…how do a billion+ people get excited over this?

basically, as a friend told me, an “old nutri-grain bar” with a disappointing glutinous egg filling.  Every school gives out a box to their teachers to send home to their families (sorry mom and dad, but you should be thanking me—really).  These are photos of the delicacies inside.  I frankly prefer these ones (via Kira).

Meanwhile, it’s the national day holiday.  China’s 60th anniversary, which seems to be a pretty big deal around here.  There are supposed to be armed vehicles moving through the streets tomorrow, so I am going to be getting out of here just before that.  Off to Seoul for a half-dozen days.  More on those adventures upcoming.

And finally, god makes an appearance in advance of the national day celebrations:

(Should national day be capitalized?)

r.i.p. alma

The first course. This was described to me as some kind of shellfish (it was literally frozen in the ice), to be dipped in soy sauce with wasabi.  Wasn’t too huge of a fan, despite how beautiful the presentation is.

Here is what remained of my pigeon, after a very poor attempt at tearing it apart and eating it.  Wasn’t really worth the effort, and I pretty much gave up after most of the table’s participants went for the head first.   I like to consider myself a very open-minded diner, but I conceded this one to the Guangdongians.

clay pot mushrooms, cucumbers, corn, etc.  meh.

oysters.  topped with rice noodles and scallions and some kind of mixture with sesame oil.  i would love to know the name of this very simple and delicious preparation.

There were quite a few soups at this banquet (3 in all).  Here is the first, which tasted a little like a Thai soup–very hot and sour. Nice chunks of mystery seafood as well.

This dish appears quite a bit at Guangdong banquets.  Thin rice noodles with crab (often just flavoring) and lil’ shrimp.  Very oily, but filling–especially if you are not feeling adventurous.

potaters and (i want to say it was) celery.  no one really took any interest in this dish at our table.

Someone please help me identify this.  It was really fishy and stew-y (is that a fish head at the bottom right side of the plate–near the pigeon head?).

stir-fry of pork, scallions and mushrooms.  super-greasy, tried one mushroom and one piece of pork and was done.

Steamed chinese broccoli in a pool of oil.  More or less, the only vegetarian choice on the table.

Dessert: fried green-tea flavored (?) biscuit things with sesame coating.   Beautiful presentation, as well as good tasting.

Bit into..

Remnants of the other two soups (not as good as the first… bottom: a rice porridge-y soup / top: chicken broth, more or less. Both served hot.):

Co-workers, a.k.a. the real housewives of Shenzhen, mid-toast.

immediately before the guy in the middle made a cocktail of his wine and orange juice.   He refused to let me add the watermelon on the table to make a proper “sangria” though.

Check out the box (Bearing the Kellogg’s logo and everything.  In China, this usually does not mean very much, but I trust that Wal-Mart would stock only the most authentic American goods).

Whoa, there.  China never shies away from using more packaging, but this frivolous use of plastic is one I can approve of.  I like my Frosties fresh!

Multi-grain Cheerios, in contrast, have two medium sized bags (while probably the smarter nutritional choice, the packaging is definitely less effective).

Moving on we have Pabst Blue Ribbon water (does this exist in the U.S. and I have just somehow missed it?).

this photo speaks for itself:

Translation of characters on the glass: “Five Flavor Dog.”

More (inevitably) to come soon..

just in case you think you’ve stumbled upon a tropical green oasis and are not longer in china, a rock nearby the park’s south entrance engraved with the park’s name  ”Sihai Park” (四海公园) quashes your fanciful hallucination.

entrance pathway into the park, still not totally convinced that I’m in China.

but then Budd… err.. Grandpa staggered on over…

In this rare patch of green space under the filthy wealth of apartments, there were various activities, too…Like meditating on the relative beauty of the pond water.

Fishing with nets, for the kiddies.

And more traditional fishing, for adults.

These young professionals built themselves a dock.  Pretty smart.

Some of the kids got tired of fishing, and decided to jump in and swim and try to catch the fishies with their hands.

Some people come to Sihai Park to nap/soak up the sun.

These dudes on LSD settled on these benches under some crazy looking trees and “napped” as well.

there were also picnics, including watermelon and romance.

some promiscuous deers grindin’ rather inappropriately..

no visit to the park would be complete without some mountain biking! at sihai only some could actually make it to the peaks of lofty flights of stairs.

a man was doing tai chi, so i rudely took a photo of him.

the park really catered to everyone’s fancies.  there were bumper cars for the more aggressive types..

and boats with animated character heads for the more..

…tranquil types?

archeologists remain baffled by the ancient aztec statues that have found a home in the center of the park.

some suspect that this flaming bull statue carried it overseas:

this stray dog wanted nothing to do with me or my archeological inquiries.

i admit i did distract the dog from his task at hand— examining these bountiful heaps of garbage:

that area was rather unsightly, so i found some waterlilies and a pagoda-like thing to look at instead.  moments later, the bull, clearly angered by my wanton photographic adventures, came running over and trampled the scenic pagoda, then accidentally skidded into the lake and drowned (it was a deep lake).

then a celebration commenced with some billiards over on the other side of the lake (note the little dog tied to the table trying to escape).  [FYI- this place is open until midnight nightly]

finally we reflected on our excellent trip to the park over tea at the teahouse, near the western entrance of the park.

as you can see, sihai park is well equipped for just about anything you would want to do at a park.  it is in tip-top shape, always at your service.  really, the keepers of this park never sleep.  if you ever find yourself in shekou on a lazy sunday, i strongly recommend it.

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At Garden City Mall Nanshan, Shenzhen, China

Egg noodle stir fry with more egg and vegetables / outside of a supermarket in eastern Nanshan (on Houhai Avenue, east of Sihai Park).  5 yuan.

Spicy Noodle Soup with Onion / same location as above. 5 yuan.

Pork Dumplings, rather strangely sealed, so they might have a different Chinese name, but the taste was more or less the same.  They are smothered with an orangey spicy sauce which was particularly good, and totally made up for the fact that these dumplings were probably made a day or two before or pre-packaged in the frozen section at Wal-Mart (you can tell this not only by the taste and chewy texture of the wrapper, but in this image, the dumplings are not really sticking together).   A dumpling stall on Guangda Rd （光大）and Sihai Rd (四海）.  Central Shekou (Nanshan District).  4 yuan.

Although this may not technically be street food, this is a dumpling soup that one could often find in a small stall as well.  This photo is from a Xian style restaurant on Nanhai Avenue （南海大道）, on the east side of the road just north of the Wal-Mart.   The dumplings are pork, but the real winner is the remarkably complex and flavorful broth.  Rarely do I finish a bowl of soup here, but this one I had no problem with.  8 yuan.

Feel free to help me with the Chinese name of these crispy delights, but they are sort of like wantons filled with some kind of mystery pork mixture.  Again, the orange spicy sauce from above accompanies (from the same restaurant as above dumplings).  These were far better, and fresher, than the other menu item I ordered on my first trip.  Oh so crispy.  3 yuan.

Interior shot:

It’s such a relief when I get a batch of dumplings like these.  Hand-made right in front of me, steamed and served.  A great, filling choice for a meal.  These most certainly stick together, and all the fighting inevitably results in a torn up pork/vinegar/dumpling wrapper mess at the bottom of your styrofoam container.  This place is next door to the aforementioned dumpling place on Guangda Road.  7 yuan for 14 pork and cabbage dumplings.

Now with vinegar and spicy pepper mixture, and more in-focus:

And, the interior shot, out-of-focus because it was speeding upward toward my mouth:

Another order of pork dumplings, this time with another vegetable.  Outstanding.  Same price.

Exposed.