A bowl of pork bellies in Dongguan. It is well worth returning to China just to eat these bits of heaven!

Mao Jia Fan Dian (Mao’s Family Restaurant) is a chain started in 1987 by Mao’s distant niece. It is typical Hunnan style food with lots of heat. From snake to eggplant to tongue-numbing chilies, there is plenty to choose from. But the signature dish here is what I was craving.

Walking up the stairs and out of the searing heat of the street, you are met by a huge bust of Chairman Mao as you enter the restaurant. It is large, tasteful decorated with polished wood floors and furniture. It is bright with large windows and the staff welcoming and polite.

The famous dish served here is Hong Shao Rou. It is the dish that Mao would often tuck into with gusto. Arriving at my table was a small crucible filled with red cooked pork bellies. These are square sections of fat from the pig’s belly, dressed with five spices and stewed in clay pots for a day. They are thick, soft and creamy morsels of melt-in-your-mouth fat with a little meat on the underside. You cannot eat just one, and as for any dieting – you can forget it.

This is pork fat goodness at its finest. While devouring my pork bellies, I couldn’t help thinking of the globe-trotting gourmand, Anthony Bourdain and how he would react. Well, I actually do know how he would react! The other diners and staff would look away, embarrassed by his enthusiastic moaning, and after eating, he would pull out a cigarette to satiate himself after a well deserved culinary orgasm.

This location of Mao Jia Fan Dian is in the southern Guangzhou city of Dongguan. A perfect place to stop and build up your strength for the arduous task of heading through customs and flying out of Hong Kong for that 17 hour flight home! Thought this location was in Dongguan, the restaurants are wildly popular and can be found in pretty much all large cities.

On the plane, still enjoying the lasting effects of dinner with Mao, a lyric from an old Genesis song kept going through my head as I drifted off to sleep… “Young man says you are what you eat – eat well…”

Early morning sun and Sea Cloud in Duoyishu

DUOYISHU
YUNNAN – SOUTH CHINA

In Duoyishu the early morning air is deathly still, scented with vegetation and slightly thin at 1,700 metres. The sun is not yet up, but over the ridges of the valley, the sky is a deep mauve. Today will be a warm & sunny day – like every other day that bathes this region in crystal clear sunlight.

The walk from the tidy, family-run hotel to the viewing area overlooking these famous rice terraces is 7 minutes along the quiet, paved road. Quiet now. But in an hour, will be transformed into the vital artery that it is, supplying villages with goods, ferrying people about and the only route to move water buffaloes from one valley to the next. This road connects the villages, families and cultures and is about the only way to get around in this vast rice terraced region of Yuanyang.

The viewing area overlooking this valley is quite new. Sitting on the western rim of the valley, one looks down over thousands of water-filled rice paddies that make up this area’s terraces. Come early in the season (December – March), and the mornings greet you with low fog in the valley which the locals call sea cloud – and it’s not hard to see why the fog is named as such. The fog, like waves on the ocean, roll into the valley and retreat, only to roll in again, next time higher. I arrived to the region in late April and was lucky to see the sea cloud one morning. The fog lent a layer of magical depth to the landscape. And like the wind – it disappeared leaving a lasting image in my mind.

Morning terraces with viewing platforms

The viewing area is made of large decks that can comfortably hold many hundreds of visitors. During the sea cloud season, getting to, and holding your position at the edge of one of the terraced platforms is a blood sport! It is said that years ago, two Chinese tourists fought over the same piece of ground from which to photograph the valley. This was before the viewing area was built. The two got into quite the row and sadly, both fell down the steep valley edge to their death!

Now, in later March, the sea fog is basically gone, and also is the crush of tourists vying for a viewing spot. However, once I got my own spot next to a hut and facing over from the upper-most platform, I still needed to spread my elbows to defend my few well-earned square metre of space! If you are like me, a Westerner, this sort of defensive behavior is both foreign and does not come easily. But believe me – if you don’t protect your spot, you risk being squeezed out by other aggressive visitors. If that happens, you will have the backs of dozens of heads in your photographs obscuring the beauty you have come to see.

