Amoy Magic Guide to Xiamen and Fujian Main Page MenuClick to Access
OUTSIDE
China
Amoy Magic Guide to Xiamen and Fujian Main Page MenuClick to Access
INSIDE
China

TRAVEL LINKS

AmoyMagic-- Travel , Resident and Business Guide to Xiamen and Fujian
Xiamen Gulangyu Kulangyu Kolongsoo Kolongsu KulongsuGulangyu
Jimei Tan Kah Kee Jimei University Turtle Garden Jimei AmoyMagic-- Travel , Resident and Business Guide to Xiamen and FujianTong'an
Jinmen Quemoy Matsu Taiwan
Jinmen
Zhangzhou  changchow Zhangzhou
Discover Quanzhou, ancient start of maritime silk route ( or Zaytun Zaitun Zaiton ) from which Marco Polo sailed,  Sinbad the Arab visited.  ChinchewQuanzhou Wuyi Mountain Guide Zhuxi  tea Wuyi
Favorite Fujian tourist sites , in order: Xiamen Quanzhou Longyan Hakka earthen houses Wuyi mountain Ningde
#1Fujian Sites!
Photographs of Fuhken places like Zhangzhou, Longyan, Ningde, Sanming, Wuyi Mountain
Fujian Foto Album
Guidebooks about Fujian and Xiamen Fujian Adventure Discover Quanzhou Discover Gulangyu Magic Fujian etc.Books on Fujian
Letters from AmoyMagic ReadersReaders'Letters

Ningde Taimu Mountain ZhouningNingde Zhouning Carp VillageZhouning
Longyan Yongding Hakka round houses earthen architectureLongyan Sanming Scenic Wonderland Mingxi Gem bed rubies Sanming

Putian Fujian Xianyou Mazu TemplePutian Fujian covered wooden bridgesBridges
Xiamen travel agents and ticketing for trains, planes and automobiles
Travel Info,
Hakka Earthen architecture Hakka Roundhouses

Xiamen Travel Agents and Tour Guides English SpeakingTravel Agents

MISC. LINKS
Historical and Modern Amoy People -- Colorful Characters!Amoy People! amoy mission missionaries
Darwinian Driving Survival of the Fastest DarwinDarwin Driving
Darwin Chinese Driving Survival of fastest
South China Tigers -- our Amoy Kitty CatsAmoy Tigers
Chinese inventions compass gunpowder printing paper zoos newspaper etc.Chinese Inventions
1994 80 day 40,000 km drive to Tibet & backTibet in 80 Days!forty thousand kilometer drive around China
Dethroned Perils of Chinese Potty ToiletDethroned!
Chinese bathrooms
Writings by Bill Brown about life in China,  Fukien Xiamen etc. Includes 80 Day Drive to Tibet  Darwinian Driving Misc.Writings
Latest news tips ideas updatesLatest News
OpiumWars short history and background of the Opium Wars between China Britain Europe missionaries battle against opium addiction etc.Lord of Opium
Kite Flying in Xiamen ChinaBack to Main Page

Chinese Kung Fu and Martial Arts Korean Tae Kwon Do  Japanese JujitsuMartial arts Chinese Kung FuKung Fu

AmoyMagic--Guide to Xiamen & Fujian
Copyright 2001-7 by Sue Brown & Dr. Bill Help Build an online  community for foreigners.  Join the Xiamen Guide forumOrder Books Common Talk Xiamen Dailys Weekly English SupplementXiamenguide Forum Guide to Xiamen and Fujian business tourism history culture cuisine entertainment investment Guide to Xiamen hsiamen amoy fuhken fukien
Main Page   Business Links     Recreation Links     Google Search      E-mail

The ancient Tang Dynasty wall around the old city of Changting -- formerly  known as TingzhouChangting Page 3Dr. Bill sampling Chinese cuisine -- octopus and chicken feet

Hakka Cuisine & "Drinking Culture"
(Click Thumbnails for larger images)
Click for Changting Page 1 Intro to "Little Red Shanghai"
Click for Changting Page 2 (Hakka Museum, Old Town, Hakka Maids, etc)
Click for Changting Page 4 (Changting--Lil' Red Religious Center)
Click for Changting Page 5 (Hakka Hamlet of Tufang)
Click for Changting Photo Album by Photographer "Babushka" (Great Photos of Hakka Festivals!)

