As previously mentioned elsewhere, my brother was here in China for about a two week span. I live in Dalian, so we chose to spend the bulk of the time here. I’m not particularly fond of Beijing, but seeing as how one of the only things my brother knows about China and/or it’s culture is the Great Wall, I decided that going there for at least a day was (regretably) unavoidable.
And plus, I’m not particularly keen on scrambling from one tourist trap to another during my hard-earned vacation time. One Chinese city was as new as the next to my brother, and so it was settled – 12 Days in Dalian and then 2 in Beijing.
For those of you who want to read up on the places we visited, check out my entry on DalianDalian.com entitled, appropriately enough:
12 Days in Dalian
Looking back on the list of restaurants we ate at, I’m struck by one thing – and it’s not something I planned when making up our itinerary. We only ate Chinese food once during the whole 12 days!
My brother does like to eat, and my plan was to take him to all my favorite restaurants. But as it happens, only a small percentage of my favorite restaurants happen to be Chinese. We did spend hours upon hours chilling out on Japanese tatami mats, drinking draft beer. And we hit more than our fair share of Western Restaurants as well.
But nonetheless I do have a somewhat ambiguous feeling in my stomach, one which I’m sure was not caused (not this time at least!) by the strong Russian Beer at the Dalian Beer Festival.
It’s a feeling something like guilt, but at the same time not quite.
It’s because I can’t help but wonder, is it ok to experience China in this way? Is it ok to introduce my brother to China in that way?
Am I a cheating laowai who isn’t really living in China?
Am I avoiding the real China?
Don’t get me wrong. I’ve had my share of Chinese food before, and I like it quite a bit. Hell, I’ve even written about the benefits of not doing everything that I just outlined above! And let me quote myself for a moment if I might, in an effort to figure out whether or not I am indeed full of shit:
What’s your Reason for Being in China? Many people come to China only to hang out in Expat bars, eat western food, and watch cheap DVDs in their apartment. But if you’re only gonna surround yourself with “foreign-ness,†why come to China to begin with? I try my best to keep these times limited. But having said that, I do see the value of “getting away from it all†when you’re having a Bad China Day. I like to call them cultural retreats. And usually they come complete with Blue Cheese Pizza, Beef Carapaccio, and a nice after-dinner glass of port (courtesy of Cafe Igosso).
Well, if the two weeks with my brother are any indication, I’m no longer trying to keep this “foreign-ness” to a minumum. Why? I think for the most part it’s because I’m working a lot more than last year, and on top of that I’m doing a lot more online projects than before (including that Dalian website) – so when I’m hungry, I usually like to indulge a bit and reward myself.
But all that aside, I have to admit that these days I am struggling a bit with the culture, and maybe eating non-Chinese food is my coping mechanism.
Does anyone else do this?
And if so, are you as big as a house yet?
Hey Rick,
If and when my brother finally gets himself out to China, I’m going to do my best to take him to Chinese restaurants – but will take him to some other tasty places as well. To get the ‘authentic’ China experience, you do need to have a number of different kinds of Chinese food.
But there’s no way he’d be willing to go to the tiny little shops… guess cause he got food poisoning from such shops when traveling in the past.
You know what’s funny?
After we did finally go out for Chinese food, my brother found himself with a mild case of tap-arse.
We did go out for a couple of yang-rou chuanr once though. Which I neglected to mention.
I remember when my folks were here for my wedding, I did my best to show them around and get them trying new things – but they were extremely grateful to spend the last night here at a high-priced on-The-Bund restaurant drinking expensive wine and eating some of the best Western food I’ve ever had.
As for myself, I find I eat a lot more Western food now in my third year here than I did for the first chunk of time. I think most long-timers are the same.
When you first arrive you’re eager to try out new things, get a taste of what China’s all about. After a while you start re-introducing the foods that make you feel comfortable, and remind you of a place that’s not so easy to get to.
As a visitor, I think you should try as much as you can while you’re here. Eating McDonald’s every day is a sure way to feel like you missed something in your travels here.
As a resident, to each their own. I still have favourite Chinese food that I’m always excited to eat (hotpot, Xinjiang chuar, Sichuan, etc.), but mostly… I’ve ate my fill of Chinese food and am happy enough to spend my Friday night watching a movie and eating a pizza (sans corn and mayo – of course).
I echo your sentiments about this. After two and a half years here, I’ve decided that my constitution (and perhaps a lot of other westerners) just isn’t up to eating Chinese cuisine all the time. In the same way that the average Chinese person is lactose intolerant and can’t eat cheese without feeling sick, westerners just aren’t used to the oil, salt and spices (not to mention the MSG). I live in Shanghai, and the food here is particularly oily, sweet and uses a lot of soy sauce. These days if I have the option of a bowl of SH-style chaomian or a sandwich, I’d take the sandwich every time. I think my stomach thanks me for it too.
As to the problem about living in a foreign bubble, I don’t think there’s anything you can do about it. There’s nothing wrong with maintaining your own culture in your adopted country. That’s the reason there’s a Chinatown in nearly every city in the world. Just so long as you appreciate the country you live in, are tolerant and sympathetic, I think you can eat and do whatever you like.
I definitely eat more western food now than when I first arrived. Partly because I ate waaaay too much hotpot, and ended up getting sick of it, but also now I know where to buy pretty much any ingredient I need*, I do a lot more cooking at home. I’m getting pretty damned good too – in the last week alone I’ve done sirloin steak in a red wine and mushroom sauce, with sauteed potatoes and mange tout, chicken and steak fajitas with home-made guacamole and salsa, and Thai green chicken and vegetable curry, with tom yum goong prawn soup to start. Damn Mrs TaiTai is one lucky lady!
*Living in Beijing does have it’s benefits.
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