Once the sun crests the opposite valley wall and spills sunlight throughout the valley, the paddies take on a bit of a flatter colour and loose their magic. It’s at this point that photographers pack away their gear, tourists head toward waiting buses and everyone leaves. If you are here for a while and know the area, you are smart to head back to your hotel for a nap so you can pace yourself through the rest of a busy shooting day.

A local woman carries wheat along the main road in Duoyishu

This is Liu Fang as she played the Guzheng, a traditional, classical Chinese instrument. It has a beautiful rich and vibrant sound. The pipa on the other hand has a higher pitch and is played sitting in a chair with the instrument in the musicians lap.

Liu Fang is hugely popular all over Europe and enjoys a broad & dedicated fan base. She currently lives in Montreal with her husband/manager, Risheng (a fascinating man in his own right). The love international story of their meeting and eventual move to Canada is right out of a classic romance novel. Who knows, perhaps one day Fang will write a song about their journey.

But for now, we have several albums from which to listen to her music, close your eyes and imagine the long history of Chinese music that this talented musician skillfully shares with us.

Please visit her website, purchase a few albums (also available on iTunes) and find out where she is playing next. And if you are able to, try to attend her concert. You will be amazed!  http://liufangmusic.net/English/

Liu Fang playing her pipa at the George Ignatieff Theatre, Toronto

A detail of the guzheng's strings

Enjoying a coffee on the roof of my family-run hotel

As Balzac so wisely eludes, coffee sharpens the mind and hones one’s senses for the day ahead. So, like an addiction, I cannot imagine a morning without the ritual of grinding, brewing and drinking a fine coffee.

This is all fine & good, but there are times when you may experience a period of coffee interruptus. Such a time would be when you travel to China. China is thought to be one of the most tea-saturated countries on earth. China is indeed the world’s largest tea consumption and production country in 2010, according to a U.N. report. And I can believe it.

Go into any home, restaurant, hotel, and business in China, and you will see a collection of tall Thermos bottles corralled on the floor filled with hot water – for tea. A drive along Beijing’s ritzy Wangfujing Street is not without observing a driver in his Mercedes, cigarette & cell phone in one hand and a clear flask of tea in the other! In the countryside, everyone has tea with them in those glass or plastic tea flasks. Some even have what look like big pickle jars filled with tea leaves and water. It’s everywhere!

Thermos bottles of hot water for tea - AND coffee!!

So it is that visiting China seriously cuts into your enjoyment of your daily brew. True, Starbucks has broken through the Great Culture Wall and further erodes Chinese citizens with its over-priced offerings of, for instance, a “Grande, sugar-free, fat-free, vanilla-soy, triple-shot, decaf, no-foam, extra hot, Mint White Chocolate Mocha with extra light whip and extra syrup”… Jeeze! This one cup alone is more expensive than a litre of gas for your Hummer!

And I have only has one cup already this morning. Must calm down!

My point is that when you travel to China, be prepared. Be prepared not to find any coffee or even the infrastructure to support your javadiction. ‘Be Prepared’, the old Boy Scouts motto tells us. So ‘Be Prepared’ I am.

Before any trip to China I carefully account for room in my bag for a few essentials from Mountain Equipment Co-op: My insulated stainless steel cup, a fine mesh coffee strainer with flanges that assures the strainer sits proud on the lip of the cup, and of course, coffee! My favourite and constant companion is Muskoka Roastery’s Northern Lights blend. It is a mild, aromatic burst of heaven every morning when I open the bag and lovingly pour out a healthy portion of the grounds into the strainer.

