Chinese Restaurants

One of the best things about coming home to China is the food, which I will probably mention often in my blog. However, I wanted to focus this post on the unique phenomena of (real) Chinese restaurants.

As the economy has boomed, so apparently has the restaurant business in China. Back in the poverty of the 1980s, going out to eat was reserved only for super special occasions: the departure of a close relative to another country, the centennial birthday of an elder, somebody winning the lottery, etc. Nowadays, everyone goes out to eat, as it can be cheaper than eating at home. The diversity of restaurants is equally stunning in its dramatic change. Walking down the streets of Anshan (which is not considered a major city in China, although it does have the population of all of Georgia), there are Western-style fast food joints, Korean BBQs, joints devoted to nothing but hotpots, little dives which serve some of the best food in China given that you've brought some Imodium, and fancy multistory resaurant/clubs that allow you to eat in private dining rooms.

In that last type, I had my first invitation to eat out (this is customary when you are trying to show respect and hospitality to a guest). Here is the general scenario: You walk in through revolving glass doors, a 20-yr old in an evening gown directs you to a hostess in a skirt, who leads up to marble stairs to a private dining room equipped with televisions and its own bathroom and lounge, you greet the individual who invited you with bow or a racous round of hellos, and then you commence to the ordering of beers and hard liquors. Oh, and the host is traditionally obliged to order an entire tableful of food, so much that one could not possibly finish it all. In fact, having plenty of leftovers is considered the trademark of having a good dinner party, as it is considered a mortal faux paux for your guests to leave hungry. It used to be that this was a horrendous waste of food. Fortunately, todays it is no longer seen as impolite to take leftovers to go, although you should still wait for your guests to leave before asking the waiter to box it all up.

A fancy dinner like this costs about 500 -1000 RMB, where roughly 7.5 RMB is equivalent to one US dollar. In other words, about $70-$130 for a meal. This doesn't sound like much, until you consider the average paycheck of a Chinese citizen: 500 RMB/month on the low end, 2000 RMB on the higher end. Imagine spending half your paycheck on a meal!

Another thing about this particular restaurant: an absolutely FABULOUS surprise waiting for me outside the ladies' room. At first I thought the colored things were balloons. Then I looked a little closer. Still not quite sure why this picture was hanging by the sinks, but it sure made me laugh.