05.05.09
Posted in Travel Log (Asia) at 11:02 pm by Benjamin Ross
This is the 5th entry in a series titled From the Delta to the Backwoods about my recent trip to China.
Chinese capital cities are funny. In many ways, they are all exactly the same. The same boxy buildings, with the new ones all being built by the same Sichuan migrant laborers, the same wide streets with bike lanes. Even the names of the streets parks are mostly the same: Wuyi Lu, Zhongshan Lu, Renmin Gong Yuan, etc. etc. At the same time, each Chinese capital city has, as Samuel Jackson elegantly put it in Pulp Fiction, “the little differences.” Ride a cab in Fuzhou, and jasmine flowers will be hanging from the rearview window. Take a bike ride in Chengdu and notice that all the bikes are equipped with a special holder for your umbrella. Visit a private home or restaurant in Changsha and keep an eye out for the Mao Zedong poster on the wall.
In more ways than not, Hefei was the default, generic Chinese capital city. It’s main “little difference” was the numerous signs that its people were less well off than those in other Chinese capital cities. There were some sky scrapers, but they were modest in height. A few fancy restaurants, but they considerably more affordable than those in other capital cities. And there were public parks, however slightly less landscaped and beautified than those out East.
However, Hefei was only a prelude to what Tex and I would encounter as we continued on our journey to the backwoods of the Middle Kingdom. As the goal of our trip was to visit some of the poorest and least developed regions of China, we decided to visit a city called Fuyang (阜阳). Located in the northwestern part of Anhui, and the heart of the Chinese Central Plain, Fuyang is statistically the poorest city in the province, and shares much cultural and economic similarity to neighboring Henan. Our journey began from the Hefei train station.
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| This time we rode the 空调快速 (air conditioned high speed train), or as I refer to it, the “moderately air conditioned and somewhat fast” train. These trains are a big step up from the 普快 trains which run most rural routs but not as fast nor as posh as the 动车组 trains increasingly running the main routes between major Eastern cities.
As an interesting note, some of the “manners training” from the Olympic period last summer seems to have had a lasting effect. Notice the passengers respectfully waiting in line to enter the train, rather than bum rush the doors, as would have been typical of pre-Olympic China. This is still the exception, not the rule of how to board a Chinese train, but it is nice to see some headway has been made. |
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| Tex made a new friend on the train with his PSP and some rudimentary Chinese. I’ve always maintained that there is no better environment to learn Chinese than on a “hard seat” car of a Chinese train. |
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| As we disembarked and wandered around Fuyang, we both realized that we had finally made it to our destination, the backwoods of China. Fuyang is not the kind of place I would recommend to any casual traveler, Chinese or Western. The air is stale, trash litters the streets, and the sounds of cheap motors, yelling, and loogie hocking ring through the air…And I mean much more so than would be expected in the typical Chinese locale. |
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| If Shanghai is the most comfortable place for Westerners not “used to China,” than an Anhui town like Fuyang would probably be the absolute worst. For Tex and me though, this is exactly what we came to see. During our first conversation after arriving in Fuyang, a young boy in his late teens asked us directly “Why the hell would you ever come here?” |
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| We spent the day wandering the streets of Fuyang, and chatting with locals who invariably assumed we were journalists, spies, American secret agents, or some combination of the three. |
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| Although much of the streetscape resembled that of small towns, in actuality Fuyang has a population of several million people, making it a rather decent-sized Chinese city. The best modern day analog to Fuyang I could think of would be Kaifeng (minus its historical signifacance), another city of several million, which has seen much of the Deng Xiaoping initiated reforms completely pass it by. From the rough Mandarin dialect, to the architecture, and the demeanor of the locals, Fuyang increasingly reminded me of my ‘05 trip to neighboring Henan province. |
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| With an annual per capita GDP of 3529 RMB (2005 figure) Fuyang is, by this measure, the poorest city in Anhui. When locals would describe their hometown to us, the most common adjective was 没钱了, “no money.” |
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| In a “no money” environment, examples of public beautification are scarce. Here was one of such, a mural in an alleyway which reads “Love our China, Love our Great Wall.” For most people in Fuyang, this was probably the closest they ever could get to China’s most famous landmark. |
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| Still a common sight when I first arrived in China in 2004, the rickshaw is rapidly disappearing from the Chinese transportation landscape. In the midst of China’s rapid economic development, an increasing number of cities have imposed rickshaw bans within city limits, relegating these vehicles to city outskirts. However, in Fuyang, while there are automobile taxis, the majority of public transportation is still carried out by the more economical rickshaw. This is especially impressive when you consider that the standard taxi fare for most destinations is a mere 4 RMB. |
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| Much of Fuyang’s housing stock is constructed out of the infamous white bathroom tiles, ubiquitously used in China in the years directly following the Reform and Opening Up. There were no high rises nor expensive condo buildings.
