Eric's Beijing Diary

Sitting in the dining car reading as we are rolling across China. Kinda sorry to be leaving the majesty of Yunnan behind me. Wish I could have stayed a little longer, but I really need to be getting back. My classes don't start until the middle of September, but I have lots to do in the lab before then, partly preparation for the fall, but also exploring some areas I want to be working on in the future. I have been away from my work too long. One gets rusty real quick in this business. The summer is slipping away.

Forty hours to Shanghai. Full speed ahead for two days and two nights. Surprised me a bit--guess I lost track of how far I had wandered from home. The run from Kunming to Beijing is even longer--fifty-two hours--but as I mentioned earlier, I couldn't get a ticket before the twentieth, so I bought a ticket to Shanghai. From there, I should be able to get to Beijing without too much trouble. I went to the ticket window in Kunming and tried to buy a ticket from Shanghai to Beijing, but they said they didn't have any available. I am really not sure how that works. Perhaps each remote area is allocated so many tickets or something. Hard to imagine that I will not be able to get a spot on one of the several trains that make that trip every day.

This evening, after I sat down in the dining car, one of the cooks sat down across from me. I pointed to an item on the menu and asked him what it was. He put his fingers by his head to demonstrate ears. Beef. Actually, I got that clue because I recognized the word. I pointed to the next item. He moved is hand back and forth in a waving motion. Fish. I pointed to the next item. "Zhe shi shenme?" (What is this?) He started flapping his wings. Hmmm...this is going slowly. I told him I wanted some fish. Good. Got that part taken care of. Next was some kind of vegetable. I mentioned a few that I know. Qiezi (fried egplang, my favorite), bocai (spinach). I was running out of options. I started pointing at the menu and listened for anything with "cai" at the end. I wish I could have just told him that any kind of steamed vegetable would be fine, but I'm just not there yet. The Chinese are very good at making steamed vegetables. They're cooked, but not too much. I just didn't want cold pickled vegetables for dinner. I picked the first "cai" he mentioned and came out OK. Add a bowl of rice and we're good to go. Cost is a little higher than a normal restaurant, but that is partly because I don't have anyone to split the cost with me. My meal could quite easily feed a couple people.

Labels: Summer 2004