Ah, I have seen it before.

Lamb hotpot was one of my china faves, and it is all the better in Inner Mongolia.

As I mentioned previously, just not a fan of the winters there. It's a good job everywhere has indoor heating there, it is essential.

Is da chong qing, the hot pot sauce, or huo guo jiang?

I have never ever taken a date to a posh restaurant or Western food outlet, or spent a lot of money

I will not respond any further if you keep this up. You are under the mistaken impression I take chinese girls to dates at those places and spend a lot of money, I don't as a matter of fact. I am not even in China anyway, so how could I date them>?! If I want to go to KFC by myself, then that is my choice.

I never accused you of any of that; my apologies if I have upset you but I know not why. Perhaps you have mixed the posts up a bit. Re-read.... Am I right or am I right?

Those are good cooking habits you've got there. I remember last year when I was at a Chinese supermarket how I must have spent about 45 minutes looking at the sauces and tofu's checking how much salt and sugar they put into. I finally settled on a more domestic, small name brand that didn't have as much salt and sugar but was made in Chinese rice wine so there was a residue of alcohol. But I have heard that any food even left in the refrigerator overnight will gather some chemical changes which may result in some alcohol residue. I settled on that one.
The high sodium diet that is a staple of Chinese cuisine no matter where you go in the country should be an imperative for anyone to eat less outside. Even at the noodle shops where I went when I was working in China they would make their rice a bit on the salty side. But the noodles were okay, just avoid drinking too much soup.

Good post, salt is pretty evil; however, health-wise, it is a mere lovable rogue compared to fags and drinking more than once a week. Also, it's not just what you eat but how much; we should also ridgidly adhere to 1500 calories each day, to maintain that waist measurement of 32". The official 'central obesity' measurement in the UK is 40" but 37 inches in the USA(disagreement here.) That is a waist measurement, which is above the umbilical (below the umbilical is belt and trouser measurement.) If you stray into a measurement of 35 inches, fat will build up around body organs and you could well be going to that cold house prematurely. It is a good thing to scrutinise food label to ascertain the contents; but all in vain if you leave the shop and start puffing on a fag. Am I right or am I right?

and lamb hotpot is great.

Never a truer word, San Mig, well said. And what about barbecued lamb on a thin length of metal, washed down with cold beer, delicious- am I right or am I right?

I shall always associate sitting on a comfy plastic stool with tasty university student, sitting on the pavement, eating barbecue and consuming beer(coke for her) I have never ever taken a date to a posh restaurant or Western food outlet, or spent a lot of money. A good trick too is to let her have a big bowl of noodles on the way to the pavement feast, so she won't eat too much when you get there. Where are these other blokes going wrong- Do they smoke? If they do it's a total no no, because decent Chinese girls do not like fag smoke; only the street-wise difficult scrubbers tolerate smoke, because it's just a price to pay for getting their hands on your loot. Do these FT's have beerguts? Again, the decent girls won't like the abdominally obese, but the streetwise will tolerate these central abborations as the price to pay for getting your cash, or a ring in your nose(matrimony) Most Chinese girls are good and kind and unspoiled. Am I right or am I right?

The bean curd though IMO isn't a good substitute for real cheese, I find it a little saltier than American Cheese which is salty enough. I do think people have an acquired taste for stuff like that though. Just be careful with the tofu's. I avoid the red ones in general due to it being too sweet.

Not noticeably sweet in N China, but salty, as are the white one and the smelly one.

Yep, two major factors at work here:
1) cost, which can be paramount!
2) additives, some are needed to preserve food, such as salt in olden days and nowadays!

I reckon you can remain healthy eating it if you avoid eating any other salty or sweet Chinese foods. When I cook, I NEVER add salt NOR sugar to any of my culinary concoctions, and my Chinese wife does so too, though unwillingly.
As for Chinese sauces, we should be careful. When we cook mutton hotpot, I use 'Dachongqing', which I've found to be salt-free. I'll even drink it during my 'mala' (spicy) meal. However, my wife adds from a packet sauce that is salt to her dipping bowll The Chinese in general don't know that salt and sugar are killers, though we, as westerners, know we need only minimal quantities of both in our diets.