Another interesting facet of Fuyang is the local dialect, which is a true dialect in every sense of the word. Unlike the various native languages spoken in most southern provinces, the Fuyang dialect, although quite different from standard Mandarin, is 90% comprehensible to any Mandarin speaker…assuming they listen closely and pay careful attention. Unlike most southern provinces, where locals must code-switch into Mandarin when speaking with outsiders, most people in China’s Central Plain continue communicating in their dialect even when speaking to outsiders or foreigners. Because of this, the Mandarin spoken on the streets in Fuyang is arguably more difficult to comprehend than that spoken in Fujian or Guangdong, the two provinces probably most notorious for Chinese linguistic diversity and poor Mandarin. Tex and I both had a great time doing our best to adapt our listening skills to the local dialect, an important skill for any student of Mandarin. |
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| As the day wore on, lunch time approached. Fuyang has a surprisingly high concentration of Hui Muslims, and thus the correspondingly high frequency of Lanzhou La Mian (pulled noodles) restaurants. We wanted to try something more authentically Anhui-ish, so we decided to bypass the La Mian, and poke our heads into some of the local restaurants, which were few in number and located only on major thoroughfares. The conversations would all go something like this.
me: 你好，我们要吃饭？ 能不能看看你们的菜单？
老板：菜单？哈哈，没有菜单。 你看看那边告诉我你想吃什么，就OK了。
Translation:
me: Hello. We would like to eat. May I have a look at your menu?
restaurant owner: Menu? Ha! We don’t have any menu. Just look over there (pointing to open cooler of vegetables, meat, and fish) and tell me what you want to eat. That should be good enough.
We began to notice an annoying trend which would hold true for much of Anhui: No menus! Whenever we asked to see a menu, we received a chuckling condescending remark as if we’d just asked for fillet mignon and a bottle of Dom Perignon.
There are two major problems with menuless restaurants. Firstly, when doing the whole “point and order” dance, you never know exactly how your food is going to be cooked. Secondly, without a menu as a reference point, prices tend to ascend considerably between the time you order and the time you receive your bill. As we traversed from restaurant to restaurant, an alarming trend became apparent. There are no menus in Fuyang!
What we did find, however, is that Fuyang, even more so than Hefei, has a cornicopia of street food. While street food can be found just about anywhere in China, the sheer quantity in Fuyang was more than any other place I have traveled in the Middle Kingdom. When I asked a vendor about this, she answered succinctly “People in Fuyang are poor. They don’t have money for restaurants. If they want to go out to eat, they eat street food.” |
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| After discovering that the local cuisine was, in effect, street food, Tex and I decided to follow the lead of the locals, and sample the local “cuisine.” It would not disappoint. One of our best finds was the Anhui chicken corndog, a fried and breaded cylindrical column of chicken goodness. Upon being ordered, the corndog would be deep fried (again), and then served piping hot. State Fair anybody? |
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| Even the littl’uns were in on the street snacking. |
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| When it comes to meat, Anhui people* have a preference for chicken. Here they are serving the 香酥鸡肉饼, a Chinese crispy chicken sandwich, similar to a 肉夹馍. Look out Wendy’s. You may have some competition out East.
