Day 11

August 31, 2010 - Xi'an, Shaanxi Provence, China

It's another beautiful day in Xi'an. Seriously, I think summer has seen its last day here already, not that I experience summer here. I think the high may have been near 80, but there is zero by way of humidity. It really is a nice change of pace.


A Beautiful Day in Xi'an. The weather here is lovely.

Unfortunately, this beautiful day didn't start off so well. I woke up around 6am, my arm hurting. I thought maybe I'd just fallen asleep on it, I was pretty tired last night. But, it just wouldn't stop. When I stood up, the pain moved from my arm to the middle of my shoulder blades and neck. I managed to get back to sleep for a little while before the pain woke me up again. I figured I pinched a nerve some time while I was sleeping, the feeling was somewhere between pain and numbness. I took a long, very hot shower to try to fix it, but it didn't. A hot compress didn't really work either: It was nice while the rag was hot, but useless when it reached room temperature after a minute. I talked to Ally and she said that ibuprofen should do the trick, it would help reduce the swelling. Now, if only I knew how to find ibuprofen.

The thing is, they don't just sell it in any old store here. I tried two of the small markets, then decided to have lunch. Lunch was unfortunate. I didn't take pictures of it, and if I describe its appearance as regurgitated chicken necks, I'm sure you'll thank me for excluding images. The dish came in a bowl and looked a bit like stuffing, but I knew it wouldn't be; C'mon, this is China. I think it probably was chicken neck as there were just a ton of small bones. Jordan said I was lucky: The Chinese believe you should eat the part of an animal that it causing you pain in order to relieve it. Also, I got the damn long bean sprouts again instead of my favorite rice noodles. They look IDENTICAL!

I walked to the big market on Chang An Nan Lu, but couldn't figure out where medicine might be kept. It wasn't with the beauty/bathroom supplies like in the US. As I was leaving, I noticed a separate shop inside the market: It was a medicine shop. I didn't know the Chinese word for "ibuprofen" and the woman at the counter didn't understand English. She had me write down the name, and then took a good long look at it to no avail. I finally mimed a headache and she knew what I meant. She took me over to find the headache medicines.


Medicine. All the pills here look like cartoon pills.


Ibuprofen. Yep, his story checks out.

Since lunch was a wash, I decided I could get a drink at that smoothie shop to make me feel better. I ordered one of the drinks that said "奶" knowing they would contain milk, and thinking (without bothering to read further) that they might be milkshake like. What I got was a milk tea (奶茶), instead, which would be fine. I was in for a surprise, however. Of course I was, it was that sort of day.


Milk Tea? Should be good...

The thing I failed to realize was that it wasn't just milk tea it was "布丁奶茶" (bùdīng nǎichá). 布丁 is the Chinese word for "pudding." Well, actually, its the Chinese word for gelatin. I took a sip of tea and sucked up something jiggly. Blah. The tea had jelly floating in it. Big pieces of flavorless jelly. Sigh.

I got back to the room and found Jordan's tea cup. It has a tea strainer attachment. I ran my theoretically delicious milk tea through the strainer to remove the demon jelly bits.


Jelly. The “布丁” in my “奶茶."

What's worse, is that out of the tea (but stained by it) the jelly bits look like raw chicken. Without the jelly, the tea was really good, however.

I played it safe for dinner: 1 chicken breast, some rice noodles (fer real this time), and two 牛肉包子 (beef steamed buns). I wasn't going to have a repeat of lunch...

Hayden

Day 10

August 30, 2010 - Xi'an, Shaanxi Provence, China

Tonight, when we entered the dining hall, I realized that I wanted to try one of the other options we have with our student cards. Across the plaza from the main entrance of the dining hall is the Muslim Canteen, the dining hall for Muslim students. Well, its not JUST for Muslim students, but the food is prepared in accordance with Muslim standards. That means no pork, or at least that's how it was explained to me. The Muslim Canteen is smaller than the main hall, and also much cleaner. Not that the regular dining hall is dirty, its just that things here are less...sterile than in America.



