China Study Tour: Dumplings, Dumplings, and more Dumplings

For our evening meal, we were able to enjoy an 18-course dumpling meal. In China, however, there is no tradition of vegetarianism, and thus all of the dumplings, other than perhaps dessert dumplings, were likely to have meat in them.

Madhu asked specifically for vegetarian dumplings, and the four vegetarians seated at our table were provided with one dumpling. This was not the veritable feast that the carnivores were planning to enjoy. After explaining again the situation, the kitchen sent out more vegetarian dumplings, some bowls and about five steamer baskets. Then, everything started to break down when they brought out meat dumplings with them. The ultimate bad joke – the vegetarians won’t eat meat, and can’t tell which dumpling has none, and the omnivores would prefer to get the meat dumplings but keep randomly getting a dumpling stuffed with broccoli instead.

Somehow, we all managed to survive dinner craziness, and ventured out to explore Xi’an. Some of us went for 50¥ massages (7RMB to the dollar), and some went up the Drum Tower or walked around in the evening air.

Xi’an has the feel of a city that is lived in. Beijing is very nice and quite impressive, but the parts of it that we saw were sanitized and perfect. It was nice to see people eating dinner on the sidewalk outside their apartments, seeing two chickens in the street, and an actual pile of bricks for an unfinished sidewalk project. Madhu, Shefali, Amit and myself agree that Xi’an feels much more like an Indian city, while Beijing feels much more modern. I just feel that the atmosphere here is much more open and friendly and much more of a busy, working city, where people take the time to enjoy each other’s company over dinner on the sidewalk.