What’s That? Wednesday: China’s One Time Zone

Here’s your fun fact for today…all of China is on one time zone.  In 1949 China dropped it’s 5 time zones and adopted 1 time zone for the entire country.  For perspective, the United States and China are roughly the same size, and the continental US has 4 time zones.

7:31 am, during one of our trips back to the US.
We were on our first day of battling jet-lag and had
been up for about 4 hours at this point.

When we lived in Suzhou, which is on the eastern side of the country, it meant that the sun came up really early!  This wasn’t a problem except that we had told our girls that they couldn't get up until the sun did.  That’s not great when sun rises at 4:30 a.m.  The city of Xi’an is about 2 hours inland and now the sun comes up at a more reasonable time!  

Now, go wow someone with your new factoid.

What’s That? Wednesday: My First Ride on an EBike

It has been a busy, busy spring.  Between the three girls, sicknesses, school, GIrl Scouts, a trip back to the US and a few other committements, we’ve been busy!  We’ve also been getting ready for another summer in the US.  Part of the annual summer prep as an expat includes saying goodbye or “see you later” to friends.

Last week my friend Megan and I began making plans for one more girls day before I left town for the summer.  My only request was an EBike ride (the Thai food, Starbucks and pedicure were just cherries on the top) .  After three years in China, Jamie, LBean and EBean have already been on EBikes, but not me...until this week.

The first thing that popped into my head when I climbed onto the EBike was “Dumb and Dumber”, as in the movie from 1994-ish.  Two grown adults on a very small scooter.  Our ride also reminded me of a Blue Collar Comedy skit about a tiny airplane that was going so slow (approixmately the speed of smell) that the pilot waved a flock of geese around.  I might have felt that once or twice during our ride.  A few of the bigger Ebikes zipped by us, but I only heard one guy say “Oh!” as he looked at us.  All I can say is that I don’t think I have laughed that hard in a long time!  

Note the similarities?

Unlike this picture, I don't think we were going
fast enough for the background to appear blurry.

What made it even funnier was that Megan and I had matching bicycle helmets on.  We were the epitome of cool.  Actually, we were trying to be responsible moms who set good examples for their daugters, but being cool was a close second.

One of the greatest blessings of our time in China has been the friendships.  Thanks to Megan for adding one more memory to my China scrapbook.  I’ll be expecting another ride this fall!

What's That? Wednesday: My Daughter's Mandarin...She's Got Skills!

Since moving to China, our entire family has taken language training in one form or another.  Jamie has had private lessons at work.  I took about 9 months of private lessons in our home.  We met twice a week for an hour at a time.  I took a very looooong break (18 months) and I happy to say that I've restarted my lessons after the new year.  LBean's school teaches Mandarin 30 minutes a day 4 times a week.  Even ChinaBean hears a good amount of Mandarin from our Ayi (housekeeper) and now at her new preschool where all the teachers are native Chinese speakers.

However, it's EBean that is the most impressive.  She has attended the same school for two years now.  Half of her day is presented in Mandarin (and about half her class are native Mandarin speakers) and the other half is presented in English.  Last year she would tell us that she didn't understand or speak Mandarin.  She would not speak it at home.  This year is a completely different story!  She is our most fluent speaker in the house (and she knows it).  I've been told by my Chinese friend that EBean's tones are correct when she is speaking and even she is impressed.  EBean is much more confident in her skills and now she speaks Mandarin to our Ayi, sings and talks to herself in Mandarin when she is playing at home, and if she is being particularly ornery, she'll speak it to us at the dinner table (and we have no idea what she is saying).

Some time ago a family member shared with me that they would like to hear EBean (our 5  year-old) speaking Mandarin Chinese.  The family member had a hard time imagining what EBean might sound like speaking another language.

About two weeks ago, I was finally about to take a decent video of EBean speaking Mandarin to her best friend.  They are looking at a coloring book about the movie Frozen. Enjoy the video!

What's That? Wednesday: Morning Exercises

One of my favorite parts of my daily routine is walking EBean to her bus stop.  It takes us about 10 minutes and I love hearing what is on EBean's mind.  On our walk we also get to witness the community that exists within our apartment compound.  

After EBean gets on her school bus, I get to enjoy some one-on-one time with ChinaBean.  We usually stop at the neighborhood grocery store (smaller than a 7-11, but filled with import goodness), maybe stop by the fruit stand, and watch the people and the shops within our compound start their day.