The Muslim Canteen. Across from the regular dining hall.

The food was similar to the food across the way, but there was the noticeable inclusion of beef. Also, while the main hall looks a bit like Grand Central Station at rush hour, the Muslim Canteen was virtually empty. Double win!

Afterward, we went exploring. There are several mysterious staircases around that needed investigating. They lead to: A restaurant, a small shop, and a pyramid, respectively.


The Pyramid. "Its like the Louvre!" - Jordan.

Also, in my quest for milk, I found this:


Walnut & Peanut Milk. Just what it says on the label.

Verdict? It tastes like a melted peanut butter milkshake. Fail. Also, bleck. Also, I've been burping up peanut butter all night.

And, just for everyone back at home, this is what a Chinese toilet looks like:


Chinese Toilet. That's what they look like, alright.

Just be glad I can't show you what they SMELL like.

Hayden

Day 9

August 29, 2010 - Xi'an, Shaanxi Provence, China

A low key day 'round these parts. The bulk of the day was taken up by studying. We have a placement test on Wednesday, and we thought it wise to refresh our memory on some of our vocabulary and grammar.

Apart from that, Jordan wanted to try the western restaurant. I had a club sandwich:


Club Sandwich (总汇三明治 lit "Chief Class Sandwich"). From the western restaurant next door.

It was pretty good. I don't think they have lunch meat here, however, as the meat was some sort of carved ham and turkey/chicken. Also, it had egg on it, which may or may not be a variation I'm not familiar with. Also, it came with a glass of...


Ice Water. That's right!

...ICE WATER. With ICE! Also, I learned to ask for things with ice: 加冰. I may make it yet.

On other things I want to eat/drink news, I haven't been able to find milk. Not really, anyway. They must not drink it in the manner we do. Also, I don't have a fridge, which is kind of a problem. There are small cartons available at the markets that are labeled "Walnut Milk" or Jujube Milk," but none that just say "Milk." One of the cartons contains "Black Milk," which Jordan and I both assumed meant chocolate milk. Xiao Liu corrected us; apparently it's milk with a hint of coffee. So, you know, that's pretty OK. UPDATE: I translated the ingredient list: Fresh Cow's Milk, White Cane Sugar, Black Rice, Black Beans, Black Sesame, and Soy Protein.


Black Milk (黑牛奶) . It's milk with other ingredients as well. Pretty good.

Hayden

Day 8

August 28, 2010 - Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, China

The morning started with laundry. Jordan went out and discovered the laundry room last night, and had begun to wash his week's worth of dirty clothes, only to discover that Chinese washers are MUCH smaller. He got about half an American load done. So, today, we both finished up our clothes. Unfortunately, there isn't a dryer. There is, however, a bar to hang wet clothes on over the back stairwell.



Drying Clothes. There's a (small) washer, but no dryer.

After laundry, we met Xiao Liu to walk to the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda. The national landmark is only about two kilometers from our campus. The Pagoda was originally build in 652 during the Tang Dynasty and was later used to house Buddhist holy books brought from India.






The Giant Wild Goose Pagoda. A landmark here in Xi'an.

Today, the Pagoda is a tourist attraction known for its dancing fountains. About three times a day, they play classical music and the fountains, which are maybe two or three football fields long, spray water in concert with the music. It's really quite a sight.


Children Play in the Fountain. Before the performance, children play (naked!) in the fountain.


Waterfall. The fountains at the Pagoda are capped by a beautiful waterfall, that cascades over a stone mural depicting Chinese history.

After the Pagoda, we took a circuit up a street we'd not been on, and then back to Chang An Nan Lu.


Alleyway Market. A food market in between two other buildings.

A quick stop at the store to buy some hangers (laundry, remember?) and we were headed home. Well, not before I bought a drink...at a smoothie shop.


