The Stinky Tofu Challenge

I arose from my slumber around noon, a common time for me to wake up when not working my 8 to 5. The day started off like any other. Check my messages on my phone from the night before, typical morning bathroom things, get dressed, not attempt anything with my hair, pet the dog as she jumps on me in excitement, make a simple breakfast as my roommates clean up their lunch, etc. But this day wasn't be like any other, because it was the day I conquered the greatest personal challenge in China. Climb the Great Wall? Hang off the edge of mountain? Speak Mandarin? Move to a new and unfamiliar city without knowing anybody at all? No. This was the day I ate stinky tofu (direct translation of the Chinese, Chou Doufu 臭豆腐).

Stinky tofu:

 

Danielle, why would you eat something that straight up has the word “stinky” in the name? Well, dear reader, for two reasons. 1) I had heard that it doesn’t actually taste that bad, despite it smelling like poo. My first week in China, in order to practice grammar patterns, we learned the phrase “据说臭豆腐闻起来臭，吃起来香。,” which means “It is said that stinky tofu smells bad but tastes good.” But also, and more importantly, reason 2) the awe-inspiring Sharon told me she would buy me Lily Allen concert tickets if I finished a serving of the stanky delicacy. As an unpaid intern, big Lily Allen aficionado, and self-proclaimed professional eater, I quickly accepted the challenge.

[Lyrics from a Lily Allen song presumably written by Stinky Tofu, to me]

The wager: eat one serving of stinky tofu and write an at least 4096 English character report, including photo and video evidence, in exchange for a ticket to Lily Allen’s concert in Atlanta on September 17, 2014. 

 

Back in Wuhan, I told my coworkers and flatmates about the challenge. Most of them told me it’s really not that bad, and one flatmate even expressed her fondness for the smell, because it lets her know the food is nearby. Days went by. Hot and humid days. Days where the fragrance of the stinky tofu from the vender outside wafted their way into the metro leaving the whole place literally smelling like shit (excuse my language). I questioned my sanity, as well as my resolve. But I have never been one to give up, especially if that also meant backing out on a promise. 

So when the day arrived, I waited patiently for my friend to come pick me up. Together, we went to Hubu Xiang, a popular snack alley in Wuchang district of Wuhan. It was close enough to walk from where I live, but more convenient to drive on a hot summer day in the city known as the “furnace of China.” We passed various types of food but I wanted to get it over with. We stopped by one stall but his “chou doufu” mysteriously wasn’t smelly at all, and I wanted to do it right. Alas, in the distance we saw a line formed across the alley. Our eyes scanned the line to the front where we found the sign: 臭豆腐 chou doufu. This was our man (and woman).

After waiting long enough, and forking (chopsticking?) over 5 kuai, I received my order. A standard serving with 7 pieces of stinky tofu. Now might be a good time to mention that I am generally not a fan of tofu, irrespective of stank factor. With no time to lose, I used the skewer provided, stabbed into the first piece, and took a bite. Well, I tried. But it was really hot. Like, spicy hot, sure, but I can handle that. Temperature wise though. Like, burn my mouth off hot. Good lord. It was a like biting into a soft, smooth textured, miniature, edible furnace. I made it through a piece doing that thing where you have food in your mouth while simultaneously breathing through your mouth trying to cool off. It was classy, naturally, but due to the heat, I couldn’t really get a good taste of it. So we took a filming intermission.

 

[Oops sideways]

 

Take two lasted longer than take one, yet clearly we didn’t wait long enough because we had to take a second intermission to let it cool even more. But between three takes, and countless frames of me struggling to eat food like a respectable human being, I slowly but surely made it through all 7 pieces.  Locals stared as the foreigner made a miniature spectacle of herself. The smell of chou doufu drifted around in waves as I made my way through the bowl, reminding me why I was going through this endeavor.

All in all, the taste was eh. I wouldn’t do it again, even if I let it cool, and honestly, waiting on line for this stinky specialty was worse than eating it. But I did it. And the next day, that smell of poop wafting through the air of the metro was no more comforting than it had been the week before. It just smelled like poop.