*Anybody know of a better demonym for Anhui? |
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| With our stomachs full, we set forth to explore the city center, not the typical architecture you’d expect to see in a city of several million. |
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| In the geographic center of Fuyang lies this odd sculpture, surrounded by a field of dirt. |
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| Behind the sculpture and the field is this ominous urban pond, flanked in bathroom tile apartment buildings. |
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| One of the more aesthetically pleasing sites in Fuyang is the Ying River, which runs through the edge of Fuyang. As we continued our walk to the outskirts of the town, night fell and we became increasingly hungry once again. After 24 straight hours of eating nothing but street food, Tex and I agreed we’d suck it up and try one of the “point and order” menuless restaurants. |
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| We would be pleasantly surprised. This first dish we ended up with consisted of tofu, carrots, lima-like beans, mushrooms, and peanuts mixed together in a sauce. Since there was no menu, I have no idea what you would call this dish, but if I had to describe the flavor, I would say it was 咸 (xian2), a word which doesn’t have an exact English translation, but could loosely mean “salty” or “savory.” This seemed to be the norm for most of the local cuisine in Anhui, as hot peppers and sugar were used only sparingly. |
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| Next we picked out a popular dish called “lion heads” (狮子头). Contrary to what their name implies, these are essentially pork meat balls. The only reason I knew to order them was that I spied them sitting pre-made out on the counter in the back of the restaurant. When I’ve eaten lion heads before they’re usually served in a sweet sauce. In the Fuyang restaurant, I assumed this was how they would be served as well, but instead they were delivered floating in a soup and surrounded with sprouts. The flavor again was 咸 (salty), with not a hint of sweetness or spice. Tex and I both overwhelmingly approved. |
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| In terms of the city environment, Fuyang could be accurately described as a very 乱 (disorderly or chaotic) city, even by Chinese standards. Case in point, this fine example of perpendicular parking. |
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| We spent our only night in Fuyang exploring the bustling Hui Muslim quarter, and yes, eating again. Other than their traditional head gear and their abstention from pork consumption, the Hui are virtutaly indistinguishable from the majority Han Chinese. Their native language is Mandarin, and their physical appearance only slightly deviates from that of the Han majority. |
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| Like most other locations in Fuyang, the Hui Quarter was covered with stalls selling street food, on most of which were posted signs such as these indicating that the food was Hallel. |
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| In keeping with Muslim dietary laws, as well as local preference, the majority of the street food in the Hui Quarter was chicken based, such as these “New Orleans Roasted Chicken Wings.” |
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| The woman selling the wings had no idea where or what New Orleans was, but that didn’t matter. They were delicious. |
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| In typical Chinese street food fashion, Tex and I parked ourselves at an outdoor mini-table, and proceeded to stuff our faces with street food, discarding the refuse on the ground below. In accordance with Muslim law, no alcohol was sold within the Quarter. (Beer is usually a mainstay in these kinds of Chinese open food markets). However, when we checked with the locals, they guided us to a convenience store, just outside the Hui Quarter, which sold 3 RMB bottles Qingdao. |
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| We were also informed by multiple locals (both vendors and patrons) that it was ok to drink within the Hui Quarter. They just didn’t sell it themselves. As you can see from the picture, we were not the only ones to take this advice to heart. |
In Fuyang, Tex and I got our first real taste of Anhui life. However, Fuyang was still a city. For a better view of rural life in Anhui, we decided to take a microbus to a 县城 (small town/county) an hour outside of Fuyang the following day. It would prove to be the highlight of our trip. More to come.
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Angus
said,
May 5, 2009 at 11:48 pm
I’d been Anhui over 20 times and even I wouldn’t eat at street stalls like you guys did. I look forward to reading your next adventure.
xge
said,
May 6, 2009 at 2:43 am
Greate post. Being born and raised in rural northwest China, even I find your post interesting and educating. Looking forward to your next post.
phil
said,
May 6, 2009 at 9:11 am
Hey there Ben, that 咸 is a second tone so far as I know.
I haven’t posted here for a while – I’d hate to only post a criticism! Though I haven’t posted, I’ve been reading along the whole time. Best of luck to you and keep on writing!
Benjamin Ross
said,
May 6, 2009 at 9:40 am
@phil
No worries. Thanks for the correction.
james
said,
May 7, 2009 at 12:14 am
I’m diggin these backwoods posts Ben. I myself would like to hit up some of the more pov places on offer here.
Couple questions. How did you find you were treated by the locals depending on whether you were in Fuyang or Hefei? I mean was it more or less the same or? How were the accommodations? I’m especially interested in where you stayed once you got to the real boonies. I’ve always wanted to live with a rural Chinese family for a while to get a taste of their life.