Mango Smoothie. You can't tell, but that's ICE people!

Yep, ice! Almost made up for the 6 hours of walking I did today.

Hayden

PS Here are a few helpful signs I saw today:


Park Sign. I agree 100%.


Store Sign. ALWAYS good advice.

Day 7

August 27, 2010 - Xi'an, Shaanxi Provence, China

Today, in a number of ways, was a repeat of the rest of my week, only sped up. I went to the airport with Xiao Liu to pick up Jordan. Then, I helped Jordan check in and get registered. The day was concluded with a trip to the market on Chang An Nan.

On the ride to the airport, we passed a few cars that Xiao Liu indicated were bound for a wedding. The first...


The Flower Car. The car had flowers taped to it.

...was covered in flowers. Well, not covered, which is maybe weirder. But, it had some flowers taped right to it. ((shrugs)) The second was maybe stranger:


The Rocket Car. Hmm...I have no idea.

I guess a car equipped with rocket launchers is a standard wedding item, but I'll have to defer to my married friends just to be sure.

After we arrived back at the hotel, Jordan and I decided that lunch was necessary. "我想吃饺子！"("I want to eat dumplings!"), I said, and Jordan agreed. We walked down Shi Da and looked in the various restaurants. I tried to read the signs, not always succeeding, but I recognized the word for dumpling and knew we'd found what we were looking for.


Dumplings (饺子). Mmm...dumplings.

We place our order: I ordered one that said it contained meat, but neither of us were sure what kind of meat it meant; it said "大肉" ("Big Meat"), whatever that means. Jordan's order was for chicken, we thought. Maybe. They brought us both a plate. The dumplings looked delicious and we started to eat. Then, they brought us both ANOTHER plate.


More dumplings. More mmmm?

Somewhere along the line, there was confusion in our ordering process. Oh, well. More dumplings it is! They were quite good, but we ended up taking most of them back to the hotel. Later, Jordan and I would both discover that our stomachs didn't like the dumplings much, and we had to throw the rest of them away. It was the first time I'd gotten sick since I arrived last week.

After I helped him register, we took a walk around our neighborhood.



Our Neighborhood. Some of the apartments near our hotel.

There was also a wall around a kindergarten that featured a lot of fun, weird painted characters:






Fun Characters. Hey! Cookie Monster!

This reminded me of some other fun pictures I took this week. Which brings me to my first Friday Favorite. Every Friday, I plan to talk about one thing that was my favorite thing in China that week. This week, its cute characters. Practically everything here has an adorable little mascot on it, and I just love them. So, here are some of the pictures I took of them this week:






More Fun Characters. Haibao, the Shanghai Expo Mascot; the couple that are the mascots for Haier Air Conditioners; Lemonhead; the things from the Dico's box; and, well, the Jissbon Condom Man. lol.

Friday Favorite Bonus: And just for fun, some more Chinglish!


Huh? It's for soy milk, of course.

Hayden

Day 6

August 26, 2010 - Xi'an, Shaanxi Provence, China

Sooooooo...I found a cheeseburger! And the funny thing is, the restaurant is, literally, right next door. Well, its actually kind of the same building. Xiao Liu mentioned that there was a McDonald's somewhere near my bank on Chang An Nan, and that I could try there but she doubted they had burgers at all. She said they served chicken and chips (which I think are french fries) and cakes (which could be bread, she seems to mix all of those sort of things together). I checked Google to find the McDonald's, but the internet was positive that there were three McDonald's restaurants in Xi'an and they were all in the city center, many miles from where I am, accessible only by pack mule or packed bus. I decided to go out and have a look for myself to be sure.

