Cooking school - Day 2!

Went to a local market today with Pam, the cooking school owner. The colors and smells are so delightful! I took lots of pictures... Had a bowl of noodles for breakfast from a street vendor. Really yummy. The Chinese love their noodles and eat them for pretty much every meal. You know how we get those cup-o-noodles? Well, they have those in every flavor imaginable and they're half gallon size! They've been tasty on the overnight trains but are really too big... Anyway, noodles this a.m. in the local market were great. They add a bit of meat, dried soybeans, chives, and some broth of some sort... Pam bought a few things. Seedlings, peas (a huge bag for about 20 cents), and a few other things. Took the local bus there and back and then took a motorbike out to the school. Cooking class was a success again. Made beer fish, stuffed a pumpkin blossom and a mushroom with pork and garlic, cashew chicken, eggplant, and steamed veggies. All delicious! After class Sally (our tutor) took me to a store to buy a wok and lid, spatula (they use one that they can measure oil, soy, and water with that's scooped), huge knife, chopping board, and bamboo wok cleaning brush. Yes, I could buy a wok at home but not for less than $3! WOW! The knife was about $5 and everything else was a few dollars. Good stuff, too. It's where they buy the stuff for the school and it worked fabulously... Spent the afternoon wandering along the river. It's so beautiful here and the sun actually came out today. :) Bought Kathy a backback for about $15. Hope it'll all fit in the suitcase! Tomorrow's a bike tour of the local countryside. The rice paddies are in the process of being planted so there should be lots of chinamens' hats, oxen, and plows along the way...

More Yangshuo...

Yesterday was a bit rainy but I'd gotten up at the crack of 4am so it was a nice day to nap a bit. Still did some wandering and got acquainted with the town. There are a couple of major tourist streets and then some side streets that are more interesting. You know how Chinese tourists are pretty obnoxious? Well, they're just as obnoxious in their own country! Ahhhhhh! This town is FULL of them. So much for the solitude and quiet wanderings I was looking forward to when I got here... At least the air is better and I can take a deep breath without wheezing. Did have a lovely dinner at KFC. Yep, it's everywhere! And they have the best little tarts! I had one from a street vendor in Nanjing and Olive (our guide) said the best were at KFC. Go figure! It's just crust with custard inside. What's not to love? Got up bright and early today and had a fairly American breakfast with the voucher I was given at my hotel. I love eating - but it's nice to have "western" food... Fried eggs, bacon, toast, grilled tomato, and potato pancakes with fresh squeezed oj and COFFEE! Yippee! Met my cooking school leader, Sally, and the family who also signed up for a market tour. I could have stayed for hours. (I'll try to find my way back.) So many interesting things. Frogs, turtles, eels, snails, lots of fish, and fresh veggies galore. We drove out in my new favorite van... Like a "groovy" but small! LOVE IT! The cooking school was a short drive but out in the country with beautiful views. It's owned by an Australian woman but the staff is all Chinese. When tutored, I'm a very good cook! We made duck with veggies, pork with pickled ginger, really yummy and easy egg dumplings, and a chicken dish. I had a beer, too, and the beers here are big so perhaps it was the beer, not the cooking that was really good... :) Went to a water color class afterward. Bamboo trees are harder to paint than they look. Trust me... Had some free time for wandering and then going to a show on the river later tonight with the family I met at cooking. They're from the Australian Gold Coast - Rob, Angela, Daniella, and Peter. The Aussies continue to be good traveling companions! :) Tomorrow morning, Pam, the owner of the cooking school is coming to get me early to go to a market where I can buy a wok, bamboo wok cleaner, knife, steamer, and cutting board for much less expensive than at home. I bought Kathy a spinner (not red but $20) so I'll have room to get it all home... :)

Yangshuo...