¡°China¡¯s two most beautiful small cities are Fenghuang in Hunan, and Changting in Fujian.¡± Rewi AlleyHakka festival  Photograph by Babushka


I marvel at the variety of foods and fruits available today even in mountain towns. Only sixty years ago, thousands starved to death on the very streets of Shanghai and Canton, not to mention in the remote mountain villages. But in 1993, China received the World Food Prize! Robert McNamara, former World Bank President and U.S. Secretary of Defense, said China¡¯s agricultural gains were ¡°something of a miracle, a human development miracle, that has gone largely unnoticed in the West.¡±

It sure hasn¡¯t gone unnoticed in Changting restaurants!

Changting Hakka Cuisine I was excited about sampling ChangtingChangting Hakka sampling the local white lightning ( rice wine) nationally acclaimed dishes, but first we had to sort out the thorny issue of seating.

Napkins are folded in arrangements of various heights, and the rankest person present sits at the highest napkin. But my hosts considerately asked, ¡°Where do guests of honor sit in America?¡±

¡°I¡¯ve no idea,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯ve never had one.¡± Then I added, poker-faced , ¡°I prefer my back to the wall, facing the door. It¡¯s safer.¡±
Back to Top AmoyMagic Guide to Xiamen and Fujian

Changting Hakka Cookbook After a discreet discussion one man ventured, ¡°You¡¯re joking, aren¡¯t you?¡± In the end they did seat me with my back to the wall. But it wasn¡¯t the first time I¡¯ve had my back to the wall , in China or elsewhere.

Cold appetizers included paper thin roast beef with red peppers, disconsolate dried minnows, flat squares of dried tofu, salted peanuts, pickled cucumber slices, delicious xiao long bao (miniature, steamed Chinese buns stuffed with meat and veggies¡ªÐ¡Áú°ü), and strips of pickled green seaweed that resembled leaves from a stewed plastic Christmas tree. I lifted a stalk of celery above my head and announced, ¡°Just what I¡¯ve always wanted!¡±
¡°What?¡± my naive victims asked in unison. Puppy boiled in pig's stomach - a Hakka delicacy    I delicately refused
¡°A higher celery.¡±
Dead silence. So I skipped the ¡®working for peanuts ¡¯ encore, but filed away both for future use on unwary foreign devils.

Red Army Cola and Carp An elegantly steamed grass carp was placed on the table so that its eyes stared straight at me, accusingly. This was an ominous move. Chinese do nothing, at the table or elsewhere, without a reason sanctified by 5,014 years of precedence. Sure enough, I was informed that as guest I was given the honor of eating the head. ¡°18 different flavors in the head!¡± they said. ¡°Gills, cheeks, lips, brains, eyes¡­But no one can eat until the guest of honor proposes a toast.¡± I averted my eyes from the dead fish¡¯s glare, and carped, ¡°I don¡¯t drink!¡±
¡°Just one glass! You must, or we can¡¯t eat!¡±
¡°What is this?¡± I asked.
¡°Red Army Cola!¡± (ºì¾ü¿ÉÀÖ, Hongjun Kele),¡± said the mayor. ¡°In the 1920s, soldiers had nothing else¡ªbut it made them strong! ¡®Red Army Cola¡¯ Changting's Hakka cuisine is a feast for the eyes as well as the stomachfortified the 90,000 men and women who undertook the 10,000 km Long March from Changting to Shaanxi Province.¡±
¡°Yeah, but most of them perished anyway! Besides, I¡¯m driving back to Xiamen, not marching.¡±
¡°But we can¡¯t eat until the guest drinks,¡± he protested. ¡°Local custom!¡±

