The impetus to change our itinerary occurred while we were in Central Asia. Several seasoned travelers and experts, having just come from China, convinced us to seize the moment and visit before the Olympics. We’re glad we did.

To anyone possessing even a remote interest in seeing traditional China, we offer similar advice: go soon before it disappears under the wrecking ball.

To conclude our reflections: a slideshow of the Best Of China’s Landscapes and Cityscapes, our Top 10 Authentic China Experiences and a Google MyMap indicating our paths across China.

If you’d like more details on any of these photos, go to the Best of China – Landscapes and Cityscapes photo set and check out the description under each photo. If landscapes don’t do it for you, but people do, check out The Many Faces of China.

Where and how did we collect these impressions?

Our use of the word authentic in the title is deliberate. China’s tourism development officials seem to revel in contriving experiences for visitors, resulting in large tchotchke-filled concrete-poured pavilions called “Tourist Leisure Centers” and newly built or heavily renovated “ancient” temple complexes and old towns.

The antithesis of authenticity perhaps?

For us, the most engaging and touching moments are those that showcase the real lives of people carving their way through daily life. And call us nostalgic, but moments that genuinely speak to bygone eras are satisfying, too.

1. Searching for Audrey’s grandfather’s house in Qingdao, being questioned by the police (authentic, but not fun) and recovering by eating “Pork with Douche” dumplings.
2. Getting lost amidst testicle stands and duck vendors at the sprawling ethnic markets of Gedong and Chong’An in Guizhou Province.
3. Hiking the Hani terraced rice fields of Yuanyang (Yunnan Province), watching Dan get his chest hair pulled by another man and absorbing the colorful weekly ethnic market in Niujiazhai.
4. Goofing around with kids at a streetside market outside of Jinghong in Xishuangbanna (Yunnan Province)…much relief after a two-day bus trip with the Chinese Olympic Spitting Team.
5. Stumbling upon a Tibetan Opera and a crowd of Tibetan Buddhist pilgrims at Labrang Monestary in Xiahe (Gansu Province).
6. Taking in the animal parade (camels included) at the early-morning opening of the Kashgar Sunday Animal Market (Xinjiang Province) and ending the day with pulled noodles at the night market.
7. Discovering a pocket of freedom of expression at Factory 798 in Beijing.
8. Avoiding the ear cleaner, surviving Sichuan hot pot and finding the pandas amongst the 10 million people of greater Chengdu.
9. Having the Great Wall to ourselves at Jinshanling and hiking 12 km atop the wall to Simatai on a clear and brisk December day.
10. Eating…everywhere!

The blue line indicates our path in November/December 2007; the red line shows our path in June 2008. Click on a pin for transport details and links to articles from that location.

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Originally posted on the Uncornered Market travel blog. Find beautiful travel photos from around the world. | 7 comments

The following slideshow is our take on China’s ethnic diversity. While these images represent only a fraction of China’s 56 official ethnic groups (there are scores more unofficial ones), we hope they give you a better feel for the various people who call China their home.

If you’d like to know more about the people you see in the slideshow, go to our Many Faces of China photo set and click on the individual photos for a full description.

While we’re on the subject of cultural diversity in China, do you remember the celebration of ethnic diversity at the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympic games? You know, the one where all those cute little ethnic minority kids paraded around in their traditional outfits. It seems that the children were not actually members of the ethnic groups they were supposed to represent, but rather Han Chinese children disguised in traditional ethnic outfits.

We assure you that the people featured in our slideshow are for real.

If you are interested in reading about China’s ethnic minority areas, check out our Ethnic China Series (see links below).

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• Panorama of the Week: Guizhou, China — Weekly Indigenous Market

Originally posted on the Uncornered Market travel blog. Find beautiful travel photos from around the world. | 2 comments

From the friendly Gansu bread man to the the giggling Qingdao dumpling ladies, China unfolds in a video montage of street food and kitchen scenes.

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Originally posted on the Uncornered Market travel blog. Find beautiful travel photos from around the world. | 2 comments

Only in China and only in this video.

