China: Yunnan: #18 Fresh Food Markets in Kunming (part b)

Feb12

After looking at the food in the market with a view to choosing ingredients for a hypothetical meal, now I just looked for interesting items for sale that are not so common at home.

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These were unusual… twisted, squat, knobbly baby pumpkins.

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A popular food in Asia… bamboo shoots, for sale here both trimmed and untrimmed.

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Beautifully coloured Okinawan spinach (?Guan Yin Cai); Gynura crepioides

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Pink mushrooms? No. Not really. Just the light through pink shade cloth!

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Live baby tortoise! I must say, it’s difficult to think of eating these.

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Now here’s a worry.. prawns, not cooked, not on ice… and no sea anywhere near!

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Dried ‘butterflied’ ducks… heads down, tails up… not sure how to prepare these.

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Chicken feet and chillies… a popular dish. Nothing wasted here.

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I most certainly was NOT ready to try these eggs known variously as Century Eggs, Thousand Year Old or Preserved eggs. They are prepared by wrapping the eggs in a mix of clay, straw, ash, salt and lime (powder) and buried for ‘months’. Not for me… but a delicacy in China.

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A sausage could be interesting. Wonder what’s in them?

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On the other hand, I could be tempted by freshly cooked, wholemeal flour, pork buns!

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More buns waiting to be steamed.

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Chestnuts were in season… not my favourite nut.

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But these… walnuts straight from tree to buyer… oh yes.

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By now we were getting a little weary… but at least we weren’t sleep walking!

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But it was time to buy something to take home for dinner… maybe tomatoes? Vine ripened, fresh picked… tomatoes that taste like tomatoes should taste. Not the tough skinned varieties in our supermarkets that are so ‘travel prepared’ that they bounce like a ball… and need salt for taste.

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In the end, we settled for asparagus… again fresh picked by hand.

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Fresh asparagus in hand, we went back to the apartment where Kenzo cooked up a storm for dinner… left-over duck from the night before with kidney beans and the asparagus, all washed down with millet soup and a bottle of wine… and an enjoyable view from the apartment at dusk.

I woke to a pleasant morning, 21⁰C (70⁰F) but, on this one, I had to return to Beijing and leave behind a couple of really good friends. I’d very much enjoyed my time with Kenzo in Jianshui and wish that Ross could have joined us. Apart from Kenzo’s company, I think I enjoyed Jianshui so much because it took me to a place that I knew absolutely nothing about. It was a new adventure, every thing was new… except the old village. It was not far removed from the way it must have been many hundreds of years ago. Brilliant!

And, Kunming, well, I’d been there before, some 16 years ago, but it had changed so much that I didn’t recognise a thing. Hopefully, it won’t be another 16 years before I return.

And, hopefully it won’t be too long before I return to share more of my explorations to parts of our amazing world not yet on the general tourist trail. Nothing booked at the moment though…

Until then, Jennie will be adding more of our travel posts on our other site:

www.jtdytravels.com

Do join us there for more armchair travels

or revisit the places on this blog.

David

If you enjoy these armchair travels, please pass our site onto others

www.dymusings.com

more of our travel stories and photos can be found on

www.jtdytravels.com

More of our travel photos are on

www.flickr.com/photos/jtdytravels

China: Yunnan: #17 Fresh Food Markets in Kunming (Part a)

Feb10

Back in Kunming with Ross, we had a good meal, lots of chat and a good night’s sleep.

Next morning, we had a slow start, no hurry to do anything today. Ross had to leave early to do his tutoring so Kenzo and I walked to a place near the apartment for some Muslim noodles for breakfast. The noodles are made from the usual dough mix but the cutting/shaping is different. Check out the video on You Tube … the link is at the end of this post. It shows the process better than I can describe it. Our big bowl of noodles in a meat broth cost us just 7 Yuan each.

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Then, we caught a bus to a fruit and meat market. I love markets, particularly Asian ones. They are full of the most wondrous things! There was some cooked food…sautéed capsicum and red chilli, and lotus root… looked so good. But this market is mainly for fresh food. It’s always fun to wander along and see what I might buy if I was going to prepare my own meal.

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Just look at the colours in these Spanish onions, cucumbers and carrots.

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Long, thin, purple aubergine with the orange of carrots… more great colour.

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Chinese cabbage… of course. Often used in Chinese meals.

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There’s quite a bit of a difference between this butcher’s shop and those we’re used to! If I bought the RH carcass, I’d even get a bag of bile!

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Not to mention the poultry shop! Those are the yolks of unformed eggs.

