China, 22 years and the last of 38 visits

A Contribution to Lost in a Pot by J. Donald Harris

Image by Jakub Halun courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

As Lost in a Pot deals predominately with cultural and food matters I will focused in these areas.  Ron asked that I make a contribution stimulated by a conversation he and I had before I left for China a few weeks ago, this being my thirty eighth and last trip.

Ron Smith (Mr. Lost in a Pot) and I have a history that started in mid-1994 when I became the CEO of a Canadian refractory company (high temperature furnace linings).  Ron was our Sales Engineer covering predominately the major aluminium smelters in North and Central America.  Two years later, we had an opportunity handed to us to establish a manufacturing facility in the People’s Republic of China.  This company was aimed exclusively at serving the needs of primary aluminium producers in China as opposed to being predominately export oriented. 

Ron assisted me enormously in introducing our product line to this customer base.  It was a challenging task not so much from the standpoint of convincing the potential customers to try our product but more the dietary and beverages and the accompanying cultural mores that we encountered.  When China first made aluminum in the late 40’s and early 50;’s Chairman Mao dictated that they “be situated where the Russians and Americans could not find them.”  They did a very good job; most were in remote parts of China and Ron and I can say that we have seen more of China than most Chinese have.  We visited scenic parts of China ranging from Harbin on the Russian Border to Pingguo on the Vietnamese border and from Shandong on the east coast to smelters in the deserts of Gansu and Xinjiang in the far west.

Let me start with my first trip in 1996.  I visited about eight factories over a two week period.

In each case at either noon or at dinner time, we were obligated to share a meal with our hosts; to refuse was impolite at a minimum.  One was expected to “break bread” in order to secure a deal.  In those days at least in the Chinese Aluminum industry the standard of living was not high.  Generally, the factories were in remote locations so one stayed in a company hotel which gave a new definition to the term basic.  These hotels also were where we were entertained.

While I had traveled internationally quite a bit, mostly in Europe and the UK, being faced with sautéed June bugs was a new challange.  Served with garlic and the right amount of beer they went down just fine.

June beetle,  (genus Phyllophaga), also called May beetle or June bug, genus of nearly 300 species of beetles belonging to the widely distributed plant-eating subfamily Melolonthinae (family Scarabaeidae, order Coleoptera). These red-brown beetles commonly appear in the Northern Hemisphere during warm spring evenings and are attracted to lights.

How about the next delicacy, scorpions, they go down with little trouble and let us not forget those crunchy deep-fried bamboo worms.

The worst experience I had was being faced with little birds, about the size of a sparrow that someone had taken a blow torch to; that is to say they were much blackened but with heads, beaks and legs still attached.  I asked my translator how to handle this and the response was, “You take what you want in your mouth and spit out the rest.”  I can attest the bird went in and it came out into a Kleenex from the 10 cent packages provided at the dinner table and it did not change form.  Incidentally, these packages of Kleenex were not left behind on the table.  Toilet paper was something in short supply.

I quickly learned that what I viewed as primitive food offerings were common.  There were many examples.  For instance, when one went into the markets, refrigeration was not available and foods were simply hung for the customers to select from.

You quickly learned to simply accept that this was the way life is in China and get past what to someone from the west was backward.

Our manufacturing facility was located in Xianyang in Shaanxi Province.  This city of about 1 million is the industrial area of Xian best known for the Terra Cotta Army.  Image by JM Hullot courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

If one is considering a trip to the Middle Kingdom you would be selling yourself short if you do not go to see the Warriors.  The Chinese have done a marvelous job of allowing visitors to see this work in progress.
Over the 22 years that I have been going to China, things have improved dramatically.  In the early days in addition to the “delicacies” mentioned above there was usually the omnipresent fish. 

The host and the guest of honor went to the tank, usually filled with quite green water and selected the fish.  Before cooking it was brought to the table usually in a plastic pan or pail to assure the host that it was still alive.  Why they bothered was a bit questionable because after cooking the appearance was substantially changed and to be able to identify it as the chosen specimen was highly doubtful.  Over the years while the host and those who wish to accompany him or her still go to the tanks and select the fish for the evening meal, the good news is that the table is no longer treated to the viewing of the recumbent fish in a dirty plastic container.

