Jingxiang's Travel Notes Chapter 13 丨 "Northeast Journey" Chapter 13:
Chinese people eat and drink well, but Northeastern dishes tend to be salty
Dinner is still barbecue and bibimbap. In this strange place, if I can eat delicious food with local characteristics, I will come back. Originally, as a cultural journey, the food culture of various places is an essential part. Unfortunately, I didn’t delve too much into the food aspect. It’s not that I wasn’t interested, but in order to stay in good shape throughout the trip, I had to eat enough and not get upset. Local delicacies often suit the eating habits of local people, but for guests from far away, the acid, alkali, cold, heat and even the taste may not be suitable for them.
I remember going to Hunan more than 20 years ago. After ordering food in a restaurant, we always emphasized one sentence: "Don't make it spicy, not at all!" The result was still spicy. The waiter felt aggrieved and said, "We really didn't put in the spicy food!" But why did we still find it spicy when we ate it? Maybe, their condiments and even the pot are spicy.
Some places are famous for their snacks, but after you eat them, you often feel like this - nothing more. After eating Guangdong's "skinned duck", do you still think "Peking roast duck" is so high-end?
A distance of several thousand kilometers, from 18 degrees north latitude to 53 degrees north latitude, the eating habits are quite different.
Whether it tastes good or not is one thing. What I want to prepare now is a late night snack. This has been my habit for decades. As for those who say "not eating after lunch", I am not a medical expert, so I can't come up with any theory or data to refute them. All I know is that the human body's life system is the most sophisticated "instrument". When it is cold, it will send out a signal to put on clothes; when it is hungry, it will send out a signal to eat. As for when to eat and how much to eat, these are decided by the life system itself. The so-called seven emotions and six desires, the word "qing" refers to the heart, whether it is anger or sadness, they are all controlled by emotions. "Desire" does not include the heart. It is the desire set by the life system to maintain the normal operation of the internal organs - such as "appetite". If the stomach is too full, you will have no appetite; if the stomach is empty, the body's hunger will convey the feeling of hunger to your consciousness, telling you that it is time to eat, otherwise it will not be able to provide normal energy consumption. Therefore, I eat when I feel hungry, even in the middle of the night.
In this small city deep in the mountains, there is no guarantee that all restaurants will close before dark. To be on the safe side, I bought some instant noodles. However, I don’t like to eat packaged food. Even if there is a bowl of hot porridge, I will not eat instant noodles.
Thinking about having to get up at 5 a.m. to catch the 6:29 train the next morning, I was able to fall asleep at ten o'clock - naturally, I didn't have to eat instant noodles.
This train is a so-called express train starting with "K". It takes 11 hours and 45 minutes to travel 530 kilometers. I spent the whole day on the train. At noon, the two big men on the lower bunk took out the cucumbers, dipping them in the sauce and eating them happily. The crisp and tender sound of biting the raw cucumbers was like a beautiful piece of music. However, this sound was too weak, and I smelled more of the smell of instant noodles in the carriage – there were obviously not a few passengers eating.
Although I have been unable to find restaurants several times in the past twenty days, there were only two times when I was really forced to eat instant noodles. One time was on the train. The dining car was ready after ten o'clock in the evening and I wanted to eat it. I could only make instant noodles for a late-night snack; another time I had a late-night snack, I got up in the middle of the night and made instant noodles from the hotel room.
When we arrived in Hailar, it was already 6:30 pm on June 2, 2013. When I walked out of Hailar Railway Station, which has a yurt-shaped roof, I was immediately attracted by the square in front of the station.
Hailar is the capital of Hulunbuir City , the largest prefecture-level city in the country and even the world. Its train station square is also so large. Although the new railway station, which was put into use at the beginning of the year, has taken into account the carrying capacity during the peak period, I am afraid that you will still see the same crowded scene during the Spring Festival travel period. Only during this tourist off-season will you see the arrival of the train station. and the outbound crowds seemed sparse in the wide square.
It doesn't get dark until after eight o'clock here, and there is enough light to allow you to clearly see everyone's face in the entire square, not to mention their clothes. A middle-aged couple passed in front of me. They were probably locals who were taking a walk after dinner. Not only were they wearing thick coats, but they also put their hands in their pockets. Apparently they felt the cold on their exposed palms.
Not far from them was the entrance to the station. Passengers wearing short-sleeved T-shirts, long-sleeved shirts and even thick coats mixed together, hurriedly dragging their luggage into the station. At this time, it wasn’t that I didn’t believe my eyes, but I was sighing at the huge difference in physical fitness.
This difference is age-related but not entirely age-dependent. When I took a battery car tour in Arctic Village, the car drove very fast. Even though I was sitting in the middle of the three-person seat, I was still a little cold from the cool breeze. I couldn't help but tighten my jacket. The person on my right blocking the wind was A man in his fifties, although his hair is gray, he is very energetic. He is only wearing a short-sleeved T-shirt! The four young and middle-aged men traveling with him were either wearing long-sleeved thick shirts or suit jackets. Later, when I went to search for the North Pole with them, I asked him: "Aren't you cold?" He replied with a smile: "It's cold, I can't stand it."