As we meander home, it's not uncommon to see people (or entire businesses) begin their day with some exercises.  The video below shows a realty company within our apartment compound.  They start with a chant (maybe a company motto?) and then move into some singing and dancing.  I think it's great that they are all willing to do a group activity like this.  You would be hard-pressed to find people in the US that would volunteer to participate.  ChinaBean loves to watch them in the morning!

This is how ChinaBean exercises in the morning!

I thought I was taking a video of this grandma (women are "aunties", older women are grandma's) performing her morning Tai Chi, but instead I got a still photo (below).  Using my toddler-sized Mandarin vocabulary, I've "talked" with her the last few days and she totally called me out on the photo I took last week!  I thought I was being a super sleuth and I failed.  Thankfully she is very friendly and laughed about it.  (Whew!)

How do you get moving in the morning?

What's That? Wednesday: Bug Zapper (Chinese Style)

Suzhou has been called the "Venice of the East" because of all the canals that run through the city, which also means we are surrounded by mosquito breeding grounds.  I am absolutely convinced that if our family had lived in China 100-200 years ago, we would have been killed by malaria or some other terrible disease by now.  Even though we live on the 27th floor, the mosquitoes still find their way into our apartment by riding up the elevators or clinging to our clothes.

Unless you've lived in China (maybe SE Asia in general?), you might not know that such a contraption exists. Let me be the first to introduce you to the Chinese Mosquito Racket. With the push of a button, a small electrical current can kill the pesky mosquitoes that take over Suzhou.  You simply wave the racket in the air and whatever happens to be caught in its cross hairs are electrocuted.  Perhaps not child-friendly, but effective. 

Here is our racket, in action.  Ours is so fancy that it has a light on it (hence the funny glare in the photos).



I went looking online for a photo of a mosquito racket and found this one.  But, what I really liked the best were the product features and advantages to this zapper.  I'm not sure if I am encouraged or frightened that you can use it on cockroaches.

TW-06 Electric mosquitoes shoot
Product features:
1. To kill mosquitoes, flies, moths, spiders, cockroaches, etc.
2. To absorb the pests without dropping and breaking, by the high-voltage static generated between the two nets.
3. To produce ozone and negative oxygen ions by the working electric nets.
4. To be stable in performance and not easy to break.

Advantage:
1. No smoke, no spot
Unlike the traditional mosquito killers, TIANWANG electric mosquito bat leaves no smoke and spot. (after killing the pests)

2.3-layers mosquito swatter, is fresh enough to help you drive the anxiety caused by the scorching summer, TIANWANG mosquito swatter is able to kill a wide range of pests in an efficient way, such as mosquitoes, spiders, moths and cockroach

Happy zapping!

What's That? Wednesday: Numbing Spice

I'm back!  Well, sort of.  I'm easing back into my school-year routine, our weekly schedule and my to do list.  On my list is to get back to blogging and I'm starting real slow this week.

I cannot believe I haven't blogged about the "numbing spice" that I have a love/hate relationship with.

If you look below and ignore the chopsticks and the large slices of ginger, do you see the little reddish peppercorns? Those are Sichuan numbing spices.

I was first introduced to the spices accidentally when went with a group of friends to eat at a local Muslim Chinese restaurant.  Someone ordered the spicy green beans and I bit into a peppercorn, not knowing what it was, and my tongue started to tingle and go numb.  As first I was embarrassed that I might be having an allergic reaction (c'mon, who is allergic to green beans?) and I wasn't going to say anything, but I did and then a friend filled me in on the numbing spice.

The spice is used a lot in Sichuan cooking, which is one of the spiciest Chinese cuisines.  I was told that once the tongue is numbed, then you can eat even spicier foods.  I don't know if that is true, but it sounds good!  Because our Ayi is from the Sichuan province, she cooks spicy dishes for us often.

I had to share the description I found on Wikipedia:

According to Harold McGee in On Food and Cooking, second edition, p429 they are not simply pungent; "they produce a strange, tingling, buzzing, numbing sensation that is something like the effect of carbonated drinks or of a mild electrical current (touching the terminals of a nine-volt battery to the tongue). Sanshools appear to act on several different kinds of nerve endings at once, induce sensitivity to touch and cold in nerves that are ordinarily nonsensitive, and so perhaps cause a kind of general neurological confusion."

Our Ayi described the dish as málà, which literally means "numbing" "spicy".  And, in doing my Wikipedia research I found out that málà is also Chinese slang, but I'll let you google that.

And, just for fun, here is a picture of 8 little girls we went with to dinner at the Muslim restaurant (where I first tried the numbing spice).  Between the three families we almost had a girl at each age, birth to 7 years!