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And if you buy a ‘chook’ (chicken) you get the feet as well!

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Fresh ginger, capsicum and red chilli to add lots of flavour.

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A variety of peppers to pep things up a bit!

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Or, maybe, some red chillies to hot things up!

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Plenty of pulses to choose from to accompany our dish.

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Some rice wine might be handy to have. Lots to choose from.

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And, of course, we had to choose some greens for our hypothetical meal… like these bok choys.

All good fresh, in season, food. At home we have become too used to having any food we want at any time of the year. Not here. Thankfully, we do have more chances now to buy good, fresh local produce at farmer’s markets in Australia with a small footprint on the environment… and no need to buy processed foods with who knows what additives and an over supply of salt, sugar and fats.

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Now, to end our meal, we might need a little something sweet… some fruit, maybe. Any plumper and these grapes would start to jump out of their skins.

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And how good do these peaches look… each one individually wrapped.

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Nashi pears looked nice and crisp… straight from the trees to market.

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Or we could go really tropical and try a dragon fruit!

More anon… but before I finish up this post… a reminder…

the You Tube link to the video on Muslim noodle making is …

< https://youtube.com/watch?v=4Gb4DvQB2pw>

David

If you enjoy these armchair travels, please pass our site onto others

www.dymusings.com

more of our travel stories and photos can be found on

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More of our travel photos are on

www.flickr.com/photos/jtdytravels

China: Yunnan: #16 More exploring in Jianshui

Feb8

Early morning on our final day in Jianshui and, quite by accident, we walked into an area in the old town that is undergoing restoration… a big make over.

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Billboards explained what was being attempted. It was good to have Kenzo to translate!

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A computer generated overview of the whole area was on show. It appeared to be quite an ambitious project but one that will make Jianshui an even more interesting place to visit.

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The most imposing building in the complex is the Chongwen Pagoda, also known as the Wenchang or Wenfeng Pagoda. The thirteen story brick structure was built in the 13th Century during the Yuan Dynasty. It has been repaired a number of times since, including 1555 and between 1654 and 1655.

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A nearby two-storied building in dire need of some TLC… and a lot of hard work.

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The other side of the same building. New bricks ready for the work of restoration.

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We walked on, soaking up the atmosphere. This was the colourful entrance to a plastic flower and plant shop. One of my great hates in life; plastic flowers… but they were colourful.

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Goods were being carried to a market in the traditional way.

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You could buy almost anything you could possibly want. Anybody for some geese?

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…or maybe a sad looking tortoise. This one no doubt on its way to a soup pot.

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Frogs for dinner? You don’t find these on our supermarket shelves.

That’s what I love about markets… no shelves filled with cans and boxes of ‘food’.

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Moon Cakes looked somewhat more palatable. It was coming up time for the big Moon Festival in China so there were lots of feverish activity taking place in this bakery.

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Fresh fruit looked really good… Plump bunches of grapes and pears.

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Various grades of sunflower seeds, peanuts and lentils.

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Various grades of rice wine… a necessary ingredient in much Chinese cooking.

The pork buns were being freshly made and looked very good.

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A happy group of smokers!

An interesting form of transport for people and goods coming into the market.

We began to think about getting lunch before we had to catch the train back to Kunming. Kenzo ducked down a small non-descript sort of lane. I followed, but I’d never have ventured into this lane without Kenzo leading the way. We had to literally duck down to pass through a low door way and into a tiny courtyard. Inside there was a middle aged lady sitting on the lowest of stools trimming a green leafy vegetable. And so we stayed there for lunch… a good choice.

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Delicious stir fried, fresh leafy greens…

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… a slow-cooked chicken dish…

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… and at last, some crispy skinned, succulent duck. Head and all!

‘Twas a very good meal to last us for the journey back to Kunming by train.

China: Yunnan: #15 Back to Jianshui

Feb5

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Forty five minutes on the train and we were back in Jianshui… and just a little hungry.

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Kenzo again excelled and found a place that served up a delicious meal… lotus root slices filled with a sticky rice mix and deep fried – delicious!

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Bamboo shoots, capsicum and some meat… not sure what, but tasty anyway.

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And for our veggies… fresh broccoli and carrots… cooked perfectly.

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Fed and happy, we wandered further along the road. Crispy skin duck in one of the market shops looked good. Maybe we’d look for a duck dinner later on.

But for now, there was still more of the town to see so we walked to the Confucius Temple complex, the third largest in China. It was built during the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368).

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The entrance gate to the Confucian Temple was pretty impressive. The entry fee was high, so I just took a peek through the entrance gate.

