School is over. My bed is covered in graded papers. The students have stopped coming to class. My first long year in China is at an end.
Luckily for me, my mother is coming! In just a few days! Since mommy dearest roughed it last time she visited me in Cameroon, this time she is doing it up right. We’ll be in nice hotels- which will be a nice change from the $1.50 hostels I usually bum around. Honestly this will be the first trip I’ve ever done “on the beaten path.” But China’s beaten path looks pretty good. And I’ll have just about a full month to wander.
The schedule is a few days in Shanghai, where I will enjoy not being called “laowei” every five seconds and will gorge on Mexican food. Then we’ll head over to Beijing and meet an old family friend. I’m looking forward to some good Beijing duck. After that, we’ll spend the day in Pinyao and then head out to Xi’an.
After that, it’s back to my home turf in Chengdu. I’m sooooo looking forward to introducing my mom to some of my favorite foods. Sichuan food is out of this world. Then we’ll fly out to Sanya, where we’ve got room at a beautiful resort. I hope to come back nice and tan, to better horrify my students (who think my blinding white legs are the most beautiful thing in the world.)
Finally, it’s off to relax a few days in Yangshuo. Our hotel there looks awesome. Then finally my mom will head home and I will head to my summer project. Hopefully I can get together a trip to either Tibet or Xinjiang in late summer.
I’m sooooo excited. I’m excited to see so much of this huge country, and not have to break my back doing it. I’m excited to try new food. I’m excited to surprise people with my strong Sichuan accent. And of course, I’m excited to see my mother.
sounds great. I’m actually jealous. pray tell, where is this mexican food you speak of in shanghai? the one’s I know would taste great after a year in the wildernous but nothing to write home about. I hoppe you’re planning on the art museum, planning department and maybe a river town. I would even spring for lunch if it’s one of those rare days whe n I’m here and can take one.
read Amy Tan’s book that set near Yangshuo before you visit. I forget what it’s called off hand.
enjoy the beach at sanya but keep out of the mid-day sun, which is brutal even in December.
the vegetarian fish at wenshuyuan temple in chengdu is to die for. seriously. that is if it’s still on offer as it has been a while.
I can give some tibetan area advice on sichuan if you’re interested. Muli, rangtang and batang are the three places I always wanted to visit but haven’t…
Hmmm…I just assumed Mexican food would fall into my hands the moment that I walked into Shanghai. Really though, it’s been more than a year in the wilderness. I’ve only had access to western food for one month in the last three years. This is all going to be a real treat for me.
I’ll make sure to pick up the book.
Other than that, I just have to turn in my grades and pack. Soooooo excited!
I hope I can make it to Hong Kong one day. Mommy dearest has already been there, so it won’t make this trip. And it’s too expensive for me to do on my own. One day, maybe.
Food should be fun. My Chinese language level is not great, but I do a great job ordering food. However, food in China can be extremely regional, and I’m pretty sure my Sichuan-skills won’t work so well in other areas. I hope I can do well enough to give my mom the “mom and pop” restaurant experience I live every day. If not, I guess we’ll have to save that for Chengdu.
I’m also worried that I no longer know what a reasonable amount of spiciness is, and I hope mom can enjoy the foods I adore so much. I had a goodbye hot pot dinner with my friends last night- we spent the whole time numb and crying from the sichuan peppercorn and hot peppers. Yum!
Basically, I feel like a Chinese small town girl about to go to the big city for the first time.
I’ve never been to Dave’s Oasis. I’m in Chengdu a lot, and we tend to congregate at Pete’s Tex-Mex, which serves a reasonable approximation of Mexican food.
Well, bags are packed. I’ve finally managed to track down someone in my small town who has been to the airport and can tell me how to get there. I just need to turn in my grades, clean out the fridge, and go! I can’t believe I’ll be in one of the most fabled cities in the world tonight.
Also, I hope my mom’s plane isn’t quarantined. That’d be a disaster!
HK is certainly easier to find English language menus, English speaking wait staff, and most people probably are in the affluent main areas. So, it’s pretty easy to find good food in HK. the challenge is that I don’t think HK does non-Cantonese food all that well. It’s really tough to find non Cantonese Chinese food that is great. And even tougher to find non Canto Chinese food that is great and not horribly expensive
For example, the Shanghaiese restaurants in HK can’t match the Shanghaiese in Shanghai. And in Shanghai, you can find good Shanghaiese food for every price point, which you can’t in Hong Kong.
All the big cities in China now tend to have pretty good cuisines from around China. This wasn’t the case 2 decades ago when basically you could only get the local cuisine wherever you were. And 20 years ago the food was pretty crappy across China. So back then, HK or Taipei had the best range of Chinese cuisine from around China.
Today, if you speak Chinese, I think that what your friend says is absolutely not true.
I was in Guilin and Yangshuo last year and I loved it but, make no mistake, it is as touristy as you can get. I recommend taking the raft trip down the river in Yangshuo and also the river trip from Guilin to Yangshuo.
