We left Shanghai really early in the morning because we had a connection in Beijing before flying home to NY. Our hotel provided a box breakfast of some pastries, a hardboiled egg, yogurt, and fruit, but we didn’t eat anything until we got on the plane. We opted for the Chinese breakfast of congee.
Congee (rice porridge), yogurt, pickles, soy sauce egg, roll
In Beijing we had some time before our next flight, and with Josh’s airline status we were able to get into the Air China business class lounge. We ended up eating some lunch there while we waited until it was time to board the plane.
Lamb curry, shumai, chicken in tomato sauce, rice with peas and carrots
And we ate on the flight home of course, but the food was pretty terrible. I got seafood noodles again, but this time, it was mushy spaghetti with super watered down tomato sauce and a few shrimp on top. Bleh. Classic bad airplane food.
Super bad spaghetti with "tomato" sauce and shrimp, roll, salad with corn, and some unidentifiable dessert
Overall Josh and I had a good time seeing all the sights in China, but we were truly disappointed with most of the food we had on the trip. I guess it was because our tour company, Ritz Tours, arranged all the meals for us and we didn’t get a choice of what to eat. As a result, we ended up eating a lot of the same things during each meal. Chinese food in China is obviously different from the Americanized Chinese food that we eat here, but I think I prefer the Americanized kind better. The food we had was pretty bland, unseasoned, and very oily.
We also found the meat in China to be very strange. Most of the meats seemed unnaturally tender, and it was hard to distinguish between pork and beef. Chicken was good if it was served on the bone, but when it was cut up into strips, it was also pretty indistinguishable.
I did like a lot of the vegetables, which were simply prepared. We had sauteed cabbage and lettuce often, and those tasted clean and refreshing. We also had a lot of cucumbers during the trip, something that surprised me, but they also tasted fresh and flavorful.
My favorite meals involved the little snacks, like the lunch we had at the Expo, the snacks we bought at the rest stop, and the dumpling feast. I think the next time we go to China, if we go, we’ll make sure that we can arrange our own meals. I would have loved to check out some of the night markets and had more time to buy food from streetcarts!
With regard to the sights, the Great Wall was definitely the highlight for both Josh and myself. It’s truly incredible, and something that shouldn’t be missed. Josh also liked the Terracotta Warriors, but I had seen them before and was not as impressed this time around. My favorite part of the whole trip though was seeing the looks on Josh’s and my dad’s faces, since this was their first time seeing these places. My mom and I were excited to see them excited, and that was the most rewarding aspect. Overall we did have a good time, and it’s always nice to go away for a while to visit new places. We’re happy to be home but we’re already planning our next trip!
Tags: China
And Americanized Chinese food ISN’T oily?
I suppose it depends on what kind of dishes you get. A simple stir fry dish shouldn’t be swimming in oil. It seemed like everything we had in China was oily, but then again, those weren’t dishes I would normally order at home. We also didn’t think the tour arranged for us to eat in high quality restaurants, so that could be why we thought the food was sub-standard.