Log in
Join travelers community
Your Profile
Logout
I woke at 4:00 a.m. and couldn't get back to sleep, so I watched an Italian game show on TV - pretty sad.
China 2001 - Part Two: Beidaihe
Dougburnett2003-11-23 19:49:32
Displayed times (last time: )
/>
Actually, I was at the point where I would have considered eating anything. The waitress wrote something on her pad and left me to drink my beer. I sat and looked around the restaurant. It was modern and clean with a lot of varnished wood. There were large plate glass windows overlooking the street and only a few other diners.
After about 10 minutes my waitress-in-red returned with a wok-like pan. She lit a little burner on my table and sat the pan on it. It immediately began to boil. By this point a small crowd of waiters and waitresses had collected around my table. They looked at me: I looked at the wok.
The center of attention, I dipped my chopsticks in to see what awaited me. Sure enough, chicken - and some vegetables and clear noodles. It looked good, but how was I going to eat it? I didn't have a plate.
I looked up at the nearest waiter and mimed eating directly from the wok or from an imaginary plate in my hand. Everyone smiled and the waiter pointed to a tiny plate - I had taken it for a saucer. Ok, I was now ready. My small audience tactfully retreated and I dug in. I suspected they were still watching, but didn't want to know - I just wanted to eat.
The chicken turned out to be mostly bones, what looked like leg joints and some skin - leg-skin, at that. There was very little meat. I wasn't sure if the bones were for flavoring or I was supposed to eat them. I avoided the problem by making the most of the noodles and vegetables.
As I was working on this another dish arrived: a plate of boiled peanuts and raw cucumber. The waitress, who had been reading my phrase guide the whole time, pointed to the word "delivery" (song). I didn't understand what that meant, but smiled at her anyway. She was so sweet and helpful - my savior.
Then the waitress brought me another dish - a bamboo steamer full
...
See photographs from:
China Gallery
