China First Impressions: Part II

The Food

As expected, I have had my challenges navigating the food scene with my need to eat gluten free, but despite this, I can whole-heartedly say that I am really loving the food in China. There is so much food to explore here, I feel I have only scraped the tip of the iceberg. This post could go on forever, but I'll spare you and try to just touch on a few highlights.

I am sure it is a big surprise to everyone that rice and noodles are a prevalent part of the Chinese diet, and the most commonly eaten meat is pork. Chicken, duck and fish are also quite easy to get, but seemingly not as frequently eaten (likely because it is more expensive than pork). Something that I wish I could try, but unfortunately cannot are all of the dumplings that are prepared in different ways, with many different fillings. In general eggs and Chinese cabbage seem to be very common ingredients found in many dishes. I don't find the food in Hangzhou and surrounding areas to be very spicy, but I am told that this will all change when I finally visit Sichuan province.

Noodle soup street food a few blocks from our place

I mostly stick to the rice dishes since I know rice is safe, and I just make sure to ask for no soy sauce (which contains wheat in case you didn't know). I find the rice in Hangzhou to actually be better than the rice we have had in other parts of China so far, so that's definitely a plus! Fried rice is my go to because I know how to order it, I know it will be gluten free if I ask for no soy sauce, and quite frankly it is delicious (so much better than what you get at Chinese restaurants outside of China). My favorite dish that I have had since being in China though is what they call New Year Cake or Niángāo in pinyin or 年糕 in characters. I never tried anything quite like it. They make a sort of dense 'noodle log' that is made from glutinous rice flour (sticky rice flour), and then they slice this into discs, boil it (like a noodle), then stir fry it with some cabbage and eggs. One other dish I really like that can be found all over China but I had never seen in 'western' Chinese restaurants outside of China is simply cooked eggs,  tomatoes and shallots (with some oil, salt and sugar). Quick, easy and delicious.

New Year Cake

Egg and tomato dish (don't know the Chinese name)

Fried rice and beef skewers from a Muslim restaurant (there are over 21 million muslims in China)

There is an abundance of street food and small mom and pop-hole in the wall restaurants, which are exactly what Bill and I love! It is amazing just how affordable eating out is here. My favorite restaurant which is close to where we live has some of the best food and best prices around. It is very common for Bill and I to both get dinner there and pay a total of $1.50. We ate our very first meal in China here, have tried many places since, but this remains our favorite.

Street food: We called this Chinese McMuffin (starts with a batter, then filled with an egg and minced pork)

Our favorite restaurant!

I know I gush on and on about Hungary and how much I loved it there, but I have to admit that the food in China beats Hungarian cuisine. Sajnálom Magyarok. De én mindig szeretni túró rudi és gulyás leves.

China First Impressions: Part I

Hangzhou: The City Itself

West Lake

I meant to write this post over a month ago, but I've had a hard time figuring out what to write because I don't feel a true connection to the city of Hangzhou. Hangzhou to me is a combination of picturesque tranquility with nondescript sprawling big city. It lacks a distinct flare and personality that I try to find within a city. After one month I thought I just needed more time to really find it, but now that I have been here for over two months I am fearing the city may really lack that indescribable 'vibe and feeling' that makes a city truly wonderful and unique. 

The downtown area of Hangzhou is quite clean, filled with medium sized business buildings and lots of shops. What makes the downtown area unique though is that it abuts the UNESCO protected West Lake which is admired by many domestic tourists every year. West Lake is beautiful, and the rolling hills behind it that take on a silhouette effect due to both the humidity and polluted air, add to the visual splendor. But this is just one small sliver of the city.

In general I find that cities tend to feel smaller than their actual population size, but I do not feel that way about Hangzhou. It may be due to the fact that I do not live in a district that is in the downtown area and therefore to go anywhere of note it takes forever and allows me to see how far this city really stretches. The area I live in is mostly full of fairly fancy high rises and to be honest is quite boring. There are some pretty good places to get food though, and the cost is almost nothing. The most vibrant area of our district in my opinion is called 'trash alley' which is about a 15 minute bike ride from where we live. Here you won't find any cars, but it is packed with people, food, more food, and you guessed it, trash. This is one of the few places where there is some energy and it can be a lot of fun to come here to eat, people watch and really feel like you're in China. The swarms of people can get to you after a while, so after about one to two hours I am ready to retreat. 

High-Rise Apartments in the Binjiang District of Hangzhou

Trash Alley

If you didn't already know this, I am a sucker for public transportation. I LOVE public transportation. A little weird, I know, but after growing up in California where I was devoid of public transport, I fell in love with the Chicago El (even with all its faults), the Hungarian BKV (metro, trams and buses), and had love affairs with public transportation all across Europe. Hangzhou has let me down in the public transportation category. They have a developing metro system, but the closest metro station to where I live is about a 20 minute cab ride. The buses here are slow and take round-about routes making it shorter to bike most places. It's been an adjustment getting on without good public transportation, but I've been trying to make due with my new bike and our e-bike (electric scooter - will post about this later). Without good public transportation it does make it more difficult to really discover what's here in this enormous city, but hopefully in time I will find out.