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Originally posted on the Uncornered Market travel blog. Find beautiful travel photos from around the world. | 2 comments

To close our Chinese food series, we share a few miscellaneous bits, bites and highlights that we just couldn’t shoehorn into the previous segments. We remember fondly the Chinese dining experience: refrigerator cases full of greens, skyscraper piles of tofu, the flash fry technique, earthy-brown soy and sesame oil chili pepper sauces, and copious condiments.

The Chinese consider the number eight lucky. We can all use a little luck, so we limit our list accordingly.

Grilled Tofu: If you like tofu, you’ll be in heaven in China. If you don’t like tofu, give it another chance since you are virtually guaranteed fresh tofu in China; it’s a whole different experience.

In the Yuanyang region of Yunnan Province, grilled tofu stands dot the streets and markets of towns and villages like Xinjie and Niujiazhai. Tofu grill-masters ensure that each tofu pillow is perfectly browned. Serve yourself: snatch the piece of your choice with your chopsticks and dip it in a spicy combination of soy sauce, hot pepper sauce and other condiments.

Cat’s Ears Noodles: Hop outside the old town city walls of Pingyao (near the post office) and you’ll find some hole-in-the-wall local restaurants serving all manner of fascinating noodles typical of Shanxi Province. Our favorite: buckwheat noodles in the form of little buckets or – if you look at them right – cat’s ears. These noodles go by any number of the following names: kao lao lao, lao lao youmian, cat’s ears noodles, and wowo and are sided with a tomato-based sauce.

Pingyao Beef (平遥牛肉): The history of braised Pingyao beef may be a bit sketchy, but the taste is not. The texture of Pingyao beef resembles that of corned beef. The flavor is difficult to pin down; Pingyao beef is prepared with a five-spice (or five aroma: sweet, sour, bitter, savory, and salty) seasoning which features a combination of cinnamon, cassia, ginger root, cloves, fennel seed, star anise and occasionally Sichuan peppercorns. The result: beef that is tender, fragrant, and delicately rich. Terrific when sided by a decent bottle of Chinese wine (look for Xinjiang labels, stay away from Great Wall and large volume brands, open the bottle and let it breathe).
Where to find it: TianYuanKui Hotel: Although a bit more expensive than some other restaurants in town, the Pingyao beef is spectacular. Address: 73 NanDa Jie, Pingyao. Harmony Guesthouse also offers a different, but still very good, Pingyao beef. Address: No.165 Nan Da Jie Street, Pingyao.

Lotus Root: Lotus root sounds exotic. Looks it, too. It’s delicate, crispy, and vaguely sweet. The pattern inside a lotus root recalls a stencil from art class. Like any good root, lotus tends to take on the flavors surrounding it; it’s often marinated with vinegar or chili sauce and makes for a refreshing starter or palate cleanser.
Where to find it: Xiao Wang’s Home Restaurant serves a pleasant vinegar-marinated version at No 2 Building, GuangHuaDongLi in the Chaoyang area in Beijing.

Peking duck: Plum sauce, scallions and thin crepe-like pancakes round out the multi-layer meat-and-duck fat deal, yielding a delicate balance of salty and sweet. Although we’d argue that Peking duck isn’t the be-all, end-all of Chinese cuisine, it’s worth a taste and holds its place in the pantheon of familiar Chinese delicacies.
Where to find it: We enjoyed the lean Peking Duck at Xiao Wang’s Home Restaurant in the Chaoyang area of Beijing.

Jian Bing Egg Crepe (鸡蛋灌饼): Also known as the Beijing breakfast pancake, this treat is special, but not exclusive to Beijing. The savory combination of egg crepe, egg, coriander, spring onion and sesame flipped and doused with chili sauce or sweet bean paste will get wake you up in the morning or tide you over in the afternoon until dinner. As with any good street food, the production process is almost as pleasing as the result.
Where to find it: Best taken from a street cart with a dose of nostalgia in one of Beijing’s few remaining low-slung traditional hutong neighborhoods.

Yunnanese Goat Cheese (乳饼 rǔbǐng): Yes, you read correctly: Chinese goat cheese. Though the goat cheese in Yunnan Province doesn’t quite live up to chevre, its French cousin, it is worth a taste. Braised and served with salt (white salt or sometimes sulfuric black salt) and cracked black pepper, it is relatively mild and looks a bit like braised tofu (similar texture too).