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And what I saw was a large pond full of lotus plants.

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Further along, we came upon another of the many ancient wells in Jianshui. The first of these wells, the Dongjing Well, was originally dug in the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) making it around 700 years old. The sweet, crystal-clear water from these wells is said to make the best tea. I just hope they don’t ever ‘sully the waters’ with mining or fracking or whatever in the area!

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A decorative shrine filled a niche in a wall.

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A neighbourly afternoon chat!

T’was time for us to take a break, too. The heat and high humidity sent us back to our hotel where a shower was in order… and the first Nanna nap I’d had since arriving in China. I think I’d earned it. But I couldn’t stay snoozing forever… it was time to eat again! So off into the streets – again.

We were heading for a place well known for its duck dishes… and we salivated at the thought. However, we were a little late – they had run out of duck. So instead, Kenzo ordered BBQ pork which was absolutely delicious. He also ordered an eggplant dish which he promptly sent back because he’d ordered it without chillies. The chef was obviously not in the habit of omitting the usual handful of chillies when preparing this dish. The replacement dish came… it still had fresh green and orange twisted capsicum in it, but thankfully, these didn’t impart such a hot taste. It seemed strange to me that I was looking for the hot bits, while Kenzo, my Asian friend, was dodging them! The whole meal, including a Harbin beer, was ¥39 (AUD9)… excellent value!

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On leaving the restaurant we heard some music a little way up the street. We just had to follow that sound and found a covered stage set up in a bit of a square where dancers were performing in colourful costumes to very loud amplified traditional music.

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We sat around for 20 or so minutes watching dancing and umbrella twirling before we agreed that it was time to call it a night. We were back in our hotel by 21.00 and well and truly ready for bed.

David

If you enjoy these armchair travels, please pass our site onto others

www.dymusings.com

more of our travel stories and photos can be found on

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China: Yunnan: #14 Exploring Tuan Shan (Part b)

Feb3

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Back on the narrow streets

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Dried gourds for sale in a small shop

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Dried lotus pods.

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In this lady’s shop items made from plant stalks were for sale

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Yet another decorative manhole cover.

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Gates also often contained living quarters.

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Arachis glabrata, a ground cover plant.

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Yet another gateway to a courtyard

In 1905 the Zhang jia Family ancestral temple and garden complex was built. The complex contains 119 rooms, 21 courtyards, covered walkways, airy pavilions and of course the ancestral temple. A large central pool is surrounded by decorated stone railings.

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A view of the central pool through a moon gate

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Central pool

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Zephyranthes carinata growing in a garden bed surrounding the pool

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A balcony being used to dry lotus seed pods

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Extracting seeds from a lotus pod

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A toothy grin

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Crooked old lanes lead onwards

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A broom resting on a window sill

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A window barred with wooden poles

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The sign said this was a “Century Cactus”. The leaves are used as a vegetable.

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Intricately carved and gilded doors that have seen better days

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Rice stalks drying in the sun

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Courtyard of an old timber house… fire fighting equipment at the door!

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Which key do I use?

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…to open this door

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An ancient moon gate in need of a little TLC.

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Water droplets looking like crystals on a taro leaf

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It was 13.00, time to be back to board the train

Without stops, it only took 45 minutes to get back to Jianshui.

David

If you enjoy these armchair travels, please pass our site onto others

www.dymusings.com

more of our travel stories and photos can be found on

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China: Yunnan: #13 Exploring Tuan Shan (Part a)

Feb2

Tuan Shan village is the only intact village of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). It was inhabited by the Yi minority and some traditional Chinese Han.

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Some of the courtyard houses, built of grey mud bricks, are 600 years old. It is said that all the houses face east and therefore catch the first rays of the sun each morning. The first old house we saw had a sign which gave the building date as 1910… so not as old as some.

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A very old covered doorway.

Many of these old doorways have a stone known as a Tai shan shi Gan Dang. It’s believed that it can break spells and protect the house from evil and disasters. An interpretive sign said that stone is believed to have “the cultural connocation (sic) that people wish blessings to the officials, health to the commonwealth, prevail of education and the promotion of rituals and music”.

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A fig tree with a strong hold on its wall.

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A fancy restaurant built on stilts above a lotus pond.

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The light rain had left a delicate dusting of water drops on this lotus leaf.

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Lotus seed pods about to shed their seed.

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Looking up the street to the main gate of the walled village.

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A sign we probably would not see in Australia!

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Colourful decorations

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The main East Gate of the village was built in 1904 as a two-story residence with three rooms. It’s been an important fortification for the village.