Today’s Chinese menu is well supplied with a wide variety of shell fish including shrimp, langoustines, scallops and razor clams.  Turtles for Turtle soup and frogs legs are not uncommon.  The Chinese chefs have developed techniques for preparing and serving such delicacies.  Generally, they include copious quantities of garlic and vermicelli noodles.  Previously, I was dubious about any red meat that was offered.  It was generally tough and of a questionable parentage.  On my most recent trip I had a pepper steak that while thinner than I am used to, it was very tender and flavorable and I am convinced that it was really beef.
Now I come to the matter of beverages.  First, one does not drink the water at a meal and in other situations only when one is assured it came from a reputable source in a sealed bottle.  The good news is that Chinese beer is quite good and only has 2.5-3% alcohol so one can drink quite a bit without feeling and side-affects.

The bad news is that for toasting, the preferred drink is Moutai which is about 100 proof and to me tasted like something out of the bottom of a manure pit combined with Jet Aviation fuel.  As the guest of honour at a table of 10 the host would toast the guest then they would rotate so that every Chinese person toasted the guest until they went around the table and then they would start over.  Let us just say it can be a deadly game but one will lose face if you did not participate.  This like smoking seems to have lost favour although I think in the right circumstances, one could still be pretty inebriated if not careful.  On the other hand it was bad face to not participate although I know I took one for the company on an occasion when our Chairman was with me and due to medical reasons he did not imbibe.

On this past trip, I chose to fly Hainan Airlines from Toronto to Beijing as opposed to Air Canada.  This was dictated totally based on economics.  A return trip on Hainan was about 25% less expensive.   The plane was a Boeing 787 with sitting in Business Class 1 – 2 – 1 in the personal pods with beds that went down flat allowing for personal privacy and  a reasonable ability to sleep on the 13 hour trip going east to west.

The meal offerings were excellent!  Once airborne there were the normal offerings of beverages.  There was Johnny Walker Black or Chivas Regal scotch plus Stoly vodka and a gin.  The wine selection was excellent with a strong emphasis on French wines.

The food offerings were interesting. Basically a six course meal with alternatives. They consisted of:

Signature Dim Sum

 Savory Starter

Barbecued pork and shrimp with marinated bamboo shoots

Or

Shrimp and lobster roulade with truffle cream

Soup

Fish maw and Bamboo Soup

Or

White bean and cauliflower crème with duck confit and crispy Parmesan cheese

 Salad

Thousand Island, Italian or Asian style sesame dressing

Entrées

Sautéed chicken with celery, Braised Cod Fillet with hot bean sauce and

Stir-fried sugar snap peas with mushrooms and carrots

Or

Seared beef fillet with red wine sauce, fingerling potatoes

Buttered green peas with roasted shallots

Or

Seared cod with shitake mushrooms

 All served with bread and butter or olive oil

Cheeses

Brie/Havarti/Swiss

 Delights

Chocolate and Hazelnut mouse

Apple pie and ice cream

Seasonal Fruit

Gourmet Ice cream

 Coffee or Tea and petit fours

Let me end by saying I did not try the Fish maw soup but did have the seared fillet of beef on the return trip.  My advice is to opt for the Asian dishes.  The flight attendants mostly spoke good English and those who did not would get one who did when required.  Everyone was most pleasant and helpful.  I am a senior now and a cane is of assistance particularly in China where hand rails on stair ways are a rarity.  Both the flight attendants as well as passengers offered help with my carry-on baggage.  The cane also got me preferential treatment on boarding and customs.  Getting old is not all bad.

I trust that you have found this offering of interest.  I would encourage all to add the Middle Kingdom to your bucket list.  All tours will take you to Beijing including the Forbidden City, Mao’s Tomb and of course the Great Wall.  But when you go do not fail to include Xian and the Terra Cotta Warriors.  To miss them when going so far is a mistake!

My 22 years and 38 trips have so enriched my life.  The experiences have been phenomenal and the friendships established exceptional.

The three musketeers, Don (lt), He Yue Chan (ctr) and Ron (rt). Image taken a our last gathering a few years ago.

Lost in a Pot would like to thank Don for sharing a peek into his Chinese adventures. As for me (Ron), having made many adventures into China it was a pleasure re-experiencing some of the joys of China travel.