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Breakfast foods in China

Since arriving in China my typical breakfast has changed quite a lot (hello baozi and mung bean paste!) so I decided to explore some common local breakfast foods eaten in China!

包子 - Bāozi (my love) These have been an almost consistent (excluding the lunar new year when the canteens and most cafes and restaurants closed) staple of my breakfast ever since I arrived in China. They come with several fillings such as veggie, pork, seafood etc. and they can cooked in different ways such as being steamed, fried etc. Here's a more in-depth post about the types of dumplings and bāo.

粥 - Porridge (zhōu) I sometimes have porridge for lunch instead and it's a really filling meal. I get the Century Egg Congee with Chicken - 皮蛋瘦肉粥 (Pídàn shòu ròu zhōu) and it's one of my all time favourite meals.

煎饼 - Egg pancake (jiānbing) Popular also as a street food, this is a thin crepe type pancake with an egg, veggie, spice, sauce and sometimes meat filling. The actual filling varies as you can customize what veggies and spice level you'd like and whether or not you want meat.

热干面 - Hot and dry noodles (règānmiàn) I honestly had no idea about this dishes existence until a while ago, probably because it's a regional dish originating from Wuhan which is kind of far away from my location. These are spicy and dried noodles which are actually eaten without a broth unlike many other noodles. They seem pretty interesting so if anyone tried them before do share your experience!

桂林米粉 - Guilin Rice noodles (guìlín mĭfĕn) This appears to be another regional dish from Guilin, Guanxi as I had no idea that this was a also a pretty popular breakfast dish. Apparently it's not the noodles but rather the broth that they're cooked in that makes them special, with the actual recepie varying across the region. Someone should do a long weekend trip vlog (pondering on this) to Guilin where they just go from store to store trying these noodles and trying to determine the differences.

葱油饼 - Scallion oil pancake (cōngyŏubĭng) A tasty but heavy-ish pancake imo. These pancakes are cooked with scallions (green onion) and pan-fried to give it that crispy and chewy texture. Very tasty, but it's a little too heavy on the oil for me so I save these pancakes for special occasions instead.

豆浆油条 - Soy milk and deep-fried dough sticks (dòujiāng yóutiáo) I have tried the dough sticks, and I have tried soya milk but separately so far. The dough sticks are these long deep-friend dough sticks, reminding me slightly of breadsticks but more lighter and chewier.

茶鸡蛋 - Tea eggs (chájīdàn) I adore these, my canteen serves them along with regular eggs for breakfast and the tea eggs are usually the first to go. They actually don't really involve tea, instead these eggs are cooked in a mixture of chinese five-spice powder (pepper, cloves, cinnamon, star anise and fennel seeds), soy sauce, and black tea leaves, although some recipes leave out the tea leaves. They have a relatively strong smell so I usually grab some for breakfast on the weekends or in the canteen at lunch if there are any leftover after breakfast. They are also quite cheap, one egg is around 2 yuan so around 0.30 euro, making them a pretty filling and affordable breakfast food.

If there are any other common or specific breakfast foods that you know of, do share them please as I love trying out new things!

So we got our class schedules today and it turns out that I'm in the same class as I was last semester, probably because I requested to stay in the same level in the survey that was sent out without actually thinking everything through.

To be fair, this survey was before I got my exam results back and honestly I think did pretty well for someone who was initially placed 2 levels below because I didn't do too great on my placement test (although I evidently redeemed myself on my swap out test).

This upcoming week we're allowed to try out other levels before either staying or doing the swap test to go to a higher level, which I might do if the next level is manageable.

I feel like the main issue is that despite being really out of my depth in the beginning, this level ended up being challenging enough, but what if the next level is too difficult and this level is too easy? I don't want to waste this semester, but I also want to thrive rather than try to survive and constantly be stressed out about studying.

I guess the upcoming week shall reveal its secrets so there's not that much sense in obsessing over it. I for one will try to make the most of the remaining days before classes start.

Have a good weekend everyone!

Life in China Observations #4

It's been a while since I last did this, so let's go again!

Identity is complicated The question "where are you from" can be just as complicated as it is simple. For many people, their country of birth is where they're from, which is usually the case here. However, if you happen to be born in country A to parents from cultures B and C, immigrated and became a citizen of country D and now attend university in country E and are now on an exchange program in China, the question "where are you from" is not that easily answered. From what some of my friends told me, where you're from is actually the place where your dad was born in even though you may have been born in a different city which is a pretty interesting concept known as the "ancestral home" - 祖籍 (zǔjí) or 籍贯 (jígùan).

You have to make the first step I may have mentioned this in a previous post, but people are constantly doing something and unless you specifically and intentionally reach out and work on your friendship, you may end up drifting apart. Maybe this is a specific thing, but back home I could go a few weeks without really reaching out to my friends and then someone would suggest grabbing lunch together and it would be like no time had passed at all since we last saw each other. Here? Quite different.

