Posts tagged with "Culture"

Everything But the Table: Lā Miàn Noodles (拉面)

Posted by Steve No Comments
Oct 25 2011

As temperatures continue to plummet, the prospect of finding something hot and spicy to warm your belly becomes all the more appealing. If it wasn’t for today’s elegant yet simplistic dish, 拉面 (lā miàn) or pulled noodles, I don’t know how I could weather the frigid Beijing winter as it approaches.

So if you want to stay warm, add this dish to your culinary repertoire. These noodles are the ultimate comfort food and a favorite of just about everyone I’ve met (among both foreigners and Chinese people). To quote Kung Fu Panda, “we are noodle folk”.

Much like its Japanese equivalent, ramen, 拉面 is an ancient practice of literally “pulling” noodle apart from one big chunk of starch. Hence the transliteration: “pull noodle”. Watching a 拉面 noodle master go to work is much like watching an Italian chef hand toss a pizza crust; involving an amazing slight of hand and strength that includes a little entertainment for the salivating audience.

As the noodles-to-be flip, slap and twist under the direction of the chef’s nimble hands, you can’t help but wonder how many hours were spent perfecting this doughy dance. Check out the video below:

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Much like, 串儿 (chuànr) and  饺子 (jiǎo zi)，拉面 is simplistic and comforting food, that sells for cheap (便宜 pián yi) and cures what ails you. While its roots trace back to central Asia, 拉面 has worked its way east through western provinces of China, namely 新疆 (xīn jiāng) and 兰州 (lán zhōu). Eventually the mixture of basic, easily found ingredients, strong spices and availability to all income classes, brought the appeal of 拉面 east, where it has been a staple of Chinese food since.

For a meager price, a big, piping hot bowl is all yours. Usually 拉面 is a mixture of cilantro-like greens, bamboo shoots or tofu, chicken stock, green peppers (青椒) and strips of beef. You may be wondering to yourself: So what? Basically it’s chicken noodle soup, right? Wrong. Just like dumplings, the 拉面 eating experience is all up to what you put into it, literally.

Spicy 辣椒 sauce is always available along with vinegar or 醋 (cù) and fresh greens (parsley/cilantro). Even soy sauce or 酱油 (jiàng yóu) available at most restaurants, if you want that extra salty kick. Just mix it into your bowl until you’ve found that perfect, almost scientifically measured concoction that touches on all five basic tastes. That being said, you can always experiment with your 拉面, or even take your dining experience to extremes. Once I saw a man eating a bowl of 拉面 so bright red with 辣椒 (chili sauce) that he was visibly in pain, yet still methodically slurping away (he later said it was a sure fire way to cure the common cold or 感冒gǎn mào).

On a cold day, there’s nothing better than a steaming hot bowl of 拉面 to warm your belly. All you need to do is find a restaurant with “兰州拉面” on the front, grab a chair, and ask for 一碗 （yiwǎn). Within minutes order will be up. Throw in some spices, grab a beer or 啤酒 (pí jiǔ) and between slurps, ask yourself why you ever would take Mcdonalds or KFC over this fast food delicacy.

After you’ve gone to town, take a second to pull your face out of your bowl and take a look around you. The laughter, slurps and crowds should be proof enough that China is a nation of noodle folk. Just be forewarned that on a particularly cold day, you may not even be able to get a seat.

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The Beautiful Bones: Bone-Stretching (骨拉伸)

Posted by Steve 4 Comments
Jul 12 2011

Bone-stretching or 骨拉伸 (Gǔ lā shēn) has become quite popular in China, with over a million people partaking in the excruciating (and unnecessary) surgery. Why? The never-ending quest for beauty and success, which by the Chinese standards, means you must be taller. Here’s an in-depth National Geographic documentary on bone stretching in China and Asia:

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Now after watching this video, you may be asking: why on earth would anyone subject themselves to this immensely costly, dangerous and life-shortening procedure just to gain a few inches? The answer, although simplistic, is that there is a warped sense of beauty in China.

Bone-stretching is a worldwide practice, and did not originate in China. That said, it has taken root in China due in part to the unique changes in Chinese society over the past couple of decades.

