or how about the motorbike that ‘had to be seen to be believed’ this morning, it’s baskets front and back, piled high with dead chooks, feathers floating into the air. Disgusting right? Only to me, the lone foreigner traversing the morning traffic. And the toilets and their often obscene state which had my conference colleagues recoiling in horror. To my tutor’s credit, she immediately turns the conversation onto us unyielding foreigners. Do we really blow our nose, loudly in public? She questions! I have to think about that. Yes, well….um — she cuts in, crinkles up her nose and tells me about a time at the dinner table in Australia, when a man took out a tissue and makes a jolly old show, raucously relieving the contents of his nose like a foghorn into a tissue! And then put it back into his pocket! Disgusting right? Errr well…. I suppose it is. I nod meekly. After all your perception is your reality. And every culture is different. This is China. … [Read more...]
The Wonder of Shopping on Taobao: China’s Secret Weapon.
It’s 7:30pm…. on Halloween night. A little three-wheeler Tuk Tuk, loaded up precariously with brown cardboard packages, of all shapes and sizes, darts up the alleyway, screeching to a halt, directly outside our friend’s house. As I wrestle to open the glass door, the driver practically throws the parcel at me! Considering I am dressed as Bat Girl, it’s clearly no object for me and my bat cape to grab that sucker. Laughter erupts in the house! My friend is averaging about a parcel a day at this point. Who knows what lurks beneath the plain brown wrapping, but it’s sure to be akin to a 'treasure' for an expat in this part of the world. Aptly so, given it’s from ‘Taobao’ - which translated means: “Searching for treasure.” Admittedly, it’s taken me awhile to cotton on to the beast that is Taobao. When I first arrived in China and we’d ask where we could get something from, the response was hardly ever, “Oh that little shop called xx just over the road will have it.” Nope, it was always, “Try Taobao!” Initially, I just assumed it was the lazy man’s way of accessing something, and mostly I just refused to believe you could get much on it other than Halloween costumes, silly props or secondhand stuff! More fool me. Having just signed up for an account, it seems I’m definitely ‘late’ to the Taobao party! My Chinese friends say it’s saved their lives and pretty much changed the face of the nation…. ahhh so that’s what all those Tuk Tuks I see racing around town, piled high with packages are up to! I wrote a post when we first arrived about the perils of everything being ‘made in China’ but not ‘found in China.’ While I was on the money — the shops here are devoid of many of the things we come to expect in the West, and/or cost a great deal more given the hefty import tax, I was wrong in saying you can’t get it in China. Turns out, Taobao’s where it’s at! Let me indulge you. Founded in 2003 by the Alibaba Group, headed by China’s richest man, Jack Ma — the idea behind it was to provide a platform for small businesses and individual entrepreneurs to open online stores. Cut to the chase, 13 years later, Taobao marketplace is one of the world’s top ten most visited websites with a combined market gross merchandise volume of 1-trillion yuan! Similar to eBay but seemingly better, in a bid to counter their initial expansion, Taobao offered free listings to sellers and introduced website features designed to act in the local consumer’s best interests. Things like: instant messaging for facilitating buyer-seller communication and escrow-based payment tool, Alipay - where payment is only released to the seller once the buyer has received his or her goods and deemed them in satisfactory condition. Prior to purchase, the buyer and seller can interact with an instant chat program. It's not unusual for Chinese online shoppers to inquire about products and bargain before purchasing them! Buyers can assess seller backgrounds by information available on the site that includes ratings, comments and complaints. The better the reviews, the higher the buyer's ranking is. Consequently, the market giant became mainland China's undisputed market leader within two years; eBay shut down its China site in 2006. There are now 500-million registered users. Today, Taobao has two major platforms - the TMall, where established brand owners sell directly to customers, and the Taobao Market place, where smaller companies and budding entrepreneurs set up shop. This year it will extend to Hong Kong and Taiwan, with the plan to eventually go global. Fittingly so, Taobao’s mascot is an ant, which represents their corporate culture. When Ma introduced Taobao to the outside world he said, "We are the ant army." There are even “Taobao Villages” popping up right across China. Currently over 1000, to be precise. In struggling rural areas, farmers have been encouraged to swap their tractors for a sewing machine. Former argricultural warehouses now house rows upon rows of sewing machines, humming to Alibaba’s beat! One rural backwater has emerged as a booming hub in making dress up costumes, with more than 90 per cent of the villagers taking up the role. Hundreds of busy shops are churning out princess dresses, and super hero outfits (so that’s where my batgirl costume came from). It’s given the once crumbling village a new lease on life - there’s even a Taobao business hotel and Taobao Town Kindergarten! Truth is, you can get virtually anything on Taobao! And you can get it quickly. Sure there are the clothes, cheap designer handbags, shoes and jewellery, toys, food, milk, baby nappies, cleaning products etc, but it goes so much further. A friend’s mum needed a blood pressure monitor - Voila! Look no further than Taobao! Need vacuum parts, car parts? Taobao’s your answer. Then there are the live scorpions, breastmilk soap, drones and boyfriends for hire, even a trip to space. (Yes! I really did just say all that.) The Westin Hotel even sells room nights on Taobao…and international brands are reaching China more than ever before. And did I mention the best part? For the most part, it's much, much cheaper! My American friend is a diehard “Cubs” fan and just ordered baseball jerseys - retailing at US$54.99, she got them delivered to her door a few days later at 88RMB each (that’s US$12.95)! November 11th is when the real party starts! 11/11 is officially Chinese Singles Day and that means the biggest sale of the year! Thousands of international and local brands offer big discounts on Taobao. Being single might be tough for some but apparently it can easily be fixed with some serious retail therapy! (Who am I to disagree!) Larger than Cyber Monday in America - in 2011, it took Taobao eight minutes to reach 100 million RMB (US$15million). This year it’s expected to break all records, cracking US$15-billion. Alibaba has been hyping consumers up with a pre-sale extravaganza, featuring celebrities like US Pop star Katy Perry and pop band One Direction! There’s even been a live-streamed fashion show in Shanghai allowing viewers to pre order items as they appear on the catwalk! Apple, Guerlain, Maserati and Target will be available for the first time, along with Costco, Macy’s, Starbucks and Zara. So, if you’re looking for me… I may be a little late to the party, but hey I made it!!! See you in cyberspace! This is China! … [Read more...]
