Cutting the Block

As we ventured away from the metropolis of Beijing we were very limited on the choice of cities to visit. The reason for this was our neglect in purchasing a train ticket before nearly all destinations were sold out. We thought we might have to pony up for a plane ticket. As it turned out, we were able (after some portentous translation issues) to book a train ticket to Qingdao. As far as we can tell, Qingdao gets many fewer western tourists. The big draw is beaches and beer.

Qingdao is the home of the famous Chinese beer Tsingtao, which is pronounced the same as its city. Our first night in town we were feeling quite hungry, so we decided to take a walk to see what was around our hotel. We head toward the ocean (always a good bet) and encountered several oceanfront seafood restaurants that reminded us of our time in Korea. They had fish tanks out, from where you literally pick your entree. There were other people walking along the same street and the servers were offering menus and presumably telling how good their food was. As we passed, they seemed to hold their breath and hope we didn’t ask any questions. We finally reached a place where a man could say “hello” and “dinner.” Good enough, we had a seat.

Jian Bing

Scooter Speaks English

They scrambled for a minute and then found their best “English” speaker to come and help with the menu as there were no pictures. “Scooter” (at least that’s what we heard) seemed nice enough but it was terribly difficult to understand anything he was saying, and we’re fairly sure none of it was English. There were a few minutes of back and forth with us saying “chicken, pork or shellfish” while pointing to the corresponding symbols in Chinese on our cellphone, but he still basically stared at us without any acknowledgement of an order being placed. He walked away for a minute and then came back and motioned for us to look at the display case near the grill. We guessed maybe they didn’t have any chicken, pork or shellfish and this seemed the easiest way to order. We obliged and got a squid and a few chicken wings because we could not quite tell what the other items were, maybe hearts or some other organs, or maybe not.

The Onslaught

We waited, feeling good that we would be getting dinner, when not two minutes later a giant platter of chicken parts and another with pork pieces and vegetables came out. They were slightly scary as we picked through chicken feet and other unidentified bits looking for familiar parts and digging for vegetables. Next came a heaping mound of scallops still in shells. Our jaws dropped. We still had the whole squid and wings course coming from the grill. We began asking each other if we had mentioned any other meats and if the guy may have heard it! Needless to say we were not members of the clean plate club that night!  Our next shock came when the bill ended up being roughly $40 for 5 entrees and a pitcher of beer, which isn’t bad in reality, but super pricey for China. Lesson learned? Not a chance.

Seaside Peach Vendor

The Second Lesson

Qingdao also taught us that buying goods in the street might cost more than you think, in several ways. We had been walking along the 40 kilometer seaside walk when we started feeling a little snacky. At this point we were feeling confident with our street food skills. We has just bought a flatbread from one vendor for 4 RMB, about $0.70 US. The previous day we had an excellent crepe-like concoction with egg, sauce, and wonton for 3 RMB. As we continued on our walk, we encountered a cart that had what looked like an enormous toffee bar with all manner of nuts compressed into a big block. The top was covered with dried fruits in a decorative pattern. It looked delicious! The guys cut us a small sample, so we decided to make another purchase. After much gesturing and speaking in two or more different languages (not sure if the vendor was  speaking any Chinese as we guessed he was Uyghur, from one of the Muslim groups from the extreme northwest of China–probably Xinjiang) with neither understanding a word of the other, it became clear that we were supposed to show him how much to cut off the giant block. We chose what we believed at the time was about as thin as one could cut and signaled that this was what we wanted. He cut. As it came off the block, it appeared quite large but from what we understood it was going to be roughly 14 RMB a kilo. As it was placed it the bag it became apparent that this thing was supremely dense. Apparently we had asked for about 5 kilos!!! What made it worse was that it seemed the guy has cut on an angle, getting thicker and thicker at the bottom. Ok, no big deal. We could handle this. At 14 RMB, 5 kilos would be 70 RMB, way too much, but only about $10 US.

The Block

So here comes the lost in translation bit . . .

It wasn’t 14 RMB a kilo, it was 40! Gulp!!!  Our new friend was then trying to explain the total and we weren’t quite understanding the numbers coming out of his mouth. We took out a cell phone and tried to get him to type the price on the keyboard. This didn’t work, as he couldn’t quite find the correct numbers. Both parties getting frustrated and a little tense, he the carved into his cart, with his rather large knife: 196 . . not the number we were hoping for. That’s ABOUT $32!  Our last attempt to lessen the blow was asking him to cut our block in half. He motioned that it was already cut off from the big block, and couldn’t be put back. There was no way he was backing down. His cronies on the other corner looked on, as did the crowd of amused Chinese tourists and locals who had gathered for the show. We left upset and humiliated, angry at ourselves and at each other.  We have later learned that this delicacy is called matang, and it’s expensive whether you’re being scammed or not! The main ingredient is locally grown nuts, usually walnuts and/or almonds, boiled down with a syrup made from grapes.

A New Approach

We came up with a new strategy, one we have used regularly since.  If you don’t understand the price, pull out the money you are willing to spend and ask for that amount of whatever you’re trying to buy. If they aren’t willing to operate that way then walk away. So off we go to the next destination with 10 extra pounds of nut clusters jammed into three different bags. At least it tastes good, but we aren’t the least bit happy to have our food budget curbed for the next week or so to make up for this mishap.