After our sightseeing days in Beijing, we flew to Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province in Southwest China. Chengdu would be our home base for the next 4 weeks while studying at Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine. It is known for being a manageable Chinese city because of its compact size with only 12 million inhabitants. After we checked into our room at the Haoge Business Hotel, I looked out our window and was awed by the traffic at the intersection below. I opened the window and suddenly, the chaotic movements of the pedestrians, cars, motorbikes, and buses combined with the horns and the jack hammer drove me into sensory overload. In that moment, I realized I was experiencing my first bout of culture shock, doubting my ability to live for the next month with that kind of assault to my senses on a daily basis. Over the next few weeks, however, watching the traffic from that intersection became a gauge of cultural immersion. I started to discover some order to the madness. But trusting in the controlled chaos as a pedestrian proved to be harder than viewing it from above.
Monthly Archives: July 2013
Tai Qi in Temple of Heaven Park
This entry was posted in Travel on .It only took about 2 days in Beijing before I realized I couldn’t capture the essence of China with my still camera. Luckily, I couldn’t find a way to capture the smells but thankfully, you get to experience some of the sights and sounds. My first video inspiration from watching tai chi with rackets in the Temple of Heaven Park in Beijing:
My First Visit to Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China
This entry was posted in Travel on .
As a sensitive and visual person, I remember watching footage of the students and tanks in Tiananmen Square when I was in high school. I couldn’t even begin to understand the nuances of the political situation from my vantage point as an American high school student from the suburbs in northwest Houston. But I never forgot those images.
Even today, after spending 5 years studying Chinese medicine and 6 weeks in China, my understanding of that time is so limited. But there I was, standing in Tiananmen Square, reflecting on courageous, bold students everywhere who still believe in changing the world.
Congee vs Breakfast Tacos, Eastern vs Western Style Breakfasts
This entry was posted in Food on .Each morning in Beijing started with an abundant continental breakfast at the Oriental International Hotel. It was a nice way to get acclimated to the Chinese style of breakfast of savory congee, noodles, and bao zi while still having Western options, including coffee, cereal and croissants. Congee is a rice porridge to which condiments are added, depending on your preferred taste. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, a warm, cooked breakfast is preferred to a cold cereal as it’s better for the spleen and stomach, which is the source of energy, blood and qi for body. It strengthens the digestion, warms the digestive organs, improves the metabolism, and helps eliminate excess fluids. It can be especially beneficial for fertility issues and digestive disorders.
Overall, the Chinese breakfast is more flavorful and savory than a typical Western breakfast, involving ingredients like ginger, garlic, scallions, fermented and pickled veggies. The bao zi is a steamed bun filled with a variety of ingredients. The dough is airy and kind of sweet. Delicious. Even though I didn’t always know what I was eating (a common theme in my eating adventures in China), I loved trying all the different flavors and foods. After the initial curiosity, however, I realized my morning taste buds weren’t always ready for such a flavorful wake up call. I missed my Paqui breakfast tacos. 
However, upon returning to the States, I found myself wanting to expand my breakfast options beyond the Austin staple of breakfast tacos. Congee is so simple to make on the stove top and even simpler if you have a rice cooker.
Congee Recipe
For the rice cooker method of congee: add the recommended amount of rice and fill the water up to the porridge line and hit the porridge option on the menu. The rice cooker will turn off before all the water has been absorbed, leaving you with the right consistency.
For the crockpot method of congee: add one cup of organic rice to 8 cups of water. Cook on low overnight or on high for 4-6 hours until it has a soupy consistency.
For the stove top version of congee:
- Add 1 cup of organic rice and 7-8 cups of water to the saucepan.
- Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce to a simmer, keeping it partially covered.
- Continue to simmer for 1 1/2 hours. Stir the rice occasionally – the more frequently you stir, the creamier the rice will become. If it is getting too thick, add more water.
- Remove from the stovetop when the rice has reached the consistency that you prefer.
- Variations: Make it sweet or savory depending on your mood and tastebuds. Instead of water, use chicken stock. Stir in an egg to make a breakfast version. Add dried fruit, almonds, ground flax seed and coconut oil or butter. Congee can also be a lunch or dinner by adding in leftover chicken with spinach and mushrooms. Season it up with garlic, onions, chili paste, or soy sauce. The options are endless!
If you want to improve digestion, metabolism, and fertility, skip the breakfast tacos and try some congee!
Ni hao, Beijing!
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I arrived in Beijing, China on April 8th after a long but (thankfully) uneventful flight with ~17 other classmates from AOMA and our fearless leader, Dr. Shen (I’ll tell ya the gangsta monkey story later!).
I brought a book about train travels in China called Riding the Iron Rooster by one of my favorite travel writers, Paul Theroux. The book traveled with me everywhere but somehow I managed to read only a few chapters on the flight to Beijing and a few more chapters about Tibet on the flight to Lhasa. The other day, oddly, I found it in the glove box of my car (?!), perhaps waiting for my next flight.
At the Beijing airport, a tour guide and bus driver picked us up at the airport in a tour bus that would be our home for the next 4 days in Beijing. The tour guide, June, spoke about herself in the 3rd person which became comical only after the initial confusion subsided from trying to locate this tour guide named June. We drove to the hotel as she prepped us for the upcoming activities while we were in Beijing. She explained that we would be on our own for dinner and directed us to some restaurants and a 7-11 behind the hotel.
And so began our jetlagged, language-challenged adventure in China….
