Adventures in Guangzhou!

Traditionally, Guoqiao Mixian is served with a big bowl of really hot broth stewed from chicken, duck, and spare ribs with a bit of oil on top. They give you a bunch of small plates with raw meat (I think I had pork, chicken, duck, and some type of octopus-like meat), some raw veggies, the insides of two small eggs (no idea what type), and then a whole bunch of rice noodles. You dump everything into the soup and let it all get cooked in the bowl. I also decided to add some of the crushed red pepper sitting on the table and I think that was a good call. Not only is the dish really tasty, but it's sort of fun to take everything and toss it in to get cooked. Who doesn't like a little interactive meal?

After lunch I headed in the direction of Yuantong Si, the largest Buddhist temple in the city. Along the way I popped my head into a number of DVD stores to poke around a bit. I did manage to find Pulp Fiction which had proved elusive in Guangzhou, but I could not find Good Will Hunting. I've been on a mission to find this movie for the last month and have been unsuccessful everywhere. Sure, they have multiple copies of Anaconda 3 and House of Wax, but Good Will Hunting? No such luck. It really makes me wonder--what do Chinese people really think of Hollywood cinema if those are the movies in high demand? I shudder to think about it.

As I got closer to the temple, I decided to stop in a random tea store on a whim. Yunnan Province is famous for a kind of tea called "Pu er cha." Puer tea, for short, is highly regarded for its medicinal qualities as a digestive and nerve stimulant. According to what I've read, the leaves are plucked, panned, sun-dried, and steamed; after which they are either allowed to remain in leaf form or pressed into circular cakes or bricks. Caked tea is the most ancient form of manufacturing tea and dates back (at least in ancient Chinese lit) to circa 700 c.e. Unlike most other teas, Puer tea gets better with age and really old blocks of the stuff can fetch a tidy sum in auctions and stores. It's kind of like drugs, but it's only tea.

Walking into the store, the owner immediately got up and tried to sell me some tea. When I said I wanted Puer tea his eyes lit up and he took me over to the right section. After quoting (rather excessive) prices, he asked which one I wanted. I pointed to the block he quoted for 60 yuan and inquired about the taste. I'm sure my Chinese was pretty weak, but he understood enough to invite me to sit down while he prepared some tea.

Maybe it was the relaxed atmosphere of the store, the idyllic weather, or the man's friendly demeanor, but we immediately launched into an extended conversation. It took me quite some time to formulate responses, but we managed to carry on for almost an hour. I found out that he only bought the store about 3 weeks ago, that he's 29, that his wife is 25 and that their son is only 3 months old. He talked about how he was a very bad student and didn't go to university but that his wife could have if she had had the money. We talked basic politics (me- "wo bu xi huan George Bush." [I don't like George Bush]; him- ) and even some history.

I was really proud to have successfully carried on a real conversation. It was really empowering to actually be able to understand and respond accordingly. Now, certainly, there were multiple moments where I had to shake my head and just say "dui bu qi" [sorry] since I didn't have enough vocabulary to express myself, but he understood and just seemed happy to chat. I also think I owe the success of the moment to the fact that it was quiet in the store, the fact that he spoke slowly and used basic words, and the fact that he was patient enough to allow me to fumble me words.

On a natural high from speaking in Chinese and a caffeine high from an hours worth of tea, I decided to purchase a block of tea from him. The puer tea is unlike anything I've ever had and I really like it; it's earthy and strong but not in an unpleasant way. The guy even showed me how too steep it with a couple chrysanthemum blossoms in order to mellow the taste a bit and give it a bit of sweetness. Yum. After all was said and done, I bought the 60 yuan block for only 25. I guess it pays to get to know the owner!

Eventually I made it to the temple and walked around. It was quite a bit smaller than I expected but that was just fine by me. It was a beautiful day and there was hardly anyone around, so I sat down at the bottom of the steps to the water and read my book. Glancing to my right, I noticed a whole bunch of turtles hanging out on the side right next to me. As I looked closer into the water I saw even more turtles swimming around with the carp. It was a very serene setting for a temple.

On my way back to Lexi's apartment I walked through the Muslim area once again and glanced around a few shops. I didn't buy anything but I did have some more shao kao for my afternoon snack which hit the spot. I really wish Guangzhou had more shao kao carts around the city doing bbq. It's incredibly cheap, it's fast, and it's really tasty! What more could you want? Okay, besides sanitary conditions...

My biggest purchase of the day was three pairs of socks from some street vendor. They claimed to be Nike and Adidas socks but I knew before I bought them that that was not the case. Upon opening the package later I discovered they were some sort of bizarre hybrid material between cotton and polyester and were not exactly super comfortable. Whatever. As long as I didn't have to steal another pair from Lexi!

For dinner Lexi and I met up with Mike once more and went to a random Chinese place near Yunnan Daxue, the local university. I decided to sample some of the local beers and ordered a bottle of Dali Beer. It was pretty plain but went well with our food so I was happy. After some additional (unsuccessful) DVD shopping, we headed back to the apartment to which Kill Bill 2 and go to bed.

As I was drifting off to sleep I had a small realization about Kunming. I realized that I was enjoying myself so much because people in Yunnan seem to be really laid back. The cab drivers don't drive like maniacs. People don't push and shove quite as much. People in tea stores are happy to sit down and chat for hours. I get the feeling that people are really only concerned about simple pleasures--a tasty meal, a good cup of tea, and pleasant conversation. I guess it probably helps that the weather is so good as well. Regardless, it's my kind of city.

Alrighty, here is a link to my photos. As always, this link will take you to pics from the entire trip so if you want to be surprised, hold off. I'm also going to add some photos that Lexi took so check back again later no matter what: http://www.flickr.com/photos/awolfe03/sets/1373122/