These cucumbers are really amazing and there are a few ways to make them.
The ingredients
This recipe vinaigrette uses soy sauce/vinegar instead. Use the cucumbers that you like but ideally the seeds should be small. There are many options here to change based on your taste. It is my favorite way to eat cucumbers in China.
1 or 2 cucumbers
2-3 garlic cloves
Pinch of sugar to taste
Salt to taste
1 Tbs. Sesame oil
1 Tbs soy sauce (this is optional as it makes the salad darker. A light soy sauce would be better here)
1 tsp black vinegar (this is optional but this vinegar has a nice flavor though it makes the dish even darker. You can eliminate or use other vinegar that you like such as apple cider vinegar)
1 tsp or more chili oil to taste (this can also be optional or you can use chili flakes here instead which is what I usually prefer)
Wash the cucumber. If skins are tough, they can be peeled. Cut in half lengthwise and put the cut side down. Cut into chunks.
Using the side of the blade of a knife, smash the cucumber pieces. This will smash much of the seeds out and split the pieces even further. Remove the loose seeds.
Add the rest of the ingredients in a bowl to mix. Pour over the cucumbers and serve as a dude dish or pair with rice. This looks not as beautiful as I have made in the past. I used a darker soy sauce and also the chili oil. The result is a darker sauce. I have made it before without the dark vinegar and using chili flakes and it is good as well.
Beans are my favorite vegetable and I loved Thai peanut sauce. Here is a recipe I’ve put together from different dishes I have tried.
This dish has a few variations.
1/2 tablespoon sesame oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 kg or about 1 pound green beans
For the sauce
1/2Â tablespoon sesame oil
1Â tablespoon soy sauce
2Â tablespoons peanut butter
1 teaspoon fresh or ginger powder
1 teaspoon rice wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar
Red pepper flakes, to taste
Whole peanuts toasted
1/4 cup water
Salt, to taste
Rinse and trim the beans.
Mix the ingredients for the sauce in a bowl until blended.
In a wok or skillet on low or medium heat, brown the garlic until fragrant.
Add the green beans and peanuts and cook until almost done. Add the sauce and stir until thickened and beans are cooked but still having some crunch. You can add more water as needed. I served it over quinoa but you can serve with rice.
As a record of what I have enjoyed eating abroad, I will post recipes from time to time.
One of my favorite dishes is so simple to make and flavorful to eat. Make rice to round out the dish but it is perfect on its own. This is a dish you serve along with other dishes and though good for brunch it is rarely seen here as a breakfast food.
The ingredients:
4 medium tomatoes
2 scallions
4 eggs
1/2 + 1/2 tsp salt to taste
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1-2 tsp rice wine (not vinegar!!!! You can also use Sake)
2 + 1 Tbs Vegetable oil or light olive oil
2 tsp sugar
1/2 c water
This is best prepared in a wok. You can cook this in a skillet but be sure to get it nice and hot to cook as fast as you can. You will also need something to act as a lid. Have all the ingredients ready on hand.
Prepare the veggies by cutting the tomatoes into smallish wedges. Chop the scallions.
Break the eggs into a bowl and beat thoroughly with half the salt, pepper, sesame oil, and rice wine.
Preheat the wok or skillet until it smokes and then add the 2 Tbs vegetable/olive oil. Quickly cook the egg mixture and remove as soon as it is cooked.
Add the remaining oil to the wok/skillet and cook the tomatoes and scallions for 1-2 minutes. Add the sugar, remaining salt, and water. Add more water if needed.
Add the cooked eggs back to the wok/skillet and mix together.
Cover the wok/skillet and cook for another 1-2 minutes. It is done when the tomatoes are completely soft.
Uncover and cook until the sauce is thickened to your liking. Serve with or without rice.
This is actually one of my favorite foods to order. It is simple, but don’t think that it is just tomatoes and eggs. It has an amazing flavor. You can also adjust this recipe and I know there are many other recipes out there. As with any family dish (like spaghetti, chili, etc.) there are many variations. A Cantonese friend taught me this dish.
I have wanted to see my friends Candy and David Shively the last time I was home but had not been home long enough. Now it has been three years since they docked in Hong Kong during their cruise. When my flight was cancelled the second time, I decided to go visit! They live in Peachtree City outside of Atlanta.
Warm Springs
I have watched the movie Warm Springs which details FDR and his life and look for a way to relieve his paralysis from polio he contracted as an adult. I loved the movie and how this shaped his view from the elitism of his circle to the actual lives of American people in rural areas. This shaped his policy when he became president.
