Yes, it is all about the food.

I just got back from a wonderful dinner with my friends Yiming, Shangguan, and Shangguan's husband, Tory. The best part about this dinner, is that it was at Shangguan's house, and I got to participate in the preparation and cooking -- one of my highlights from the trip.

We started by going to one of the "traditional" Chinese markets. All kinds of fresh fruits, vegetables, meats, fish, etc. For really fresh chicken, fish, eels, or other animals, you just select one that looks the tastiest, and the butcher would take it from the cage/tank and prepare it for cooking to your specifications (whole, pieces, chopped, etc.). We saw all matter of animals and vegetables that I am not accustomed to seeing in our local Kroger -- especially not live.

Once we got home, the cooking began. We had a beef rib stew, several vegetable dishes, cooked peanuts, steamed clams (my recipe), steamed buns, jelly fish, crayfish, and wine (lots of toasts). As is typical, we finished the dinner with fruit. One fruit was a small red ball about the size of a large cherry, but surrounded by what appeared to be hundreds of pointy protrusions. They called it a wax berry -- it was slightly sweet, with a bit of tartness. We also had fresh lichees -- small balls with a very tough and ugly outer skin. Once the skin was peeled, there was a very sweet and firm fruit with a pearl-like luster. Both fruits were excellent, and I was told that they are both available for only a relatively short season of about 4-6 weeks. I feel very lucky that my timing was right for both of these.

We had a very nice conversation about differences and similarities in culture, religion, and of course, food. This was truly a memorable experience.