From High School to College..How I Spent my Summer Vacation
The second article in a series by three recent high school graduates from Pawling High School and the Trinity Pawling School.
One of the benefits of being a student at the Trinity-Pawling School is the eclectic nature of the student body within the century-old halls of Cluett. Though some students don’t realize it, this aspect of the school brings once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to the forefront, as I learned this summer. T-P’s Citizenship Award recipient, Tony Lai, a friend I first made in my sophomore year at the school, offered to take me halfway around the world to allow me to experience the Land of the Rising Sun, and I couldn’t refuse.
Not even two weeks after I was dubbed an alumnus of T-P, I ventured on this journey I would not soon forget: a tour through China, starting from Tony’s hometown of Guangzhou, to the World Expo in Shanghai, to historic Beijing, and finally to the more modern Hong Kong. Now, I could go into detail about every single place we visited, whether it was the infamous Tiananmen Square, which dons the famous portrait of Mao, or the highest waterfall in all of Asia, which we successfully climbed (halfway), but I’d like to focus on the part of my trip that appealed to my stomach the most: the plethora of food I ran into, including both traditional Chinese meals and stranger dishes.
Before I begin talking about the food, I’d like to point out three main aspects of Chinese meals. First: everything is cheaper in China. My final night there, I had over fifteen pieces of sushi for 150 RMB (roughly $20), and bottles of water sold for 3 RMB (not even $.30!). Second: the wonders that are chopsticks. I knew the Asian culture still used the 3000 year old utensil, but when I was presented with obstacles, such as noodles and across-the-table chicken grabs, I wondered why they had not decided to upgrade to make eating easier. There were plenty of times when I wished I had a fork readily accessible to make my dinner or lunch less stressful, but then again, once chopsticks are mastered, they are incredibly fun to use. Lastly: what I seemed to gather about how animals are cooked in China is that they basically kill the animal, skin it, cut it into pieces, cook it, and serve it. All chicken, fish, and meat still had bone inside, unlike the American way of eating where the bone is removed beforehand. This made for somewhat of a rough time, as my first try at eating the fish resulted in thin, sharp bones sticking into my gums and causing tremendous pain. I stuck to the boneless items after this incident, in order to save my mouth for the incredible food I knew I would be having soon after.
My first stop, Guangzhou, had traditional meals, mostly, but offered the strangest, yet best fruits I had on the entire trip. The main fruit in Guangzhou is the lychee, a little fruit that has a rough orange shell, but a juicy, jelly inside. This is one of the only places in Asia that can grow this fruit, so I was lucky enough to be offered plenty (maybe too much) of this nice surprise every night at Tony’s home. Next up was the durian, a fruit that is larger than a coconut, and has a rough, pointy shell as well. I can honestly say this had a taste like sweet cream, where every bite felt like a taste of heaven, which unfortunately filled me up much sooner than I wanted. The idiom “you can never have too much of a good thing” doesn’t apply to durian, apparently.
Next on our adventure was Shanghai. Several menu items caught my eye and appetite here. When we first arrived, one of Tony’s friends was kind enough to treat us to a welcome meal. Everything was calm and normal until we were served a bowl of something I couldn’t recognize. It had a dark green color and was fried. Tony’s friend attempted to explain, but couldn’t find the right English words. What came out of her mouth was enough for me to figure out what this was. “Bull… bull fish…,” she struggled. (Ribbit.) By now you should have deduced that this unknown item was indeed bullfrog. Images of my childhood flashed before my eyes, as Kermit sang in his soothing voice, “it’s not easy being green… and fried.” Nevertheless, I was courteous and had a piece or two. I can safely say it tasted like popcorn chicken. The night before we left for Beijing, one of my mom’s business partners (my mom is involved with international trade) took us, with his son, to one of the finest dim sum restaurants. I honestly didn’t understand the meaning of “dim sum” until late in the trip, so here’s the Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary definition: “traditional Chinese food served in small portions.” (Basically, a snack.) This was where I had my favorite items of the entire trip. The first and utmost favorite of mine was this dish that really didn’t have a proper Chinese or American name. It was just told to me as being “steamed bread with sweet pork.” Oh, how sweet it was. I cannot put into words how amazing this tasted, but as I took bite after bite into this marvel, I couldn’t help but wonder why this steamed bread with sweet pork had not made its way into American Chinese food restaurants. I quickly finished that part of our meal and next up was pronounced “sha-lam-bao,” a dumpling with soup inside. I was told there was a special way to eat this, by biting the top, and drinking the soup before finally just eating the whole thing. I couldn’t find a difference in taste between just eating it whole and this technique, but either way, it tasted phenomenal.
Finally, we found ourselves in traditional Beijing, at the famed Seven Seas deep in the ancient streets. There I was shown a food that I was definitely not eager to taste: cockroach on a stick. Cockroach-kabob. Tony was all over this item, eating each with a crunch and a smile. Next was smelly tofu, served in a paper bowl that resembled a Nathan’s hot dog paper holder. It tasted nothing like any tofu I’ve ever had (I haven’t had much, to be honest), but rather, like chewy parmesan cheese. This tickled my fancy. And I happen to be tremendously ticklish. Our final meal in Beijing was the best food I have tasted since the first time I had Trinity-Pawling’s chicken parmesan. In all seriousness, it was the highlight meal of the trip. Roast Beijing duck is, simply, incredible. It has a soft, juicy texture that melts in your mouth when dipped in the duck gravy provided. Then, once you’re done with the meat, you’re encouraged to eat the skin dipped in sugar. I’m not sure how the Chinese people figured that the oily skin dipped in sugar would taste so good, but I didn’t care at that moment.
This is where I finish my food review, as I’m sure your floor is already wet from the mouthwatering images I have provided.
It’s hard to believe that I only spent three weeks in China, as it truly feels as if I had spent months (maybe that’s the jet lag still talking). My summer vacation is not even half over, yet I have already explored one of the oldest countries on this planet. The places I visited were interesting and the culture was eye opening. I won’t go in depth, but I will say we have it easy in America.
I feel lucky and very humbled that an experience like this was directed my way through Tony and his family, and furthermore, through Trinity-Pawling. The Chinese food evoked a cornucopia of tastes and senses within my mouth and stomach, some of which I had never experienced before. The night after I returned to the United States, my dad made me a juicy cheeseburger, and I can honestly say, a cheeseburger has never tasted better.
Zach Silva is a junior writer for PPR. Recently graduating from Trinity Pawling Cum Laude, he was the recipient of the Music and Latin Awards. Zach was a member of the Honor Council as well as Associate Editor of the school paper where he authored a regular column. He will be attending Northwestern this fall.
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