Well, when in Rome. One small sip for man, one giant drink for mankind. Deng deng. I sniffed the yellowish liquid and closed my eyes. A hearty cheer arose as I downed the glass in one swallow, and ten pairs of chopsticks disemboweled the glum carp¡¯s corpse.
Back to Top AmoyMagic Guide to Xiamen and Fujian

Fowl Play The fishy entr¨¦e was followed Famous Hakka Hetian Chickenby Changting¡¯s #1 specialty, the exquisite He Tian Chicken (ºÓÌF). ¡°It¡¯s one of China¡¯s five most famous chickens!¡± I was told. ¡°How does it taste?¡±

¡°Like snake,¡± I said. They looked surprised so I said, ¡°Or frog, maybe?¡±

Truth be told, Hetian chicken is incredible¡ªespecially the Salt & Wine He Tian Chicken (ÑξƼ¦, Yanjiu Ji), served with a savory rice vaguely reminiscent of Nepalese Basmati rice. Since then I¡¯ve ordered the dish in other restaurants around Fujian and been disappointed. I may revisit Changting just for another fowl meal.

Taboo Beef Many Hakka don¡¯t eat beef because they think it is poor form to eat the beast that has toiled for years alongside other family members. I heartily agree, and hope the MBA Center doesn¡¯t serve me on a plate at retirement. But my host wasn¡¯t a farmer, so with cannibalistic relish we devoured Red Braised Beef (ºìÉÕÅ£Èâ) so tender it fell apart in my chopsticks. The cow was followed up by one of Chairman Mao¡¯s favorite Changting dishes: pork ¡®n pickles. Then we dipped delicate potato cakes into bowls of what tasted like Red Army Cola. These were followed by a dazzling selection of noodles, chicken soup, BBQ beef with cilantro, bitter melon and beef soup, red-braised pig¡¯s feet, eel soup, goat with mushrooms, scallions and white rice, tiny slivers of bamboo shoots pickled with sinus searing red peppers, braised tofu with pork strips and green onions, slivers of carrot in a sweet brown sauce, eggplant, mushroom and fish soup, braised pork ribs, and an awesome pork ball soup with strips of transparent pasta made from sweet potato powder.

Wealthy Japanese (and Chinese as well) sometimes disparage sweetChangting lady doing a little streetside cooking potatoes as a ¡®peasant staple,¡¯ but these tasty tubers are incredibly versatile. And nothing beats the aroma or taste of yams that street side vendors bake in steel drums and hawk for a few mao apiece. Try one!

Many of Changting¡¯s vegetables were ¡®green,¡¯ like the natural veggies in Changtai. They well complemented the wild mountain duck and black fungus. But my eyes were bigger than my stomach and I was relieved when the waitress played the finale¡ªa bowl of sliced apples, bananas and pineapple, artfully arranged to resemble a fish. There is no end to Chinese¡¯ culinary ingenuity. Or any other ingenuity, for that matter.
Back to Top AmoyMagic Guide to Xiamen and Fujian

Singing like a Canary for Supper During dinner my hosts interrogated me with Chinese standbys like, ¡°Do Americans play Mahjong?¡±
¡°No, they play Monopoly, chess, and Scrabble,¡± I said.
¡°Is English hard for American children to learn?¡±
¡°Only in Tennessee,¡± I said.
¡°Is it hot or cold in America?¡±
¡°It depends if you¡¯re eating Italian food or Mexican.¡±
Then my host hit me with, ¡°Do Americans still study Chairman Mao?¡±

