i've a feeling we're not in kansas anymore......

After spending hours in the re-circulated air of a pressurized cabin, I love the moment you step out of the airplane, onto the jetway and breath in your first lung-full of air at your new destination.  

That first breath of air contains so many clues to what awaits you outside the airport. 

My first breath in Hong Kong (after the fuel smell) was warm and muggy.  I immediately felt too warm with my sweatshirt and boots.  I could smell the faint aroma of Asian food coming from the clothing of the ground crew.  As you enter the arrival gate, the airconditioned environment removes these clues, and you are back in a generic airport air.

As I dodged and passed through other travelers on my way to immigration I felt a rush of adrenaline.  After sitting for 15 hours, it felt so good to move my legs!  I was so excited to be starting my adventure in China, I almost start skipping!! 

At the immigration counter, the agent checks my documents and stamps my passport.  As he hands it back to me, I smile broadly and say, "this is the first stamp in my new passport!!!"  I doubt he understood, but smiled back at me.   (Yup, I'm such a dork!)

We collected our luggage and met the group in the arrivals lounge where Chef Martin Yan is waiting for us.  He welcomes us to Hong Kong, and also tells us some interesting facts about the airport, Hong Kong, and about the adventure that is ahead of us.  We all board a bus that will take us to the border where we will cross from Hong Kong, into Shen Zhen.  More lines, more stamps in my passport - Hong Kong "departure" and China "entry."  Since the handover in 1997, Hong Kong is technically China, but the "one country, two systems" is still a reality. HK residents have no issue going in and out of China, but residents of China have restrictions on entering Hong Kong. In fact, HK and the rest of China use different currency and censorship guidelines are also different. Facebook and my e-eats blog were available in HK, but blocked in China.

From Shen Zhen, we are on a bus for about 2 hours to Shunde. Alongside the highway, we see rows and rows of factories as well as large dormitory and luxury highrise complexes.  There is so much money is being spent on construction and revitalization! With all of the construction and manufacturing the sky around Shen Zhen has a yellow-ish grey haze of smog.  Martin points out that Mao's lasting influence is apparent in the beautifully landscaped areas along highways in newly developed areas. This only possible in China where the low labor costs of maintaining the landscaping is affordable (for now...) Among the factories, we also see evidence past industries. We pass duck farms, fish farms, fields of black sugar cane, and lychee trees. One of the "fun facts" that Martin gives us, is that the total annual US production of ducks is appox equal to the avg duck consumption in a top Peking duck restaurant in Beijing for one three week period. According to Martin, the Chinese love their duck!

Our bus pulls into Shunde, the streets are bustling.  There are large department stores and western retail and food chains.   There are scooters everywhere!  Entire "families" riding on one scooter! It is Sunday so the streets are less congested.   Shunde, located in the Pearl River Delta in Guangdong province, is what Martin calls a "fourth tier" city in China. It has a population of a little over 1 million people.  It is well know for its consumer electronics industry, as well as for being the source of some of the best Cantonese chefs in Southern China.

Our first meal is at ArYiLiangTong - which roughly translates to "second wife's soup."  Martin explained that in agricultural areas, it was common for men to have more than one wife (more wives = more children = more hands to work in the field.)  Often, the best way for a woman to catch the heart of a married man, was to be a better cook - in other words, "winning a man's heart through his stomach!"

This is our first meal, and the first thing we eat since our arrival in China - the anticipation!!  The ladies wheel out a cart of little ceramic crocks.  What tasty delights wait inside???

Inside the crocks was our first dish, Herbal Fish and Quail Soup.  Hmmmmm....... whole little birds in soup.
I made a promise to myself that on this trip I would try EVERYTHING.  This very first dish was already presenting a challenge.  I looked down at the little bird head looking at me, and sipped the soup around it.  Yum!  The warm broth warmed and comforted my tired body, and the broth was flavorful yet subtle, with many unfamiliar but delicious ingredients.  Soon, more dishes followed:

Happy Day Cold Platter - roasted duck, crispy chicken, and chicken rolls, Steamed Farm-raised freshwater fish from the Pearl River Delta, Red-cooked Pork with Long Beans, Fish Balls with Mustard Greens, Miniature Fish Dumplings in Broth, Salted Plum-flavored Pork,

Clay Pot Rice with Chinese Preserved Meat, Chen's Village Rice Noodles, Special Steamed Rice Cake, and Seasonal Fruit (watermelon).  Looking over my pictures, I think they added some of the dishes on the original menu.  We also had a very interesting dish that looked like a bird's next with the stir-fried milk of water buffalo.  A sweetened version of the water buffalo milk was also what was inside the "chicken roll" of the Happy Day Cold Platter.

Over lunch, we had a chance to meet some of the other members of the tour.  Martin gave us a tutorial on how to use a Chinese "squat toilet" - thank goodness, because we encountered many of those (maybe too many!), We laughed and ate til our bellies were full. 

After lunch Martin arranged for us to visit a nearby garden - formerly owned by a very wealthy man - beautifully landscaped with rocks, stained glass, and small ponds. We had an opportunity to walk off our lunch and take tons of pictures. 

Our first group pictures - which includes some random local girls who were fans of the Willis, our resident "handsome, tall, Caucasian man" in the back.