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Shifu

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Q: Chinese food - your opinions

I ve met expats who love chinese food and those who spend a fortune in the import shops trying to avoid it. What are your favorite dishes? Regional food. Have you forced yourself to eat things you d never imagined eating before you came to China. Will you take Chinese recipes home with you. Finally do you think your diet is healthier here or back home? 

9 years 8 weeks ago in  Food  - China

 
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Chinese food is shithouse.

Just consists of the same ol, same ol....  And murder it with oil and salt.  And msg.

And more oil.  and oil.......

Crappy meat, if any.  Fish that you have to avoid lest you've gotta go Chinese and spit it all over the place.  I mean, can't they fukn fillet the fish!

Bones and guts and beaks and offal that have to be fiddled with.

Call me hard to please but I just like to eat my food, not have to fight with it.

For a decent Chinese feed, head to somewhere else.

Now, that said, I really enjoy Chinese food.  A pity it's not available here.

 

BHGAL:

I am learning to deal with it....  bones! .. so is the wife.. if it is no good, guess what happens.   outta here!!

9 years 8 weeks ago
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9 years 8 weeks ago
 
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I like Chinese food, but I don't eat it much. Too much oil for my taste, I prefer to cook at home most nights.

 

Having said that I really like BBQ  and hotpot, and when I go home I'll definitely be taking those back with me.

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9 years 8 weeks ago
 
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Shifu

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I generally like Chinese food although I have become increasingly concerned with the long term health effects of eating at local restaurants regularly. I find most food to have decent flavor although the excessive oil is a problem. My favorites are Chinese bbq , hot pot, sweet and sour pork (锅包肉) sichuan food, beijing duck, fried dumplings, baozi, and the quick fried rice or noodle fix for a cheap bite.

 

It's hard to say whether my diet is healthier here or back home. On the surface I'd say it's healthier here. I consume more fruits and vegetables in China and less processed fast food garbage. That being said, I've gotten food poisoning a few times in China and often experience upset intestines, which was never a problem back home. I find that a lot of Chinese dishes SHOULD be quite healthy but aren't due to low standards of sanitation and penny pinching cooking oil recycling assholes. Take mala tang (麻辣烫) as an example. When I first came to China, I ate this at least once a week. I figured that a soup consisting of different kinds of vegetables and tofu was as healthy as it gets. Then I found at that the oil it's soaked in is notoriously dirty. So I don't go near the stuff now.  

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9 years 8 weeks ago
 
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Shifu

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There could be some interesting dishes if they wouldn't be all the time ruined by ingredients of questionable origin and poor quality and put together without any soul or real interested in making them really good, other than just polishing them for appearance. Even in high level restaurants.

Said so, no, I don't even think it's healthier than the food back home. Mediterranean diet is second to none.

 

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9 years 8 weeks ago
 
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I eat at home most every day. wife is a good cook. best in the family, so they do come here to eat once in a while. 

what amazes me... and I can't get over ... when just the 2 of us here...  why fish and prawns and clams and pork  and beef ........  rice and noodles and the ever present boiled lettuce.

I can live with one protein source, one starch and I like my vegies cold, crispy and raw from time to time..... like being in a restaurant every day, nuts.....  5 people 5 dishes, 10 people 10 dishes, is what we did at home...... here, my wife is working on that fat ass pretty good. fei le piguo?   ...  I love the food!!!  I hate the bone shards in my soup!!!!

 

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9 years 8 weeks ago
 
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Chinese food is shithouse.

Just consists of the same ol, same ol....  And murder it with oil and salt.  And msg.

And more oil.  and oil.......

Crappy meat, if any.  Fish that you have to avoid lest you've gotta go Chinese and spit it all over the place.  I mean, can't they fukn fillet the fish!

Bones and guts and beaks and offal that have to be fiddled with.

Call me hard to please but I just like to eat my food, not have to fight with it.

For a decent Chinese feed, head to somewhere else.

Now, that said, I really enjoy Chinese food.  A pity it's not available here.

 

BHGAL:

I am learning to deal with it....  bones! .. so is the wife.. if it is no good, guess what happens.   outta here!!

