williamfromtexas

in the chinese calendar the pig (or boar, as i prefer) only comes once every 12 years. 2 complete cycles ago the zhu (pig) happened to come when i was born, which makes ME a pig. what's your animal? tradition holds that when your year comes, it marks a pivotal time in your life when you either have extra luck or none, fluctuating wildely from one side of the spectrum to the other. they say that the only way to invoke the steady luck of the gods upon you is to wear red somewhere on your body every day for the year. it's day 2 now, and i'm still doing good.

pork products are pretty staple around these parts, but with this year's arrival there is only more reason to feast on the flesh of these foul beasts. a chinese dish of new years' fame around these parts is kou rou,that notorious dish consisting of pig fat fried in pig fat, on a bed of fried tea leaves soaking in.. you guessed it: pig fat. to first timers and the uninitiated, this dish is the complete opposite of anything we are taught to consume in the west, and upon inspection it does appears much worse for your body than i have just described it to you. but give it a few tries and you might start to enjoy it. it has been present at every dinner i've been invited to for the past week, and that's a lot! between kou rou and my other favorite fried fat dishes, though, i usually prefer hong shao rou, those lumps of fat with a tiny bit of meat, fried with soy sauce, and supposidely mao zedong's favorite dish. for my first meal of the new year, however, my friends and i kept things simple by heading to a street noodle stall for noodles (a symbol of longevity) with pork cracklins on top. mmmmm it was delicious.....

i had a pretty good night that night, staying up well past my bed time. i managed to make it to 4 parties: a dinner with teachers from my school, a ktv party at mr. liu's tea house, a fireworks party with the family of one of my students, and then late night beers with some foreigners.. observe:

happy chinese people!