I stepped outside and had a look around. I was aware that there were a number of restaurants near my hotel. The restaurant to the left in the hotel adjacent to mine has a decal of a hamburger in the window, but these things are never really indicators. I mean that lava-shop Xiao Liu took me to had pictures of pizza and coffee on their sign. I looked to the right and noticed a sign with pictures of food on it. I decided to investigate. Lo and behold! Qi Xia Yuan Hotel Western Restaurant!


Qi Xia Yuan Hotel Western Restaurant. The sign!

The sign informed me that yes, in fact, they did serve hamburgers! A quick trip up five floors by glass elevator (everyone knows how much I love to see how far from the ground I am, right?), and I stepped out into the restaurant. The decor was subdued and "western" hued, insomuch as they had forks and this:


Eagle Sculpture. Cause it's a "western" restaurant.

You know, cause the food is American. The waitress seated me and I asked "你会说英文吗？" ("Do you speak English?"). She shook her head. Oh well, can't all be winners. I ordered a burger and there was some confusion. The menu didn't say if it came with cheese, so I said "干酪" ("cheese"). She said "Cheese only?" and I said "no, 和干酪" ("and/with cheese"). We worked it out, she put in my order and brought me a Coke (可乐). From a cold fridge! Still no ice, though.


Western Restaurant. The interior of the restaurant.

The couple next to me, the only other people in the place, were Chinese. The husband had ordered spaghetti (!) and was having some difficulty with it, even though they eat all sorts of noodles in China. I picked up my fork and spoon and mimed twirling spaghetti for him. He smiled, grabbed his spoon, and used the spoon to shovel the pasta onto his fork. Oh, well.

Then, it happened: My burger came out from the kitchen. I was immediately struck by one odd fact...


My Burger. My first burger in China.

...there was a fried egg on it. Hmm. It's not the first time I'd had a fried egg on a burger, and, in fact, I like a fried egg on a burger. But, it wasn't listed that way on the menu. I thought for a second that perhaps the egg had taken the place of cheese, because of the confusion, but, nope, there was SOME kind of cheese on it. I'm not sure what kind exactly, it was white and melted and looked like cheese. There was also bacon on it, but not crisp bacon more like blanched bacon. And the thinnest slices of tomato and pickle you've ever seen. They didn't skimp on the vegetables, don't get me wrong, there was a enough, they were just paper thin and stacked up.

There had been a discussion about temperature when I ordered the burger. The waitress said "8 or 9 degrees?" I assumed this had something to do with how done the meat would be. I chose 9 degrees to be on the safe side, since I'm not familiar with Chinese beef. The beef was QUITE pink:


My Burger 2. After a few bites.

It wasn't raw, or bloody in any way. Just dark pink. It was the first straight-forward piece of meat I'd had here, and I have to say Chinese beef tastes different. Way more complicated, for one. A little bit wild, too. And less fatty. Also, the egg was farm fresh, it tasted like eggs tasted when I was a kid and my grandma harvested them from the chickens in her back yard. The fries were fries, but I guess just putting them out with salt would not be in the Chinese manner, so they were rolled in Asian spices. All-in-all, the meal was fantastic.

A few other items on the menu:


Club Sandwich. I LOVE club sandwiches! I hope this one is really good.


Spaghetti. Well, if this is good I won't be missing it much longer.


Shrimp Fried Rice. I love this. I love that Shrimp Fried Rice is an American food.

I was also quite amused by the sign. It featured this picture:


Westerners. Americans eat here!.

It's as if they were like "Look! Black people ate here once! American Food!" Sorry, I just found that funny. Also, next to them is a picture of "Seafood Pizza." Their knowledge of America is uncanny.

My meal was a bit of an expenditure. It cost me 22RMB, about $3.25. On my birthday, in the grand tradition of birthdays, I'm going to have ethnic food: American. I'm going to have a steak dinner, only 32RMB ($4.70)!

Hayden

Comment Responses:

@Sami: "IFC would never get away with tiny shrimp in a sandwich here! " Lol, if Independent Film Channel made tiny shrimp sandwiches, I might have one...