9 years 8 weeks ago
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9 years 8 weeks ago
 
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Shifu

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Chinese food is the end product of people who neither improvise nor look beyond. At the end of the day, shit smothered in oil all tastes the same. I cook for myself; I find things that are st least appetizing and/or nutritious (neither of which Chinese food is).

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9 years 8 weeks ago
 
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Governor

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generally create a fusion of ingrediants on hand, and those i bring from abroad.  prefer to cook at home more healthy, better taste.  when you are using communal chopsticks rinsed in tap water and food simply pan fried with oil (perhaps gutter oil), not good signs

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9 years 8 weeks ago
 
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so many different ways to get stuff to taste of soy sauce

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9 years 8 weeks ago
 
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I like Chinese food especially Sichuan food but it just can't compare with the food back home, Western Europe is a fifth of the size of China but offers 10 times more food diversity than the whole of China. Each region (if not city) of each country has its own local cuisine and they are all delicious. Who doesn't like a Spanish paella or Italian food overall? I miss my German sauerkraut and some Swiss fondue, I would kill for some French patisserie sweetness and wouldn't mind a Portuguese caldeirada sometimes because fish soup in China tastes like sh*t.

 

Chinese food is good at tasting ok while remaining super cheap and using exclusively local ingredients, but as soon as you look for quality or become picky with the taste it just can't compare with food from most other countries.

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9 years 8 weeks ago
 
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In the area that I live, there are literally thousands of places that I can eat Chinese food with a multitude of different dishes to try. But I often struggle to come up with either something that I like or want to eat. I still more than often crave for dishes from other countries or regions. That alone portrays my feelings about the food here.

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9 years 8 weeks ago
 
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Shifu

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I enjoy a variety of Chinese food. On the surface it seems healthier and less processed, but I just pray I'm eating the 1/3 of the food that isn't full of cadmium or other pollutants. 

 

On another topic, my first year here I couldn't understand why Chinese people were crazy for the canteen soup which was just water and oil with scant materials in it. Now I think it's awesome. 

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9 years 8 weeks ago
 
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There are a lot of fine dishes in China, with plenty of diversity... If cooked properly without cutting corners and quality ingredients ! Food back home is different, but has a solid reputation for being healthy. The healthiest food I had was when I was in Vietnam : fresh and lean.

 

I eat almost entirely local, but I stick to vegetarian options. We cook at home, my wife is doing an excellent job at simple healthy food. I cook occasionally too, using local ingredients. I m happy with the taste, but not the average quality of food here.

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9 years 8 weeks ago
 
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I eat Chinese food after a night out, becuase I fancy something greasy. I go down to the local 兰州拉面 and get something from there. 

 

However, during the day I like to stick to either Korean or Japanese places. In terms of price, they are more or less the same (maybe +5 or +15RMB) so it's not exactly breaking the bank. But the quality of the food is better and you don't get your dish swimming in oil. 

 

I would say that my diet is better here because I have adapted to cooking at home and eating a lot more vegetables. Back home, the microwave-food isles in the supermarkets were huge!! But here, the main "fast food" you can get from the shop is instant noodles and I got tired of the pretty quickly. 

 

So a simple tuna salad on rye bread here is much better than a deep dish pizza back at home enlightened

hi2u:

So a simple tuna salad on rye bread here is much better than a deep dish pizza back at home""

 

Unless the tuna is full of mercury. Some tuna is known to be high in it and I'm not sure I'd trust canned tuna to be from a single tuna source. 

9 years 8 weeks ago
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I luv street bbq in guangdong, but maybe that doesn't fit the question as it's not chinese food (or at least the peeps cooking it r not chinese).  for chinese food guangdong is pretty cool...  it's usually cooked the same, wok-fried with a few veggies and served on rice, but u gotta admit it's nice to walk into the wet market* and have your cat or snake or rat butchered and cooked then & there.  don't get much fresher than that laddies~  

 

of course i grew up with the best food (Cajun&Mexican) so I can't say much for chinese or any other cuisine actually...