Following the Cultural Revolution, poor nutrition, and lack of adequate health care, had caused the Chinese population to follow the average heights of neighboring South Korean and Japanese. Yet, following the Open Door Reform, and as China opened up to Western (改革开放) goods, services and advertisements promoting western lifestyles began inundating the Chinese people.

Commercials, billboards and magazines everywhere portrayed a rich and glamorous western lifestyle where everyone was seemingly happy. China’s burgeoning upper class wanted to emulate that lifestyle. Suddenly, the disparity in physical appearance between China and the rest of the world became a focal point of the Chinese elite. Success is status and status comes from separating and elevating yourself from the 1.4 billion people in the mainland. Because success was measured in ability to adapt and accept western modes of consumerism, the Chinese elites began mimicking the style and appearances of tall foreign models. Yet wearing their clothes and buying their products wasn’t enough and in the quest for gaining status, and in the pursuit of height, bone stretching became popular in China.

For many,  bone-stretching was seen as a leg up into the corporate world, helping to guarantee  a long and successful career. For others, it was a way to find a husband or wife. Regardless, China has accepted a cultural and social stigma against short people within a nation that averages 5 foot 4 1/2” across the board (to put that in perspective, the US average is around 5 foot 7”). That’s like Sweden reproaching blond people.

One would think that such a stigma, especially relating to this invasive, body-augmenting surgery, would be looked down upon in China, due to the horrible history of foot-binding (缠足 chán zú). For those unfamiliar, foot-binding was an extremely painful, dangerous and chauvinistic practice carried out up until the early 20th century throughout China. The point of it was to literally break the foot (almost in half) above the pad of the foot, having the girl walk upon curled up toes, to make her feet petite, elegant, and to guarantee that she could not run off with another man or flee the compound. Charming, right? The sad thing about foot-binding is that almost every girl hoping for a better life (and her mother) had to do it, otherwise no suitor would consider her as a wife. Sound familiar?

I mention foot-binding here because, just like in the bone-stretching situation, Chinese citizens feel forced to undergo these “quack” like procedures because of social and cultural pressure. In a nation so large and filled with so many people looking for work, discrimination towards a five foot 2 inch male is ubiquitous. Jobs, university spots and government positions are so cut-throat, that not only do you need to be well qualified, have good 关系 or an in with a public official，but now you have to work on your appearance. For some that unfortunately means risking life and health just to gain a few inches.

Unfortunately, the quest for beauty doesn’t end with these ridiculous procedures doesn’t end with bone drilling. A huge, huge, huge phenomenon in China and parts of East Asia is what I like to call “anti-tanning”. In China, women always carry around parisols, visors and wear forearm gloves to keep themselves from exposure to the sun. They do this to show that they are affluent, as exposure to sun is synonymous with lower statuses. However, as is China’s wont, they took this to huge extremes. The use of bleach skin creams (filled with carcinogens), lazer skin removal and even the age-old Michael Jackson surgery is sought after with great fervor.

Some women I’d see with almost translucent skin, some men checkered with molted spots, hell I even see women in full Geisha white face. The point I’m making is that rather than address the cultural stigmas associated with shortness and darker skin, the Chinese would rather avoid the issue, poisoning their bodies and damaging their health. But why should a country so great and so large succumb to Western modes of beauty? Chinese people are beautiful in their own right, why must they feel so concerned with having a societal makeover? “to thine own self be true”.

This is not to say that similar invasive “beauty” procedures don’t exist throughout the globe, beacause they do! From LA to Rio, Paris to Prague, augmenting your body has become a multi-billion dollar industry. My concern is really with the fervor in which China has bought into the system, especially after seeing the ridiculous lengths that Americans go through just to look “pretty”. Anything that is an instant fix will assuredly yield long-term complications.

 

 

Smoke ‘em Because We know You Got ‘em: Cigarettes (抽烟)

Posted by Steve 3 Comments
Apr 18 2011

Smoking cigarettes or 抽烟 (chōu yān) may be China’s favorite past-time. No matter where you go, be it inside restaurants, hospitals, at weddings or inside a cab, everyone is ripping cigarettes. More than half the male population of China smokes, and seeing how the cheapest cigarettes in China cost a mere 5 kuai 块，it’s not surprising. But unlike the U.S. and western world, smoking is not seen as a blight on society–rather–it’s supported wholeheartedly by the Chinese government 政府 (zhèng fǔ).

