Dear Journal,
Is there anything better in this world than fried lemon duck? Seriously. Today the group and I had lunch at this nice restaurant a few blocks from the hotel. As in usual Asian style we all sat around a circular table with a spinning middle. The spinning middle is used to move the food around the table so people don’t really have to reach over each other. There’s also a lot of food served as always. You know before coming to China I thought that Chinese people didn’t eat as much as Americans and that was why they tend to be smaller than us. However, since arriving here that thought has been destroyed and buried. Every meal is composed of several dishes and when I say several I don’t mean five or seven. I mean like ten plus man! There is always so much food. And its not just because we’re in restaurants. According to my Professor the only Asian that don’t chow down at the table are the Japanese who believe in eating only 3/4 of their meal out of respect. If this is fact I still have to wonder how they stay so small then. Perhaps by the time I leave China I will know their secret. Oh, I just realized I completely diverged from the original topic. So back to the fried lemon duck. It was one of the dishes served today at lunch. When I took my first bite my tongue and taste buds were greeted with a surprising taste. Actually it was so surprising that after the first taste I paused in contemplation and raised my eye brows. The thick bright yellow sauce was also sweet and citrus -y, but it was definitely not a dessert. The actual duck itself was cooked perfectly so that the breading wasn’t too soft and just slid off nor was it too crunchy and hurt too chew. This dish was perfect, but I think its time to move onto another topic before I start drooling. Food is just such a big part of every culture and the Chinese students (as well as my Professor) put emphasis on how important food is in their culture, He actually joked that because the Chinese put so much time in effort into food is why it took them this long to catch up with America. Haha. He’s an interesting character.
Is there anything better in this world than fried lemon duck? Seriously. Today the group and I had lunch at this nice restaurant a few blocks from the hotel. As in usual Asian style we all sat around a circular table with a spinning middle. The spinning middle is used to move the food around the table so people don’t really have to reach over each other. There’s also a lot of food served as always. You know before coming to China I thought that Chinese people didn’t eat as much as Americans and that was why they tend to be smaller than us. However, since arriving here that thought has been destroyed and buried. Every meal is composed of several dishes and when I say several I don’t mean five or seven. I mean like ten plus man! There is always so much food. And its not just because we’re in restaurants. According to my Professor the only Asian that don’t chow down at the table are the Japanese who believe in eating only 3/4 of their meal out of respect. If this is fact I still have to wonder how they stay so small then. Perhaps by the time I leave China I will know their secret. Oh, I just realized I completely diverged from the original topic. So back to the fried lemon duck. It was one of the dishes served today at lunch. When I took my first bite my tongue and taste buds were greeted with a surprising taste. Actually it was so surprising that after the first taste I paused in contemplation and raised my eye brows. The thick bright yellow sauce was also sweet and citrus -y, but it was definitely not a dessert. The actual duck itself was cooked perfectly so that the breading wasn’t too soft and just slid off nor was it too crunchy and hurt too chew. This dish was perfect, but I think its time to move onto another topic before I start drooling. Food is just such a big part of every culture and the Chinese students (as well as my Professor) put emphasis on how important food is in their culture, He actually joked that because the Chinese put so much time in effort into food is why it took them this long to catch up with America. Haha. He’s an interesting character.
As we were riding through Beijing today I starred outside at the city. I didn’t really see many houses but I saw loads of apartment buildings that reached the sky and beyond ( so basically they were seriously tall). Out of curiosity I asked my Professor how much rent was? He gave me a rough estimation based on the area of Beijing we were in and said 600 riminbi per square feet (I think that’s what he said at least but trust me it was a ridiculous amount despite). I nearly fell out my seat. I took in a deep breath and shouted ” How the heck can people afford to live in China?!” He luaghed but I was serious. Rent is extremely high except in the rural areas. Oh you wanna buy a house? Forget about that! It’s still mind boggling now to think about it as I’m prepping to go to sleep. Actually I’m struggling to keep my eyes open so I’ll write more tomorrow. Good night.
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