China: Coming to a place near you

If any of you feel far removed from that foreign land you see printed on the back of all of your products, I’m here to tell you that you shouldn’t. The Chinese population living outside of China itself is at least 40 million. And that’s not just in Asia, but 17% of Vancouver, 9% of Toronto, and 7% of Sydney is Chinese. Of if you want to talk economics, I can mention the dependence created by the Chinese running a $262 billion USD surplus (2007) or the $1.9 Trillion USD worth of Foreign Reserves (money other countries are borrowing from China). So whether we like the products or not, the influence they have in the world today is enormous.

Within the month I’ve had the chance to visit Chinatown Chicago, Philadelphia, Toronto and New York. New York was by far the biggest, with upwards of 700,000 Chinese living in Manhattan, Queens, and Brooklyn, combined. Now the home to those who have migrated, largely from Guangdong and Fujian provinces, they are the best place to buy cheap (sometimes you might wonder too cheap) stuff and the core parts of Chinese culture plopped right down there in lower Manhattan. (See video below)





Interestingly enough, like many words that we translate differently in English than Chinese, the word “Chinatown” in Chinese is 唐人街（“Tong Rin Geeya”). This literally “a market of the Tang Dynasty” (618 to 907 AD), considered the Golden Age of China. The highpoint of culture, largest landmass yet to be conquered (slightly smaller than present day China), movable block printing was discovered (1000 years before Gutenberg’s printing press) and during the lifetime of the famous philosopher, Confucius. Though not totally clear to me, my gut tells me the name is such as to promote the highpoint of Chinese culture around the world.

Speaking of promoting Chinese culture around the world. Are you interested in learning more about Chinese history, culture, cooking, or even taking the dive into some Chinese language classes? It just so happens there is a foundation called Confucian Institutes which have been created for those very purposes. Funded by the Chinese government, these institutes are now worldwide. The only one I have visited so far was in my hometown of West Lafayette, home of Purdue University and almost 1000 Chinese students! Classes were only offered a couple times a week, but further involvement in the Institute included a relationship with a local school corporation to teach Chinese in elementary schools.

Its not just Chinatowns and China 1 Buffets anymore, but as businessmen, students, professors, tourism, you name it. I even met a Chinese teenager on a train to Beijing a few months ago whose purpose in going to the US was to join the US Army! (can he even do that?!).

Now for a little test, where its your turn to differentiate between China and Chinatown. Look at the pictures below and try to decide if I took in the US/Canada or in China. Good luck!

A bird’s eye view of McCain’s turf

ok, so I’m not going to take advantage of this time to rip apart either of the presidential candidates, my complaining isn’t going to change anything. I actually got to see Senator Obama a few days ago at a rally in north Philly. I frankly was inspired by my first attendance of a political rally to see how excited people can get about getting who they believe is the right person in to a particular position. So how is this blog political, its not but just to say that I’m registered to vote, and will do so absentee while I’m in China, if you want to know who I voted for and why, feel free to contact me.

What I do want to do is to share with you an amazing glimpse of an amazing city, or rather cities, that McCain calls his home, or homes. Phoenix, which to me seemed to be more of a city of ‘burbs than anything else, was a very attractive location with much variety. Not only does it rarely get below 40 in the dead of winter, but even the heat (it was mid-90s during my visit) didn’t feel hot at all because of the dryness. Not to mention the wide streets, picturesque sunsets, and clean air that Chinese would die for. I also realized a reason why so many older retired people spend the end of their lives there. Apart from avoiding the cold winters, word on the Arizona street says that the hot weather helps with thinning one’s blood that has health benefits. My favorite part was the several small mountains/large hills, that took no more than 8-10 minutes to walk up to where you could see the whole metropolis area. At the top, my friend, Austin, gave me a grand explanation of all the peaks, parts of “the Valley” and even Geronimo’s favorite hideouts.

On one day my sister and I decided to make the two-hour drive up to Flagstaff, up thousands of feet in elevation with a lush variety of desert, pine forest and everything in between. Great for skiing in the winter (2nd most snow of any American urban area) and filled with a hiker’s dream in the other months. All you Columbia brand fans and REI frequenters (like Gander Mountain) would be right at home. Not to mention the very strong New Age influence in many of the clothing boutiques and bookshops.