His special cat that had hand controls since his legs were paralyzed.Guest house. A few dignitaries did stay here when he was actually president.Servants quarters.Where FDR stayed while at Warm Springs.Plaque of the death of FDR here at Warm Springs which occurred in his third term.A very modest bedroom that he used.Where he did much of his work.
Afterwards we had lunch and a hike at Pine Mountain, FDR State Park.
Elephant rock!
Starr’s Mills
Another day we traveled to the Mill that was in the movie Sweet Home, Alabama. It was a beautiful place to be on a beautiful morning.
Senoia, where The Walking Dead is filmed
This was such a cute little town. We went to see where the series was filmed, shop some cute little stores, and eat fried deviled eggs for lunch. For the record, I have not watched the series.
It also seems that some part of this railroad section was used in Fried Green Tomatoes.Grain bowl with chickpea fries and fried deviled eggs. They were yummy with the whites lightly fried then the deviled yolks are added.Candy and I enjoying eating at a restaurant outside. At this point, eating inside during COVID is not very exciting and the beautiful weather helped.
Juliette, Georgia
Candy: we should go to Juliette. Me: what’s in Juliette? Candy: fried green tomatoes Me: you mean the whistle stop cafe? Let’s go! So we traveled to Juliette where the whistle stop cafe (which was originally a hardware store, I think?) was turned into a cafe for the movie Fried Green Tomatoes. When the movie was done, two residents bought it and maintained the cafe. The grilled catfish sandwich, fried green tomatoes, and fried okra was amazing.
We took the food and sat on the picnic table outside located to the back of the cafe and alongside the railroad track. Where we were was right next to the barbecue pit used in the movie to dispose of the body…
It was another beautiful day! We then browsed the cute little shops in this very small town. Everyone was so friendly with the most delightful southern drawl.
The Mill even though this was not used in the movie.The waterfall is a short drive away and was used in the movie. The characters walked across the top.
I took advantage of the slightly warmer temperatures by running several days.
I also enjoyed watching birds at their bird feeder. I so miss having a feeder and watching birds and was pretty excited to see a Junco, Tufted Titmouse, and a Nuthatch among others. I had not seen them since I had a bird feeder at my home in PA.
We also took a golf cart ride around the subdivisions and the community. So many paths. I would like these for running and walking.
Before I knew it, the time was over and I was to head back to Pittsburgh. I will miss my friends, their hospitality, and the weather. They are a beautiful couple with an amazing community they live in.
(This post was to have been published a month ago, but multiple flight cancellations postponed that with no idea when my actual flight to China will actually be.)
It is good to actually see sky with only a few tall buildings around as Pittsburgh is a much smaller city than Guangzhou. I had envisioned that I would go to the theater, watch a movie with family, go to dinners but the COVID reality made me think twice. I am being overly cautious as the numbers of cases are much larger than this time in 2020. Even though the new omicron variant is milder, the predominant variant Delta is the concern. And most importantly, being exposed means that the antibodies would prevent me from going back to China. Sometimes it is just better to spend time with one another.
It was nice to take it easy and just hang out with family. I spent weekends with Ryan. It was refreshing to run around the riverfront. These pictures are from Herr’s island. The cute squirrel moved closer as I stood taking pictures of both him and the cardinal.
Ryan is a great cook. The breakfast scramble was delicious.
He makes great food no matter the ingredients.
I spent some time shopping. It is difficult to find my size shoe in China so finding running shoes and a good everyday shoe is a must. Also on my list are more running clothes and other pieces I find to take back. Lastly, I needed to get shelf stable food to take into quarantine. Packets of tuna fish, nuts, and oatmeal. Oh, and coffee.
We also walked, looked at possible other apartments for Ryan, and traveled together to Worthington to spend new years with my brother and sister-in-law, Ken and Sunni. I prepared to be ready to leave on January 21.
After learning that I needed to go to LA 7 days before flying to China for tests and health monitoring, I went to Pittsburgh a day earlier to spend more time with Ryan. First on the list was to make sure I had everything set for LA and then too repack for Wisconsin and to go back to GZ as I threw everything together at the last minute. The next morning I made sure I had the items for Wisconsin and reorganized the bags for Guangzhou. After coming back from WI, I prepared to leave for LA the next day….. Or so I thought….
The next day I found out that my flight is cancelled as well as the replacement flight and the next flight is now March 7th. Because of the Olympics in Beijing, almost all flights from the US were cancelled. It is nice to be with family but difficult to move around from place to place and live out of a suitcase. I made plans to split more time with family, start preparing online lessons, and run/hike to stay busy.