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Another decorated man hole cover.

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The village square… a meeting place for a chat.

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Red-coloured corn

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A peep into a small square just off the main square.

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Doorways are good places to meet… but the conversation must be somewhat boring!

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An interesting house with traditional saddle-shaped roof.

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A sneak peak through a window into somebody’s kitchen.

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One of the rooms in a museum house

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A long bench table

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A painted door panel

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The panel on the other side of the double doors

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An ornate gateway

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One of the courtyards in the Liuyuan Garden and Mansion which was built by Zhang Youcai in the second decade of the 20th Century. It has 17 rooms and two courtyards.

Time for a rest… more of this village anon

David

If you enjoy these armchair travels, please pass our site onto others

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more of our travel stories and photos can be found on

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China: Yunnan: #12 Train Ride to Tuan Shan (Part b)

Jan29

The little yellow train came to a stop at the Shuanglong (Double Dragon) Bridge, only 3km. (a little over 1 mi.) west of Jianshui. The bridge was built at the confluence of the Lujiang and Tachong Rivers. These two rivers twist along their separate courses looking like two dragons, hence that bridge’s name. Below the confluence, the new river is called the Nanpan.

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The bridge was originally built with only three arches during the reign of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty between 1736 and 1795. However, it had to be increased by another 14 arches during the 1820‘s due to a flood which widened the river. The bridge is now 148 m. (486 ft.) long and varies in width from 3-5 m. (9-16 ft.)

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The central tower of the bridge is quite spectacular, although it would undoubtedly look better on a sunny day when the colours of the tiles would show up. Never mind, when you’re travelling, you get what you get and I was just grateful that it was just misty not pelting down with rain!

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We had time to walk over the bridge, but first we had to get past the ‘elephant’ guards!

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The rain became a little heavier as we walked onto the bridge. But that red umbrella just gave the touch of colour that lifted the scene with the main tower.

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A closer look at the coloured tile roof of the main tower.

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There’s another, smaller tower at the far end of the bridge.

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Looking down on the bank showed another way to enjoy the view of this bridge!

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A beautiful reflection on the lee side of the bridge.

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The river looked so peaceful as I began to walk back over the bridge towards the train.

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And, then, guess who got in the way and clogged the bridge walk? Yep. Those models and their army of photographers. They were simply taking command of the whole bridge.

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Although it was raining lightly this parasol was just for show! However, I noted that the light rain didn’t suit the make-up, costumes or cameras. Our way was totally blocked, and, if you look at the faces, we weren’t especially welcome walking into their shots! With a little patience from everyone, the photos they wanted were taken, and we made it back across the bridge.

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A bemused local.

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…and another one. I’d much rather photograph these faces than the heavily made up faces of those models. These faces have lived. I’m sure these men have great stories to tell.

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Rear view of another fisherman. They’re not real raindrops on the umbrella.

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A final look at the lovely reflections of this famous Shuanglong (Double Dragon) Bridge. Then it was back on the train and onwards towards Tuan Shan along a track that was originally laid by the French when they had greater influence in the area than they do now. Hence, of course, the metre gauge track.

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Our cheery (!) musician regaled us with a piano accordion this time. I did like his hat!

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A fellow passenger enjoying lunch!

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Our next stop was at an old French inspired station that had seen much better days… but at least there was a toilet… even if it was only a slit in a concrete slab. When needs must…..

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A local used the station as a short cut.

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Quite a stern look from this little fellow. Wonder what’s up with him.

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It wasn’t long before we came into the outskirts of a small town.

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And then we were there, at our destination for the day. It was around 11.30 and now we had 90 minutes to walk around the old village before the train returned to Jianshui.

More of that walk anon

David

If you enjoy these armchair travels, please pass our site onto others

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more of our travel stories and photos can be found on

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China: Yunnan: #11 Train Ride to Tuan Shan (Part a)

Jan27

We were up early for another day of exploration only to find the streets rather empty.

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Saturday must be sleep-in morning. Shutters on shops down. Where would we find breakfast?

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We ended up at a noodle house where we had a big bowl of rice noodles with some chopped spring onions and coriander leaves along with an equally large bowl of broth that I think had a chicken base with a bit of chilli here and there for good luck! It all tasted good but not the usual thing I have for breakfast.

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The noodle shop was dishing out bowl after bowl to the local residents who seem to eat out most of the time – even for breakfast… perhaps because the food is so cheap; cheap like our fast food (read junk) outlets. However the huge difference I see between at home and in China is that the food being served in China is made on-site with fresh ingredients to age old local recipes – anything but junk food. And the other big difference I see is this… you have to look long and hard to find a fat person… and that’s not quite the same in our Western societies!

