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Xiahai Temple

8/16/2019

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I don't want to write about Xiahai Temple because it's little known to foreign travelers. I don't want to give away my "off the beaten path" secrets. Since I have very few readers, however, I don't think there will be an influx of tourists the next time I am in Shanghai.

The most striking thing about Xiahai, in my opinion, is the preponderance of gold: buildings, monks' robes and fish. The color is warm and inviting, which is just how I would describe the temple and the grounds.

When we visited in May, the only people on the grounds were employees, monks and local people coming to light incense and pray. When there are no other tourists, one's presence is felt, which is generally positive or neutral. The people are often enchanted by those different from themselves. They like to share their place of worship. On our recent visit, one of the men praying overheard our local guide telling us about the temple and the Buddhist religion. The man stopped her and told her to make sure to tell us about how the mayor of Shanghai saved some of the Xiahai statues from certain destruction during the Cultural Revolution, an act that surely would have been punishable if discovered.

My goal when I travel is to find hidden gems like Xiahai. Join me on an adventure, off the beaten path.

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Sweet Potatoes and Eggs

8/9/2019

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Perhaps it was the potato itself, the cooking over hot coals or the joy on the faces of the women peddling their bounty. It was the best sweet potato I've ever eaten. The women sell the potatoes and hard boiled eggs for about 20 cents each. I'm not really sure to whom they sell. Most foreigners would be disinterested in the ash-covered potatoes, but they would be missing out. I guess domestic Chinese tourists would be their target market.

The women live in or around Ping'an Village, in the Longsheng (Dragon's Backbone) Rice Terraces in the Guilin area of Guangxi Province. The rice terraced farms in this area are about 800 years old. Most of the people who live and work there are from the Zhuang and Yao minority ethnic groups. The hats the women are wearing are part of their Zhuang traditional clothing, as are the black jackets with blue sleeves. The women pictured range in age from 70's to 90's.

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Dancing in the Park

8/2/2019

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In every neighborhood park around China, the mornings are filled with music and merriment. Dancing, singing, playing instruments, laughing, playing cards, practicing Tai'chi, socializing, playing ping pong or badminton and exercising. I envy this joyful aspect of Chinese neighborhoods and communities. By comparison, American parks are virtually devoid of activity. This community aspect of Chinese culture is particularly important to the retirees who are eligible for retirement at age 60 (women) and 65 (men).

I try to get up early on several mornings, whenever I am in China. I look at the map, find the closest park (never more than a 15 minute walk) and join whatever is going on that morning. One of my favorite destinations is People's Park in Shanghai. Across from the Radisson, there is a crowd on almost every day of the week, playing music and dancing. The music selection is more Greek than Chinese. It does not matter that I am an uncoordinated dancer, the local people welcome all to participate.

I hope you get the opportunity to join me at People's Park on a Chow Fun trip soon.

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Din Tai Fung

7/26/2019

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Soup dumplings look the same on the outside, despite what's in the middle. In order for patrons to remember which steam basket is which, they put little symbols in the baskets, like the orange chicken above.

Din Tai Fung restaurants around the work make over two million soup dumplings each month!

Din Tai Fung is a restaurant that specializes in soup dumplings. Din Tai Fung first opened in Taiwan, but now has branches all over the world including China and the west coast of the United States.

What is a soup dumpling? It is a dumpling with a filling of meat and/or vegetables, but what separates the soup dumpling from the rest of world's dumplings is that it is also filled with about one tablespoon of soup. When the dumpling is punctured, there is a delicious juicy pop.

Soup dumplings are from Shanghai, so the Shanghai branch is usually where I go when I need a Din Tai Fung fix, but it doesn't matter which branch you go to...the recipe is exact and precise at all the restaurants. The filling is a specific weight, apparently 16 grams. The wrapper is also a specific weight. The circumference of each dumpling is the same. And every dumpling is sealed with 18 pleats at the top. In this way, every dumpling that Din Tai Fung sells is cooked evenly during the four minutes in the steamer.

How do they get the soup into the dumpling without spilling out while creating the little packages? The soup is cleverly disguised as a small cube of jelly that melts inside the dumpling as it steams!

Join me in China and see, and eat, the magic for yourself!

Despite the hard work that Din Tai Fung workers put into their craft, when a customer peers through the window to the kitchen, they stop momentarily to give the "thumbs up" sign.

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China Art Museum

7/19/2019

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I love the China Art Museum in Shanghai, which houses modern Chinese art and is one of the largest art museums in Asia. The building is the former China Pavilion of Expo 2010, which was modeled after an ancient Chinese crown.

On the top floor of the museum is an 3-D, digital, animated version of the famous classical Chinese painting "Along the River at Qingming Festival." The original scroll was painted by Song Dynasty artist Zhang Zeduan (1085-1145). Qingming Festival is also known as "Grave Sweeping Day." The many scenes depicted in the painting reveal the lifestyle of the Song Dynasty people and was one of the Last Emperor's favorite paintings. The original painting is now housed at the Forbidden City in Beijing.

The electronic version was first exhibited at the China Expo in 2010, for a period of three months. During that time, visitors would make a reservation and then wait for hours in order to see the digital mural in which the characters move. Every four minutes, the scene changes from night to day and back. The digital masterpiece is mesmerizing.