[Videos 2 & 3 aren't uploading but I will do my best to add them here as soon as possible!]

So there you go Sharon. Over 4300 characters. Huzzah!

Eight to Five

Seeing as I’m actually not just in Asia to go on vacations and try weird food, but I am here for my internship at the U.S. Consulate, I figured I’d blog a bit about my role in in Wuhan. On July 1, we had an Independence Day banquet. The staff had been working very hard on planning the huge event for a long time and they had me host alongside a coworker. This meant we stood on stage in front of all the guests, introduced various videos and speakers, discussed the theme of the event, etc. It was nice to have a role in the event even though I am “just an intern. The food was good too (and I may or may not have taken home a few boxes of leftovers).

Mr. Mai's

I was also given the opportunity to speak at Mr. Mai’s Coffee Shop, first at his Wuchang branch and second in Hanyang. Mr. Mai and his wife opened their coffee shop 11 years ago as a comfortable environment to practice English. I spoke at each of his stores and gave a presentation on American college life and compared it to my experience studying abroad in Shanghai. This was very helpful for those planning on studying abroad in the U.S., but also for others to get language practice. It was a fun opportunity to share my experiences while helping others.

"Home"

Last week, I traveled to Changsha, the capital of Hunan Province, to give the same presentation at a Citibank event, and at Home, a non-profit eco-village. These two experiences were super interesting in that while Citibank was a corporate event for high school students who will most likely study abroad, the event at Home was far more casual. While some attending students may plan on studying abroad, others were just there to practice English or hear about American culture. I enjoyed both experiences, especially being able to give advice and learn from the attendees. Plus, the hotel bed was the most comfortable bed I have slept in in a long time. At all these events, I received some interesting questions. Some people were interested in how to write their statement of purpose essays, or had questions about changing majors, something you cannot really do in Chinese universities. Other questions were on American life asking about if it is dangerous because of all the guns (lol) or if people in the States are like the characters in Gossip Girl.

Contemporary Art

I went to another education fair but most questions were visa related and thus, out of my realm of expertise. I also went to a contemporary art exhibition opening, which was cool because it promoted young artists, specifically 22 recent college graduates from the U.S, Hong Kong, and China.While most days I am just sitting in the office inputting business cards into the computer for hours, I am still grateful for the opportunity to have this unique experience. Most consulates are huge so the interns only work in a small section. As an intern at the Wuhan consulate, I was exposed to many aspects of the consulate’s work. Everyone has been very friendly and as much as I am looking forward to going home (which is a LOT), I know that I will always be welcome back in Wuhan.

Beijing (aka: I’ve never seen this many people anywhere in my life)

July 4^th! Happy Independence Day, America! Obviously irrelevant in China, unless you work for the U.S. Consulate and get the day off! Woo! I made a three-day weekend out of it to go to Beijing, capital of the country I’ve been living in for 5 months. I took the high speed train and five hours later, arrived at Beijing West train station. Getting on the subway in Beijing was the first moment I thought, dear lord I’ve never seen this many people anywhere in my life (hey, there’s the title of the blog post!). Saga Youth Hostel is situated on a hutong, or alley and I was shocked to find such peace and quiet on a small street in the middle of a huge city. Most attractions close around 4 pm so I only had time for one activity that afternoon and I chose the Temple of Heaven.

 

The Temple of Heaven is really many other attractions within a huge compound. Aside from the temples and sights themselves, there were also many locals playing cards and other games in the park. Again, I was shocked by the quiet on the grounds which made the area a peaceful escape from the bustling China I’ve gotten used to. Before heading back I treated myself to some delicious Peking duck. I also wandered around Beijing, including Wangfujing, where vendors tried to sell me still-wiggling fried scorpions. No thank you, I said, because I was already eating ice cream and those flavors just do not mesh well.  Back at the hostel, it turned out that two of my roommates were also solo-travelers so we made plans for sight seeing the next day.