I took a long walk along trails by the river to meet Ryan when he was finished with work. It was a cold day but a really nice walk around the city.
Point state park is located where the rivers converge in Pittsburgh: the Allegheny, Monongahela, and the Ohio river.
I love the facade of this old building and hope they keep it’s look and character.
I have been in this restaurant many years ago.
More pictures from a run after much snow and very freezing temperatures.
I also walked to the Strip to buy Asian products to make dinner.
I enjoyed looking at all of the signs on buildings. They are in Mongolian which is a bit similar to Arabic and also have mandarin as well. The building designs are pretty distinct and different from the rest of China.
I have seen these milk candy (they are not sweet and some of them are a bit chalky) in Guangzhou but they are everywhere here. They also have Mongolian milk tea powder made of camel milk, etc. It is actually quite tasty.
We rented a car to get around. We could only do that because Jack is Chinese. It was the easiest way to move from the volcano cluster, to the grassland, and then the desert. They are not close together but the longest trip was 4.5 hours. My friends were worried that there would not be anything for me to eat as there is a lot of meat eating there but there were quite a few tasty vegetable dishes. We made a joke that I grazed on the grassland! I did try the lamb which was amazing.
I have seen so many snacks here in China but going on road trips and stopping at rest stops has some different foods. This is a pig foot.
I’m always interested in critters I see when in nature. This bug was pretty cool.
I’m obsessed with the lions that are on each side of doorways. These are different obviously as it is more Mongolian than Han Chinese.
It was interesting to see the different housing in inner Mongolia. This is a very old dwelling we saw.
Each house has a wall around their yard. They keep their livestock there after they let them graze during the day. This is not similar to villages in the south of China.
The gardens here are just as beautiful as they are in the rest of China. These lotus flowers are beautiful.
Taken on a run the last day in Hohhot.
We stayed in a couple 5 star hotels in hohhot. It was interesting to note that in the south there will be English movies that play in english with Chinese subtitles but up here in the North they dub the voices in Chinese and there is no English subtitles.
We definitely drew attention to us as not many foreigners are up here nor visit. We were asked often to have our pictures taken with Chinese. Many were on vacation from places there are not foreigners. Running through Hohhot also drew many looks.
We still saw some people turn away or put on masks when we approached. We saw that behavior more in the south however. Otherwise, there was actually less mask wearing up in inner Mongolia (and also Chongqing) than other places. There is fake news going around that since scientists believe covid was around longer but not as deadly, that it was manufactured somewhere else and brought to China (read: the USA). That is something many Chinese find ridiculous as well, but human beings are the same everywhere.
At the volcano cluster a Chinese person asked Jack where I was from. After he replied, she asked if the pandemic was over. Of course not. But many don’t realize that some expats have been here the whole time so it is natural for them to think we just arrived on vacation.
It is frustrating when we check into a hotel that we have to show our passport, visa, AND stamp of arrival to China. Since there is a 2 to 4 week quarantine period if you are able to get back in the country, I’m not sure why that matters anymore. Some have said it is for tracking but they can always track our movements through passport records and online booking. This is definitely a sign of the times. The grassland and desert places didn’t even ask for our passport to check in. They were pretty chill and it was great to feel normal.
I am fortunate despite all of the headaches to be able to see parts of China many don’t go to. I saw much last summer and plan to see the rest this year as no telling how long I can stay here as it is difficult to leave and no guarantee you can come back.
I loved inner Mongolia for all the nature and the food but now excited to see the last two ancient capitols: Nanjing and Luoyang.
This is the nearest grassland to Hohhot and the earliest grassland to have been developed for tourists in Inner Mongolia. It is 1,000 square kilometers (400 square miles) and at an altitude of 1,700 meters (5,600 feet).
This plateau grassland has a chain of hills around it. In the Mongolian language, Xilamuren means “yellow water”. Unfortunately, tourism and changing weather patterns is changing the grasslands. There are other grasslands but they are farther away.
This was a memorable part of our trip. We enjoyed a traditional welcome ceremony where we were handed a blue scarf and given a cup of baiju.
We stayed in another yurt, though we know it is not traditional.
This is a traditional yurt.
We drank kumiss which is a fermented drink made from animal milk. This one was from camel milk. It was very delicious and smooth.
In Mongolia, there are the Three Games of Men: “Horse Racing”, “Wrestling” and “Archery”. We saw a show that gave the history of Mongolian people and demonstrated these three games. Mongolians are known for their horse riding capabilities and ability to shift sides and other tricks. They told the story of tribes and eventually being unified into one Mongol group.