Surprised? Well you shouldn’t be. China is the biggest market for smokers, and it’s almost entirely unregulated. There are no warning labels, anti-smoking commercials, just SMOKE, SMOKE, SMOKE. Once the 改革开放 or “Open Door Policy” took effect in the early 1980′s Chinese citizens wanted to enjoy the same “hazards of affluence,” such as consuming sugary and fatty foods, drinking and smoking that the west was enjoying.

Unfortunately, as China began gravitating towards these hazards, the rest of the world was realizing how detrimental they were on society, creating a marketing vacuum. Companies started exporting cigarettes to China, India and the rest of Southeast Asia. The result: an eastern hemisphere living under a cloud of smoke.

To understand just how much Chinese people love smoking, take my gym example: Whenever I’d go into the weight room at 北大, Jiang, the super-muscular personal trainer, would have his pack of “Double Happiness” right next to his weight gloves. He’d do a couple of sets, then while still sucking down air as he caught his breath, would light up a cigarette and smoke in between words of encouragement such as 加油, or “step it up”.

On numerous occasions, while I’d have him spotting me on the bench press, he’d come over with a cigarette still dangling from his mouth, helping me clean while ash sputtered from his lips and onto my forehead and chest. Myself and other 老外s would mention that it is counter-productive to exercise and smoke, to which he’d respond by pointing to an opened window and exclaiming “污染” (wū rǎn) or “pollution”, smiling and then, as if to cement the point, lighting up yet another cancer stick.

A five-year-old in Xinjiang takes a nonchalant drag.

Distancing yourself from smoking is easier said than done, as the peer pressure mentality of Chinese citizens, coupled with the cultural norm to constantly offer a cig to a new acquaintance, business associate, friend or even a stranger makes refusing those “cowboy killers” nearly impossible if you want to experience the Chinese lifestyle （体验中国生活).

At weddings, the cigarettes fly. At KTV (karaoke) you’re more likely to get intoxicated from the lack of oxygen, than from the cheap beers your are drinking. When you go out to dinner, you have to teach your tastes buds to accept that charcoal taste as part of the many flavors absorbed into your dishes. It’s unbridled because no one is telling you to put it out for the sake of others.

China seems rather devoid of concerns for health, whether it relates to chemicals in the air or water, the quality and types of food that are consumed, or the long list of carcinogens hidden within Chinese goods. Liver, mouth, throat and lung cancer are already reaching epic proportions, while diabetes, heart disease and obesity are soon to follow in the next decade. China is becoming an unhealthy nation, making the same mistakes that the United States did from the 1950′s on.

Just because the air is dirty and a pack costs less than 80 cents, do you really want one more breath of smoke filling your lungs? I mean, if milk, eggs and grain are compromised by melamine, just think of the kind of chemicals that are getting slipped into that little, white tobacco-stick.

 

The Silk Road, Pt. 1: Introduction

Posted by Steve No Comments
Aug 5 2010

The Chinese word for China (中国 ) literally is translated as “middle country”, or more accurately “center land”–and justifiably so. The China of old was at the center of all trade, commerce, invention and advancement, rivaling the Greek, Roman and Ottoman Empires. Whatever China had, be it fine silks, porcelain, printed books, calendars, silver or technology, the rest of Asia, the Middle East and Europe wanted it. That’s because centuries before the rise of the Roman empire, the Silk Road, or 丝绸之路 (sīchóu zhīlù), was the vector of nearly all trade, technology and religion throughout the region. China and the Far East were the destinations, yet along the way, civilizations, cultures and ethnic groups blossomed.

Click Here for Map of Silk Road trade routes.

It’s hard to say exactly when the trade routes began, but estimate dates back prior to 400 BCE when much of central Asia was inhabited by migratory societies. Traders and trappers would often come into contact with one another as they roamed the expansive grasslands and deserts of central Asia and into Mongolia. Life was difficult in these extreme environments which led to innovation of travel, housing and basic necessities that allowed people to colonize and form cities. This soon paved the way for merchants, who had everything they needed to make a living traversing the Silk Road (also can be called 丝路 [sīlù] for short).