Saturday morning, I went on a tour to the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall. We took the “cable car,” which was pretty much a ski-lift, to the top in order to have more time on the wall instead of hiking up the mountain. The wall itself is immense and actually is over 600 km long, but the section we went to was about 5 km (10 km down and back) and consisted of 23 guard towers. In China, they say you aren’t a real man until you hike the Great Wall. Ignoring the lack of PC in that saying (lol), I totally understand because it was quite a hike. Like every other “hike” I’ve experienced in China, it was really tons of stairs (more like the Great Stairs of China, amiright?) and despite that my lungs are probably black from pollution, we made it to the 16^th tower, pretty good for the amount of time we had. 

We then took the toboggan down from the top which was fun but would have probably been more fun had we not been behind a man with a small child in his arms. Something I really love about hostels and traveling in these groups are that I meet people from various backgrounds and countries. Yet somehow, when we sat down for lunch, I ended sitting next to a German woman who happens to also live in Wuhan. It was a crazy coincidence considering outside of Wuhan, I’ve never met anyone from Wuhan. 

 
That evening, I went with my two new travel partners to see the Olympic Bird’s Nest and Water Cube. They were really cool lit up at night and not too crowded. We spent some time just wandering around different areas before heading back to the hostel. 

Flowers for Mao

Early Sunday morning, we headed to Tiananmen Square to see Mao’s Mausoleum. We arrived around 7 am, it opened at 7:30, and we waited on line until around 8:30 to finally get in, which was pretty good timing considering the hundreds of thousands of people behind us on line. After waiting on a line that wraps around the square, you go through security and then have the opportunity to buy a flower in his “honor.” You enter the building to a room with a huge statue of smiling and sitting Mao. Parents were hugging their children. Most people held their flowers and bowed before placing the flower on the table in front of the statue. [Sidenote: the flowers are collected by workers who bring them back to be resold]. You are then ushered to the second room where his embalmed body sits under an orange light in a half open casket within a glass case. Yes, I actually saw Mao's face in person. Then, when you walk out the door, there is a gift shop set up outside to sell Mao paraphernalia. Super interesting experience and really had us thinking. We capped off the experience with some Starbucks. 

Me and Me. Same spot. 15 years apart.

The rest of the day was spent walking around Tiananmen and the Forbidden City. We got an audio tour in the Forbidden City so we would have some idea of what we were seeing. A few hours there was enough, especially considering the ridicious lines (and me thinking omg I’ve never seen this many people anywhere in my life) before I got on the train back to Wuhan. I’ve been on my own in China for a while now but Beijing was my first solo “vacation” and I had a really nice time, a lot of it thanks to the other travelers I met along the way.

Wuhan (More like WOOOhan)

I’ve been in Wuhan for about 2.5 weeks so I figured that it’s about time I write something. It took me a while because when I first got here, I disliked it intensely. The pollution was at a record-breaking level (click there!) and I came in the middle of the week and started work right away, so all I knew of the city was the bleak, smoggy walk to the office. We looked out the office window to find zero visibility; everything was gray as far as the eye could see, except for the red sun. Over 300 is considered to be the most hazardous and for most of the day, it was around 600. I briefly considered sleeping in the office where we have air filters to protect my lungs. There are significantly less westerners here than in Shanghai and I was also annoyed at all the shameless staring whenever I went anywhere. Needlesstosay, I was a grouch, so a blog post would not have been a good read.