Fava Beans: You can find this dish anywhere in Yunnan province. Tiny and buttery, shelled fava fresh soy beans are another terrific vegetarian staple available from the capital of Kunming to the hinterlands of Xishuangbanna. Top it off with roasted red chili sauce for a little kick.

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Originally posted on the Uncornered Market travel blog. Find beautiful travel photos from around the world. | 2 comments

Given the amount of attention we’ve paid to Kashgar and China’s Xinjiang Province, you might think us obsessed, or suspect that we’re being paid by the Kashgar Tourism Board. You can decide about the former, but we can firmly deny the latter.

But this is our last word on the place, at least for a while. Enjoy the video.

Watch Our Video of Kashgar’s Night Food Market

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Originally posted on the Uncornered Market travel blog. Find beautiful travel photos from around the world. | 2 comments

While Sichuan food is available around the world, Sichuan dishes take on an almost electric quality – in both color and flavor – when served in China. Here’s a sample from our travels.

Gōngbǎo Jīdīng (Kung Pao Chicken): When you travel to China, memories fade of the goopy generic slop that is often passed off as kung pao in Chinese restaurants throughout Europe and America. The real deal is full of fresh green onions, large red chilies, Sichuan peppers, peanuts and bits of chicken doused in a light sauce.

Where to Find It: In Beijing we tried the kung pao chicken at Xiao Wang’s Home Restaurant. It was good, but the real deal was right around the corner at this hole-in-the-wall restaurant on Guanghua Donglu #11 near Guomao metro station in the Chaoyang area of Beijing. Their versions of Sichuan classics were inexpensive and tasty, and dished out by giggling waitresses.

In Chengdu (Sichuan Province), Grandma Chen’s on Xi Yu Long Jie serves a kung pao plate piled high with chilies, Sichuan peppercorn, fresh green onions and a sprinkling of peanuts.

Try making it at home.

Ganbian Sijidou (Dry Fry Sichuan Green Beans): Piles of green beans are dry fried with chilies, Sichuan peppercorns, garlic, ginger and other spices. Beans are crispy, smoked and sweet; the combination of spices leaves your mouth wondering where these flavors have been all its life.

Where to find it: At the same hole-in-the-wall restaurant in Beijing with the kung pao chicken (Address: Guanghua Donglu #11 near Guomao metro). Unfortunately, green beans weren’t in season during our visit to Sichuan Province, so opportunities to taste them on their home territory were limited.

Try making it at home.

Mápó Dòufǔ (Pockmarked Tofu): The name of this dish finds its roots in the pockmarked face of its creator, Grandma Chen. Why anyone thought this descriptive appetizing for a dish is beyond us. The dish features soft dimpled tofu in a hot sauce of garlic, minced meat (pork or beef) chili oil, Sichuan peppercorns and fresh green onions. Quality varies widely; if it’s not good the first time, try it again elsewhere.

Where to find it: Our best plate of the stuff was served at an outpost of the Chen Mapo Doufu restaurant chain that supposedly started it all with Grandma Chen’s recipe in 1862. Outlets of this restaurant chain seem to be opening and closing faster than guide books can keep up. Ask your hotel or taxi driver for the nearest location. We went to the one on Xi Yu Long Jie.

Try making it at home.

Xiao Chi (Little Eats): Sichuan snack food, from barbecued skewers to steamed goodies like transparent dumplings and Zhong’s dumplings.

Check out our piece on Chinese dumplings for more details, including where to find them.

Sichuan Huǒ guō (Sichuan Hot Pot): Bubbling red broth laden with dried chilies and Sichuan peppercorns. Though Sichuan hot pot hurts so good, it also tastes so good that you might not be able to stop.

Read more about Sichuan hot pot in our article, Hot Pot Fever.

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A checklist: four days, three ethnic village markets, stacks of smoked dogs, and one testicle stand. Guizhou Province exuded tradition; it was China at its most authentic and at times its most eye-popping.

