Back again at Shanghai’s high-speed train station in the morning, I wanted to get something other than another croissant like I had there on Day 2. I found something labeled “Picnic Ham and Cheese” at a bakery. A ham & cheese sandwich is about as Chinese as a croissant. But it’s something I wouldn’t normally get, so I went with it. By the second bite, I knew something wasn’t right. It was slathered with mayonnaise. I don’t do mayonnaise. So I had to toss that.
I opted for a package of chocolate cookies for breakfast instead.
Continuing with the theme of unhealthy Western food, lunch was an ice cream bar I picked up at the Presidential Palace in Nanjing. By the evening, I was getting pretty hungry and hoping for some actual Chinese food, healthy or not. At Fuzimiao, there were endless food stands. Much of the offerings looked interesting, but I continued to encounter the language issue. Pretty much everything was in Chinese. Oh, I did see some descriptions in English. But I decided to pass on specialties like “plum flavor french fries” and “cumin crispy cartilege”. I don’t know, maybe in hindsight I should have given them a try. But honestly, crispy or not, cartilage just doesn’t get my mouth watering.
Well, by the time I headed to the train station at the end of the day, I was starving. There were a couple fast-food type restaurants at the station. At one, I gave my best effort to ask in Chinese if they had an an English menu. They actually understood me, eventually. But I was out of luck with the English menu. At the other place, I figured I’d just asked for dumplings as there were pictures of dumplings up on the menu board. This time, my Chinese didn’t do the trick. The cashier had no idea what I was asking for. A man in line who spoke a little English offered to help. I told him I wanted just dumplings, nothing else that came with them. I didn’t want any surprises, like crispy cartilage. After I ordered, there was more confusion as I wasn’t sure if I had to wait at the kitchen window, like so many were doing, or if the dumplings would get delivered to where I was sitting. Despite the language barrier, I was somehow assured to wait at my table. After a while, my dumplings came out. As you can see, they looked pretty good, and they tasted pretty good too!
On the train back to Shanghai, I was expecting the snack packs of crackers and nuts, like I had gotten on the ride back from Hangzhou. This time it was little bags of weird things like twigs, some sort of gross food bar, and strawberry “donuts”. I ate what I found edible while dreaming about orange chicken at Panda Express.
[Disclaimer: Many people have heard me state that I don’t eat red meat. However, I do eat red meat when I travel overseas. This is for two reasons. One, I don’t want to unnecessarily restrict myself when it comes to trying local dishes. Two, sometime it’s hard to get something that doesn’t contain beef or pork when eating overseas. This was especially true with all the dumplings I had in China, including the dumplings I had on Day 3. You can count on them having been filled with pork.]
I can only wonder which animal that “Cumin crispy cartilage” came from. If I was there with you, then I would have tried it. When it comes to International travel, I try to be open minded as much as possible when eating local delicacies. There is a limit, though. I won’t eat certain organs, like brains or eyes, as I get too squeamish even thinking about it.
I’m assuming it’s pig. I think it’s safe to assume in china that it’s pig unless you hear otherwise. 2nd guess is chicken. Or at least tastes like chicken. Some people are surprised that I am a very picky eater considering the various places I travel to. On the other hand, I often wonder what I’m going to live on when I go to certain places.