That was a toughy. Like Americans, Chinese are loathe to joke about religion or politics, and this was a bit of both. ¡°Not as much nowadays,¡± I confessed.
My questioner opined, ¡°That¡¯s because Chairman Mao didn¡¯t spend as much time abroad as Deng Xiao Ping. Do you admire Deng Xiao Ping?¡±
¡°Yes, of course! Deng was a great man. His reforms saved China.¡±

And in all seriousness, I do believe Deng Xiao Ping was a great man. But his passing helped impress upon me just how difficult it must be to govern such a vast nation. The day after Deng died I asked an illiterate peasant what she thought of the great man. I¡¯ll never forget her answer. ¡°Oh, wasn¡¯t he the short man?¡±

Dry Glass and Dice After we¡¯d finished off the fishy fruit Changting chicken -- for breakfast (not quite Colonel Sanders KFC Kentucky Fried Chickenour waitress produced a small porcelain bowl, four dice, and a pitcher of Red Army Cola. My heart sank all the way to my stomach, which was so stuffed it looked as if I were six months with child.

While Chinese food goes straight to my heart, I could survive without the inevitable dozens of toasts. ¡°Ganbei!¡± ¡°Dry glass!¡± Liquor capacity seems synonymous with manhood and even success. An MBA student said his CEO explained his chronic drunkenness with, ¡°Any business problem can be solved with enough liquor at dinner.¡±

My host said, ¡°Local custom requires banquets end with a drinking game¡ªthe guest against every member at the table. The guest can choose high or low, and if he wins, the other must drink. If he throws a ¡°13¡± he drinks. If the dice fall out of the bowl, he drinks.¡±
¡°But I don¡¯t drink!¡± I protested.
¡°It would insult us, highly, if you refused.¡±
Back to Top AmoyMagic Guide to Xiamen and Fujian

Red Army Cola has little alcohol, but even cough syrup gives me a hangover. In the end I gave in and rolled the bones ¡ªand won a dozen throws in a row! I sat straight and proud as my nine opponents applauded my ¡®skill.¡¯ And then I threw a ¡°13¡± three times out of seven, and lost ten times in a row. Pride goes before a fall.

Fortunately, Chinese nowadays accept that not all barbarians are drunkards, and during ensuing days I was not pressed to drink another drop. Hiccup.

Buddhists and Taoists at the Same Table It¡¯s ironic that Changting fast food placeLittle Red Shanghai is also a Little Red Religious Center. Changting hosts at least a dozen religions¡ªeverything from Buddhism, Confucianism, Catholicism, Taoism, and Protestantism to Mazu worship, animism, Hakka Mother worship, and the State Sports Lottery. One Changting mountain has a Buddhist temple on the bottom and Taoists on the top. Babushka exclaimed, ¡°Rare indeed when both Buddhists and Taoists eat from the same plate!¡±.....

Click for Changting Page 4 (Changting--Lil' Red Religious Center)

 

 

P.S. Don¡¯t miss these great Changting Sites!

Source of the Ting River

Ancient Well (ÀϹž®Laogu Jing)
Changting¡¯s oldest well, considered a miracle because it never dries up, whatever the conditions. On top of that, while Mao ZeDong lived in Changting, every morning he used the well to wash his face, brush his teeth, and clean his clothes (not necessarily in that order). And to make the well healthier, he brought in a well specialist, which I thought was a well-meaning gesture.
Back to Top AmoyMagic Guide to Xiamen and Fujian

Tingzhou Hakka Research Institute (ÖйúÍ¡Ö޿ͼÒÑо¿ÖÐÐÄ Zhongguo Tingzhou Kejia Yanjiu Zhongxin)

Tingzhou Ancient City Wall (Í¡Ö޹ųÇǽTingzhou Gucheng Qiang)
Tang Dynasty, at least 1200 years old.

Dragon Hill against White Clouds (Áúɽ°×ÔÆ¡ªLongshan Baiyun) ¨C the Jin Sha Temple.