Bridesmaids for Hire: This is China, Where it’s More Than Just Holding the Bouquet!
Chao's Column What's trending on Social Media When you get asked to be a bridesmaid in China you know you’re going to be under pressure! Sure, there are fun parts, mostly the door games - the bridesmaids play a fun game with the groom and groomsmen before he's allowed into the bride’s room. It's called called “Du Men” (door blocking) and originated in ancient China times when brides were sent away to live with the husband's family. The idea is, it demonstrates how lovely the bride is and that her family and friends don't want to marry her off! The groom is blocked at the bride's bedroom door and her friends try to stop him from entering by asking questions and playing games -- a way to test if he is determined to marry the woman he loves. This good-natured fun part is possibly the highlight of the day for the bridesmaid (and the most rewarding)! ;-) The groom normally tries to 'buy his way in' by giving “Hong Bao" (lucky red envelopes with money inside) to the bridesmaids. I've been a bridesmaid once and the bride banned any kind of ‘Naohun’ which literally means “disturbing a marriage”- a longstanding practice since the days of the Han Dynasty. My five year old brother, however was sent to roll around on the newlywed's bed! Young boys bring good luck! Of course being a bridesmaid isn't all doom and gloom. There’s witnessing a beautiful day and watching your best friend tie the knot with her loved one! But there's also a sinister side to playing the role of bridesmaid. It usually involves drinking and often, getting drunk on the bride’s behalf. To remain beautiful on her most special day, the bride isn’t supposed to drink much at her wedding, yet it’s customary for the newlyweds to toast every single table of guests, more often than not with shots of Baijiu (if you don’t know about the famous Chinese liquor, check out MMM’s post China's Genie in a Bottle). It's hardcore! Thus, the bridesmaid has the task of drinking the bride’s share, not to mention putting up with the pressure of the traditional flirting that goes with the job and sometimes inappropriate physical contact! Just last month, a 28-year-old bridesmaid died after she was pressured by men at her table to drink excessive amounts of Baijiu. Video emerged on the net of her in a black bridesmaid’s dress binge drinking the potent liquor during her friend’s wedding, while men’s teasing echoed in the background. It stirred up a frenzy of anger amongst Weibo users (China’s version of Twitter). Enraged netizens were up in arms, particularly at video circulating of the unconscious woman being pushed in a hotel trolley, who was confirmed dead soon after arriving at the hospital. Earlier this year, a Chinese TV host and actress was shown being harassed while she was a bridesmaid at her celeb friend’s wedding. A video showed her being grabbed by the arms and legs by celebrity groomsmen, trying to throw her into the pool, ignoring her desperate pleas for them to stop. Her fellow bridesmaids had to come to her rescue. The victim later posted a video on Weibo apologizing to the groom and his new wife (her good friends) for “creating confusion for him” which made internet users even more upset. There's no doubt millions of bridesmaids get tipsy at weddings the world over, but there's concern for China’s bridal party customs that still seem steeped in ancient tradition. For thousands of years society has deemed that rich families provide young, single maids as part of the bride’s dowry. If the wife was unable to conceive after the marriage, she could preserve her position in the family by getting her maid to bear children on her behalf. Known as a "Concubine" she was supposed to be loyal to the man’s wife and not compete with her for attention or threaten her position. During years of development and through absorbing western weddings, things have obviously changed. Different cities in china have different rituals surrounding the big day, but still, in general, part of the protective function that bridesmaids used to have, remains. Bridesmaids in China are not supposed to be married/divorced or pregnant, and ideally shouldn’t have served as a bridesmaid too many times (this can be a bad luck for her). So “27 Dresses” it won’t be! The physical beauty and number of bridesmaids in a wedding party are often seen as a sign of power and “face” for the families involved in the marriage. But now, the increasing number of scandals breaking on the net about the pressure bridesmaids face and its negative reputation have scared brides away from choosing close friends or relatives to stand by their side on the big day. As a result, business in China is booming for professional bridesmaids! Tough and experienced at handling unwanted embarrassments, and at an affordable price (around US$100) - as surreal as it sounds, it can solve many wedding day problems! Simply look online and hire your own flower-carrying, baijiu-swilling, beautiful bridesmaid! Who cares if on the biggest day of your life, your bridesmaids are ‘fake’ friends. After all, this is China. For more on Chinese weddings... check out these MMM posts: Grab Your Hong Bao: You're Invited to a Wedding in China Wedding Crashers in China … [Read more...]