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Published: September 22nd 2005
In China, these go for a little less than a dollar
In the US you wouldn't have to work another day in your life.A few years back in the US there was this rumour that went around that one of the fast food joints had served up a chicken nugget that still had a beak and the little rooster mohawk. I'm not sure if it was just urban myth but I've actually seen a photo of it. Terrifying isn't it? That's value meal #4 here. Last night in Xian went to this family style restaurant and as per our normal order process, just pointed to an appealing soup dish. Only when we dipped the ladle in to serve it up did we notice the black rooster claws and severed head. Not to be disrespectful, we ate it.....up. I actually thought it was damn good. I couldn't bring myself to gnaw at the face just yet, but we're working our way up the body.
Took the 17 hour sleeper train to Shanghai. Not as comfortable as our first time. The top bunk is freezing cold b/c of the A/C vents that are 4 inches from you in the ceiling. and the smoking sections are located in the corridors of each train car without any partition so you're taking in Winston with every shortened breath you
take.
Shanghai is a big, bustling metropolis-- which is cool-- but not what we wanted to go for so early in this trip. It's just like NY and we only escaped from there a little over a week ago. And it's one hotpot hell of a town. It's 36 Celsius, which I forgot how it converts, but I think that makes it close to 180 degrees Fahrenheit.
Earlier today we were befriended by these students from Xian who were traveling as well who had just struck up a conversation with us in the park. It appeared they just wanted to practice their English as the guy just kept talking basketball (hates Yao Ming, loves Allen Iverson) and the girl was talking about beaches and we chatted for a good hour. Then they invited us to a "tea ceremony" and when we got there, it was just a tea restaurant with no one there. Carolee kinda got a notion but I still thought they were legit people. The cafe wasnt anything expensive, so if they were scouting we wouldn't have spent anything but $15 US anyway. but I followed Carolee's lead and we excused ourselves out. That's one thing that sucks
about traveling. You want to meet the locals and get right in to the native flow but you get approached by so many scam artists just wanting to make a buck that you keep your guard up even if they're genuine folk. I've got taken before. In Rome this guy came up when I was out looking for a bar who said he was traveling through and just wanted good people to hang with and said we'd be drinking on his father's credit card, so hey why not. but 3 hours later when it came time for the bill, where was my new friend? Luckily I got out of there paying $18 cuz its all I had. (why I decided to go drinking with a rough but lonely Italian guy in a strange town is beyond me now) Then this guy in Morrocco who invited me to his sister's wedding with promises of a native ceremony with a great display of unique customs and traditional feast first needed to drag me through several of his friends' rug shops. Again, nothing was lost except for my faith in fellow man. Well, in the end, Carolee and I played it safe and bid our new friends a respectful farewell. Genuine friends or not, we're not paying $15 a head to drink tea.
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Jom Chanpong
non-member comment
Ni hao
Hey guys sounds like an interesting time thus far. Can't wait for the next entry. Enjoy it out there...safe travels! jc