CHINA
Country Overview:
“Love the food, hate the government”
I arrived in China in May 2013 and left August 2020. I taught English for awhile, did my master’s of politics & foreign policy at Tsinghua University, worked for a year at China Today, and then two years at Xinhua News Agency. I spent most of my time in Beijing, but also traveled to Shanghai, Wuhan, Inner Mongolia, Shenzhen, Panjin, Guangzhou, Tianjin, Qingdao, Xi’an, Sanya, Macau, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.
Cantonese Food in Beijing, China
So my buddy says he knows a good Cantonese restaurant and to clarify, this place was beyond good. We get seated and they plop down a menu that’s about as big as a wallpaper binder that interior designers have you flip through. If that wasn’t enough, there was a lady with a cart full of food that came by every so often asking if we wanted anything.
After tearing through the encyclopedia sized menu, we finally order: “Sichuan style dumplings, steamed pork buns, spicy pork hot-pot style, dumplings with pork broth inside, fried shrimp in a buttery soy sauce, and a side dish of noodles”.
How would I describe this dinner? It was fucking delicious. Really tasty, flavorful, so many different textures, cold beer to wash down the Sichuan spice; it was the perfect meal for a windy December night in Beijing.