Dates of dining experiences: June 13-28, 2018
Places: All of the local eateries in three Chinese cities
Locations: Suzhou, China; Nanjing, China; and Changchun, China
I just spent an amazing 16 days traveling around China, eating all of the local foods at all of the local restaurants, and presenting at a couple music teacher conferences. It is amazing how fresh and delicious all of the food is in China. Of course, the customers cook the food themselves at their table at most of the restaurants. Whether eating hot pot or Korean-style barbecue, you boil or grill the food yourself at your table. The food is always fresh, you can cook it to your liking, and the seasonings and spices of the hot pot or dry rub are simply delicious.
Some of my favorites foods in China were the grilled octopus on a stick, just about anything that you can put in a hot pot, and, of course, any kind of steamed dumpling (especially if it contains shrimp or pork). One thing that was a little hard to get used to was everything being cooked with the bones, but you get used to the way little fish bones feel in your mouth.
I did eat some rather "weird" things by American standards, such as intestine from a couple different animals, throat, pig ear, duck tongue, stinky tofu, and even a silkworm chrysalis. However, I liked it all! (The silkworm did require some spicy seasoning to get past the texture.) All of the local people I interacted with were very surprised that I tried all the foods without hesitation, and even more surprised that I like it all!
This was an amazing experience and I simply cannot wait to go back. There are still so many different Chinese foods that I have not yet tried, and so many places I have not yet seen. If you were every considering it, I highly recommend a vacation in China. (You can stay in pretty nice 4 and 5 star hotels for the same price as 2 and 2.5 star hotels in the United States.) If you visit, please let me know your thoughts on the local food cultures you experience. Enjoy!
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