Stinky Tofu Day!
Parts of China have a local specialty called "chou dofu," which literally means "stinky tofu." Like certain varieties of French cheeses, this local delicacy is produced by the natural reaction between some sort of foodstuff and some sort of bacteria, which is aided by time and a closed, presumably moist enviroment. In a word, the tofu is made to putrefy. Street vendors frying and selling this foul-smelling stuff are found throughout Chengdu.
The other day, I was attempting to find the route of a local Chengdu city bus. Bus stands have large placards devoted to advertising beer, or banks, or medicine. And they have one small placard, with tiny Chinese characters, which displays the bus route. The safe spot to attempt to read this sign is on the curb; you've got about two or three feet of curb, and then you're in the street. As luck would have it the other day, as I jostled my way among the crowd of Chinese folks also trying to read the route map, I was struck by a powerful blast of stink. Just a few meters away (and just upwind of the route map), some unscrupulous street vendor had set up a griddle. He was cooking stinky tofu.
Some days in China, you notice the friendly people, or you notice the beautiful scenery, or the delicious food. Other days, however... you notice other things. Like the stinky tofu.
Take today, for example. I was trying to figure out where to go next, and at the same time moaning to myself a bit about the sinus headache I'd developed. At the train station, after much thinking this way and that, I finally decided I wanted to go to Kunming. Going there would be a simple overnight train journey, and I would have the option of going on to either the pleasant lakeside town of Dali, or heading south into the subtropical region of XiShuangBanNa. I had been to both of those areas before, but they were out of the big cities, so the air would be clean, and there would be new places within them to explore. The proximate train trip, to Kunming, would put me smack dab in another industrial city for a least another night. So, maybe the best thing to do would be to buy a train ticket for tomorrow or the next day. That way, I could head back to Qing Cheng mountain. If I took two nights, I could spend a whole day on the mountain, enjoying the waterfalls and pools at my leisure, and make it back in time for the afternoon train the day after tomorrow. Sounds like a plan.
So, I bought my ticket to Kunming, for Tuesday afternoon, and took a jam-packed city bus the hour or so down to the southern bus station. This was the station from which I left the last time I went to Qing Cheng Shan, and they have hourly buses. The lady at the window said, "Mei You." We don't have any. There are no more buses today, I suppose she means to say. Finally, I went back in line to inquire when the buses started running tomorrow, in part just to be sure they haven't stopped going to this place for good!
"8:20am" she said. So, yet another night in Chengdu. I'm not sure if it will be worth it to take the 3 hour or so trip back to Qing Cheng Shan tomorrow, just to spend the remainder of the day there and then have to hoof it back for Chengdu to catch the train. I may just take a rest day tomorrow and read. This was definitely a "stinky tofu" day.
UPDATE: the last day in Chengdu was a good one. Got the Sichuan hotpot.
The other day, I was attempting to find the route of a local Chengdu city bus. Bus stands have large placards devoted to advertising beer, or banks, or medicine. And they have one small placard, with tiny Chinese characters, which displays the bus route. The safe spot to attempt to read this sign is on the curb; you've got about two or three feet of curb, and then you're in the street. As luck would have it the other day, as I jostled my way among the crowd of Chinese folks also trying to read the route map, I was struck by a powerful blast of stink. Just a few meters away (and just upwind of the route map), some unscrupulous street vendor had set up a griddle. He was cooking stinky tofu.
Some days in China, you notice the friendly people, or you notice the beautiful scenery, or the delicious food. Other days, however... you notice other things. Like the stinky tofu.
Take today, for example. I was trying to figure out where to go next, and at the same time moaning to myself a bit about the sinus headache I'd developed. At the train station, after much thinking this way and that, I finally decided I wanted to go to Kunming. Going there would be a simple overnight train journey, and I would have the option of going on to either the pleasant lakeside town of Dali, or heading south into the subtropical region of XiShuangBanNa. I had been to both of those areas before, but they were out of the big cities, so the air would be clean, and there would be new places within them to explore. The proximate train trip, to Kunming, would put me smack dab in another industrial city for a least another night. So, maybe the best thing to do would be to buy a train ticket for tomorrow or the next day. That way, I could head back to Qing Cheng mountain. If I took two nights, I could spend a whole day on the mountain, enjoying the waterfalls and pools at my leisure, and make it back in time for the afternoon train the day after tomorrow. Sounds like a plan.
So, I bought my ticket to Kunming, for Tuesday afternoon, and took a jam-packed city bus the hour or so down to the southern bus station. This was the station from which I left the last time I went to Qing Cheng Shan, and they have hourly buses. The lady at the window said, "Mei You." We don't have any. There are no more buses today, I suppose she means to say. Finally, I went back in line to inquire when the buses started running tomorrow, in part just to be sure they haven't stopped going to this place for good!
"8:20am" she said. So, yet another night in Chengdu. I'm not sure if it will be worth it to take the 3 hour or so trip back to Qing Cheng Shan tomorrow, just to spend the remainder of the day there and then have to hoof it back for Chengdu to catch the train. I may just take a rest day tomorrow and read. This was definitely a "stinky tofu" day.
UPDATE: the last day in Chengdu was a good one. Got the Sichuan hotpot.
posted by John at 7:36 AM
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