A few weeks ago my younger brother visited me in Hong Kong and given it was his first time to China I decided to take him into the mainland and visit somewhere a little off the usual tourist trail. Our destination was Chengdu (成都), the capital of Sichuan province in Southwest China, for no other reason than it was somewhere I hadn’t been before!
After visiting Taipei 101 on my second day in Taiwan we went to a restaurant with some friends overlooking the city on a rather precarious mountainside. We had planned to eat outside but as it was a windy evening and so we retreated inside to enjoy some Taiwanese hot-pot.
I’m a committed carnivore and very few days in my life have gone by without some sort of meat consumption taking place. I’m also someone who dabbles in the art of cooking (with mixed results). Yesterday evening I invited some friend over for dinner but there was a catch – one of them was a vegetarian. Meat and fish were out so it was time to learn something new…
Having spent Christmas 2008 in China it seemed a bit of a pity to miss out on the festivities for a second year running so I decided to make a last-minute surprise visit home without telling anyone I was coming. After nearly 20 hours of travelling I flew into Norwich via Amsterdam from Hong Kong on the morning of Christmas Eve and turned up on my parents doorstep shortly before midday. To say people were surprised would be an understatement (luckily none of my family have heart conditions!). It felt rather weird to be thrust directly into the Christmas spirit without the usual months of buildup which usually proceed it in the UK. It was however much nicer to experience it in person rather than through…
This post is part of a series exploring Chinese culture. See the links at the bottom of this page for more. Much of Chinese culture revolves around dining and culinary experiences where both business and pleasure are combined with an astonishingly wide array of tastes and smells. Being such a large and ethnically diverse country with different climates and natural resources each region has its own local specialities which the Chinese are often keen to try and introduce to others. Generally you will find hot and spicy food in the north with mild and cooler food in the south (more about regional cuisines here). Photo by KellyB A Chinese dining table is usually round allowing everyone to engage equally in conversation and will be…
If you’ve never tried Vietnamese food go now and try. Your stomach can thank me later. If you need a little more convincing here’s a few action shots from my visit to “Spring” last weekend, a new restaurant which has popped up in my locality: Chicken Salad (Goi Ga) – onion, peppers, basil, mint, chicken, peanut, cilantro, sweet & sour dressing Prawn Spring Rolls (Gỏi cuốn) – little parcels of fresh goodness with Nước chấm dipping sauce Baguette (Bánh Mi Thit) – French bread containing paté, ham, various vegetables garnished with coriander This was my third experience of Vietnamese food (the other times being in Guangzhou and Seoul) and although it was just a light lunch everything was delicious and healthy with so many fresh…
One of the great things about China is the staggering variety of snack food available on most street corners for a couple of yuan and differing from region to region. Whilst hygiene standards may be questionable (most of them are illegal) I’ve never had any problems and quite often enjoy getting some spicy dry noodles or a meat stuffed pancake on the way to work. Wangfujing night market (王府井小吃街 in Beijing) has an exotic selection of insects, sea creatures and even scorpions which can be deep fried to order. I have a feeling that most of this is just for the sake of tourists who screech when they see the scorpions twitching on the sticks they have been harpooned on. I didn’t take my parents (who…
I just got back from spending a couple of days in Hong Kong where I went to take a breather from the mainland. While I was there I spotted this rather large ad for my new camera (Lumix LX3) which I thought was cool. In the picture it’s shown with a number of accessories available (lenses, viewfinder, filters…). I don’t have any yet but I like the fact that it’s been given this sort of flexibility to be expanded and customised unlike most on the market. It’s a great camera as I think the photo proves. Having Chinese food day in, day out gets a bit much sometimes so as well as the usual cornucopia of delights on offer food-wise in Hong Kong I…
One of the great things about living in China is the variety and quality of food on offer. Being such a large and ethnically diverse country with different climates and natural resources each region has its own local specialities and tastes (some being more palatable than others). Real Chinese food is a million miles from the greasy junk you’ll find at your local takeaway and is usually high in nutrients, low in calories and well-balanced. As a general rule you’ll predominately find noodles in the north and rice in the south with five main regional divisions* – South-eastern – Canton (Guangdong) – Famous for roast meats and delicate sauces as well as stir fried dishes with vegetables and the delicious delights of dim sum.…
For lunch today I was guided to one of Shenzhen’s secret underground restaurants. “What is a secret restaurant?” you might ask. Basically it’s an unlicensed establishment inside someone’s “home” and is only underground in so much as there are no signs to point you there and only a few locals will know about it. More chillies than you could comfortably eat in one afternoon. After giving the secret code word and exchanging a secret handshake we were hustled into a dimly lit room with dark wooden furniture which the proprietor claimed was over 100 years old (OK, I made the first bit up). In these restaurants there is no menu and no advertised prices. You simply get what they decide to cook that day…