 

 

*had some pangolins on sale the other day, but I've not tried 'em yet.  expensive & endangered u know...

 

 

 

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9 years 8 weeks ago
 
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Shifu

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Agh, breakfast is always super easy for me - I get 3-4 eggs and oatmeal with chopped fruit in it with a dash of milk for richness.  Coffee to go with it.   But beyond that I have to venture out to the world of Chinese food, and it always feels similar to going on some kind of fruitless hunt.  Whatever you find, you know it's going to be very unhealthy and sub-par, and possibly even expensive along with those two things.  I remember paying extra cash for extra meat in a dish, and just being handed a ton of bones.  Ah, how delightful that was.  

 

Gotta get back into cooking.  Anybody have any good chicken recipes?  

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9 years 8 weeks ago
 
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Shifu

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I am completely shocked by the answers here- anyone who thinks Chinese food all tastes the same has obviously been eating out at cheap crappy restaurants. It's like going to Britain, only eating at greasy spoons and then complaining that there's no decent food in Europe. 

 

Every singly province has a vastly different type of food. I've traveled around and drunk tea and eaten vegetables that only grow in a certain area of China. Xinjiang food and Dongbei food, Hunan, Yunnan, Guangdong and Sichuan are all completely different from each other, they all have their own unique spices and ingredients. There are loads of different types of flour to make different noodles, rice dishes, potato noodles. Also, what's stopping you from learning to cook Chinese at home? It's extremely simple and you can control the amount of oil you put in. 

 

I'm not denying that the quality of fruit and vegetables isn't as good here, but I've learnt to cook some Chinese dishes now and I've been introduced to so many types of food by Chinese friends, from the more weird (rabbit head anyone?) to delicious and healthy like Xinjiang meatball soup. 

 

I eat very healthily here because I eat at home, cook with vegetables I find at the market and eat a lot of steamed and boiled food like noodle soup and homemade dumplings. 

 

 

 

andy74rc:

I'm also completely shocked, after living in China for 10 years and having had food everywhere from side street holes to very high level "fine" dining Chinese restaurants. On top of that my second hobby is cooking, and believe me, I'm pretty good at that, but I don't change my opinion.

Oh, btw, tonights dinner at home is going to be croutons with quail eggs and black truffle (from my wife's province,  Yunnan....) and Barolo braised rib eye. No I don't need Chinese food......

9 years 8 weeks ago
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royceH:

I can concede that Xinjiang food is different to Chinese food, therefore better.

Kaorou, if it's good, is fantastic.  And the clay oven cooked meats are arousing.

The soup you mentioned is, I think, wan zi tang and it's great.  As are many of the noodle dishes out here.  But the rest of it is crap.  

Anyway, noodle food is for brunch/lunch, not for dinner, which must be had with volumes of beer.

Hunan and Sichuan food are my choices when I go to a good Chinese restaurant abroad because I love the flavours in them.  In China they all taste the same because of the oil overload.  Less so in Hunan food.

 

 

9 years 8 weeks ago
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I love most Chinese food, so long as it has creativity and thought into it.  My favorites are most Sichuan and Hunan dishes because they use multiple spices and flavors to make the mouth dancing with fun.  I enjoy street foods and am a huge lover of choudoufu, stinky tofu, and I eat it every week, sometimes twice.  That being said, I only buy from vendors I have a good communication with and have a loyal relationship with over time. I like other dishes and love hotpot as well, spicy of course.  There are three kinds of foods I do not like to eat.  I do not like to eat foods that are not generally considered food back at home, such as ears and bones.  I do not like water based dishes where meats or vegetables are tossed into a pot of boiling water without spices or ideas and that is called the "famous local dish".  Those dishes are as boring as rice and water, example would be da mi zhou, rice porridge.  Finally, I avoid foods from people who clearly look the part of bad hygene.  It is possible that any restaurant, even friends or family, can forget to wash hands from time to time. But if I see someone digging for gold up the nose, then inspecting to see whether it is an ancient artifact of Huangdi, then rolling into a ball, then flicking it on the floor or wherever, then grabbing a plate from the kitchen meant for me and accidentally sticking their grubby dirty fingers into my food and pretending they are doing me a great service in the process, well that stuff makes me feel sick to my stomach.  Animals are freshly killed, I get this part, but after slicing and dicing one up on the sidewalk, and before tossing on the barbie, you'd expect one to wash his hands of icky goo before beginning the cooking process.  At least wear some gloves before spreading sesame seeds and crushed peppers on the meats, right?  So these are the rules and for good reason.  I think I get nailed with food poisoning 1 or 2 times per year and it lasts about a week to fully recover with herbal medicine and faster with western medicine.  Anyway, the topic is do I like to eat Chinese food and mostly I say yes I do because most dishes are delicious and suitable for us omnivore humans to enjoy.