In many of the family-run hotels I visit, I do not find a kettle, but as sure as the sun will rise, there will be those clutch of Thermos bottles clustered about the lobby or in the breakfast area. Hoisting a Thermos bottle, I pour the hot water into the strainer then sit back while the breakfast room’s smells of cabbage, boiled eggs and rice is joined by a little accent of my Muskoka blend.

Here ends my rant. Time for a coffee!

One of the Smile-O-Meters you might encounter at the Immigration desk

Okay, I’ll put it out there… Nothing in my life raises such a nervous sweat than going through immigration at an airport. And that goes for driving across international boarders too. I am the obvious victim of watching too many cheesy TV shows and Hollywood movies! I can’t help it, when I approach an immigration kiosk or gate, my skin becomes clammy and I begin to rehearse what I will say if questioned, hauled over and stripped searched!

So, you may ask, what does this have to do with your entry into China? Good question. I have entered China from two locations, Beijing and Hong Kong/Shenzhen Customs. Both are the same in their very quaint and ridiculously cute way.

Here’s how it works… From Toronto, Canada, China is anywhere between a quick 13-hour flight or a longer, thrombosis-inducing 17-hour feat of endurance into Hong Kong. No matter how you get to China, you pass through the usual bored State Employees eying your exhausted brow with suspicion. But it is the last desk through which you pass that brightens your mood a bit and takes you aback and cock your head a bit…

After your precious passport has been stamped a few times and handed back by the State Employee, you are given a smile and a nod of the head. A nod?

The first time I encountered the Nod was two years before the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Chinese employees, ranging from street cleaners to customs officials were in hyper-mode learning what Westerners like, and more importantly what they don’t like. This covered everything from never asking how much money you make, to how old you are, to the worst of Western phobias – spitting. SARS gave the Chinese public a boost in the negativities of expectorating, but tradition has proved too strong to even win this Olympian battle.

But I digress…

The nod! Yes! I first encountered it and was given a very disapproving scowl by the immigration lad at the time. But now, several times wiser, I am hip to the Nod.

The nod refers to a glance down at a small key pad right in front of you as you clutch your sweat-soaked passport. The key pad has five bright yellow circles with various forms of a smiley face. From an insanely  jubilant happy face for a job well done, all the way down to a scowl for a job indeed worthy of dismissal.

Visitors are meant to offer their finger, pressing the degree of smile-ness that best reflects the service and courtesy that the immigration official has bestowed upon you. After all, this person is your first real contact with China. And China wants, and needs to know how it is doing winning the hearts & minds of its various international visitors.

Now that I am hip to the whole Happy Face thing, I know what to do. Smile. Slowly glance down – like you’ve done it a million times before – and totally press the bright yellow circle with the insanely happy smily face. You will know which one, as it it is the one that is the most worn on the key pad.

Deviating from that insanely smiling face on the extreme left of the Smile-O-Meter is bound to steer your karma in a direction you don’t want to go! The first time I got the nod directing my attention to the Smile-O-Meter, I had no idea what it was. Puzzled, I looked at it, glanced up to the State Employee, then back down again. I had no idea what I was supposed to do. Eventually I was given a very disapproving sad face by the State Employee and nodded to be on my way.

So now you know! Get your immigration papers in order, take a calming & relaxing breath and always, always press the most worn happy face on the key pad. You can then enjoy your trip knowing you have helped an underpaid public servant and you can freely shop for as many scarves as you wish with a clear conscience.

This has been a public service blog post!

A view of the campus grounds at Yunnan University in the centre of Kunming

After a gruelling 16 hour flight from Toronto to Hong Kong, the short hop from Shenzhen to Kunming, the capitol of Yunnan province in southern China is but a blink of the eye. And what a treat for the eye! On approach to the Kunming airport, you are treated to one of this province’s artistic displays, the colourful, patchwork landscape. The canvas is red earth and the painting is a vast display of multi-coloured crops that flow over the soft, undulating landscape.