I quickly learned that Arizona should really be more affectionately named “the outsider state” as NO one calls Arizona there home (most people I asked were from Californians sick of the coast, retirees, and those form all over the US attracted by the amazing weather). Its population is supposed to double by 2030. After doing a little more research, in Phoenix, there were 35,000 residents between 2006 and 2007, second fastest growing city in the US (nothing compared to the mass migration of tens of millions in the US, but who can compete with China when it comes to quantity anyway). I mean we are are talking about a city which by 1900 still wasn’t even among the 100 most populous cities.

After just 4 days in Arizona, I definitely understand why its growing the way it is. I’ve never been a proponent of people moving anywhere just because they like the weather, but you might want to check it out. My sister and her friend both found a large availability and higher paying jobs than they ever did in the MidWest. And if things go well for Republicans in the next month, you might even be the recipient of a few “pork-barrel” benefits from being in the Presidents home state. Or then again, the fact that McCain raves against that each time he talks, maybe you won’t.

I propose: “Chinican”

Not sure what’s coming in your mind when I say that. The first time I said it I thought of “Heineken”, but its coined t to be more like “Chinglish” (“CHINese and EngLISH” which is a direct translation of a Chinese into English, often quite humorous), a term understood very well by any foreigner living in China.

During my couple months back in the States I’ve had the privilege of going to about a half dozen Chinese restaurants, primarily buffets in Indiana. Furthermore, fresh out of hearing about Chinese food programs on TV during the Olympics every friend I’ve gone out to Chinese with has realized the lack of Chinese authenticity in Chinese restaurants in the US. In order to educate this growing number of culturally-sensitive Americans, I am writing this blog post. And for me, after being in mainland China for a year not only are they reminiscent, somewhat, of most everything I ate this last year, but they are a great venue for practicing my Chinese!

But before we go around hastily labeling what this “Chinican” food is, I’d like to present an amateur, non-chef perspective on Chinese food and then you can judge for yourself whether the title is appropriate. So, here’s some facts about most food and how it is served in China:

• Contains large amounts of oil
• Often cooked with hot peppers, garlic, ginger and salt
• Instead of being marinated or added at the beginning in order to cook in the food, most spices are added a few minutes before they are done cooking
• Is not baked, actually most Chinese have never used an oven! (but maybe the reason for our high carbohydrate/sugar diet, lets just say I’ve never seen the label “low-carb” in China)
• Is diced into much smaller pieces
• Is served on a single plate, heaped in such a fashion that all but the most professional chopstick connoisseurs spill at bit on the table
• Has very little sugar (a very bad fit for my sweet tooth)
• Rice served after all the hot and cold dishes and only eaten as a filler, if someone is still hungry. Its never mixed with any other dishes spices but eaten straight (and for the record I’ve never seen “fried” rice in China, surprised?)
• Soup, usually water based, at the end of the meal serving as most of the liquid for the meal since the teacups usually can hold 2-3 oz.
• All food is served by what we call “family style” (too bad that’s not what most families in this country to anymore) which people eat by using their own personal chopsticks
• Comes directly from the kitchen and is cooked up right after you order, none of this buffet sitting out for hours stuff

The majority of Chinese restaurants in the US are owned by people from the provinces Fujian and Guangzhou, both southern provinces, with different food varieties than the north. But to be fair, they do adapt to what American like, I mean I’ve never seen jello, shortbread, pudding (tapioca, vanilla, or chocolate), ice cream, sprinkles, brownies, crab cakes, deep-fried egg rolls, fried rice, anything as deeply fried as Sweet and Sour Chicken, egg drop soup (there’s one fairly similar which also contains tomato), orange slices, canned pineapple, sliced watermelon, bananas with sugary coating, or fortune cookies EVER at a Chinese restaurant while in China.

And just for the record, after a little digging online, a word about fortune cookies:
Originally Japanese before it was sampled in a Chinese restaurant in Los Angeles during World War 2. After that time, it began spreading rapidly across the US. For the detailed account of fortune cookies, see http://www.fortunecookiechronicles.com/2008/01/16/how-did-japanese-fortune-cookies-end-up-in-chinese-restaurants/.

This article is not meant to criticize, change or even poke fun at Chinican food. Simply an educational article in order to look for some more authentic restaurants or foods when you’re at a Chinese place. And while you’re at it, why don’t you be friendly to the next Chinese waitress you see and greet her by saying “Knee How” (English phonetics), how she’s used to be greeted in her home country. So even if the food isn’t quiet authentic she can at least feel a little more like she's back in her home country.