We paid a visit to the province, described in guidebooks as one of China’s most underdeveloped, to experience a group of ethnic village markets clustered around the town of Kaili. Although the timing of our visit did not coincide with any ethnic festivals (the standard draw for the relatively few tourists that visit the region), there was no shortage of everyday market pageantry and visual stimulation.

As China carves out its future, life across four villages in eastern Guizhou Province goes on.

Chong’an: Get Your Dentures on the Street, See “The Beautiful Buildings”
The weekly market in Chong’an enveloped the entire village: fishermen assembled by the river, meat vendors (including the dog butchers) congregated in the center, ethnic hat and clothing makers gathered in small courtyards, and traditional medicine men, dentists and barbers lined the streets connecting it all.

A weekly gathering for Gejia and Miao villagers, the Chong’an market left no sales opportunity unturned. Hot body suction treatment and gut-wrenching open-air tooth replacement proved tempting, but we resisted.

A local high school girl befriended us early in the day. Armed with some English skills and an electronic translator, she guided us through her town and the market. Intent on showing us “the beautiful buildings,” she led us to the main road headed out of town. As we picked through a village slowly being bulldozed to find images of traditional life and architecture, the beautiful buildings appeared: brand-new mixed use concrete structures on the right and a government-built Miao-style village in wood on the left.

Nothing could be more emblematic of Guizhou, and to a greater degree, all of China.

Gedong: Testicle Stands, A Funeral and Late Afternoon Mahjongg
Minutes after our local bus exited the newly-built highway near Gedong, we made our way through a sea of ethnic Miao women navigating a muddy market area in their galoshes. Squealing pigs, indigo dye pots, chickens, ducks, dried fish, piles of incense, and stands devoted solely to animal testicles rounded out a stunningly authentic village market scene.

After drawing looks, shaking hands and holding babies, we headed into the Gedong old town whose traditional single-story houses stood on the hill behind. We were welcomed with curious looks and smiles as a group of locals attended a gathering to mourn the loss of one of their friends. Others played cards and mahjongg in the open front rooms of their family homes.

Gedong featured its own “beautiful buildings” formed in gray concrete and finished with decorative nods to the local traditional architectural style.

Those games of mahjongg will likely be moved to those new buildings in the coming years.

Xijiang: Postcard Views and a Redeeming Lunch
Having braved Guizhou’s rolling hills and switchbacked roads in a local bus, we arrived in the Miao village of Xijiang to the hum of cranes and heavy machinery. Clouds of dust rose from the valley as construction teams built a new tourist center and a string of souvenir shops along the main street.

Xijiang had become the latest preference for Chinese tour buses visiting “ethnic Guizhou.” It was postcard-worthy: traditional wood Miao homes rested on hilltops and overlooked zig-zagging rice fields. But locals had grown noticeably tired and jaded due to the growing tourist traffic.

The redeeming human moment: lunch. A group of Chinese tourists from nearby Hunan Province beckoned us to join them in a what looked like a dining room of a local home. We pointed to “vegetarian” in our phrase book, followed the cook into the kitchen, and pointed at vegetables and tofu to emphasize the point. While the man of the group insisted on piling unidentifiable meat chunks in our bowls, his sister clucked at him that we were vegetarians. She thankfully persisted in removing the meat and replacing it with tofu and green beans.

We didn’t share a common language, but we managed basic conversation, beer toasts, tea and smiles. Upon departing, we exchanged contact information with open invitations to visit them in Shaoshan, the birthplace of Mao Zedong.

Zhouxi: Something Strange
The street market in the village of Zhouxi was in full swing when we arrived, but there was a strange, insular feeling about the place. It felt as if all the local Miao families were somehow connected in that “family tree doesn’t fork” kind of way. All joking aside, we wondered if the industrial center belching smoke nearby had something to do with the odd appearance that persisted throughout the village. The chronic burning in our lungs and noses indicated that it might.

We were approached on a bridge near the outskirts of the village by two young men who spoke some English. Their intentions were clearly very kind. They invited us to lunch and to practice English, but something about their manic speech patterns made us feel uneasy.

We attempted to excuse ourselves from lunch – we weren’t at all hungry – but agreed to take some photos with them. The next thing we knew, we were roped into eating zongzi (sticky rice wrapped in bamboo leaves). Seated on the family sofa in the English teacher’s living room, we unfolded our rice parcels as a roomful of people took in our every move.