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9 years 8 weeks ago
 
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Shifu

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I have mixed reviews of Chinese food. When I travel, i like to try the local foods that they specialize in. But, at my home city, I mix between cooking at home and eating at Chinese restaurants. I like to cook. And, there is something about being able to cook a variety of foods. In China, food is pretty much the same. Kind of like having fruit stands every three stores apart. They have the same food and same prices. Nothing is new or different.

I never worry about the dirt and grime. I figured that if Chinese are not dropping dead in the streets from eating this food, I should be ok. I have seldom gotten food related illnesses. When I was in Mexico, eating veggies washed from tap water would get me violently sick. Not here though.

I guess I really miss the diversity of cultural foods from America. Italian, German, Greek, Mexican, American Soul, etc. I am not much for American Fast Food. But, since that is about all I can find here in a smaller city, it is nice for an American fix now and then.

As for health, not too worried about that. I have lost 80 pounds in my first year here. I was 300 pounds. So, I feel healthier. But, I am a smoker too. So, health was never a real concern to me. I think the way Chinese prepare foods is healthier than the fast food places in America. But, I have no scientific data to show that. It is just a feeling and opinion.

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9 years 8 weeks ago
 
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I love Chinese food and my GF is the best cook!  I have even named some of her dishes after her.  Scored a few points there, not to mention all the mianzi she got.

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I've  always like Sichuan and Xinjiang cuisines. I had some interesting dishes in Qinghai - they had an amazing tofu and tomato soup that they served with a lamb sandwich. They were amazingly good and could be had at the local market for 6 back then. The same market had amazing chuar.

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9 years 8 weeks ago
 
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I am not a fan of Chinese food.I like my meat without bones and gristle, and I like my veg without grit. I am sure lots of Chinese food is fantastic, but I have always been an over fussy eater. If everything tastes like Chicken then why not just eat chicken ?

BHGAL:

fussy prick... just get an oven, I did, now it ain't Chinese food, it's western food.

in my world, heat and meat makes dinner ..... however you create the heat ....... boiled lettuce gets boring, plain old rice gets boring, and a delicious rack of ribs or a meat loaf with Chinese characteristics sounds good to me

that wok is pretty much done now.... now look what we/you have done... interrupted the cultural thing..... god bless.... to hell with that , god damn the wok and god bless an oven and relieve me from oil and grease and all the cleaning issues I have with it....... have mercy on this WOK, and its history, and get it the hell out of my kitchen.

9 years 8 weeks ago
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ScotsAlan:

I dont like the unexpected bones and chewey bits.

9 years 8 weeks ago
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BHGAL:

I despise bones in my soup..  family says  we need it for 'flavor and nourishment', and I agree.....  why the hell do they chop it into tiny little pieces .... just cook or stew or boil or whatever you want to do with it....... why chop it to deadly pieces?

9 years 8 weeks ago
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9 years 8 weeks ago
 
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I love chinese food , i love grandma's restaurant , fish without bones so so tasty. i eat anything they make all so yummy

diverdude1:

hi angelina92...   r u as foxy as u look on your profile pic?    welcome to the forum... post often.  is that the name of the restaurant 'grandma's',  or is it owned/operated by your grandma ?

9 years 2 weeks ago
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royceH:

There's a place near me called 'Mum's'.  Might be the same joint as I'm probably a generation older than you.  It's not bad.  Actually, it's a Hunan joint.