Typical gathering of ladies dancing in Wuhan

 

My apartment

Since arriving, I have had more time to explore and the city has grown on me, plus the pollution has returned to the regular unhealthy levels that I am used to from Shanghai. Wuhan is split into three districts, Wuchang, Hankou, and Hanyang. I live in Wuchang, with a view of the Yangtze River from my window, and my office is across the water in Hankou. I share an apartment with two French girls, one Canadian, one Chinese guy, and a sweet dog named Champion. They were all super welcoming when I got here and made me dinner the first night. One flatmate showed me this huge fresh food market right down the street, which connects to a cute coffee shop street called Tanhualin. I went to one of the coffee shop about two weeks ago and when I went back today, the guy remembered me and that I ordered a latte for take-away. I also walked beyond that food market

Doupi (豆皮)

one day towards the famous Yellow Crane Tower, but it was pretty smoggy so I didn’t bother to go up (plus I heard it is not really that special and I’ve seen quite a few pagodas in my 5 months here). I also went to Hubu Xiang (Alley), a popular snack street in Wuchang, and I tried various treats, among them Wuhan’s famous doupi (豆皮) which is really just rice. Last weekend, I went to an area called Chuhe Hanjie which is the river and pedestrian street that connects Shahu Lake and East Lake. It was filled with Western brand stores such as H&M and Gap, and after a little shopping (blech) I treated myself to a nice dinner.

Coffee shop on Tanhualin

小龙虾 (xiaolongxia)

As for the reason I am in the middle of central China, I am really enjoying my internship at the US Consulate. There are very few people working in the office so I get to be involved in all the departments. The staff members are all very friendly and quickly welcomed me into the Wuhan family. We all went out for dinner the other night and had crawfish (小龙虾) which I was luckily a pro at eating thanks to my rugby road trip to New Orleans last year.

My current project is scanning tons of business cards into the computer, which is admittedly extremely boring, but I am most excited for my public outreach opportunities. In order to help people practice English and bridge American and Chinese culture, I will be attending various “English Corners” to give talks on American college life, a topic in which I am clearly an expert. I already went to a college fair with a representative from the Guangzhou Consulate and got to speak to a few students and parents about U.S. college life, and I enjoyed being able to ease some nerves and help families with what can be a very stressful time. We are also hosting an Independence Day banquet next week, which I will be the MC for, and the office has been very busy preparing for that. 

Another project of mine is my intern diary, which is another reason I haven’t been blogging on here. I write a weekly blog on my experiences in Wuhan, and then they post it every Friday on the Consulate’s Weibo account, which is Chinese twitter. These posts have even gotten some likes and comments including, “Can I make friends with her?” and “Woman-man?” followed by a confused smiley. Anyway, here are the other blog posts so you can read more about my internship and experience in Wuhan, if you are so inclined:

 

http://weibo.com/usconsulatewuhan- Good luck trying to navigate through the Chinese to find my two blog posts, I will try to upload the two Weibo posts in English later :)

Zaijian Shanghai, Nihao Wuhan

 In the beginning of the semester, before we all knew each other, everyone in the program would travel as a herd, and I yearned for the awkwardness to slip away quickly so we could get to the point when we would find comfortable friend groups. Going to clubs, which I am not a big fan of to begin with, is overwhelming on its own, let alone with a huge group of new acquaintances. And before long, we all found our place and started breaking away from the pack. Yet when the goodbyes started over a week ago, we all found our way back together and I realized what made my experience in Shanghai so incredible: the people. There were around 100 people in our program, and I was friends so many of them. When people started leaving early for internships and what not, we all went to the same bar on their last night to send them off the way we started. That togetherness lasted until the very last day, and it was awesome to go out and recognize a majority of the people wherever we were. There is something to be said about people that choose to study abroad in China. These crazy people elected to go to a country with a culture completely different from their own, with one of the hardest languages to learn, on a program with strangers from across the country and across the world. We could have picked something easier, a culture more similar to our own, somewhere comfortable, but these people stepped out of their comfort zones to have adventures they will never forget. 

Last brunch at Pancake House

These are the people who helped me smile when enduring visa complications and flight problems, made me laugh when getting anchovied on the metro or getting hit by a moped, and kept me sane when cars drove on the sidewalk and old ladies hocked loogies in my path. I fed pandas, paved a road, went to the crazy Chinese gym, rode elephants, explored Southeast Asia, walked a plank on the edge of a mountain, hiked rice terraces, tried strange food, and conquered Shanghai with these people. While I may miss Shanghai, what I will miss the most is the experiences I can’t capture in words. I’ve tried to express my adventures through pictures and blog posts, but I can never articulate the way our life was for these 4 months. 

