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The main street (Up and Down St)
in Quzhou |
Tai Chi and then buns for breakfast again.
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| Food stall in side street |
Today Ben took me into Quzhou for a look around the town and to visit Walmart.
There are 3 buses that pass by that go to town so it’s quite convenient. with a flat travel fee of 2RMB (30c) we took the short trip over the river and into town.
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| The ingredients |
We strolled along the main street which was a lot less busy than I expected, although Ben said that it was busier on the weekends.
There were many food stalls in the side streets, where you could chose your ingredients and have it cooked in front of you – looked great.
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| Preparing the dumplings |
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| Dumplings cooking in the oven |
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| The finished product |
Ben was an excellent guide, and showed me some of the interesting aspects of the city. Of course food did play a part, for example we stopped at a small dumpling cafe where they made the dumplings which were then cooked on the wall of an oven in tandoori style. of course I had to try some – pork, shallots, pickled vegetables, garlic and chili (or not) – delicious.
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Doorway of the main building of
Tianning Temple |
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| Wall of 1000 Buddhas |
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| Temple exterior detail |
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| The 4 way golden Buddha |
Next we visited the Buddhist Tianning temple which although partly under construction, was amazing. The main temple had 4 golden Buddhas facing different directions and a wall of ’1000 Buddhas’.
I’ll definitely come back again to have a better look when I have more time.
We then headed into Walmart, and much to my surprise, it was not full of American goods, but a fully integrated department store selling everything from foodstuffs to TVs and electronics. thing Coles + Kmart or Wollies + Target. At last I found butter, cheese and margarine, which I’d been missing. At this point I must say that I’m glad that I brought 2 small packs of Lavazza with me, however I think I’ll have to ration it out to last as long as possible.
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| EARSON music player |
Apart from a few essentials, I did buy a small portable sound system there (an EARSON for $20) that I can use with the iPhone or USB drives, and the sound is passable.
We didn’t get back till after 2pm, so the afternoon was a bit of a write-off (did I mention it was hot and humid?). Using a dictionary app in my phone, I was able to buy some things like flour at the local supermarket, so I cooked up some shallot pancakes with bacon for dinner – try doing that in a wok!
