Made in Yunnan Province, China

by Theo

Cold wind is the only thing that occupies the wide empty street. Tall white buildings sit under a dark night sky. No lights are on in any of the one thousand windows in the small city of one million people.  The town is deserted. Maybe a zombie apocalypse happened? Tornado warning? Maybe there are big pink fluffy unicorns coming from the sky scaring people away?  Nope, this is just an average night. An average night in China.

 
Our hotel is cold, there is no heat in the hallways or the lobby, it seems to be colder than outside. My stomach grumbles, we decide to get food at the hotel restaurant since we have no snacks and there are no grocery stores nearby. We head down to the hotel’s restaurant. It’s below freezing and the the restaurant is not heated! In fact they had the windows wide open! The restaurant is quiet, too quiet, we decide not to eat there so we head out. Past the freezing lobby. A gigantic room, quite fancy, with a tall ceiling and large lights flickering, because of the cold. People sit on chairs hanging out in the cold smoking large cigars that make my throat burn, they stare. Every one of the 20 people. Chinese stare, and when they stare they really stare, it’s so obnoxious. Outside is dark, there are no cars or people. Towering buildings with no lights surround the hotel. Big boxes of ugliness. There is a huge walkway, it is not being used. We walk into a few restaurants, they smell horrific like some combination of gross pork fat and fishy feet. We didn’t even bother to sit down, so we left. We finally found a small building with lights on and a decent smell and a tiny bit of warmth coming from a small fire on the cold tiled floor. There are multiple red booths with big stoves in the middle. Over in the corner are big tanks filled with big fish. People are sitting in the big red booths starring at us as the smoke there cigarettes and slurp some kind of soup. There is no ounce of English. So we try and try and try to order something plain. My dad busts out a translator, my mom points and I stare. Finally we ordered something. I have no clue what I’m going to be eating tonight but I’m pretty sure I’m not going to like it.

 
I few minutes later a lady with a smile on her face comes out carrying something. She has 5 small white bowls with some kind of soup in it. The soup has all sorts of things in it. I realize the soup isn’t steaming. My dad tries it and says it’s cold. Then I hear a sound from my mom meaning she doesn’t like it. Her expression on her face tells me not to try it, so I don’t. Luckily that isn’t what we ordered, the same lady comes out with a big metal bowl with lots of herbs in broth. There is not one kind of herb that I recognize. She sets it on the stove in the middle of the circular table. She turns on the gas stove. We wait in silence. Awkward silence. People stare in silence. Awkward silence. It’s freezing, literally. It’s 32 degrees and I have every layer of clothes I own on me and I’m still cold. I shiver. Finally the soup is boiling so we dish it up in clean bowls that a young kid gives us. I wait. My dad is the bravest. He tries it first. His eyes brighten and a smile forms on his face. I try it, the warmth fills my body. The taste. The taste is good. I can’t explain it, but it’s good. We slurp the soup until it’s gone.

 
The big metal bowl, empty, sits on the table. We sit in our red booth with full stomachs. We try to pay, but no, the night is not done. We get pulled into some sort of photo shoot. The whole restaurant wants a photo with us. We all pose as 20 people take our photos. I look at the cameras and notice everyone taking a picture of us has a big cigar in their mouths. They laugh and laugh as they take our pictures. We try to leave and pay once again but we get pulled back in. Someone wants a picture with Hadley and Nash, then Hadley and me, then Hadley, Nash and me. They take a picture of every combination possible. We try to leave and pay again, but they pull us back in. We laugh and say “no” but they keep clicking away, so we just decide to have fun and go with it.

Finally they leave and we pay the lady who brought us the soup, the owner. She smiles when we give her the money but she waves her hand and says something in Chinese. We try to give her the money again but she gives it back to us. She points to herself. We are confused for a second. Then we understand, she wants to pay for our meal, we tell her no, but she doesn’t accept the money. We say thank you, she smiles, we smile. We leave on a high note. The streets are empty, my stomach is full. The moons shines bright on us as we walk quietly to our hotel. A another adventure awaits tomorrow. Oh gosh, this is literally our second day in China. What’s going to happen tomorrow?