 

9 years 2 weeks ago
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royceH:

why

9 years 2 weeks ago
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royceH:

why

9 years 2 weeks ago
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Quinn68:

Of course you love Chinese food because you're Chinese. But have you ever tried anything other than Chinese food? My guess is no. Most Chinese immediately dismiss Western food, unwilling to try something new because of the unwarranted and ethnocentric belief that Chinese food is the best. The fact is, 99% of Chinese food is pure crap, ranging from very unhealthy to deadly. I can count the Chinese dishes I actually  enjoy on one hand.

9 years 2 weeks ago
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9 years 2 weeks ago
 
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General

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As  a vegetarian living and studying in china, Chinese food is most certainly not my favorite dish for the day! unfortunately they aren't many veg dishes for me to try and the ones they do have all taste so bland and lack flavor! 

BHGAL:

you have a problem guy...  vegies are abundant .. spices and flavor are abundant

 

vegetarians and China go well together........ you, yes YOU, have an issue.

9 years 1 week ago
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9 years 1 week ago
 
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Shifu

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Bleah.

 

dokken:

My god sir you are a food critic extraordinaire. Such eloquence with the written word. Shakespeare would have put down his pen realizing it was fruitless to continue writing when faced with such genius penmanship in another. Hats off to you "bleugh". Wit, sublime descriptive powers, you have it all

9 years 1 week ago
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andy74rc:

It's not worth more effort than 1 word.

9 years 1 week ago
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9 years 1 week ago
 
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I've told yers all before.....Chinese food is crap.  Most of it isn't really even food at all.  The question I ask myself is will they ever actually wake up to this fact?

 

royceH:

Hahahahahaha.... I've just read this thread.  It's an old one and I've been on it before.  Dickhead.

Oh well, sentiment remains.

Actually I've not long returned from Kashgar and their tucker is a whole other yarn.

 

9 years 1 week ago
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diverdude1:

where the F is Kashgar?  (yep, too lazy to goog it)  sounds mighty exotic.  I was reading about Kashmir today.  anyway, care to tell us a bit about Kashgar... as I'm looking for someplace exotic to go.  Indo probably, but I'm keeping an open mind.

9 years 1 week ago
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royceH:

Oh yeah, you're the Dude!  The cyclist, right?  Kashgar is the home of the Uyghir people.  95% of the ppl living there are Uyghir.  But they're run by China.  It was hard to see even a glimpse of a smile from any of the ppl there.  No English spoken, virtually no Chinese either.  No music, no dancing...despite those things being a big part of their preferred life.  The food is of the Central Asian/Turkish variety.  No grog either.  Getting a beer was a real challenge.  One I'm proud to say I overcame.

If you ride through the Taklamakan Desert and live, take a right at the end and head towards the Paki/Afghan border.  That'll get you there.

 

9 years 1 week ago
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diverdude1:

ex-cyclist.  busted my leg pretty bad last year.  sorta walking w/ cane, but guess ridings finished.

I knew I had heard of Kashgar, but guess I put too much research effort into Urumuqi. You make it sound like Kashgar is maybe the true home of Uyghur?

no booze, music, dancing is being imposed by BJ ?

9 years 1 week ago
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royceH:

I believe it's a combination of influence from the east and the west.  Uyghir ppl are Muslim but historically far removed from a strict interpretation of it.  The influence from across the borders to the west is changing that.  More covering up of the women and more praying from the men.  An overall more sombre life is demanded from those who favour a stricter interpretation of Islam.  And from the east is the demand of full integration into Chinese life.

The statue of Chairman Mao in the middle of town is the biggest one in China, just in case they forget who it was that dragged them from their traditional way of life and built the roads for the cars.

Bad luck about your injury.  My worsening inflammatory disease means I'll very soon be stick bound too.  But at least I can still ride.

As the recently departed former Aust PM so famously once said; "Life wasn't meant to be easy."

Good luck cobber.

9 years 1 week ago
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royceH:

why

9 years 1 week ago
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royceH:

no why

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