What's That? Wednesday: The Chinese Practice of Cupping

Lighting the glass cup on fire.

Recently I had my first "cupping" experience.  It's not as scandalous as it sounds!  Cupping is part of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and sometimes is done in conjunction with acupuncture, like Jamie's experience.

Cupping is when glass or bamboo cups are heated on the inside and put on the target area or acupuncture point.  The heat creates suction and pulls the skin.  I heard someone explain that it feels like a vacuum cleaner hose pulling on your skin.  I would agree with that, but Jamie would not (at least when it comes to his feet).  

Getting ready to re-light the glass cup.

The belief is cupping pulls out the toxins that have built up in that part of the body and improves circulation.  Depending on where the cups are placed, and for how long, they can leave a red bruise.  Shortly after we moved to China, I remember seeing a young woman on an escalator with several red, round bruises on her back.  I was shocked and immediately thought they must be a result of domestic violence, but after I calmed down I realized that the bruises were there on purpose.

My friend's cupping.

My feet being cupped.  And, thanks to the
massage therapist for waiting for my
friend to take my picture!

Now that I know the bruises are not from anything sinister, I will be voluntarily having cupping done too!

What's That? Wednesday: The View from My Window

Some days it seems that the constant in China is change.  The view from our apartment has been changing since the day we moved in.  We used to have a bit of a green space across the street with a small stream and lotus flowers.

We took this photo from our living room
window in August 2011.  See the bit of green
down there?

I took the next four photos in December 2012.  Green space be gone.  I counted at least 6 cranes working simultaneously.  A 74-story building built across the street.  It is supposed to represent the "Gate to the East", but instead it has been nicknamed Big Pants.  When it is completed Big Pants will be the largest gate-shaped structure in the world and a huge mall.

A whole lot of lot of concrete
and construction.

Now, looking out our dining room window, we can watch a large television screen.  It is at a major intersection and replays a video promoting the wonders of Suzhou, over and over.  At night, the screen lights up some of the apartments in our buildings.

And this is what it looks like when it snows!  Last winter we had no snow in Suzhou (maybe a morning of sleet), but it has snowed three times this winter.  Just enough to dust the ground, but no sledding for our family.

What's That? Wednesday: Acupuncture and TCM

The circles are from the cupping.

Jamie recently had his first TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) experience.  I threatened him with the prospect of writing a guest blog post, but we compromised and I interviewed him instead!

What made you seek out acupuncture (a form of TCM)?

I had a very sore back and neck for over two weeks and if I had been in the US, I would have gone to a chiropractor.

Before you went, what your expectations?

I didn’t know if it would be like a spa, a small room, or a big room full of people.  Because it was a Sunday and the doctor’s day off, I did know that I would be the only patient there.  And, I was grateful the doctor came in on his day off to treat me!  I was expecting needles and maybe cycle through some movements.  Instead, I showed the doctor where the pain was and he used his thumb, like a needle, to dig into the sore spots.

Tell me about the facility.

It was like a medical clinic.  There was a seating area, a check-in room and I took the elevator to the second floor to the TCM room.  The therapy room was an older, white room with windows that opened up to the busy street below.  There were mats or beds, almost like massage tables, lined up.  On the wall there were really cool, old acupuncture anatomical charts.  The desk had equipment lined up on it.

What kind of treatment did you receive?

The doctor and our friend that had arranged the treatment, had already talked about what pain I had been experiencing.  I took my shirt off and pointed to the spot.  The doctor draped a sheet over me and poked around until he found the spots where it hurt.  He mapped out the points along my neck, shoulder, and hand.  The doctor then put pressure along those points, let go, and tapped in a needle and then twisted.  He put 5 or 6 in my back and a couple in my arm.  The doctor, who only spoke Chinese, wanted to talk to my friend who had arranged the treatment, to see if I was okay with the needles being hooked up to electrodes.  Because I was lying on my side with needles sticking out of me, my driver laid the cell phone on my ear so I could talk to my friend.  I told the doctor it was okay, so he hooked up electrodes to the needles and turned up the current until it was really uncomfortable and ran the current for about 25-30 minutes.

I have visions of the experiments we did in high school with the frog legs and an electrical current! What did the current feel like and did it hurt?  

It forced my muscle to excite and then eventually it was exhausted and relaxed.  It hurt to a certain degree; it was uncomfortable.  (Interviewer’s note: at this point Jamie flicked my arm to make his point...thanks so much honey!)

Was there blood?

Yes, when the needles were pulled out and the doctor used alcohol swabs to clean them.

Did you receive any other treatment?