Once a basic path and amenities were established along the route, the flood gates opened. Missionaries, migrant workers, merchants and guys like Marco Polo set off across this enchanted land, leaving behind tales and relics unlike anywhere else in the world.

Since its inception, the Silk Road has been the pilgrimage path of Buddism, Hinduism, Daoism, Confucianism, Islam, Zen, Shintoism and even Christianity. A million missionaries and a plethora of prophets have padded their way from continent to continent, leaving in their wake  societies, traditions, temples and architecture to celebrate their conquest. Sure, Abraham is the father of three religions, but the Silk Road is responsible for nearly 3 billion followers of non-Judeo-Christian beliefs. Not convinced? You’ll see just how entrenched religion is in the Silk Road when we focus on Kashgar, Urumqi and Dunhuang.

But the true story of how the Silk Road came to earn its moniker dates back to 114 BCE, when the Han Dynasty 汉朝 (Hàn cháo) expanded west, largely in part by an imperial envoy led by explorer  Zhang Qian (张骞) (click here for a history). After his explorations, many of the unofficial but immensely important trade routes had been mapped. It was now China’s turn to open up lines to the rest of the world, drawing in tributes, gold and silver in place of fine goods and technology previously unseen by the rest of the world. The most popular good China sent west? Silk of course. It practically built the Han Dynasty. Those little worms should be China’s official mascot, because sorry pandas, but what have you done for China lately?

This is not to say that China didn’t benefit (and also suffer) from contact with the Middle East and Europe. The Arabs brought the concept of zero, geometry and algebra. Hinduism, Buddism, and Islam all entered China from the Silk road. Europeans, even before they landed upon the far East through misguided ship explorations, were inclined to caravan across the expanses of the Gobi Dessert, brought ideas of Christianity and individualism and interestingly enough, brought firearms even though the Chinese invented gun powder. The back and forth kept China on its toes and made them culturally relevant to the rest of the world.

By the 12th century, the Silk Road had emerged as the center of almost all trade and technology, harboring almost every advancement and creation of humanity throughout the world. Within Chinese borders, the Silk Road had expanded from modern day Kashgar all the way to modern day Xian. It stood as an empire of empires, stretching to the brink of every major ocean.

Click here for a Chinese map of the Silk road.

Maybe that was reponsible for it’s downfall–it had just expanded so far that all that was left was the ocean. Sea exploration was emerging as the cheapest and quickest way to get around the world. Caravans were just too slow in an ever globalizing world (yes the Silk Road was really the first stage of globalization). From the 13th Century on, explorers, merchants, and missionaries turned to the uncharted great blue, leaving the Silk Road behind.

While it has waned in it’s influence, power and prestige, the Silk Road is still a modern-day intersection between the Middle East, India, Central Asia, Europe and China, and as a result of that fact, it is the center of societal conflict throughout all of China (Xingjiang and Tibet). What remains is a vast land of many diverse people, all trying to find their place in a modern world. As you’ll see from further posts, the Silk Road is but a figment of its past glory standing as a somber reminder of how quickly the world can change. Follow me as I traverse the Chinese section of the Silk Road, starting in Kashgar and ending in the previous Chinese capital of Xian (formerly Chang’an).

Cheers: Drinking Culture in China (干杯)

Posted by Steve 1 Comment
Jun 25 2010

But the Formaldehyde made it taste so good.

I once found myself amidst an extravagant Chinese wedding in northwest Beijing, as one of only three guest 老外s in a sea of Chinese family members and friends. Upon entering the banquet hall, and much to my confusion, we were seated at the central table with the parents of the newly weds. Within seconds of sitting down, loose cigarettes, bottles of beer 啤酒 (pí jiǔ) and 白酒 (bái jiǔ) started flying. The two fathers were in an active struggle to refill my glass, encourage me to drink it and then refill it so they could cheers me again. As I looked to my other two fellow 老外 friends, they were embroiled in the same struggle, having random strangers come up to them, cheers them with the phrase 干杯 (gān bēi), synonymous with “bottoms up” or literally “finish glass”, and then repeat the process. People were red faced and grinning, clearly working themselves toward a drunken stupor. Yet everyone seemed to be fine with it.