Zhongshan Park and the Qiu Bai Pavilion (Çï°×ͤ Qiubai Ting).
Every two-ox town in China has a Zhongshan Park (named after Sun Yat-sen, but called Lenin Park during the Soviet Chinese days). The Qiu Bai Pavilion is named after Qiu Bai, the young revolutionary martyr. To the rear of the Hakka Museum you can see where he was imprisoned, and where he was shot.

Hakka Girls. They¡¯re everywhere. Please just take photos, not the girls.

Chaodou Rock¡¯s Shuiyun Temple. The Buddha is said to have his back to tourists because he¡¯s piqued that so few people repent and begin life anew.

Xiamen University¡¯s Former Campus (ÏÃÃÅ´óѧУ±¾²¿¾ÉÖ·)

A Xiamen University professor told me China had 5000 years of history but that was 18 years ago, so now its 5018 years of history.

And 3 months.

TRAVEL LINKS Hakka Earthen architecture Favorite Fujian Sites Photographs of Fuhken places like Zhangzhou, Longyan, Ningde, Sanming, Wuyi MountainFujian Foto Album AmoyMagic-- Travel , Resident and Business Guide to Xiamen and FujianXiamen Gulangyu Kulangyu Kolongsoo Kolongsu KulongsuGulangyu Guide to Fukien Fuhken Fujian Guides Mystic Quanzhou -- the fabled port of Zayton ( or Zaytun Zaitun Zaiton ) from which Marco Polo sailed,  Sinbad the Arab visited.  ChinchewQuanzhou Zhangzhou  changchow Zhangzhou Longyan Yongding Liancheng Changting Amoy Tigers LianchengLongyan Wuyi Mountain Guide Zhuxi  tea Wuyi Mtn Ningde Taimu Mountain ZhouningNingde Putian Fujian Xianyou Mazu TemplePutian Sanming Scenic Wonderland Mingxi Gem bed rubies Sanming
Zhouning Carp VillageZhouning
Hakka Earthen architecture Taimu Mtn. Hakka Earthen architecture Roundhouses Fujian covered wooden bridgesBridges Hakka Earthen architecture Jiangxi Hakka Earthen architecture Guilin Help Build an online  community for foreigners.  Join the Xiamen Guide forumOrder Books
Letters from AmoyMagic ReadersReaders' Letters

Gulangyu Kulangyu Kolongsoo Kolongsu Kulongsu
Gulangyu

Guide to Xiamen University Historic and modern, including departments -- Arts Science computers mathematics accounting management law department etc.Xiamen Univ

Mystic Quanzhou -- the fabled port of Zayton ( or Zaytun Zaitun Zaiton ) from which Marco Polo sailed,  Sinbad the Arab visited.  Chinchew
Quanzhou

AmoyMagic-- Travel , Resident and Business Guide to Xiamen and Fujian
XiamenGuide


Fujian Adv

Guide to Fukien Fuhken  Bilingual Chinese English Parallel with MP3 CDFujianGuide

Click to e-mail Dr. Bill Brown or Susan BrownClick to E-mail Email address for Bill and Sue Brown     Letters from AmoyMagic ReadersReaders'Letters

Last Updated: May 2007Return to main page and main menu of Amoymagic Return to Main Page       Return to top of pageBack to Top


DAILY LINKS
Frequently Asked Questions about Xiamen andFujianFAQs Questions?
Info on apartments or houses in Xiamen, real estate agentsReal Estate
Xiamen Shopping guide malls supermarketsShopping Download  Xiamen MapsMaps
Xiamen BookstoresBookstores
Train rail schedule for Xiamen, fukien Trains Amoy Bus ScheduleBusses
Car rental rent a car or van with driver in xiamen and fujianCar Rental