Beauty and pop trends There are all sorts of weird and wonderful trends that you can come across in China. From using bread as a study tactic to decorating your workplace with banana plants, I feel like the more I assimilate here, the bigger the reverse culture shock will be when I go back home, and not just for me. dr.candiselin covers some of these trends on Instagram (not a promo post!), and I recommend checking out her content, it's quite brilliant.

Taobao You can buy anything on taobao. Literally. I saw someone selling a house there. I was previously a little shocked to see animals such as cats and bunnies being sold, but after seeing houses and cars being sold I honestly don't know what else is there to surprise me with.

Prepare in advance (foodwise) for the lunar new year During those 8-12ish days during the holdiays a lot of stores were closed. The convenience store outside my campus was open thank God, because otherwise I would have been living on instant porridge and instant soup which was my main food source 2 weeks prior due to being ill and there is only so much instant oatmeal that you can eat before slightly losing it.

Being ill is a nightmare And I mean the mandatory-bed-rest-no-going-out-for-at-least-5-days ill kind. You need to go to the hospital or a clinic to get a note to give to your school otherwise the day's you're absent will be counted, and once they reach a specific percentage you won't be allowed to take the exam (which can seriously mess with your grades, even more if you're there as an exchange student).

The weather can change at the blink of an eye I remember back in December the weather was in the negative digits and then suddenly the next day it was around 20 celcius?? The very next day it went to 3-4, and even now in March it's very all over the place. The weather forecast is not that useful because I'll leave the dorms wearing my coat in the morning only to return carrying my coat, jumper, long-sleeved shirt and wearing only my t-shirt.

More affordable beauty products I saw some products go for around $80 online?? And here on Taobao they cost under $10? I'm assuming it's the shipping costs that drive up the price so drastically, and now I'm pondering whether it would be cheaper to order online or to travel to China every couple of years just to stock up on beauty products.

Chinese chopstick etiquette

There are certain rules for using knives and forks, so why wouldn't there be rules for chopsticks? Now that I know how to use chopsticks properly and (hopefully) without offending anyone, here are some main rules.

No playing with chopsticks In other words, using them like drumsticks and swordfighting with your table neighbour is not permissible (at least not in public).

No sticking your chopsticks up vertically into your bowl Shrines to deceased people usually have a bowl of rice or sand with 2 incense sticks sticking upwards, which is why sticking your chopsticks into your bowl can have similar unpleasant associations.

No pointing your chopsticks at people Pointing your chopsticks at someone is also a no go, as it's seen as hostile.

No digging around You should take from the top layer and avoid digging around the plate in search of the food.

No eating directly from the main plates You should first place the piece of food that you took onto your own plate, and then eat it, instead of eating straight from the source.

No tapping against the bowl Tapping against your plate is considered to be impolite and should be avoided when possible.

I was walking back to my dorm and I saw a group of students carefully following this cat and taking photos of it in an almost paparazzi way, and the cat just looked so exasperated? Like, yes you can take a picture but just this once I have places to be and things to do.

I wish I had taken a photo, it looked just like something out of a comedy still.

Life in China #11

The downside of short holidays and festivals in China (Qingming, Labour Day etc.) is that you usually need to make up for them, so since I got Thursday and Friday off, I still had class on Sunday.

The 然's

突然，虽然，忽然. and the other 然's can often get mixed up, so here's a quick explanation of some of the most common ones!

突然 (Túrán): This means suddenly or unexpectedly

居然 (Jūrán): This kind of means suddenly, but more in the sense of "surprisingly" or to suggest disbelief at something that happened.

忽然 (Hūrán): This also means suddenly or unexpectedly, but it has a more stronger connotation.

既然 (Jìrán): This is a conjunction meaning "since" or "now that"

既然the weather is great, let's go out!

既然 you aren't busy, let's go watch a movie.

不然 (Bùrán): This means "otherwise" or "or else";

You should study, 不然 you won't do well on the exam.

虽然 (Suīrán): This means although or even though.

虽然 I'm not good at singing, I still like to go to the karaoke.

当然 (Dāngrán): 当然 means certainly or definitely and can be used as a reply:

Can you help me with A? 当然!

自然 (Zìrán): This can mean nature or naturally.

China's 自然 is very beautiful.

She speaks Chinese 得很自然.

仍然 (Réngrán): This can mean "still" or "yet".

I仍然 haven't read that book.

依然 (Yīrán): Similar to 仍然, this also means still" or "yet" but it's usually used in more formal and literary works, whereas 仍然 is more often used in spoken language.

果然 (Guǒrán): 果然 can be used to mean "indeed" or "as expected"

This movie is 果然 interesting.

竟然 (Jìngrán): This is an adverb used to suggest surprise or something unexpected.

He竟然forgot her birthday.

显然 (Xiǎnrán): This means "clearly" or "obviously".

This soup 显然 hot.

偶然 (Ǒurán): This means "accidentally" or "by chance".

