Visions of China: Second impressions

I think it was the Pabst that gave me the crappy head, as I only had three very small measures of baijo. The hotel breakfast took most of this away, with all the staples plus some chicken noodle broth and some loal cardamom-flavoured doughnuts. The breakfast buffet does offer a wide selection, including broccolli/cauliflower, taro cakes, pumpkin balls, black rice congee (it’s purple), spring rolls, cold meats and cheeses, all sorts really. And tepid coffee. While I haven’t ventured to try a local coffee around the town, the hotel coffee is about the worst I’ve tasted, worse than anything the English have ever served me.

Then a bunch of the Aussies took a wander down to the local laundry (not the purple machine one) where my odd socks confused them — are four different socks really two pairs? Then we took in “breakfast street”, a couple of streets full of food vendors and little stalls. I made frends with the guy at the fruit juice stall, he wanted to know where I came from. They have all manner of food on a stick here, squid, frogs, chicken, etc as well as dumplings and other street foods. All very good, but some were a little hard to eat while standing and being jostled in the throng. L2 took us into a place that did a spicy noodle soup, was very yummy and gave L the opportunity to meet a local cat.

Then back to the hotel where I took a good nap, quite tired from the heat (I didn’t pack any shorts so am surviving the high-20s in jeans). L had a massage next door, cheaper again and involving lots of contorting.

Dinner was nearby, a little restaurant that normally caters to sall groups so for the 10 or so of us they had to do some furniture squeezing adwe taxed their kitchen somewhat. Sampled a couple more local spirits, one a mild peach liquor, very sweet and drinkable, the other a bit stronger but still good. Food included more chicken soup, pork (presented hanging from a frame and skewered by bent paperclips), and various other bowls of goodness (i.e. I can’t remember). Wuhan likes their spicy food, lots of chilli and szechuan peppers.