Author: Eric

Pivot point for this idea

Raisins In The Sun, 1

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(Click here to see our Picasa album of this story.)

Dawn was late.

We woke at 7am in the Huozhou Turpan hotel (“four star!” according to our tour guide) and it was still dark out, barely a hint of light in the eastern sky, where the sun didn’t appear until 8am. Our room overlooked the only lake in the Turpan region, an artificial pond surrounded by cement in a park in the center of the city. Dominating the skyline across the pond was the Tuha Petroleum Hotel, the only “five star” hotel in Turpan, and also the offices of the region’s largest commercial employer Sinopec.

huozhou_hotel_roomOur room was pretty nice despite the rock hard beds (like barely padded plywood on top of some springs); it would compare well with any quality hotel room in the US, which thankfully meant a western pedestal toilet. (I think “four star” really means “private bathroom with shower and pedestal toilet.”) The buffet breakfast was Han Chinese — corn porridge (labeled “Gruel”), stir-fried vegetables and/or noodles, bao buns, and lots of sliced fruit — disappointing only because we had loved the Uygar dinner last night and looked forward to more of it. But that would come.
Continue reading “Raisins In The Sun, 1” →

Two Day Train

train_view2Long before we left for China we did a lot of reading about China, and it became clear to us that the country is enormous and varied and that if we stayed in Shanghai for our two week trip we would be seeing a tiny slice of what is called “China.” One of the books that piqued my interest in “the rest of China” was Beyond The Great Wall a cookbook-travelogue by the couple Naomi Duguid and Jeremy Alford who wrote the James Beard Award winning book Hot Sour Salty Sweet. Their point is that there are many culinary worlds within China, even without making distinctions between Hunanese, Cantonese, Sichuanese etc. They describe, in recipes, photos, and stories the world of food outside the Han culture that dominates so much of China.

As I read about these tantalizing destinations I began to think — how could we best experience the breadth of China despite having only a free week after our adventures in one of the world’s largest cities? I had heard that airplane flights are now numerous and cheap within China, but hop-scotching across vast amounts of land, even with a good window seat and good weather really can’t give you a sense of the land. Driving in a car was out of the question (all of the street signs in Shanghai are in English and Chinese, but no where else in the country (besides Beijing and Hong Kong) would this be the case, but what about the train?

[View the Picasa album here.]
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Everything Old Is New Again

Montana Territory 1879
Montana Territory 1879

We are headed to Xinjiang, which is kind of like traveling to Montana 130 years ago in almost every possible way. One of the similarities, we’ve been told by folks who’ve just arrived from out yonder, is that there is currently no digital communication available in the entire province. Therefore, in contrast to the constant blogging of our adventures in Shanghai where digital communication has been easy and plentiful, we do not expect to be able to update you’ns in these pages until we return to our home on the range in Maine.

Thanks for reading up to this point. We hope we remember enough to fill you in on the second week of our trip after we return.

A Meal To Remember

800px-RedCookedPorkBellyAt 99 Fuxing Lu (an older restored home in the French Concession now offering “true” Shanghai cuisine); following is the menu with some translation help from our friend Patrick who set it up:

  • River Eels with Asparagus
  • Drunken Chicken (Zuiji in Mandarin, stewed chicken over ice)
  • Kaofu in Sauce (Kaofu, braised wheat gluten with wood ear mushrooms and “golden needles”)
  • Fried Smoked Blue Fish (Xunyu, but not the blue fish we know in America, more like a firm white fish)
  • Braised River Shrimp (He Xia, braised in a very light sauce and served by themselves)
  • Stir-fried Greens (Mixian)
  • Red-cooked Pork (Hong Shao Rou, Braised Pork Belly or Pork Leg, ours was the belly)
  • Eels in Brown Sauce
  • Braised Shad (this could have been a true Shad, and the fish was cooked qing zhen, or steamed with ginger, scallion and a sauce of oil, soy, sugar and shaoxing wine)
  • Fish Stomach Soup (Lao Ji Tang, chicken soup with fish stomach and winter melon)
  • Lions Head (a light but large pork meatball, ours was served in a broth, but it’s never called soup because it can be served in a variety of context)
  • Noodles with Fried Chives and Dried Shrimp
  • Fermented Rice with Black Sesame Dumplings (Niang Mi Zhima Tang Yuan)
  • Fruit (Shuiguo, we had watermelon – Xigua)

Continue reading “A Meal To Remember” →

Travelin’ Kids

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In the same days that Eric and Alison are getting all the mention, traveling west by train across China, Brian and Sadie are driving west across another continent; North America.

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Brian’s Camry sat, virtually idle in Montpellier, France for six years, just waiting for this occasion. They set out from Belfast, Maine on Monday and spent the first night in Pennsylvania. Tuesday, they visited the Hale homestead in Lancaster, Ohio. Wednesday took them to Albia, Iowa, just south of Des Moines. Thursday, they crossed Nebraska and ventured into Wyoming, spending the night in Laramie,  a town well known from cowboy movies. Today, they’re on the homestretch to Reno.

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Who knew these guys, in a late September week of 2009 would be spanning two continents on opposite sides of the world?

Meanwhile, I have another three-part text message from China to share.

Fri Sep 25 8:02am
Almost 7am and still a ways 2 go in Gansu province (!) just past Jiayuguan. Due in Turpan around 2pm, but train was rnng an hour late ystdy so …
Al here. Train is fun. Scenery is spectacular. Sunrise in desert, now. Our roommate 56 yr o male teacher lives Shanghai, very nice. His colleagues uighur, like 2 sing.
Adventure!. Shaanxi gansu border amazingly beautiful, rivers – mts @ sunset.

Notes from the Train

Carol is there in her dreams...
Carol is there in her dreams...

email from Alison September 22, 2009 7:44:48 PM PDT:
Eric and I are packing for our 6 day train trip to northwestern China. We’ve heard from fellow travelers we’ve met (who have loved the trip) that internet connectivity does not exist where we are traveling, and even cell phone is iff-y. So we will not be sending or receiving email from today through Tues. Sept 29.

We fly home from Shanghai to Boston on Wed. Oct. 1. We’ll be back in touch then.
Just wanted to let you know, if you wondered why blog posts and e-communications have stopped.

Brian, we’re thinking of you as you make your way across one continent, and we cross another.

We’re really enjoying the trip. Eric Lee is just off to Beijing, so we parted ways and we subway to the train this afternoon. 2300 mile train journey west.

That’s it for now.

Text message from Eric Wed Sep 23 4:18pm:
Good morning. We just woke up somewhere in Henan province & I am about 2 eat a bowl of inst noodle soup. It is very cloudy. –er

Wed Sep 23 8:03pm
About 2 x into Shaanxi province. Beautiful hills. We’re supposed 2 b in Xi’an at 12:15pm.

Thu Sep 24 1:36am
Just entered Gansu province; the mountains and valleys are spectacular.

[Editors note: Gansu is a long California-sized province that separates Mongolia (on the east) from Xinjiang. We entered Gansu at the southern edge and traveled 3/4 of the way north which took us 18 hours of continuous train travel, mostly overnight. That is why our communication ends here — we didn’t try to TXT until the next morning, by which time we had entered the “communications bubble” of Xinjiang where mobile phones could only communicate with others inside the province, but not outside the bubble.]