As the ceremony began to hit a crescendo, the happy newly weds came over to our table, toasting their parents. They then stopped at me, requiring me to slug down two more shots of 白酒. They moved onto the other foreigners and repeated the process. Both the groom and his bride looked tanked by the end of their spin around the table. Then began karaoke, which turned everything up a notch. 白酒 began flowing like water, and a cloud of Double Happiness cigarette smoke enveloped the room as “Hotel California” started blaring. Recognizing the American song, the bride’s father grabbed me by the shoulder and nearly dragged me up on stage to sing it along with him, pausing to make toasts during the lyrics he didn’t know (everything other than “welcome” and “hotel california”).

By the end of the ceremony, it felt as though we had 干杯ed everyone–and it showed. One of our 老外 friends had “lost his lunch” outside, an offense we thought would be seen as disrespect. ”他丢脸，” I said (He’s lost face). My host father just responded with: “不对，他丢肚子” (Wrong, he lost his belly) with a grin on his face. Apparently no harm no foul. And I thought U.S. weddings had lots of drinking!

I mentioned this experience because it’s very telling about drinking culture in China. For most Chinese, it is socially acceptable to be energetic, boisterous and…well…drunk at restaurants, bars and social gatherings. While it is common-place to have a beer or two with lunch and dinne, during celebrations or outings with friends or family, drinking is often done at one pace: full speed ahead. It’s a sign of pride and tradition, harping on Confucian modes of etiquette, where drinking was firmly rooted in scholarly study, as many poets and men of learning were notorious lushes (sound like the US collegiate system?). Men of status would be linked to their drinking exploits and interactions around the drinking hole. Similarly, nowadays, it is both a sign of affluence and also of social standing.

Recycling always follows a night of celebration.


The main forms drink are either either beer 啤酒 (pí jiǔ) or strong grain liquor 白酒 (bái jiǔ). When drinking beer, small 8 ounce glasses are given to individuals, while the bottles of beer are shared. One pours (or has a fellow drinker) pour beer into their individual glass, 杯子 (bēi zi). Usually someone will make a toast, to which you either with raise you glass and clink it with other glasses， or more traditionally, you will lower it below the glass of the most elderly and respected person at the table (or person making the toast) without touching the table. In some areas, people will combine the two and rattle their glasses on the table or lazy susan. Yet, no matter what the toast is or who’s giving it, the Chinese always end a toast with 干杯, to which everyone around the table finishes their individual glass of beer. Once finished, someone almost always refills the glasses, and as if partaking in their solemn drinking duty, makes another toast. This repeats itself until stronger drink is needed. Enter Baijiu.

白酒 (bái jiǔ) is an acquired taste. They say that love or hate it, each new glass tastes better than the last. Maybe that’s why it’s drunk so frequently. It’s also stronger than most hard liquor, save for moonshine. Whenever someone new comes to China, it is necessary that you allow them the forture/misfortune of downing the the stuff. I call it trial by fire, because that’s what it tastes like the first time around. 白酒 is to the Chinese, what Scotch is the the Scottish. There are 5 kuai bottles and 5,000 kuai bottles. Some is only given to official members of the military and party, others can be found literally in every corner shop. Needless to say, it is the traditional Chinese liquor. You grow up drinking it your entire life in China, and you develop a taste for it. So when you want to kick celebrations into high gear, you grab a bottle of 二锅头 and say good bye to propriety.

One often meet lots of new Chinese 朋友s while drinking, and I’ve found it really helps loosen up a foreigner’s Chinese tongue. It is also helpful in building up 关系 or networking with coworkers and employers because the lines of partying and professionalism often blur. My last day of interning, our boss (老板 lǎo bǎn) took me out to a bottle-baijiu-lunch, and then later to a three-bottle-dinner that literally saw me drink a coworker under the table–he lifted a glass to make a toast and, caught off balance, went careening to sleep by under his chair. The 老板 just laughed, threw me a wild stare and exclaimed: 干杯！

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