CIEE did a really nice job wrapping up the semester. After our week of finals, we dressed up and took a group photo by the Mao statue and then had an awards ceremony (I got the Chinese language achievement award woo!), followed by a farewell luncheon. Our teachers were all there and presented the winners with gifts. A few Chinese classes, mine included, performed skits or songs at the ceremony. While ours was pretty ridiculous, it was admittedly very funny and everyone seemed to enjoy it. It was nice to wrap everything up with everyone in one place. Of course, the fun didn’t end there. We spent the rest of the weekend as a pack, traveling from our local bar to restaurants and clubs to the Bund for one last time. People came out who didn’t usually go out, and while I still don’t like the club environment too much, seeing everyone in one place dancing and having fun made it all worth it. 

 

Me, Becca, and our Laoshimen

 Most of my friends left Sunday afternoon and some of the remaining students walked to the bus to see them off. It was like a scene from a movie with everyone hugging and tears flowing until the bus drove off with their faces pressed against the window and us waving from the sidewalk. And the craziest part is, a lot of these people live in New York, will be working in New York, or go to school in New York. Some of my closest friends even live just 20 minutes away from me. So while we will definitely be seeing each other again, it is weird to know this part of our life is over. That these people will never be just a walk down the hallway away again. That it will no longer be acceptable to have soup dumplings as a post-workout dinner multiple nights a week. While this experience is over, its effect will last far longer, and I am excited for my next undertaking. When I finally left a few days later (after impatiently waiting around Shanghai for my visa), I had just one friend left to see me off as I got into the taxi. I was definitely grateful he was there, and even though I’m starting this next journey independently, I know it will not remain that way for long. So zaijian Shanghai, time to start Danielle’s Excellent China Adventure (Part 2) in Wuhan, Hubei, China.

Back to the Homeland: Hong Kong!

About a week before my parents came to China, I decided I really wanted to go to Hong Kong. I was planning on going alone over the summer, but who better to return to the motherland with than the people I used to live there with. Plus, I wouldn’t be seeing them again for another few months and I had the time, so why not? When I met my family in Hong Kong, they picked me up from the airport express in Central and we went straight to dim sum at City Hall, where we had LITERALLY the best chao siu bao EVER. We then took the tram to Causeway Bay, walked around Times Square, and ended the evening at an Egyptian restaurant by the escalator. The food was really good and owner gave us all a free round of drinks and dessert, so needless to say we enjoyed ourselves. It’s crazy the things we recall from childhood. I don’t remember spending a lot of time in that area, so it wasn’t too familiar, but there were other things that gave my nostalgia a run for its money. For instance, when Jake and I got into the cab and immediately were greeted by the familiar scent of a Hong Kong taxi. Memory is weird, man.

The next day was more of a blast from the past because we visited the JCC and Ohel Leah Synagogue, where I spent most of my Hong Kong childhood. Everything was exactly the same, although I seemed to remember everything being a lot bigger (my mom claims it’s just because I was a lot smaller…). Walking into the synagogue felt so familiar and brought back memories, from singing songs on the steps of the bimah to standing under my dad’s tallit as he chanted the Kohen aliyah on Rosh Hashanah.

 

 

After the JCC, we went to Stanley Market. While we were shopping, I glanced up and noticed that my cousin Charlie was standing right next to my dad, but neither of them had realized. We knew they were coming to Hong Kong, but this was a total coincidence. So naturally, we all had lunch together on the Stanley Market pier where my dad and I split fish and chips. That night, we met up with our closest family friends for Shabbat dinner. It was so nice to see them, although I wish my friend had been there. 