Where I only intake extra sugar, maybe, is by drinking beer. So be it!

In the movie 'The Scent of a Woman', the line 'sugar is shit' is used. I couldn't agree more with that line.

Dear Foxy,

I know about the bank tip, as I am not a newbie to China but thanks away.

1 piece of advice I will give re: banks is, take your fao or a chinese teacher to help you convert your rmb if you are going home. Most of the banks in China will string you on and tell you all kinds of tall tales about why foreigners can't exchange rmb into foreign currency (and what good does that do you, if you are left with 20,000 in flights, bonuses, final pay etc at the end of contract!). So the simplest solution take chinese friend/FAO/colleague/teacher, they only need queue up, show their ID card, and you can get whatever foreign currency you need. Try not to go at a busy time, as the lines will be interminable, and make sure the currency you want is their in advance. Dollars/Euros seemed no problem in Hangzhou, but pounds were somewhat limited. As you stay in China, I suppose that does not matter, but for FT's going home, it's better if they change some.

As for food, I managed to cook italian food by myself. Didn't really like cooking chinese food in my flat, except the odd bowl of ramen, which is japanese anyway.

Eat at the muslim noodles places, they are cheap and filling. Just be warned some of them don't like you drinking beer, for their own religious reasons, whereas at some it is ok to buy beer from outside if they do not sell it there.

Happy hogmanay!
SMGS

1) If you dislike eating Chinese bread, you can slice steamed bread and toast it. IMO it's tastier, and sugar-free. Toasters can be bought here in China retailing at 200 RMB or so. As sliced steamed bread varies in how long it has to be toasted to become brown, look after your toaster by unplugging it from the mains socket/adaptor once your toast is ready rather than by forcing up the two toasting trays manually.

2) For those who like eating cheese, but resent paying the high prices here of said product, you can try bean curd as a cheese substitute. It must be healthier than most cheeses - bean curd contains no animal fat There are two kinds that I can recommend. Both are sold in small jars:
i) white bean curd for those who prefer cheese that is mild or slightly strong.
ii) smelly bean curd for those who prefer strong cheese.

3) There is also a bean curd in a red sauce sold in a big jar as well as in small jars. The big jars cost around 20 RMB, but aren't available at supermarkets. Some street markets have them. A jar lasts me a month. Very good value indeed!

4) As for jam/marmalade, the small jars available @ around 5 RMB contain little fruit/orange peel and too much sugar. The small jars around 9 RMB contain much better quality jam/marmalade.

Finally, something else to be aware of:

If you wish to convert foreign currency into RMB, go downtown to one of the major branches of the Bank of China, but not at weekends. Opening hours are likely to be from 8.30 am until 6 pm, but winter opening hours will probably be somewhat different. Bank staff dealing with foreign currency aren't available during lunchtime, noon - 1430 hrs. Remember to take your passport and your Residence Permit with you.

OXO cubes or powdered gravy is a good idea.

As for toiletries, I would personally take an extra large can or two of shaving foam. It is always more expensive or in smaller cans in China. That and vosene shampoo, again impossible to find for those with an itchy scalp.

So, should any prospective FT pack a jamie oliver 15 minute meals or bbc good food into their suitcase? Not a bad idea?

Just curious on how steak and kidney puddings could be made in China?

But your right, cooking at home is getting on the right path.

Ofcourse, we can eat Western food in China, but that option is only open to wealthy FT's in China.

We can cook western food ourselves in China if we know how to cook it. I can cook some Western dishes as well as some Chinese dishes, Thing is, being on a light schedule gives you plenty of time to cook if you wish to do so.

How do you know Manuel wouldn't like Chinese food?

I don't know why you have suddenly changed your tune re China, especially after having taught here for quite a few years. But with your present attitude towards China, you're wise to have left its shores, that's for sure.