christmas in beijing

There was a restaurant near my first apartment in Beijing that was
decorated with Christmas lights and Christmas kitch year-round. The owner told me he thought the decorations might attract foreign students from the university down the street to his restaurant. At first this sounded crazy but I learned not to underestimate the power of the cardboard Santa Claus head and green tinsel to cheer me up on a muggy summer days. I used to eat there all the time and it wasn't only because of the homemade potato chips.

Christmas is not a national holiday in China (Christianity is exactly mainstream) but non-religious Christmas decorations like lights and Christmas trees have gotten popular this time of year with people in cosmopolitan cities. By the looks of the video below filmed by Janek Zdzarski, Beijing was really decked out in Christmas duds this year. I like the end of the video when the police officer covers the lens of the camera with his hand and tells him to stop filming.

-Nate

happy happy 2010 wishes twelve hours early from beijing where the clock ticks first

In the wee hours of the morn' here in Beijing I'd like to wish those of you in the States and elsewhere to the west an early happy new year! This is the year of the Tiger (老虎, lǎohǔ), a year that from what I hear is one that represents optimism, strength, and energy. Chinese New Year isn't until February 14th so a lot of my Chinese friends weren't doing anything to celebrate tonight and saving themselves for plenty of celebrations and fireworks next month. Last year the fireworks show in Beijing on Chinese New Year was out-of-control literally, catching a new multi-billion RMB building downtown on fire and completely burning it down! Hong Kong had an amazing fireworks show for this Jan. 1st New Year tonight! I wish I could have seen it in person; it looked amazing. Check out this blog to see pictures of 2010 New Year's celebrations from around the world including HK.

I spent some time this evening wandering around Tiananmen Square with friends. The picture above is of a building in the middle of the Square under the beautiful full moon that shone in the otherwise pitch black sky. It was absolutely freezing out but people were still out and about ready to throw confetti. Here's my friend Joy, me, and Mao pausing for a photo op.

I hope everyone, wherever you are when clock ticks over, has hopes for a wonderful 2010. I know I'm looking forward to all the possibilities. Tomorrow I'm going to write out my annual New Year's Resolutions list. I could probably just use the same one I made last year-- and it's similar to the one before that. But this year one of my resolutions is to keep my resolutions. Can you do that? Did any of you actually keep yours from last year? I'd love to hear some success stories. What are your resolutions for 2010? Now back to finishing my champagne....... I think it's bad luck to leave left

-mk

merry christmas y'all from beijing!

While Nate is staying with our grandparents in Little Rock, Arkansas and celebrating the holidays with all of our family, I'm here alone in Beijing and it doesn't feel much like Christmas at all.

I've been here almost two weeks but everything has been so exciting that my first bout of homesickness didn't hit me until Christmas Eve morning when I talked to my family on the phone and realized that this was my first Christmas away... and that I live on the other side of the world from their voices. Nate emailed me a picture of my dog Nelson taken after he chased ducks in my uncle's pond, butted heads with a goat, and chased a dozen chickens mercilessly. That photo of a wet dog is the only picture anyone in my family sent me of their holiday so yes I'm feeling left out. Christmas Day, my uncle and cousin went hunting before the sun rose and later cooked the ducks they killed for dinner. I know Nate was glad he got to sleep in and just get to help with the cooking and eating.

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pumpkin, nan gua, kabocha

The farmer said white pumpkins are good for baking

Halloween is my favorite holiday and I’m a purist when it comes to pumpkin carving. Pumpkins should be hand selected and picked from a pumpkin patch not bought at a grocery store or worse, the drugstore where I bought a bruised and mushy $25 pumpkin last year in New York. I’m in luck this year because Mary Kate and I are in Ohio this week visiting our parents and there are several pumpkin patches nearby. 

Ohio is a great place to be right now. The leaves on the trees are bright oranges, yellows, magentas, and reds and the weather is cold but not too cold to hike around outside. Yesterday I dragged Mary Kate (she’s less enthusiastic about pumpkin carving) and our mom to Katie’s Pumpkin Patch. The patch is a fully functioning farm, but the corn and wheat fields surrounding the barn have been harvested so right now they sell apples, apple cider, and pumpkins. 

Looking around at all different varieties of pumpkins available— some huge, others miniature— I was reminded of the Chinese pumpkin called nan gua (kabocha in Japanese). Nan gua pumpkins have a dark green-ridged skin and bright yellow flesh that tastes sweet. In the US it seem like we only cook with pumpkins in deserts but in China pumpkins are added to savory dishes. I’ve seen pumpkin strips stir-fried with salty black beans, cubed and slow-cooked with pork in broth, and also chopped into little bits and fried with rice and onions. I decided to not only get a pumpkin for carving my awesome jack-o-lantern but also a pumpkin for cooking. I asked a girl working at the patch for advice on which ones are best for cooking. I was surprised to learn that all pumpkins can be cooked but the larger they are, the more watery and fibrous the flesh tastes. I found a squat little pumpkin for $2! and loaded it into the little wagon shopping cart along with our other big jack-o-lantern pumpkins.  I’m not sure what I’m going to make with it tonight. I’m leaning towards a Chinese stew. Check back in tomorrow to see how it turned out. 

My mom hauling the pumpkins to the car.

 

The barn at Katie's Pumpkin Patch

the moon festival

This week has been a big week for China. Wednesday was the 60th anniversary of the Peoples' Republic of China and today is the Moon Festival, China's second biggest holiday.

The Moon Festival—also called the Mid-Autumn Festival, or zhong qiu jie, is celebrated on the 15th day of the 8th month in the Chinese calendar. This is supposedly the day when the moon is largest and it's a holiday kind of like our Thanksgiving. It was originally a celebration of the autumn harvest, but now it’s an excuse for families to get together and eat.

On the night of the festival, people gather in parks and look up in the sky at the lucky moon and eat pastries called moon cakes, or yue bing. Moon cakes are round little cakes that have ornate patterns molded into their tops from the wooden molds they’re baked in. They are coated with a shiny sugary sugary glaze on the outside and on the inside they are dense and rich. Most have a sweet lotus paste filling or a sweet red bean paste. The best moon cakes also have a duck yolk in the center of the filling. This may sound a little unappetizing, not many western deserts have straight-yolks in them, but the chalky yolk in the center of the sweet filling and dough makes these little cakes pack a punch of flavor and textures that will fill you up fast.

People rarely make moon cakes at home. Instead they buy them packaged in beautifully illustrated red boxes from shops and give them as gifts during the holiday. I think of them as the equivalent to our fruitcakes we give at Christmas.

Any Asian grocery store or bakery will have moon cakes for sale. I plan on eating some tonight under the full moon and giving thanks for the harvest, or rather the fact that I didn't have to harvest this year.

-Nate