Drummond, our writer for today, with his carrot phoenix.
The new part of Chongqing is new construction and wide streets,
which is where we are staying.
We
had an excellent meal as Drummond mentioned. Here are Kai
and Jesse eyeing the phoenix.
|
4-22-07
Drummond writes:
Today
-unfortunately- was our last day in Kunming.
so we started off the day with packing.
My packing efficiency has improved considerably
in the last two weeks. Then we had a
very nice breakfast that included warm
milk, rice porridge, and noodles. From
there we went out on our last Kunming
shopping excursion and had fun getting
lost. Eventually we ran out of time and
had to take a taxi back to the Lotus
Hotel.
Then we left for the airport and
after checking in we determined we had
enough time for one more Kunming meal
and walked out of the airport and into
a restaurant down the block and around
the corner. Now for me, that was interesting
because in the United States I don't
think I've ever left the airport for
lunch. So this was nice. Then we got
on the plane and had a one hour flight
to Chongqing where we settled into our
beautiful hotel and got ready for our
first -amazing- Chongqing dinner.
We had a really fun and delicious dinner. The duck dish was served with a carrot
carved into a phoenix. Mr. Li checked with the restaurant staff and said it
would be all right for Mike to have it. Of course, we wanted two. Fortunately
we guessed that there would be another one garnishing the same duck dish in
the second of our two rooms and Daniel performed a perfect kidnapping of the
carrot, an act of bravery caught on video by Mike.
After dinner we returned to the hotel, had a class where we discussed the topics
we wanted for our community service projects, then had time to work on journals,
and went to bed. Today was a nice travel day and the day we had to say good-bye
to Wu Laoshi.
The view from the 23rd floor of the Holiday Inn where we are staying; note
the construction across the street.
|
|
Ms.
Sopper writes:
Today
we said good-bye to Kunming, and sadly, to our friend
Wu Laoshi, and moved, as, apparently much of the
rest of China is doing to Chongqing. We had a hard
time saying good-bye to Professor Wu. His patience,
intelligent council, and sense of humor made our
stay in Kunming unforgettable.
After spending the
morning catching up on work, we took one last walk
around town. One thing we've discovered about Kunming,
at least in the neighborhood around our hotel, is
that industries concentrate in specific areas. The
industry around our hotel is office equipment and
cell phones. Amazingly, none of us had computer tables
on our shopping lists, so some of us have been moved
to experiment with the bus system. A short ride on
#84 city bus takes us to a quite different urban
scene. Still, a lot of cell phone stores -most memorably,
one cell phone store advertised by a man-statue painted
silver and in a silver lame dress- but plenty of
variety as well. Our connection to the airport went
smoothly and having checked our bags, Wu Laoshi determined
that we had time before our flight for one last Kunming
meal. With his unerring sense of where is delicious
found, Professor Wu led us, by foot, out of the airport,
down the street, and around the corner, to a tiny
restaurant where after a few words from the Professor
we were served fried rice, perfectly seasoned vegetables
and other tofu. We ate, walked back to the airport
and said good-bye.
Where Kunming had impressed me as being in a constant state of tear-down and
rebuild (at breakfast we wondered if they were rebuilding the first floor of
the hotel as we ate on the second!) Chongqing is quite simply building. On our
drive from the airport we saw apartment building growing like asparagus. The
size and rate of growth of this city is simply awesome. Chongqing, in Sichuan
Province -but administered as an independent city- is an enormous city of around
30-33 million people situated in Southwest China between the Yangtze and the
Jialing Rivers. Famous for its spicy food Chonqing did not disappoint. Our first
meal in Chongqing featured duck and tofu and various greens and a sizzling-rice
dish whose rice -amazingly-stayed crunchy throughout the meal. I have never experienced
such a range of flavor and heat in food. Along with the group, I'm finding new
vocabulary for the kinds of heat, where it hits the mouth, and whether it is
immediate or building, ginger or pepper, or in combination with sweet or salty
or everything at once. This is truly a culinary adventure. In terms of entertainment,
the high-point of the dinner was the bold kidnapping of the phoenix garnish by
Daniel, captured ably by the videography of Mike. It really was an extraordinary
piece of work, carved from a carrot with skill and intricacy. We returned to
our very luxurious hotel for class, work on the journals, and bed. Tomorrow we'll
explore Chongqing. |