Our host, the town’s English teacher, explained that his sister had died of cancer in her 20s and had left a young daughter behind. We again wondered about the effects of the nearby industrial plant.

We politely excused ourselves and expedited the photo session with the teacher and his adult students. The man who initially approached us bounced up and down in our faces as we departed, “I’m very exciting! You are my first Americans. I am so lucky!”

After eighteen months on the road and an endless string of unusual experiences, we’ve learned to trust our gut. This village spooked us. The banjo track from the film Deliverance looped in our heads.

There was nothing threatening happening, but the whole scene just hopped the strangeness threshold. Or maybe we were just over-stimulated. Anyhow, the return bus to Kaili couldn’t leave soon enough.

Kaili: Traditional vs. Modern Shopping
Not to be outdone by the surrounding villages, Kaili bursts with street markets – near the bus station, on side streets, in the old part of town. It was heartening to see traditional markets surviving in the shadows of shiny new shopping complexes.

Maybe Guizhou’s traditional markets and culture will survive all those massive development projects after all.

We can only hope.

View More Photos of the Markets and Villages of Guizhou Province

Practical Details

Finding Markets: Go to the tourist information office (CITS) on Zhongguo Guoji Luxingshe in Kaili and ask for the schedule of ethnic markets. Make sure you also ask them to write down the names of the towns and their corresponding departing bus stations (there are several in Kaili) in Mandarin characters.
How to Get There: Kaili is on several main train lines. We arrived by train from Kunming and continued later to Shanghai. From the train station, take the local bus into town. Most buses to nearby towns and markets leave from the long-distance bus station on Wenhua Beilu.
Where to Stay: We didn’t find a lot of choice in the budget range in Kaili, so we stayed at the Petroleum Hotel (or Shiyou Binguan) on the corner of Yingpan Donglu and Wenhua Beilu. We negotiated 70 RMB for a double room (ensuite bathroom). Make sure you get a key. It wasn’t the cleanest place we have ever stayed, but as long as we wore our slippers on the rug it was fine. There’s an unsecured wi-fi signal in the building.
Where to Eat: There’s a great dumpling stand on Wenhua Beilu near the corner with Yingpan Donglu. Several soup stands operate on Yingpan Donglu. Then, there is fantastic and cheap hot pot. When a motorbike with four smoked dogs strapped to the back zoomed by us as we exited our hotel, we stuck with vegetarian options.

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Originally posted on the Uncornered Market travel blog. Find beautiful travel photos from around the world. | 6 comments

Buried in the footage, I laughed my way through a procession of wooly camels, stubborn donkeys, cowboys and sheep at the old world Sunday livestock market.

As I watched the clips, I felt transported to another place, to another era. It’s not just my nostalgia for the road; Kashgar is truly special – an unusual little slice of an old and quickly fading world encroached upon by ever more development.

Rumination about Kashgar’s future aside, enjoy its present…you’ll get a glimpse into its past, too.

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Originally posted on the Uncornered Market travel blog. Find beautiful travel photos from around the world. | 2 comments

Steamed, fried or boiled; round, crescent, or amorphous; meat or veg; thin-skinned or thick, dumplings in China form a universe all their own.

By no means are we experts in Chinese dumplings. That’s a life’s work. But we can offer a brief primer and the best of our dumpling experiences in China.

• Jiaozi – crescent-shaped dumplings generally folded from circles of thinly-rolled dough; served boiled or steamed.
• Guo Tie – pot stickers, or fried jiaozi.
• Bāozi – steamed buns. For contrast and flavor, meat bāozi occasionally feature a little nutmeg or star anise (if you notice something sweet).
• Xiaolongbao – smooth, translucent steamed buns made from unraised flour. Filled with meat, seafood, or vegetables and often a splash of broth.
• Shaomai – unsealed dumplings, meaning that the filling shows through the top. Stuffed with just about anything, including meat, vegetables or flavored sticky rice.
• Dim Sum – Cantonese-style (Guangdong Province) dumplings, often steamed and served as snacks or with tea.