One of the many stone bridges in Green Lake Park

Like many Chinese cities, Kunming has its own water feature, this one in the form of a lake. Actually, a group of 4 small lakes, liked by picturesque bridges. Green Lake Park, or Cui Hu Park, hosts views for some high-end hotels and restaurants, small shops and playgrounds. At night as you stroll around the lakes, music can be heard from street musicians, dazzling lights defining classical architecture shine over the still water and lovers hold hands and enjoy the ideal warm temperature.

The courtyard of the 12923 restaurant

If you wish to stay near the lake, there are many reasonably priced hotels. Mine was one of a chain, called the Home Inn (www.homeinns.com). Choose the one near the rear entrance of Yunnan University. They accept foreigners. Not all of them do which was off-putting especially considering I have been in very rural family-run hotels where police come to your room!

The university campus is well worth a stroll just to see the grounds. Many species of trees are identified and small reading shelters seek quiet under the canopies of the trees. The buildings are a mix of traditional Chinese style, and European-influenced colonial. You cannot help but smile as students pass by with excited chatter and also very eager to give you directions as you navigate the complex filigree’d paths.

The cottage-like dining area under the trees at 1923 restaurant

Your reward for finding the front entrance of Yunnan University is a beautiful walk, and also, if you are hungry, the Cuihu 1923 restaurant across the street. 1923 is a quiet retreat from the busy streets and noise. Split between two buildings, you can dine as a group in one of the ornate rooms in the old courtyard building or you can relax by the pond in the seclusion of the garden. I chose the garden and felt as though I were in an old cottage surrounded by wood beams and floor-to-ceiling glass. Very nice! The food is beautifully presented and tasty, but the service needs some polish. You can call for a reservation or just drop in for lunch: (0871) 5101923.

Any visit to China is never complete without a massage. Either a foot massage or a body massage, you cannot go wrong with the small massage studio with their blind attendants called, Sunnyside Massage Centre (0871) 5325313. The studio can handle eight clients and is just a short walk north west of the ring road around Green Lake Park.

Sign over entrance to Sunnyside Massage

Kunming, capital city of Yunnan is the starting point from which I will travel south about 8 hours by bus to reach the area of Yuanyang. It is here that magnificent rice terraces cling delicately to almost every mountains side and available slope. Planted, ploughed and harvested for 1,200 years, this area is said to be on a list for designation by UNESCO as a World Heritage site. Yuanyang has been a Mecca for photographers for years, though relatively few regular tourist tours go there due to it’s distance from Kunming, and pretty much anything else!

Yuanyang, here I come. Kunming, I’ll be back!

Liu Fang en concert au TFF Rudolstadt festival / Liu Fang in concert at TFF Rudolstadt festival from MBAM on Vimeo.

Watch this video and pay close attention at the fingering Fang masters at about 0:36 into the video. This is simply outstanding.

If you have a chance to hear her play, you must make a point of doing so. Here is a link to her upcoming concert dates. http://liufangmusic.net/concerts/

Thanks to Ning Zhang for the use of this beautiful photo of the water-filled rice terraces

I will fly into Hong Kong, then overnight in Shenzhen before flying to Kunming. From Kunming, I head south to the Yuanyang rice terraces.

I have posted a map of Yunnan in the Maps section so you can familiarize yourself with this southern Chinese province. As usual, I will blog while away, but it might be spotty depending upon cell and internet services.

For part of this trip I expect to stay in a small farmer’s home with the labourers. It is here that I will film daily life, planting and the life of the people in this region. I hope to be able to produce a short documentary of these amazing terraces and the generations of farmers who have tended to them for over 1,000 years.

Thanks to Huang Youngnian for the use of this photo of the Dongchuan region

After the rice terraces, it is back north. Just north east of Kunming is the Dongchuan area where the landscapes are vast and the topography is blotted with wild colours as if a paintbox has spilled over the land.

Yunnan has so much to see, so many different cultures and ethnic groups. I can’t wait to head out. Only two weeks to go!