The larger cities in China, notably Beijing
and Shanghai, now have a wide selection of
restaurants that cater for almost every
palate - from western fare to Indian, Thai
and Japanese - but these are typically more
expensive establishments. You are able to
eat on a very lean budget but inevitably you
will be restricted to Chinese food.
Nonetheless, this by no means limits your
choice, as the Chinese tend to eat anything
and everything, apart from dog, which they
tend to leave to the Koreans. Chicken, pork,
fish, lamb, duck, beef, donkey, tarantula,
scorpion, snake, shark, lizard - the list is
endless. And they don't let anything go to
waste; a chicken's feet and tongue and a
duck's head are particular delicacies.
A speciality that I enjoyed tucking into is the
Chinese pork dumpling. Shanghai is home
to a small chain of restaurants called Yang's
Dumplings, which focus on making the best
soup dumplings in China. Part-fried, partsteamed and cooked in big batches within a
large wok, they draw the masses from the
streets at every hour of the day. They are
filled with pork and leek and are served with
a mix of vinegar and chilli flakes on the side.
£1.20 will buy you eight of the
mouthwatering delights and, if they don't
quite fill the gap, Yang also makes a
wonderful beef soup, which involves a
mélange of bean noodles, beef, peanuts,
coriander and chilli.
Sadly the Chinese are not particularly
proficient with their puddings; their bread,
cakes and chocolate do not have the texture
or taste that we're used to in the UK and they
are hard to find on the high street. Perhaps
part of the reason is that the Chinese do not
have the sweet tooth that has created such
a burden on the health industry in the
Western world. Indeed, there are relatively
few obese Chinese. The dearth of sweet
confectionery can also be attributed to
China's poor dairy industry, which has been
plagued by health scares over the years.
The majority of milk in China is imported in
powder form from New Zealand and, even
during my small stint in the country, the
Chinese government banned imports from
Fonterra, New Zealand's largest dairy
exporter, over fears that some of its products
cause botulism. A yomp around the Wal
Marts and Tescos in the big cities highlights
the relatively small market for sweet dairy
products; Snickers and Dove (Galaxy)
chocolate bars are the only brands that
dominate the confectionery aisle.
With all this talk of food, and not yet a
pancake full of Peking Duck on the tongue,
it was time to move north to Beijing. After yet
another spectacular sunset over the Great
West Lake in Hangzhou I hopped aboard the
overnight sleeper train, which sweeps
through the 800 miles to Beijing in 11 hours.
C.V.
WINCHESTER
VILLAGES
TRUST
The income from this trust is
available to provide assistance for
those in need, where and when
help is not available from public
funds, or to help in emergencies.
To make an enquiry if you live in
Bighton, contact: Gail Johnson,
Chautara, Bighton, SO24 9RB. Tel.
01962 736556
Or if you live in Old Alresford,
contact:
Sue Alexander, The Hyde, Old
Alresford, SO24 9DH. Tel. 732043
17