Weather changing, Suzhou, and yelling on the phone

I feel I need to get something up here before I leave too much time between posts, so here's a post on a bunch of nothing. First, Shanghai's temperature has dove over the last two weeks from swampy heat and humidity to refreshingly crisp autumnal coolness. I'm liking the change, so far.

Last week, China's National Day was observed with a week-long holiday for most non-service sector workers. Unfortunately, since I'm working at an English tutoring center, I still had to work a few days. Apparently, my students' parents didn't like the idea of a whole week of relaxation, as several of them mentioned that I was just one of many tutors they had during the week for various subjects.

I did manage to make it to Suzhou for about 36 hours with Adam and Sam, which was a relaxing break from Shanghai, in ways that watching DVDs in the apartment can't compare to. Highlights included Suzhou's traditional Chinese gardens, canals, Lin Biao's car, a steampunk bar, and not being surrounded by 40-100 storey buildings on all sides. I'll link to the pictures when I get them up later. Suzhou is just a ~30 minute high-speed train ride away from Shanghai, and at ¥52 round-trip, not a bank breaker, so I'll be back to see what I missed this time around. I'll soon be checking out the nearby Jiangsu province cities of Yangzhou and Nanjing, both of which are quite close and seem interesting enough to merit a visit.

One last thing: I always chuckle to myself when I see or hear out-of-towners/country bumpkins screaming into their cellphones on the public transportation here. This past week saw a big influx of such types on sightseeing missions to Shanghai, so I was startled out of my morning commute/coma several times by a man screaming at his ostensible friends or loved ones, "HEY!!! IT'S ME!! YEAH I'M IN SHANGHAI!!! GET THIS, A LAOWAI IS SITTING ACROSS FROM ME AND LOOKING AT ME IN A SORT OF SURPRISED WAY!!! YEAH I CAN'T FIGURE THEM OUT EITHER!!"

Nighttime Street Food in Shanghai

Fried Rice, Fried Noodles, and all the Fixins

Ever since my first trip over here, one of my favorite aspects of Chinese city life is the street food. It’s usually small, quick, cheap, and really 地道 (didao, authentic). One of the best things about street food in China is the variety, especially at night, when people do their greasiest post-bar eating (and some men make the trip [or are sent] from apartment to the local grill for seared lamb and chicken testicles, two examples of the many substances that are said to make one ‘strong’, as in viagra strong). Staples of nighttime street food in most Chinese cities include: fried rice and noodles; fried dumplings; 麻辣汤 (malatang), a soup with your choice of noodles, fresh veggies, meat, and spiciness, all cooked in a communal pot; and finally chuan’r, the nearly ubiquitous kebabs of various meats and veggies grilled (most often by a Uyghur or Hui person) and then dusted in spices.

Regularly these various street foods are found at different shops and stalls, spread throughout one’s neighborhood and found by wandering around. Many of the mobile fried rice and chuan’r guys will have a usual corner on which you can find them most nights. However, if you luck out like me, you could find that you have a little night market in you neighborhood.

Notice the long Chuan'r grill in the foreground

Unfortunately these places, and many street food vendors in general, are slowly being shut down. Times were I knew three places in my neighborhood where I could have live poultry slaughtered while I watched (never have actually tried this), now I only know of one. Regardless, I still have a little night market by me, at a busy intersection in front of the Shanghai friendship store and next to a KFC, but busier.

At least once a week, I’ll go there for some green bean, mushroom, eggplant, and lamb chuan’r, or the occasional flat top grilled squid. Last week I tried a new and delicious item, grilled shellfish. A few guys from Jiangsu province grill oysters, scallops, and large, attention-grabbing blue mussels.

My local shellfish griller, from Jiangsu province

As they cook, they add chopped garlic, sauce, tiny rice noodles, chives, and for the oysters a substance best described as a Chinese salsa.

Topping them with the rice noodles

The noodles kind of soak up the juices, making it easier to eat the whole deal with chopsticks. The smell of them cooking, as the garlic mixes with the boiling juices, is fantastic. The shellfish are of unknown provenance, but look, taste, and smell very fresh. This is a new favorite of mine, which at 5 kuai (RMB) a pop are not cheap, at least for street food, but well worth it.

Almost done, we've got oysters in front, a blue mussel, then scallops in back