Day Nine - Nanchang

Dinner - Okay, I haven't written much about dinner yet. Here is Anna and Mom having a wonderful time as dinner concludes...and the last photo shows the mass of food that we just tried to consume.

So, dinner and lunch for that matter is a huge ordeal. What we've found is that we (eating alone and without our guides) can not be trusted to order food. We are terrible, the pictures that are provided with the menu do an injustice to the photographer...we are that bad in our choices. It wasn't till tonight (the 22nd) that we actually ordered food and it was good. That being said, the meal in the photo below was a group dinner for ten that the guides ordered the food at a local restaurant. All that food, split ten ways cost me 47 yuan (pronounced quai) or $6 dollars, meanwhile a clubsandwich and fries at the hotel restaurant cost me 58 yuan the other day for lunch.

This is how meals go it is all family style and it is served one platter at a time. First, you get the hot tea, once that is served they tend to ask you for the order (actually they ask you right away and don't give you much time to peruse the menu...we've found that ordering four dishes and an appetizer will be enough food for the five of us...especially considering Jen and Dano are on a vegan diet). Anyway, once the meal is ordered or ordered for you as was the case this evening, there is a young lady or two that stands in the corner and is the server (but not the order taker, that usually has been a man) and she then will pour you a drink, either beer or soda...not typically wine as that is very expensive for some reason as we found out the hard way. Anyway, once the drinks are served, then napkins arrive (which cost you some money and are more wipes than napkins). Once everyone has a drink, oh yeah, back track, drinks...ordering a drink is ordering a drink for the entire table. Everyone has a glass, maybe 8 oz tops. If beer has been ordered a bottle arrives and that bottle is for the table, much like how we do wine, passed around till everyone's glass is full...if you wanted beer. In this case, one bottle of beer equated to one 8 oz glass, if I was lucky, as others at the table were enjoying the local brew as well. Of course, you can have soda as well, but that would lend to having another glass brought to you by the server. Once the food arrives, well it comes in droves and plate by plate and is put in the middle circular table. You then try (unsuccesfully for me) to use the chopsticks to pick a few pieces here and there and put on your plate...to eat, all the time, more dishes are brought out...eating dinner is not only a chore/workout but it is neverending, plate upon plate is brought out...all good food, but tiring.

It wasn't till tonight, the 22nd of September, that we were able to order dinner and feel full and relaxed. I think we found the right mix, we had soybeans for an appetizer followed by an eggplant dish (eggplant filled with beef wrapped like a eggroll and fried a bit, but covered in a sweet and sour type sauce...very good) which was then followed by mushrooms and greens and brocolli and tomatoes and chicken soup/balls with noodles....somehow we made our way with that meal...oh yeah, and of course two bottles of beer.

I'll admit now, that Mary helped us out and gave us suggestions on the eggplant and some meat dishes, but even with that we still messed up lunch the other day somehow. Cross the fingers and knock on wood that tomorrow we will have the same luck as today with ordering food....