The horses even played dead on command. This rider went off one side and went under the horse to go back up the other side. These are actual Mongolian ethnic people.
Aobao (敖包)
The aobao is the Mongolian stone piles or heaps for worship. Local people always sacrifice food goods and alcohol to the gods at the Aobao to pray for good weather, harvest and fortune.
At night we celebrated at a feast. We wore Mongolian dress and were served some really great food while being entertained.
The main dish was roast lamb. They had three lambs brought out and carved to be served. The winner of the wrestling competition.
We went horse riding to a herdsmen’s home through the grassland.
Spices, peppers, broth are heated to boiling and you cook your own meats and veggies you order as the meal progresses. There are many hot pots I have had (the one using fresh coconut water is my favorite) but you cannot be in Sichuan province without trying theirs. It is considered the hottest.
Hot pot. The center is bone broth with medium spice and the outer ring is medium hot hotpot which is very spicy. Mushrooms, veggies, lamb, bean sprouts, and lamb. We thought we were ordering fish but instead ordered pig intestine. Ever adventurous, we all tried it anyway. Chewy but not much taste.
The next night we went to a different hot pot place. Again we had the bone broth in one side and hot pot on the other. It definitely gets hotter in spice the longer it cooks. The bone broth did not have heat to it so added some of the other liquid to give it a kick.
There is sesame paste, cilantro, green onion, seasonings, etc. and you do your cooked foods in it before eating. Amber, Michael, Jack and myself.
Excellent hot pot and trying different meats, fish, and types of veggies. Definitely a reason to visit again!
Established in 1131 in the Ming and Song dynasties, the village is charming and well preserved. What makes Hongcun Village so unique is that the village was designed by a Feng Shui master to resemble a cow. The two old trees at the entrance to the village represent the horns, the four stone bridges the legs, the ponds the stomach, etc. This is the entrance we took to the village and the two trees are on each side of the photograph.
After checking into this cute hotel, I went off to find a place to run. I went along the river to head up out of the town. I passed through a couple of farming villages.
The countryside during the run was beautiful and uneventful except for a couple of dogs. The villagers admonished them when they wouldn’t leave me run through.
This house looks like it could be from the US. Not what I expected to find in the rural area.
After the run I went out exploring with a few of the others on the tour. We found the two trees that made the horns of the cow (ox). One of the trees was used when there was a marriage. The bride is carried around the base of the tree.
The other tree, a very large gingko, is used similarly but when someone passes away.
While walking we noticed this post office sells drinks and cocktails. We went in for a look. They sold some unique stamps and novelties as well as drawings from the many students who come here to practice drawing the village and the mountains.
While we were there a couple chose a post card and sat down to compose it before mailing.
This is one of the bridges that is the legs of the cow and the lake that is central to the village.
Hongcun is unique among all Chinese villages for its very sophisticated water system. Its two large ponds are connected to a series of flowing streams which pass by every house, providing water for washing, cooking, and bathing.
Sights from around the village.
I love the signs I see here in China.
Hongcun at night was beautiful.
There was a charming old gentleman selling small goods. He was in any area not many people were at. I bought a bowl and cup made from bamboo.
I woke up early to get in another run and view more areas while there were less people.
A pile of bamboo I bought a fried dough with a sesame seed filling inside. It was quite tasty.
Outside the village I ran in a different direction than the day before.
This road is a heritage road between multiple UNESCO heritage sites.
I went to a blood drive at a hospital to make a blood donation. I have done this before and have a blood donor card in China. I could not give blood though as they just changed their rules. I would have had to give blood one more time before I turned 56 to still give blood until 60. I was pretty disappointed but at least Jack gave blood for the first time.
This is a jellied dessert in a ginger syrup. What I like about deserts here is that they are not very sweet.
We then traveled to Nansha watershed park. Even though there are very few cases here, we still wear masks and there are checkpoints to check temperature and check health codes through the app. It tracks if you have been in a high risk area. If only other countries followed what could be done to keep infection low.
The lotus flowers were beautiful.
These are the pods from the lotus and the seeds are used here as well in cooking and medicine. The root is also used for cooking.
We walked along the water to look for birds. I found egrets.
Of coarse feeding the koi was fun.
View from the tower
We then walked through the forest.
Nansha port
We walked along the road to find the seafood market.
Fisherman’s wharf
At the seafood market they displayed many catches. They also showed the eggs that are in them as well as that is a delicacy.
Local fishermen sell their catch to grab customers before they enter the seafood market. Look at the size of the oysters.
What I bought was dried squids for a snack. We had already made plans for dinner. It was a great adventure looking at the variety of fish and shellfish being sold.
