Hey! Did you know I went to China a few weeks back in the summer?(part 1 is here) This is the continuation post, but it’s not like you have to read everything in chronological order to understand the story.
The following texts were written the day that I took the photos, so excuse the present tense.
Onwards!
7 days. 7 cities, attractions to parks, tea, buffets and hotels.
And 6 new friends. Can you spot me?
An update from China!
I finished my seven day tour, and I’m spending the next 2 and a half weeks in Fu Zhou. This morning, we went to he morning market at 6:30am and I was surprised to see how much of the world was already wide awake. In North America, things are quieter as people wake up at noon, but in China people are bustling about as early as 5am. The farmers are selling their fresh produce and the people are bargaining prices. Things are super unofficial and integrity less here in China, but I’m beginning to see the beauty of that side too despite coming from a richer, nicer country.
We bought ginseng, aloe, mangosteen, fried dim sum, and other leafy greens. It’s SUPER HUMID AND HOT in China. I am blessed to stay in a room wit air conditioning. I swear to god I would die if I didn’t have access to it.
This has been a short update. 🙂
China has some good restaurants after all!
I’ve been walking around the crowded city and realizing that there are many small shops. The streets and shops are all kinda cruddy and dirty and small and not at all comfortable-looking, but they have business nonetheless because there are so many people here looking to buy something to eat or something to wear. Yesterday I was introduced to a gorgeous mall that could pass as being just like the ones in North America. It was clean and pristine and had lots of restaurants inside. My uncle(mom’s older brother) and his family treated us to dinner at Great Harvest last night. I ate so so so much! The food was delicious and I certainly felt hot afterwards from eating and all the China heat.
My cousin and I
My goal is to be intuitive with my eating and also stick to being as paleo as possible to make up for the huge party in my stomach(haha not really! It actually made me feel sick) yesterday. Wish me luck!
I had a great sushi snack with my cousin yesterday!
I’m going to convince my mom to buy us some more. I love sushi so darn much, especially the toppings. I wish they could make me special sushi with just the toppings wrapped up in seaweed, or tossed in salad-style, it I don’t think they’re willing to cater to customers here.
What other non keto Paleo foods should I try while I still can?! 🙂
So china has some sort of fermented milk that I believe to be equivalent to the 3.25% homogenized milk in Canada, but that I’m not too sure since I never drink that. I’ve been drinking a lot of these in China, and find it slightly funny this milk is considered “full cream”. I consider full cream to be 18% or higher, but I don’t see that here. I sort of wonder what Starbucks use for their whipping cream if there’s only this.
Also, how many KJ makes 1 calorie? I’ve been looking at the [rather unreliable] nutrition facts trying to crack down what the hell i’m eating!
Also, WHY MUST GLUTEN BE SO CHEWY NOM NOM NOM I LOVE IT!
Fu Zhou Starbucks!
Also, you’ll never believe it but there’s a Starbucks here in China that sells really really overpriced food. I didn’t buy anything from here but I sure wonder how they make business in a country that sells cheap things and people aim to bargain prices.
My cousin and I went hiking today in the mountains! ((Better pictures taken with the camera are to come)).
It started with a winding, topsy-turvy road through the lower parts of the mountains with a tour bus. We progressed to lifts totals is higher up the mountain. I sat with my cousin and we discussed life things. She is so much fun and so conversational! Even though there is a language barrier, her not knowing English and my Chinese not being very fluent, we still had a great time and she seems very much an outgoing girl. She’s 24 and I’m 18. And she’s shorter than me! I was ecstatic when I found out!(I’m 5 foot two and I feel bad about it).
The lift takes 30 minutes to go up and only takes you so far, so we continued on foot for the next 40 minutes, walking up the mountain. Stairs were constructed and I tried to go two steps at a time like I typically do going up and down steps. Man, I was tired. I haven’t had my heart pumping like that since early July! It felt good but also slightly disheartening that this activity was tiring me out; I used to be much more fit.
As I climbed to the top it started to storm rain and wind. I felt so alive and cool compared to lethargic, fat, and hot the rest of the time in China. Mostly because the weather is hot and I am not active at all and make poor food choices). I felt the strength of the new weather take me faster and further until I REACHED THE TOP!!
And see that rock in the first photo? That’s what’s at the top. 🙂
Morning tea!
They say authentic tea-drinkers are never fat(or maybe or accurately, obese) at least, that’s that my 2nd aunt’s husband says. He loves drinking earthy flavours of tea. I told him about the aromatic flavours that England has and that we sell in Canada, and he says that’s not as good as the earthy, natural, unprocessed flavours they make here in China.
I don’t believe in every thing he says but I’m open to his tea philosophy. I’m just happy to meet another tea drinker!
Literally fried gluten.
((I know i haven’t been posting health and fitness/keto related things as of late! That’s because I’m on vacation and I want to share my stay with you guys in China. What I post until August 5th will not be an accurate representation of what I blog about: tips. inspiration and motivation to lose weight and achieve a healthy lifestyle!))
We call it “Yo Tiao” here in China and typically eat it for breakfast. I ate so much here. This is made by stretching out a glutenous batter into a long thin strand and putting it in a pan of oil to deep fry. It is turned with chop sticks and bubbles come out immediately, crispifying it.
Here I am dipping my fried gluten in homemade soy milk blended with goji made by my second aunt on my dads side.
My 2nd uncle likes to have a bit of vegetables in the morning.
ASDFGHJKL:; YOU’RE TOO CUTE
I FOUND THIS LIL’ THING ON THE BEDSIDE OF MY COUSINS BED
IM GOING TO CALL HIM/HER PUG
Glutinous corn.
If you had to eat corn, would you choose the regular yellow ones or the ones like above? Because back at home I always avoid gluten, I choose regular corn, but that’s only if I was forced to eat corn, otherwise I’d avoid that too.
Here in China my second aunt grows her own corn and I thought this baby corn was particularly cute so I snapped a photo. It’s also very chewy and I had some!
Has anyone ever tried edible flowers? My 2nd aunt grows them in my garden and they taste kinda creamy ish. The bees sure seem to like them.
Despite some of the bad things that happened along with going on this trip, some good things happened as well, and for that, I’m grateful. This is my cousin and I. We spent our days(omg this sounds like we’re gonna die haha) eating sushi and talking about anime as I stayed over at her house.
I’m finally back on Instagram now that I’ve returned from China! 🙂 it was blocked there and I’m ready to get back on the wagon with fitness and health. It’s so good to feel the Canadian weather again. Wind cool against my skin and people not smoking! (at airport @ fu Zhou)
Shanghai boat tour
And then, it was goodbye to beloved China.
I sure miss the people there. I was so nervous about going because I was going to be spending time with my mother who I don’t have a good relationship with, and also my extended family who I am not sure will accept me because my own mother doesn’t. Surely enough, they treated me so nicely and kind. They showered me with love and wanted to spoil me–not out of politeness but out of authentic love! And also my mother was no longer stressed with work and was happy to see her mother and father again. She was constantly in a good mood and even offered to buy me a few things. She was like a totally different person there! I am so happy I went back to China. I cant wait to return, minus the mosquitos and heat.
This summary of text and pictures by no means sums up all the good and bad things that I experienced in China, by the way. This is just the glimpse, I hope you’ve enjoyed it.
– linkup with Becky, Amanda and Heather
Have you ever been to China? Ever seen a foreign Starbucks in other countries? Ever tried fried gluten?