1. Manti – Kashgar, Xinjiang: Similar to Central Asian manti. The seasonal variety served in Kashgar during our autumn visit featured sweet, diced pumpkin. Delicious when served with thick plain yogurt and roasted red pepper sesame oil.

2. Train Bāozi – Urumqi to Lanzhou: Tiring of noodle soup buckets on our 24-hour train ride from Urumqi to Lanzhou, Dan jumped off at one of the stations, rolled the dice on a bag of freshly steamed bāozi from a platform vendor, and scored. Filled with meat, carrots, onions and a tad of nutmeg, they provided a much-needed change for our train-weary tastebuds. And they went perfectly with a cold beer.

3. Tibetan Momos – Xiahe, Gansu: We were introduced to Tibetan dumplings (momos) at Gesar Restaurant near Labrang Monastery. The cabbage and carrot-stuffed variety delivered comfort and warmth on a cold night when paired with a zippy roasted red pepper sauce. Honorable Mention: A dessert of freshly made apple momos.

4. Midnight Dim Sum – Xi’an: Xin Wang’s Cantonese Dim Sum in downtown Xi’an serves dim sum from 9:30 PM – 2:00 AM. Is it worth the wait? Absolutely. The dim sum stuffed with shrimp and greens were exceptional. Scallops weren’t bad either. You can find Xin Wang’s Cantonese Dim Sum on Dong Dajie on the right-hand side as you walk from the Bell Tower (second floor in a huge shopping center).

5. Breakfast Dumplings – Pingyao: You might be asking, “Dumplings for breakfast?” Indeed. And more than once. Harmony Guest House (No.165 Nan Da Jie Street, Pingyao) serves up uniquely square-shaped pan-fried vegetarian bāozi all day long. Perfect with a little dip of soy sauce.

6. 5-Star and Local Dumplings – Beijing: The Beijing outpost of the world-famous Taiwanese Din Tai Fung restaurant chain served up our first dose of dumplings in the big city. Although decent, they were expensive by any measure. And here’s the thing: an unpretentious local cafe on a side street from Guanghua Lu (around the corner from Guomao metro station in the Chaoyang business district) served simple, tasty, dressed-down dumplings that were twice as good and 1/10 the price. We enjoy good food and we love good value. Lesson: food before fancy.

7. Qingdao Jiaozi: Everywhere we turned in Qingdao, we ran into dumpling restaurants. Da Yu’s menu featured some unintended humor, but offered a plate of 20 hand-made shrimp, pork and greens jiaozi for $1.70. Another restaurant on Zhongyuan Meishi offered a dozen different varieties for about the same price. A duo of women in the back cranked out trays of beautifully formed jiaozi in record time.

8. Chengdu Snack Food: Large transparent shaomai are stuffed with perfectly herbed pork and served with a soy and vinegar dipping sauce. Our favorite: Longchaoshou Canting on the corner of Chunxi Lu and Shandong Dajie in downtown Chengdu’s shopping district. The Zhong dumplings were also very tasty. Though not quite as good, the café at the Chendgu People’s Park features similar Chengdu-style snacks and dumplings.

9. Street Dumplings – Kunming, Yunnan: Trays of steamed jiaozi and bāozi served with soy, hot pepper, vinegar and fresh cilantro dipping sauces form the cornerstone of a inexpensive, street-side restaurant on DaGuan Lu. Try also the freshly rolled rice noodles stuffed with pork floss (threads of pork).

10. Dumpling Salvation – Kaili, Guizhou: If you take the overnight train from Kunming to Kaili (Guizhou Province), hop the downtown bus when you arrive and alight in the midst of a line of stir fry and soup joints on Wenhua Beilu. Look for the stack of bamboo steamers to find great jiaozi and guo tie. The mother and daughter dumpling team – and their customers – laughed as we scarfed down two trays of steamed jiaozi served with a dipping sauce of roasted crushed chilies, spring onions, soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, Sichuan pepper and a tad of sugar. We returned daily during our stay in Kaili.

View More Photos of Dumplings in China

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Originally posted on the Uncornered Market travel blog. Find beautiful travel photos from around the world. | 9 comments