A small county in China. 2016 My hosting family introduced me to the kindergarten principal and a few teachers. To my surprise, they asked if could play Santa for the kids. They were having a Christmas event and had bought a Santa costume but thought it would be better if I played the part. I... Continue Reading →
A small county in China. 2016 One day, I followed my hosting family to pick up their kids from the neighbourhood kindergarten. I have never been to a Chinese kindergarten and therefore I was feeling curious. That curiosity was met with an interesting challenge which I will write about in the next post. The kids... Continue Reading →
A small farm in China. 2016 The cart is solidly made in timber and is heavy to wheel on its own. If you add all that load on top, it is an extremely laboriously task to pull or push this cart anywhere. Maybe this is is the only transportation that this roadside fruit seller has.... Continue Reading →
A small farm in China. 2016 A three storey building is coming up on the main road in a rural area. Workers are delivering bricks, while others are hauling it over a crane to the third floor. The property owner is overseeing the work. Labour cost is low in China and so not many machines... Continue Reading →
A small farm in China. 2016 Looking at the other makeshift set-ups in this rural road during the Chinese New Year break, I expected a humbler set-up for this. Maybe manually turned wooden skewers with chicken pieces over naked flames. But no, we have the standard rotisserie machine grilling away twenty chicken legs diligently. And... Continue Reading →
A small farm in China. 2016 I use star anise regularly when making biryanis or chicken or mutton curries. But I didn't know that star anise actually originated in Southern China and that it has been used as a medicine and spice for more than 3,000 years. Of course, in the later years, it spread... Continue Reading →
A small farm in China. 2016 This must easily be a Chinese farmer's best friend: a three-wheeler. Its locally made and cheap. You can get one for between RMB1,000 - 2,000 (USD142-283). The farmer's wife can sit in front beside him. You can load up whatever you want into the cart at the back like... Continue Reading →
A small farm in China. 2016 Sanzi is a crispy, salty deep-fried dough snack. Strips of dough are wrapped around the hand, pulled, folded back and pulled again until you get even thin noodles which are then deep-fried in oil. The snack is often associated with the Qingming Festival or Tomb Clearing Festival but it... Continue Reading →
A small farm in China. 2016 On the main road outside the farm was an interesting set-up. A guy was killing chickens and scalding them so that their feathers could be plucked out easier. And in another station made up of two large red tubs, three ladies were busy chatting while they plucked out the... Continue Reading →
A small farm in China. 2016 On the main road outside the farm, there were large plastic bags of garlics, carrots, potatoes and other vegetables in a wholesale store. One thing to note is that vegetables and fruits in China are much larger than elsewhere. I mean they are really huge. A German colleague once... Continue Reading →