Dylan
said,
May 7, 2009 at 1:26 am
I’ve seen New Orleans chicken in other places, too. It’s ’cause KFC had some New Orleans chicken for a while– but still funny.
Benjamin Ross
said,
May 7, 2009 at 1:00 pm
@James
From Hefei we traveled to Fuyang and then to Taihe (upcomming post), basically going from capital city (省会) to regular city (城市) to county/town (县城). At each successive level the people were less and less used to seeing foreigners, and thus more surprised, curious, and sometimes suspicious. The real benefit (communication wise) of traveling to these kinds of places is that everybody wants to talk to you and ask you a zillion personal questions about yourself and your home country. Realistically speaking, in a place like Fuyang, for most of the locals I was probably the first Westerner with whom they had ever been able to converse with.
This of course then creates a communication environment where I can then comfortably ask a bunch of questions about them without it being awkward, and it really facilitates for a lot of mutual understanding.
As for the accommodations, we stayed in a decent (stress the word ‘decent’) hotel, with private bathroom and heat for 60 RMB for the night. We had originally been planning to stay in a 招待所 (dorm style guesthouse) for 15 RMB per person, however it was an unusually cold night, and the 招待所 did not have heat.
The following morning we went to Taihe, but took the last bus back to Fuyang that evening, so we could sleep on the overnight train to Nanjing.
From my travels I’ve generally found that a) you can find just about any level of accommodation (assuming you aren’t expecting a Ritz Carlton) virtually anywhere in China as long as you know how to read the signs and b) It’s always much easier if you don’t book anything in advance (assuming you aren’t traveling during a holiday). Although most of the hotels were more on the dingy side, I’m sure we could have found a 500 RMB 5-star hotel in Fuyang if that was what we were looking for. And at the same time, you can find dirt cheap 招待所’s even in an expensive city like Shanghai.
Alex
said,
May 7, 2009 at 9:11 pm
Great to read about Fuyang,,,I spent about 1.5 yrs there in 98-99. This place is one of the most corrupt places in China, its poor and extremly badly governed. The mayor and party secretary that I used to deal with have all been given and had carried out the death sentence.
In terms of resouces the area is very rich in coal and it makes me think that areas that are rich in natural resources often have a lower average level per head of GDP than “poor” areas with no resources that have better government.
Benjamin Ross
said,
May 7, 2009 at 9:54 pm
@ Alex
What exactly were you doing in Fuyang if you don’t mind me asking?
Gerard
said,
May 7, 2009 at 10:53 pm
You get about 300 google hits for the term Anhuinese…. so it has some currency I guess – can’t imagine what else it could be in English. Great set of posts, thanks for putting them up.
Jane
said,
May 14, 2009 at 3:41 am
what you‘re writing is interesting，thanks！
Josh
said,
May 16, 2009 at 5:53 pm
Never visited Fuyang but I lived in Bengbu for a year in 98-99. I thing I might argue for Bengbu being one of the poorest cities in Anhui. Keep up the good posts, they are bringing back memories.
Huiqin.Shen
said,
May 21, 2009 at 4:01 am
“Even the names of the streets parks are mostly the same: Wuyi Lu, Zhongshan Lu, Renmin Gong Yuan” I dont think its Renmin Gongyuan, but Zhongshan Gongyuan. I never see and hear a Renmin Gongyuan, but a lot Zhangshan Gongyuans,even in my rural hometown.
中山公园：Zhongshan中山named after 孙中山(Sun Yat-sen)
http://baike.baidu.com/view/48063.htm
187条中山路遍布全国： http://www.gd.xinhuanet.com/newscenter/photo/2007-11/18/content_11698477.htm
Benjamin Ross
said,
May 21, 2009 at 7:50 am
@Huiqin
We even have a Zhong Shan Gongyuan in Chicago too.
Limin
said,
June 4, 2009 at 8:56 am
Just think about when you see “Martin Luther King Road” or “Franklin Street” in different American city, so that would not be a surprise for you in China to see same street name in different city.
Myra said,
December 18, 2009 at 11:32 pm
I was looking for pictures of Fuyang and came across your post. I can’t believe you travelled there, wow.
Fuyang’s my birth city, although I now live in Canada.