Don't be Scared

If you had a happy childhood, at sometime in your life you had Pop Rocks, and if you had a dangerous childhood, you drank soda while eating them.  It was kind of exhilarating and frightening, but like all silly children; no one backs out of a dare.  I kind of felt like that when I first ate Chinese street food.  It was super exciting because I had dreamed about it for so long, and Aaron had bragged about eating dumplings everyday when he was China.  Since being here, I’ve learned that the term dumpling is a very loose term.  There are Baozi; little pieces of dough wrapped around meat or vegetables and then steamed.  But not to be confused with jiaozi which are steamed, but more with wonton like wrappers.  And don’t forget xiaolongbao which are steamed with soup inside, etc. etc. One thing I can be sure of is that the pan friend dumplings of my previous life are a thing of the past.  I can no longer accept them.  Just kidding, they’re still the bee’s knees.  And that’s not even everything regarding food, but the rest must come later.

 (These are dumplings filled with soup)

Anyway, back to the topic at hand, exotic Chinese food.  And here’s the frightening part: you cannot be a germaphob (or even a germ avoider), in China and expect to enjoy street food.  It’s not like vendors in the States that might be a little less clean, but still acceptable.  Oh no, one time I walked into a little place.  It was real small about 8 or 9 tables, and you had a nice view of the guy who was making your dinner… while smoking a cigarette.  Food is a specialty in China, sanitation, meh, not so much.  The tables are often sticky and one time a table had so much oil on it that I swear it had never been properly wiped.  It brought to mind my mom’s chastisement to not put my elbows on the table, I always knew there was a reason for that…  I remember the first time I found a hair in my food.  It was mixed in with my rice, that was fun.  But luckily since I had been in China for a while now, it didn’t phase me too much.  And neither should you.  The Chinese have survived forever on this stuff; remember, a little dirt never hurt.  Just know that even though it’s excellent, there aren’t really any regulations.  So don’t be a germaphob and go to China, just go to China.  You’ll be fine.

(I realize this looks really clean, but that's because we're eating at one of the 

most famous restaurants in Beijing.  This is called Peking Duck, here in Beijing it's a delicacy.)

(This is a common dinner for us.  There were 3 people 

and our total cost was about 36 yuan.  That's about 4 dollars in the States.)

Also, I realize that in these pictures, none of the conditions look that bad.  You're just going to have to trust me on this one.  It's something you experience, not see.