Being able to hold on without catching a cold is something that no ordinary person can do, even though he is no longer young.
The temperature here is similar to that in Jiagadaqi, 7-18 degrees, but it doesn't rain here. When it doesn't rain, it is 15-18 degrees. Therefore, wearing more or less depends on your personal physique, which truly embodies the "wearing the same clothes for all seasons" scenario.
I don’t want to live too far away, so I usually find a hotel to stay near the train station. That’s why there are many hotels near the station.
After settling in, it’s a matter of eating. In Guangzhou, dinner starts just after 7pm, but in the Northeast (including the three northeastern provinces of Jilin, Liaoning, Heilongjiang and eastern Inner Mongolia), you are lucky to find a restaurant that is not closed at this time. However, the snack bar is still open. Barbeque signs can be seen everywhere. Besides barbecue, there is also barbecue. I secretly uttered a mantra here: "Oh, my God!"
The south is located in the left position of Bagua, which belongs to fire, and the water and earth are warm. Therefore, southerners are prone to getting angry, and they will definitely not be able to stand eating these barbecues all the time. The north is located at the edge of the Bagua and belongs to water. The water and soil are cold and cool, so they have no problem eating barbecue. This is the food culture of the Chinese people: one side of water and soil nourishes one side of the people. Western countries attach great importance to standardization of everything. Western fast food hamburgers have the same recipe all over the world, as if 7 billion people have the same taste. What they pay attention to is the taste, so fried food is very popular, especially fried chicken parts. The Chinese pay attention to the combination of hot and cold food: chicken is a warm ingredient and cannot be fried, but steamed or boiled with water. Duck is cold, so we roast it over fire. Therefore, our roast duck is very famous but it is almost impossible to find fried chicken recipes in Chinese restaurants. In the northern hemisphere of China, from Sanya to Mohe, the latitude ranges from 18 degrees to 53 degrees. The climate, water and soil are very different between the north and the south. Northerners regard fried dough sticks as a regular breakfast, while southerners regard porridge as a common breakfast. If it were reversed, neither party would be able to stand it.
However, it seemed unreasonable not to eat barbecued lamb when I came to Inner Mongolia. In the end, I ordered two skewers of barbecued meat, but I couldn't taste any difference from the barbecue we had there. I began to suspect that my tongue was a bit slow. If enough attention is paid at this time, it may be possible to avoid the two days of sick leave in Zhalantun.
After entering the Northeast, I had an experience: the food here is salty, and the dishes in the restaurants are not ordinary large portions, but super large portions. Let’s put it this way, if three people order two dishes, you will definitely have to take away half of them. If a person orders a dish and eats half of it, he will be awarded the title of "Seven Forks". It’s hard to find small plates like the one the police driver took me to in Mohe. It seems that Northeastern people are not enthusiastic when they give you a small plate. They would rather give you a big plate than learn to greet customers with a mask on, and go straight to drive away customers without caring.
Southerners know how to make more money from customers. Every dish is so exquisite. Even if you are dining alone, you can order several dishes. When two people are dining, you can have fish, meat, and vegetables. The nutrition is reasonable and there is no waste due to too large portions. A meal costs at least a hundred yuan.
People in the Northeast feel that giving you a small plate is not affordable, but they don’t know that the profit earned by asking customers to order two small plates is greater. If a large dish costs 25 yuan, and two small dishes are separated and cost 15 yuan each, wouldn't the profit be greater?
Southerners have a light diet and can eat more vegetables and less rice. There is basically not much left over from a few small plates. Northeasterners have a heavy taste due to pickles and other reasons. The already large portions of the dishes are too salty and they have to eat more rice and noodles. And eating less vegetables will result in waste.
While this area is still open, I want to find a barber shop to get a haircut. Finally, I saw the signboard with the word "Barber", but I couldn't find the barber shop. The signboard was hung in front of a small shop, and the shops on the left and right were also shops.
I asked the saleswoman: "Where is the barber shop?"
The aunt replied: "This is it, come in." Then I discovered that there was a small barber's room behind the shelves.
It was the first time I saw a barber shop in a store. The barber was the saleswoman.
"Excuse me, what time do your shops here close?" I was thinking about how to solve the problem of late night snacks during the haircut process.
"The state-owned stores close at 5:30, and the private ones close at 8 o'clock, and some stores close at no later than 9 o'clock." The aunt answered in detail.
"What if I want to buy something at night?" Obviously, I think about the problem in my own way of life.
The aunt was surprised: "Why don't you buy it during working hours?"
I was even more surprised: "Aren't you all at work? Can you go shopping during working hours?"
Without thinking, the aunt gave me an even more surprising answer: "You can buy it on Sunday!"
I had to say their catchphrase again: "Oh, my God!" However, I still said it in my heart, because I am not in the habit of saying this.
The best way to solve the late night snack is to go to bed early, because tomorrow the 7:43 train leaves for Manzhouli.
To predict what will happen next, please read Chapter 14: A Lone Traveler’s Desert Scene, People in the City Like the Prairie