My last full day in Hong Kong started back at Ohel Leah for Saturday morning services. My dad was thrilled because he was the only Kohen (besides me and Jake) and got to do the Kohen and Levi alliyot, and then my dad and Jake got to do the Birkat Hacohanim (blessing over the congregation). After Kiddush, we went to the Peak and walked around a path with beautiful views of Hong Kong harbor. Then, we took the double decker bus to Repulse Bay, the beach near where we used to live in South Bay. That was quite the blast from the past.

Flashback to when I arrived in Hong Kong on Thursday morning and I happened to glance out the window and make eye contact with a girl in the bus next to our taxi. After a double take, we realized we knew each other from elementary school. We haven’t made contact in over 10 years, despite being Facebook friends, so I messaged her and we made plans to meet up. It turned out she was going out to celebrate another childhood friend’s birthday, so Jake and I met up with them in Lan Kwai Feng. It was a crazy coincidence but I’m so glad I got to meet up with them and see what life would have been like had I stayed in Hong Kong longer.

  I really loved getting to spend over a week with my family, and Hong Kong was my highlight. It was definitely bittersweet to see the places that used to be such a big part of my life, but I am so grateful for the experience because I know it truly influenced who I have become.

Family takes Shanghai!

Yeahhhhh my family came to visit me in Shanghai!! I went to meet them with a flower and a box of Pocky for Mother’s Day, and then we had a delicious dinner at Cloud 9 mall and checked into the hotel (which was approximately a million times more comfortable than my dorm “bed”).

Thursday, my parents met me after class on campus so I gave them a tour and took them to tangbao (汤包!), our favorite soup dumpling restaurant. We later went to Yuyuan Garden (豫园) where Jake and I enjoyed taking selfies (or “youfies” as my brother calls selfies of other people), and my mom had fun taking photos of poorly translated signs. After Yuyuan, we took a walk to the Bund before heading back to the hotel to get ready for dinner. We met my dad’s friend for an incredible dinner at an old building in Shanghai that was converted into a restaurant.

On Friday, we went on a day trip to Hangzhou (杭州), to visit West Lake . We climbed to the top of the Leifeng Pagoda, although it was pretty foggy so the view was obscured. We then took a boat across the lake, which was nice and relaxing, and we got to see the landmark from the 1 RMB bill. We then had linner (late lunch/ early dinner?) at a restaurant called Lou Wai Lou because they had a dish my dad remembered being delicious over 10 years ago called Beggar’s Chicken. At night, I brought Jake to the bar by campus, Ellen’s, where he met my friends.

Boat selfie

Interactive piece

Saturday we went to the fake market and then went to the Long Museum West Bund. The museum took forever to find but was actually pretty cool. We went for a Sichuan dinner in the French Concession and then I took them to live music at Southern Belle, where my mom ordered (Ryan?) Gosling ginger beer. Then, on Sunday, we met in Global Harbor mall where Jake got Mövenpick ice cream, his favorite ice cream from when we lived in Hong Kong that he hasn’t been able to find in years. From there, we went to M50 on Moganshan Lu, a really cool art district with tons of galleries. It was a very relaxing way to spend the day, and something all of us were able to enjoy. Plus, it is one of the few places in Shanghai where graffiti is allowed (yay China!). One of my favorite galleries had a lot of digital art. On one piece, you could call the number on the screen and the person in the image would answer their phone and then disappear, and someone else would replace them. Then you receive a weird text. It was cool. I called twice.

 

That night, we met my cousins Charlie and Rya for dinner at M on the Bund, which had a beautiful view of the Shanghai skyline. It was so nice to be with my family again, even though I was halfway around the world from home.

On Monday, I had a test and field trip in my class so my parents and Jake did the main tourist sights (Shanghai Museum, Nanjing Lu, etc). I met my family for dinner at a nice Thai place recommended by my roommate. The next morning, I saw them off for Hong Kong. We did a lot of things in Shanghai but the best part was getting to spend time with my family after not seeing them for so long, (although the continental breakfast buffet at the hotel was a close second). I couldn't wait to see them again in two days, when I would go meet them in Hong Kong.