Xiamen hotels guesthouses hostels Hotels English News Services sources in Xiamen Fujian ChinaNews (CT)
Doctors Dentists Hospitals Clinics in Xiamen Jimei and Tong'an Medical & Dental
Xiamen YMCA and YWCAYMCA Volunteer! Xiamen International Christian Fellowship Expat Nondenominational interdenominational
Xiamen International Christian FellowshipXICF Fellowship 
Xiamen Churches Protestant Catholic Seventh Day Adventist Amoy Mission Missionaries AbeelChurches Islamic Muslim Mosques Ashab Quanzhou Damascus Fuzhou Xiamen
Xiamen and Fujian Buddhist Taoist Confucian Temples Mazu Manichean Hindu IslamicTemplesXiamen and Fujian Temples and Mosques  Buddhism Confucian Taoism Taoist Buddhism Mazu Matsu Meizhou IslandXiamen and Fujian  Mosques Islamic Muslim Ashab Mosque Quanzhou Fuzhou  Mohammed Disciples DamascusMosque

Xiamen Expat Association Welcome SupportExpat Groups
Hire a Maid Household help servant baomu amah etc.Maids Xiamen Emergency and Frequently used telephone numbersPhone #s

EDUCATION
Xiamen University GuideXiamen University
Xiamen International School  International Baccalaureate ProgramXIS(Int'l School)
Study Mandarin Chinese or Minnan Dialect at Xiamen University  or with private tutorStudy Mandarin
 
China Studies Program Xiamen University  Council for Christian Colleges and Universities Washington D.C. Jay LundeliusCSP(China Studies)
Piano Island Music Events Xiamen Philharmonic OrchestraLibrary Xiamen Museum Library Science Center  World's largest organ museum Asia's largest piano museum China's first anthropology museum Sino Eurolpean art museum etc.Museums
History of Amoy Changchow Chinchew Zaiton Fukien etc.History
DINING
Xiamen restaurants dining western and Chinese cuisineRestaurants Xiamen Asian restaurants -- Singapore Thailand Thai Malaysian  Japanese Korean PhilippineAsian
Xiamen Vegetarian cuisine Nanputuo Temple Seventh Day Adventist Health foodVeggie Xiamen Restaurants Fast Food McDonalds KFC Kentucky Fried Chicken Pizza Hut Burger King (just kidding!) Cafes Coffee shopsJunk Food
Xiamen restaurants dining western and Chinese cuisineChinese Xiamen Italian Restaurants -- over 40!  Pizza pasta cheeseItalian
Western (Internationall) Cuisine in XiamenInternationalAlien visa info -- Americans, Europeans E.T. Outer space visitors
Chinese visa and passport informationVisas 4 aliens
RECREATION
Hakka Earthen architecture Massage!
Hakka Earthen architecture Beaches Kite Flying in Xiamen ChinaFly Kites
Sports -- Golf, Badminton Tennis Bowling Paint BallSports Xiamen Boardwalk One of the most beautiful boardwalks in China or anywhere else.  Along the Island Ring road over 6km long so far.Boardwalk
Xiamen Parks, recreation, hiking boardwalk etcParks Xiamen Museum Library Science Center etcPets
Bird watching in Xiamen Amoy  SwinhoeBirdwatching
Martial arts Chinese Kung FuKung Fu Hiking around Xiamen BushwalksHiking
Piano Island Music Events Xiamen Philharmonic OrchestraMusic Events
Chinese festivals and culture minnanFestival&Culture
Chinese Jokes Humor Funny China photosHumor&Chinese Jokes Humor Funny China photosFun Fotosfunny photos of China
BUSINESS
Doing Business Invest in Xiamen Fujian ChinaDoing Business
Work or teach in Xiamen, Quanzhou or other Fujian schools and universities  English French RussianJobs!(teach/work)
Hire permanent or temporary workers labor craftsmen maids tutorsHire Workers
Foreign Companies in Xiamen Joint Ventures Foreign Companies
China International Fair for Investment and Trade and Cross Straits Exchanges
CIFIT (Trade Fair)
Common Talk Xiamen Dailys Weekly English SupplementMTS(Translation)

Back to Top

Google
 
 
©