We 偶然 met at the same cafe.

How many other 然's do you know about? Drop a comment!

豫园 (Yùyuán Gardens)

Class shenanigans #6

Or in other words how I could have failed my speaking exam.

My speaking teacher decided to create a separate groupchat for our speaking class so that the material wouldn't get all mixed up, and she sent me a request to add her on wechat, so that she could add me to the groupchat. I added her back, but she didn't add me to the chat so I thought she'd add me later and forgot about this matter.

But as it turns out she didn't, and now less than a week away from the exam I started worrying because most of the information such as the exam time, content etc. was being shared exclusively in the chat so after class I asked her about this issue.

Turns out she thought I didn't add her back (I did) because she didn't recognize my username (my actual non-chinese name), and my profile picture, which was of this cheeky smirking cat 😭

It ended up being resolved, with me joining the groupchat but it's just a tad hysterical that all this was because of my profile picture.

Moral of the story: If you don't use your actual picture and insist on having smirking cats as your profile pics, use a name that everyone else can recognize.

Yangs (扬) vs Changs (场) vs Tangs (汤)

These can get confusing, so here are some of the most common words that use this radical 昜 explained.

场 (chǎng)

A measure word for sports or leisure activities e.g. 一场足球比赛

A large place such as an open space, a field or a venue e.g. 会场 (a conference hall)

畅 (chàng)

An adjective meaning smooth or at ease or free from worry

A surname

玚 (cháng)

An old word (rarely used nowadays) meaning jade used in sacrificial ceremonies.

肠 (cháng)

Intestines or sausages

汤 (tāng)

Soup

Hot or boiling water

A surname

杨 (yáng)

A willow but it's more close to it's scientific name poplar in meaning

A surname

扬 (yáng)

To raise something e.g. 扬手

To toss or throw something up

A surname

炀 (yáng)

A literary term for smelting or melting something

旸 (yáng)

Sunshine or a rising sun

飏 (yáng)

To soar, fly or float

疡 (yáng)

A medical term for sores or an ulcer

钖 (yáng)

An ornament on a horse's head stall (oddly specific)

The totally normal feeling of buying an iced tea on a humid dizzy day from my chinese university's family mart whilst they have an old 2010s BigBang song (blue i think?) blaring in the background, instantly transporting me 9 years back to warm summer evenings listening to exactly the same music drinking a similar tea.

The 青 characters

Here's another post explaining the difference between characters with similar radicals, so here's a quick guide to 青!

请 (qǐng) 1. To ask, request 2. To treat (someone to a meal etc.)

清 (qīng) 1. To clean,clear

青 (qīng) 1. Green/blue color 2. An abbreviation for young people 年青人

情 (qíng) 1. A feeling, emotion

晴 (qíng) 1. Fine, clear e.g. Clear weather

静 (jìng) 1. Quiet, peacegul

睛 (jīng) 1. Eye, eyeball

猜 (cāi) 1. To guess, suspect, speculate

精 (jīng) 1. Energy, spirit, essence

靖 (jìng) 1. This also means quiet, peaceful but it's a more older form. 2. A surname

腈 (jīng) 1. Nitrile, acrylic

The Great Wall of China 万里长城 2024.

Life in China #12 Weather in the South

The weather here is even more unpredictable than that of the UK. The day started out unexpectedly hot, hitting 34-35 with the air more humid than a sauna, and it ended with a thunderstorm and feeling like I was inhaling water everytime I breathed in.

The 佥 Characters

A quick guide to the different characters using 佥!

脸 (liǎn) 1. Face 2. The front part of something e.g. a shop 3. Self-respect

险 (xiǎn) 1. Insurance e.g. Health insurance, car insurance 2. A place difficult to access

验 (yàn) 1. To check, test or inspect something e.g. a blood test, to check a passport

剑 (jiàn) 1. A sword, dagger or sabre

检 (jiǎn) 1. To check, inspect or examine something

签 (qiān) 1. To sign something e.g. a contract, a document

捡 (jiǎn) 1. To gather or collect something

俭 (jiǎn) 1. This is an adjective meaning frugal

睑 (jiǎn) 1. An eyelid: Upper eyelid - 上睑 Lower eyelid - 下睑

佥 (qiān) 1. This character isn't really used that often, but in classical Chinese it's used to mean together

Life in China #13 Summer

Summer means insect season, which has now apparently expanded to includes wasps as I discovered when walking to pick up my parcel, and having a wasp just randomly crash into my forehead and then nonchalantly buzz off on it's merry little way.

Insect season is now in full swing.

Almost every dorm floor has complained about the flying roaches, and now our dorm just issued a notice warning us about ants and to keep everything closed. Fun times ahead.

Life in China #13 Summer

Summer means insect season, which has now apparently expanded to includes wasps as I discovered when walking to pick up my parcel, and having a wasp just randomly crash into my forehead and then nonchalantly buzz off on it's merry little way.

You think you've seen it all, and yet.