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Fed and happy, we wandered back out into the street. A few more people out, but still not busy.

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We were headed for the restored train station. We had decided to explore a little further afield… to the village of Tuan Shan. We’d heard that one of the places on the ‘must see’ list for Jianshui is the Shuanglong (Double Dragon) Bridge. As luck would have it, a tourist train passes it, with a stop, on the way to Tuan Shan. This looked like a good way to kill two birds with the one stone and get a train ride into the bargain. We even got a 30% discount on our tickets because we’d already visited the Zhu Garden.

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Now here’s something really different from so many railway stations… immaculate ‘loos’.

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The platform and the one metre gauge lines.

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A rather smart looking yellow loco was ready to pull our touristy train.

The carriages waited at the very tidy, pleasant platform!

The carriages were old style… but newly built.

But the carriages were not the only thing to catch my eye. At the end of the platform, there was a large group of professional photographers. So what was the interest… surely not the loco!

No… not the loco. They were ‘shooting’ a bevy of tarted up models.

There were models all over the place; wearing ridiculously high-heeled footwear, carrying parasols and other props and striking poses in what seemed to me to be the oddest of places. At least this one was highlighting the trains logo. Maybe it was to be a promo for Jianshui!

Another really odd place to pose!

Enough make-up to sink a battle ship. I guess it was all just really not my thing!

This whole scene did not auger well for a peaceful train ride out into the country. But, thankfully, they had their own bus and would meet up with the train later. So back to our train trip!

On board, we settled into our not so comfortable wooden seats, new made to look old style, and prepared for the ride. The carriages had a top speed limit of 25km/h although the loco could do 60km/h! Nonetheless the slow ride to the foothills gave us time to admire the scenery.

And, as on many a tourist train, there was a musician to entertain the passengers. This one was a happy chap (?) and played a number of different instruments.

A view of neat and tidy vegetable beds… no space wasted.

Stooks out to dry… may not dry too well on this drizzly, mizzly, misty day.

A lot of new apartment building on the outskirts of town appeared to be in limbo. No workers… no sign of work having been done recently. Maybe this was part of the problem in China of too many apartments being built. The building boom seems to have stagnated somewhat.

Not far out of town, the train began to really slow down. We had reached the famous Shuanglong (Double Dragon) Bridge. Here we would stop, get out and stretch our legs… and no doubt run the gauntlet of that bevy of models, photographers and their entourage once more!

More of that anon

David

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China: Yunnan: #10 More Exploring in Jianshui

Jan25

So what else did we find as we explored the old part of Jianshui a little more? Let’s see.

This was the street scape opposite the gate to the Zhu Gardens.

The pomegranate seller made a wonderful still life photo. I wonder how many hours she just stood their hoping for someone to buy her fruit as they emerged from the gardens. It was getting late in the day and at least one basket was empty so maybe it had been worth her while.

There were still a few people out and about along the shopping street.

A china shop in China!

Glazed and unglazed storage jars.

The entrance to a ‘Foreign Nationals Hotel’.

A lot of thought goes into these manholes that incorporate a story.

Another decorated man hole.

A different sort of decoration… a web woven of electric cables!

A shop selling woks, steamers, brooms, hats and hardware items.

More electric cables decorate the roof… and they aren’t Christmas lights!

A REAL hardware shop

A larger house with a courtyard.

The old and the new, side by side.

Different strengths of rice wine are sold from these jars.

Street fruit market

Vegetable market…. bring your own shop on the back of a bike!

Delicious looking mushrooms

A wider variety of mushrooms… all look delicious… pity we can’t do any cooking.

Those mushrooms would taste really good with these cooked ‘chooks’.

Or maybe these succulent crispy ducks. Yum!

Could add some tofu as well.

Might rethink the tofu… not sure about smokers blowing smoke over the food

Thoughtful market seller

These dried chrysanthemum flowers are used to make chrysanthemum tea (pinyin). The flowers are steeped in hot water 90-95⁰C, (194-203⁰F). Chrysanthemum tea is said to have many beneficial health properties. In China it is used to recover from a sore throat, influenza and acne. The flowers are also used as a compress to alleviate circulatory disorders such as varicose veins.

A potential buyer of the tea.

Then after our interesting exploration around the streets it was time for dinner. We found a cafe with a balcony and watched the city quieten down while we ate a delicious dinner.