The last day of our China trip we made a brief visit to Macau on the high-speed ferry. The combination of Portuguese colonial history, Chinese people and traditions, and a good Japanese restaurant was appropriately multicultural.
Most of our visit was to The Red Market, a fresh food market popular with locals and displaying a vivid collection of colors and textures, so it was naturally the focus of our photography. The highlights are below, and the photo album is located here.
One of the most spectacular landscapes in China is the section along the Li River near Guilin. It contains mountains of limestone formations that rise dramatically from the flat ground along the river, many with unusual shapes. The city has been settled for over 2300 years, and it is the home of thousands of fragrant Sweet Osmanthus trees, for which it is known.
Quoting one website:
“A boat trip on the peaceful Li River is the absolute high point of any visit to Guilin. A cruise from Guilin to Yangshuo, visitors will experience the winding and twisting Li River, goes past the many bizarre mountains whose shapes have inspired and fired the Chinese imagination, the Elephant Trunk Mountain, Old Man Mountain, Pagoda Mountain and Hole Mountain. Cormorant fishermen in narrow bamboo boats, bathing children, water buffaloes, small settlement and women doing their washing on the banks of the river can be seen along the way. Yangshuo, at the end of the boat journey is today a developed village that thrives mainly on tourism and seems to have nothing but tourist shops. “
We had less than a day to explore, but by booking a private tour with a guide and a speedboat, we were able to pack in three hours along the river and lunch in Yangshuo, taking pictures all the way, before flying back to Hong Kong that afternoon. The outline of the dark mountains, looming behind the vegetation along the river, reminded me of some stock price charts I have seen. Sometimes the reflection of those shapes on the quiet stretches of water brought to mind the patterns of audio files which embody the terms “plus and minus X dB” with their symmetry. Samples are below, and the full website of our photos is here.
Great food begins with great ingredients. That’s one reason I always visit fresh food markets in the culinary capitals, which is what led us to go to the Canton Road market today in the Mong Kok area of Kowloon, Hong Kong. The experience whetted our appetites and gave us each plenty of opportunity to practice our photographic pastime.
Here are some teasers; the rest of my shots are on this website.
Last Tuesday was an amazing day. After lunch in Tongli, we drove to nearby Suzhou, where we visited the Humble Administrators’s Garden, followed by the Yunyansi Pagoda tower high on a hill above the town. The photo album is here.
On Tuesday we had an opportunity to visit two ancient water towns not far from Shanghai in kilometers, but a long way in history. With marvelous guiding and translations from Jon’s colleague, Tim, we went to Tongli first, and then on to two places in Suzhou. Here is the introduction to the Tongli photos.
Now we are in Shanghai, a most modern city, whose population just reached 22 million people. We walked around a bit along the river, across from the Bund, and took in the dramatic sights of the city. Enjoyed lunch at an Italian restaurant as sleek as some in Milano, had cocktails later in tapas bar in the French Concession area, and finished with a fine dinner at Mi Thai, an excellent minimalist restaurant, where I was introduced to the marvels of fried soft shell crab served with pickled mango.
“The Summer Palace, in the Haidian District, northwest of central Beijing, is said to be the best preserved imperial garden in the world, and the largest of its kind still in existence in modern China. It’s hardly surprising that, during the hot Beijing summers, the Imperial Family preferred the beautiful gardens and airy pavilions of the Summer Palace to the walled-in Forbidden City. Dowager Empress Cixi took up permanent residence here for a time, giving rise to some wonderful tales of extravagance and excess.”
quoted from http://www.chinahighlights.com/beijing/attraction/summer-palace.htm
Well, it was a glorious Spring day last Sunday when we went to see The Summer Palace.
These are just highlights; the rest of the photos are found here.
Today we explored the Forbidden City. It was a perfectly lovely, sunny and comfortable Spring day in Beijing. Our student guide, Feng, brought us to Tiananmen Square and then into The Forbidden City. We walked through the massive and beautiful grounds of ancient Chinese emperors and enjoyed the marvels of modern China, as well.
So far the visit to Beijing has been marvelous. Warm hospitality from our hosts, excellent food (Peking Duck, abalone, Kung Pao chicken, traditional Beijing noodle dishes, etc.), and an impressive visit to The Great Wall.
photo by Aaron, Great Wall by China
By the reservoir
lunch at the farm
Some days are better than others. Today was one of the better ones, in spite of the snow that reappeared just as the last piles were melting from the grass.
Of course, the topic is food, and I’m speaking particularly of the dinner highlights. Since I had an attack of diverticulitis over the weekend — and my first solid food in 48 hours the previous evening — tonight was my first chance to cook a real meal in several days. It turned out to be one full of discoveries, the highlights of which I will share with you here.
The full menu included:
This lesson will concentrate on the pasta and the zucchini dishes, after making a brief note that Merluza is equivalent or closely related to Merluzzo, a Mediterranean whiting. My real learnings were about the richness of the simple pasta dish, and the delicate flavor and texture of the zucchini.
I came across a 4 oz. package of organic Maitake mushrooms in the natural food store today, and I could not resist. Together with a bit of dried pasta, the result was superb.
The other lovely dish was taken from Adam Tihany’s gorgeous 1994 book, Venetian Taste. Adam, you will recall, is the designer of Restaurant Remi in New York, among others. Here is the book cover and Chef Francesco Antonucci’s recipe:
The pasta dish was my own invention, but I followed the zucchini recipe almost to the letter (no mint). I was very curious about the term “in Umido”, having seen it before in some recipes, particularly with squid. A web search was instructive; literally, it means “moist or damp”. In cooking terms it means a food is cooked and served, especially one made from the food’s own juices.
Now, all you need is the wine reference. It was a 2007 Bianco Degli Arzillari, Venezia Guilia, of Ferdinando Zanusso of Friuli. I had been fortunate enough to be at a tasting at The General Store last Thursday night, and I particularly liked this wine (also a bargain at $10.95), poured from the hand of his son, Mario, during his four-day swing through the States. Made of Verduzzo, it is delicious and charming, providing a fragrant accompaniment to the meal and a remarkable and inexplicable sweet richness to the Maitakes.
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