The doctor also took bamboo cups, held them over a flame to heat them up, and then covered the areas that had had the needles.  He left those on for 20-25 minutes.

Was it immediate relief?

Yes, it was.  I wasn’t as tense and knotted up.  About a week after the last treatment I felt considerably better.

Were you sore afterwards?

Yes, like a good workout.

How many times did you go?

Four times for the whole treatment.

Did anything shock or surprise you?

The doctor smoked during the treatment!

Would you recommend TCM?  

Yes, I would recommend this specific doctor or the recommendation from a reputable source.

What was the cost for all 4 treatments?

200 RMB (about $32 USD)

What were the doctor’s follow-up instructions?

None.

Thanks to Jamie for being a good sport and letting me interview him on the high speed train to Beijing when he would have rather been doing something else!

What's That? Wednesday: Dining in China

My observations for dining in China are primarily based on eating at non-Chinese food restaurants.  I’m sure that there is a whole other set of findings to be made when dining on Chinese cuisine.  Although our family enjoys Chinese food, minus the chicken feet (which I’ve had no desire to try), we spend a lot of time in the international restaurants. We enjoy eating Indian, Thai, German, Mexican and “American” food.

EBean eating at Heidi's on Singa Plaza
during the first week we moved to China.

Here are a few of the things I have learned along the way...

Once you are seated and the waiter/waitress hands you your menu, you are left alone until you call him or her back to your table.  Often times this involves yelling “waitress” across the restaurant and waving your arms.  This tends to bring most Americans (i.e. me) out of their comfort zones.  But other than that, I tend to like it because you don’t get a waiter that asks the inevitable “How is everything?” as you’ve just taken a big bite.  I also don’t feel like they are hovering and waiting for you to pay so they can boot you out of the restaurant.

LBean enjoying the foosball table at the
German restaurant across the street called "Big & Whistle".
Formerly known as Pig & Whistle....

Perhaps the servers don’t bother to “hover” because there is NO TIPPING in China  (unless you are in a big city at a really fancy Western-style restaurant or hotel). I think their philosophy is, stay as long as you’d like!

Appetizers don’t necessarily come first.  Some times appetizers become dessert…even if you specifically ask for them to be served first.  Makes me laugh! In fact, main courses usually aren’t served to all the diners at the same time either.  We have learned to eat when your food arrives and not wait, or someone’s food will be certainly cold.  

An appetizer that arrived on time, but without the
advertised sauce.  My friend decided that maybe the
sauce was "optional"!

You can tell how many expats (expatriates) a restaurant serves based on the question “Would you like ice?”  The Chinese tend to drink warm or hot drinks and avoid cold drinks.  It’s been explained to us that your body has to heat up (like a fever) to stabilize your body’s internal temperature after drinking something cold, so why would you want to cause a “fever” reaction in your body?  I am a risk-taker, so I don’t mind getting my body’s ying and yang off balance and enjoy ordering lots of ice!

EBean enjoying her "bing hong cha" (iced tea).

The bathroom situation varies.  Some restaurants, like ones in a shopping mall, don’t even have a restroom, and you are expected to use the mall’s bathrooms.  Odd? Yes. It tends to not be a problem unless you have small children who need to be accompanied.   It’s even harder when I have the girls by myself (no spouse to divide an conquer parenting duties).  I must encourage everyone to “eat fast.” And, if one insists, “But I have to go NOW!!”. We must abandon our food and make a hasty exit.    There are some establishments with their own restrooms, but the sinks are often outside the restroom.   I actually like this set-up, because it is easy to tell the kids to run and wash their hands before and after eating without having to go with them into the bathroom.

Napkins and tissue are like gold (I’ve got you wondering about this one, right?!).  For some reason in China, paper products are scarce and closely guarded.  There aren’t many napkin dispensers in restaurants. If you’re lucky, you might  get one or two with your order.  We often ask for more napkins.  Now, for the tissue.The lack of paper often extends into the bathroom...always carry tissue (just FYI)!

LBean has taken the award for the best chopstick skills,
but EBean gets the award for most adventuresome eater.
(LBean enjoying the beef on rocks at Yang Yang's in Old Town.)

What's That? Wednesday: The Buick Van

I was recently Skyping with a family member, in the hallway of a hotel in Shanghai (I’m sure I looked pretty funny on the security cameras!), and she commented on how she envisions us being driven around in a limo-like van with a glass partition.  At first, it made me chuckle, and then I considered that it might make for a good blog post!