Left what have become old friends this morning on the next and last leg of this jaunt... I'm in Yangshuo for a few days of site seeing and cooking! Two mornings of the four that I'm here I'll be taken to the market to shop for ingredients and then learn how to toss them together to make something edible. Yummy! I have a few favorites since I've been here so I'm hoping to learn how to make those...
So, I've been on the hard sleeper train, hiked the Great Wall, and wandered around Beijing since last I wrote. Overnight train was lots of fun! :) Six bunks to a cubicle so we filled two right next to each other... We had beers, wine, bowls of noodles, mangos from Olive's mom, and chit chatted and made a good night of it - till the lights went out at 10pm, which is apparently always the case on an overnight train... Started the next day bright and early in Beijing - the taxi cue was insane. Really long and people cutting in all over and grabbing cabs out of turn. There were a few Aussie yells when people tried to cut in near us. :) China has some very orderly things about it but the people are not included in that category... Whew! Don't get me started! Our taxi ride was hilarious. The driver yapped the whole time. To us, altho he must have known we couldn't understand him. Pretty funny. We were involved in a road rage incident. I think we cut someone off and then they swerved into us and our driver was hitting the window with his fist and then windows were rolled down and words were exchanged. We three girls sat in the back and just kinda' giggled. We shook our fists after the guy after he sped off and our driver was pretty pleased by that. Our hotel is again in a great location. We walked to Tienaman Square and the Forbidden City. About 10 minutes... Still astounded by how clean everything is. Everyone smokes and it's hard to find a cigarette butt! There's always someone with a broom just sweeping - sidewalks, streets, corners, potholes, alleys, etc. Didn't get to see Chairman Mao - the cue was days long. Spent hours in the Forbidden City. I think I was mostly lost for a good portion of the day. I'd eventually see someone I knew and get led back to the fold... :) It's beautiful inside and there are many twists and turns that lead to gardens, pagodas, and shops... Left early the next day for the Great Wall. We went to an area that's more remote than where most tourists go. Instead of half an hour we drove for three. It's called the Simatai section. Really beautiful. We'd been told to plan for cold and rainy and it was a beautiful day! Yah! Not really sure how far we hiked but it was a really steep section and we hiked till the wall was closed and crumbling. We were all able to take our time and meet up again since there was hardly anyone on that section. Very cool. Had a great night back at the hotel. Had beers and a great dinner. Seems to be lots of drinking with those Aussies! :) And I'm finally feeling like drinking again. Still congested but I think it's just China... Ugh. Saw the Olympic Stadium on our way back into Beijing the next day. Very impressive. It's called the Birdnest Stadium. When you see it, you'll know why... Went to Pizza Hut for lunch. It was my suggestion and everyone was more than willing to comply. We'd just been missing CHEESE! Yah, Chinese don't eat a lot of cheese... Visited the Temple of Heaven and did yet more shopping. Had a Hutong tour the next day. Rickshaws took us thru an old part of town with narrow streets and courtyards near the Drum and Bell Towers. Each city seems to have a Drum and Bell Tower and the area around it's usually old. Fun visit and we had a lunch at a locals house. It was Kate'd B-Day so Keith and Ann hauled a huge bottle of champagne in for lunch. Nice surprise for Kate. We walked into this simple little room with our lunch all set up and there's this magnum of champagne! :) Spent the rest of the day shopping in a five story building with all kinds of stuff. Went a little crazy but mostly on gifts so I don't feel too badly... Had a yummy Peking Duck dinner and said our goodbyes. It was a great tour. Pretty sure I won't visit China again but it was a great trip because of the group I was with... :) Will write more about Yangshuo later. My hotel has a free computer! Yea! Someone else is waiting, tho... xo

Xian...

So, I've not been very consistent with this and of course there is stuff to tell everyday but not much internet time! Yea! Saw the Terra Cotta Warriors yesterday... Started out with Starbucks. Yes, I know, but there's not a whole lot of coffee choices in China so I'll take what I can get! :) They have a great fruit cup, too, with dragon fruit. YUMMY! The Warriors were amazing. Just astounding the proportion and the craziness of leaders 2000 years ago! Bush is crazy but as far as I know he's not building a life-size army to take with him to the afterlife. Even their hair and shoe soles were detailed! Pretty cool and a little creepy. Laurel will be proud to hear that I christened the warriors... :) Pretty full day seeing all three pits - one with infantry and over 6000 warriors, one with the generals and headquarters, and another with chariots and horsemen. Also a couple of museums thrown in with the brass weaponry and stuff they'd found. Had a fun night out, too. Found a little pub on a bar street we'd been told about. Aussies really like to drink! The beers were huge but the mixed drinks were tiny. Kinda' funny, really, and we felt elfen... They had live music, tho, and the guy played some Pink Floyd and threw in Chinese and American verses. Very fun. I took some video... After the guy played they put on a CD of an Aussie girl. I'm pretty sure they didn't realize it - Missy Higgins is her name. She's good... :)
Today was a free day basically. Kate and I didn't set an alarm but told Lisa we'd be ready by 9. She knocked at 9 and we were still sleeping. Not even a late night! Those hotel curtains that block out all the light - gotta' love 'em! :) We shopped all morning and then met for a group lunch. Shopping was not necessarily buying... The markets are just cool. We were in the Muslim Quarter this morning. There's all kinds of interesting foods (street meat included), tea shops, etc. I just like seeing people's daily lives as they bustle around. Single shops for buttons, and lace, and dried foods, and dumpling steamers... The streets are amazingly clean here. There's always someone sweeping and mopping the sidewalk. Kinda' nice. The air is HORRIBLE, however. I haven't been able to take a deep breath yet. Ugh. I'll be glad to get back to my NM skies. Cairo has nothing on this place!
Went for a massage this afternoon. 120 yuan for 70 minutes. That's less than $20. YAH! Started out with some lip massaging and hair pulling, then the William Tell Overture on my head. I was waiting for the nipple twisting but it never came... Felt like a wet noodle coming out but managed to get in some more wandering down densely packed streets. Back at the hotel to meet for our taxi to the overnight train. We were on a "soft" sleeper on the way here (16 hours) and we'll take the "hard" sleeper to Beijing. Soft is a room that actually has a door and four bunks. Hard is a six bunks in a cubicle, without a door. Should be interesting! Till soon... :)