Attacked in a Hutong by Zealous Merchants

Mao’s Little Red Book of Quotations was what my youngest son wanted from China, in order to give to his legal colleagues.  It is either hard to find or I have been looking in the wrong places.  Juxtaposed with Wangfujing upscale shopping is a downscale hutong with many, many, many souvenir sellers.  I did find the Little Red Book there and purchased three copies, at an inflated rate of $2.18 each.   My mistake was continuing through the gauntlet of merchants, just to see what I could see.

I bought some inexpensive bookmarks at the first stall on a long row. The rest, and there were hundreds, must have sensed a great opportunity or at least a fleeting opportunity.   The merchants then began to pursue me like a group of piranhas.  They smelled blood, or at least cash.

I escaped from several, then one grabbed my arm and pulled me toward her stall.  The other grabbed the strap of my camera and pulled me in the opposite direction.   It was comical, yet also a little frightening.   My wife always tells me I end up in the most dangerous parts of cities.  I didn’t know that dangerous place would be a hutong in broad daylight with thousands of people around.

What would Chairman Mao think?  In the Little Red Book, he writes,”there is a serious tendency towards capitalism among the well-to-do peasants.” I know these merchants are not peasants, but most of us, including me, come from the peasant class.   It seems the tendency has become reality, in at least one Beijing hutong.

What leads people to be zealous about some things?   And what limits should one place on zeal?

Posted April 7th, 2010 in China Travels 2010

Do You Eat the Meat of Donkey?

“”Do you eat the meat of donkey?” is a great conversation starter, particularly when someone is ordering dinner from a menu you cannot read. Snow, my translator, had only my best interests in mind as she has only the best intentions in her heart. I did not know how to answer, but my wife says I am an adventure eater. I replied, “I do not think I have eaten donkey before, but it would be OK to try it.”

After dinner was ordered, Snow and Small David(more about them in later posts) said the food was from Hunan Province, the birthplace of Mao Ze Dong. His favorite food was fried pork, with equal parts of lean and fat. That was one of the dishes ordered. I recognized it, since I had it before with the pipeline controllers in 2009. We had the normal eight to nine dishes, but I did not know what all of them were. The meats can look similar, and the seasonings and flavors accentuate the tastes.

What was on my mind the entire meal? The meat of donkey! Finally I asked, “Which is the meat of donkey?” Snow said she decided not to order it this meal. It was a few days later that we found a restaurant with the donkey dish pictured below. Snow, Small David, and I were dining with a gentlemen from Inner Mongolia, where donkey meat is a protein staple.  Did I eat meat of donkey?  Let me say it does not taste like chicken, but tasted all right.  Let me ask you,”Do you eat the meat of donkey?”   If you have the opportunity to travel to China, give it a try.  My trip was better because I was willing to allow my wonderful hosts to teach me about their country.

Posted April 5th, 2010 in China Travels 2010