We are driven around in a Buick minivan (provided by the company) that is just like the minivans driven in the US, but instead of Jamie or myself in the driver’s seat, it is our driver Mr. Dong.  I Googled Buick minivan to get the model name and up popped “Buick minivan China” (http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-08-20/china-s-hottest-wheels-for-executives-a-buick-minivan.html) , so that testifies to our van’s popularity  here on the mainland.  

There are hundreds (thousands?) of Buick minivans being driven around Suzhou and Shanghai.  We can tell the age of the minivans by what color they are...navy blue are the oldest, slightly newer are the silver ones and finally champagne (like ours) or silver again, but with the newer body style.  I have a fear of accidentally climbing into the wrong minivan when riding with friends to lunch, to the grocery store or other excursions. Needless to say, I’ve tried to memorize my friend’s license plates or recognize their drivers!

There is no glass partition to block our driver from hearing our children when they are crying or whiny (which never happens).  Poor guy!

We do appreciate the extra space our van offers, because after adding a few pieces (or maybe 12 ) of luggage in the van, we are pretty much up to capacity.  Soon, we will probably have to hire an additional car or van to get our luggage to and from the airport for the long treks back to the US.

On a final note, there are no child car seat laws in China.  Although there are many, many people with cars here, for the vast majority of the population, the law wouldn’t change how they travel with their children (using the bus, e-bikes, bicycles, etc.).  Our kids do have child car seats and use them.

Take me home, Jeeves!

In case you were wondering what else is parked our apartment's garage...

BMW

Lexus

Bentley

Porsche

Mercedes

Another Mercedes

Lots of E-bikes
(to read more about E-bikes, click here)

Not too shabby of a motorcycle.

I like this motorcycle, but I have my eye
on a BMW motorcycle with a side car that
also parks in our garage.

And you can't forget the Range Rover.

Can I just say that I felt so shady and criminal walking around our apartment's garage taking pictures of people's cars.  The things I do for the sake of a good blog post!

What's That? Wednesday: Jiaozi

Last week I had the opportunity to make jiaozi with some local Chinese women.  Jiaozi, pronounced “juh owd zuh”, are Chinese dumplings.  Jiaozi are typically filled with meat or vegetables and wrapped in dough.  The dumplings can be steamed (which are my favorite), boiled or fried.

From what I understand, jiaozi originated from northern China, but now many Chinese enjoy eating them.  There are regional differences and I think each family has their own favorite way of preparing them.  I compare it to Southern barbecue; it’s enjoyed across the US, each region has its own specialty and everyone has their own opinions on how it should be prepared.

Mixing the ground pork.

I have eaten dumplings and watched a friend’s Ayi make them, but this was my first time to make them myself.  On this day, we were using the pre-made dumpling wrappers, but made the filling from scratch.  Ground pork was mixed with a vegetable called Chinese chive, ginger, Chinese 5 spice (I have no idea what the five spices are), soy sauce, salt and probably a few other things.  My contribution was helping to chop mounds of Chinese chive. The chives were very mild tasting and didn’t have much of a scent.

I had to take a picture of this
huge wok!

Which sauce would you like?

Chinese chive

He's a good helper!

Mixing the ginger with the pork
on an awesome chopping block!

After the filling had been made, we set out to fill each –and every --individual wrapper. Let me tell you, there were a lot of wrappers – my guess is around 500!  It took about an hour with six or more people filling. and we had a lot of wrappers to fill!  Again, I observed many women sharing their different opinions on how the crimping around the edges of the dumplings should be done.  I was taught one way and I stuck with it.  It was really neat to see the dumplings all in a row and notice the differences between the styles of crimped edges.

Starting to fill the wrappers. 

Everyone has a different way of crimping the edges.

This rectangular wrapper is a wonton wrapper.

Boiling dumplings.

Once the dumplings were filled, they were ready to be dropped in boiling water, much like ravioli or tortellini.  After a few minutes in the boiling water, the dumplings are ready to be eaten.  We all took turns eating a few dumplings, then making a few, and repeating the pattern.  

Some of the finished product.

A little of the aftermath.

There was enough filling and wrappers left over that I was able to bring some home.  My Ayi filled the rest and then froze them so we can enjoy them later.

Let's eat!

The best part of the day was watching the women interacting and cooking together.  Most of the time I had no idea what they were saying.  But, by observing body language and listening to the intonation of their voices, I knew what they were saying.  They were playfully arguing about how much spice to add, assessing when the mixture was just right, and making a case for why their way of crimping the dumplings was the best.  I could have closed my eyes and just as easily been back at our home cooking in our church’s kitchen.  Ahhh, dumplings!