The original scroll is approximately ten inches high and close to six yards long. The electronic version is about 20 times that size. I did not have a lot of time when I most recently visited the China Art Museum. I spent about 20 minutes in the room that houses the digital piece. I could have spent all afternoon watching all the different scenes. "Featuring a total of 814 characters, 73 domesticated animals, more than 50 vehicles and boats, and some magnificent architecture including bridges and city walls on a 36 metre by 4.8 metre digital panel, visitors embark on a pictorial journey that slowly moves them from one scene to another, through bobbing boats, swaying willow trees, hard-working beasts of burden and touting vendors" (South China Morning Post, 9 July 2018).

Of course, the digital mural is just one piece on one floor of the enormous treasure trove of Chinese artwork. I am most inspired by the sculptures both outside, and inside, the pavilion.

It's quite obvious, by the lack of English translations on the artwork descriptions, that very few foreigners make the trip to this museum, but I believe it is well worth a few hours of time, perhaps even more compelling than the Shanghai Museum in People's Park.

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School Visit

7/12/2019

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On every trip to China, whether with a student or mixed age group, I try to visit a local school. The experience is amazing for all involved. We Americans get a glimpse into life in a Chinese school, which is rigorous. Kids are there from early morning through dinner, but usually don't have a lot of homework once they leave school. In the villages, there are often 30-40 students in one room (and they are all well-behaved). Their schools are rudimentary in comparison to the schools in the U.S. but that does not seem to prevent them from excellence in their future careers.

For the Chinese students, a visit might be the most exciting thing that has happened in a year, or perhaps in their lives, depending on the location of the school. There is a lot of giggling and singing and hand motions to try to communicate. They have a basic command of English, but are often embarrassed to use it.

I am always amazed when we are asked for our autographs. They bring their notebooks to us and ask us to sign our names. I write a sentence or two as well. The picture below is one of my many moments of celebrity during my time in China.

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A Walk from Hongcun to Xidi

7/5/2019

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I am so fortunate that in my travels, I am able not only spend time with the local people, but I am also able to enjoy the outdoors. There is a 2-3 hour walk from Hongcun village to Xidi village in Anhui Province. The path is definitely the one less traveled by. Before cars, it was the only way to travel between the villages. Today, it's very easy to get in a car and drive, but I always like to understand a place through the people and their local community. On this day, we ran into a grazing water buffalo, tea farmers, a man and his donkey. We crossed a couple of streams, despite some fearful travelers. (Rightly so! It was slippery and the water was cold!) We crossed a couple bridges. We sang and talked and soaked in the sun, rocks, trees and water.

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Rice Terraces

6/28/2019

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On every trip to China, I try to bring travelers to the south of China where they can witness the insane beauty of the rice terraces. The terraces are stunning, but also serve a purpose. Farmers are able to plant, even on the sides of hills if they create steps and plateaus up the hills. In addition, the portioned plots serve the purpose of decreasing erosion and runoff. The picture above is of Yuanyang Terrace in Yunnan Province. Those fields are a photographer's paradise.

Another popular destination to see the fields is Longsheng, near Guilin in Guangxi Province. One of my travelers' favorite overnights is in the rustic guesthouses on the mountain in the little village of Ping'an, part of the Longsheng Terrace.

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Overnight on Yellow Mountain

6/21/2019

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A little over a year ago, I checked off something on my bucket list...I hiked Yellow Mountain. Well, I actually don't have a bucket list because I like to enjoy whatever opportunities present themselves. I don't like to pine away for something that might not happen when there are a lot of other possibilities right in front of me. But if I did have a bucket list, Yellow Mountain would have been on it.

I have been hearing about the mountain for years. I heard that if I went, I must stay overnight on the mountain in order to witness the sunset and next morning's sunrise. So that's what I did in the spring of 2018 with a group of students. The scenery was breath-taking and the sunset and sunrise were as spectacular as legend had promised.

This is not a hike for the faint of heart. We took the cable car up and down the mountain and yet we still had a five hour hike up and up and up to our hotel. And after that, the 15 minute hike to the sunset point was agony. Then a short sleep and a 4:30 alarm for the ten minutes up to the sunrise point. Those ten minutes were brutal, after the previous day's hike, but not as tough as the seven hours that we did after breakfast.

I think I was slightly delirious with the soreness of my muscles. I attributed this to age and lack of exercise. However, the high school athletes on the trip were suffering right alongside me. The muscles used to hike up and down stairs are different from those used for running. Not to mention the fact that those athletes ran for maximum an hour with breaks here and there. This was far longer.

The hike was tough, but I think we all agreed well worth the effort and pain. After coming down the mountain, we all felt accomplished, not to mention the fact that we had witnessed some of the most beautiful mountain scenery in China.

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Little Villages Dot the Countryside

6/14/2019

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I never tire of walking the streets of the little villages that dot China's countryside. Around every corner is an opportunity to capture a moment and learn about a simple way of life that no longer exists in the United States. Some sights I enjoy no matter how I often I see them: wooden doorways with lion knockers; streams filled with people cleaning vegetables or clothing; homes built from mud and brick, decorated with red lanterns; basket weavers, wood carvers, jewelry makers and food sellers; laughing children; resting elderly. Many of the local people sit on stools outside their shops or homes and watch life pass by. This is an activity that is lost on Americans. Sitting and observing. No phones or other electronic distractions. I'm not convinced I would be able to do that. I fall prey to the beckoning of my phone. But being in these villages reminds me that I should try.

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Xiahai Temple

Sweet Potatoes and Eggs

Dancing in the Park

Din Tai Fung

China Art Museum

School Visit

A Walk from Hongcun to Xidi

Rice Terraces

Overnight on Yellow Mountain

Little Villages Dot the Countryside

Lauren Drazen

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