Truth, Noodles, and the American Hui

The Life and Travelogue of an American Emigre Living in Xi'an, China.

[theamericanhui]

Arrived in Urumqi, Xinjiang!

Here in my hotel in Urumqi. Trying to upload my pics from my first day here and for some reason I keep getting “UPLOAD ERROR.” WTF?

Well I mean.... I’m here. The train ride was definitely a uhhhh CHARACTER BUILDING exercise but GODDAMN was the scenery beautiful. Stunning.

Urumqi’s a cool town, very modern city it seems, reminds me of most other smaller provincial capitals in China like Zhengzhou or Taiyuan. I’ll talk more about it in my photo posts though... once Tumblr stops being a dick!

<3

[theamericanhui]

Heading to Xinjiang today, folks! It’s gonna be wild.... 11 days of just me, myself, and the open road (well kinda... I’m taking the train, but it’s going to be a loooong one....) Around noontime tomorrow I’ll arrive in Urumqi, then in 4 days I’ll head to Kashgar. I’ll keep you guys updated as things go!

[theamericanhui]

Memorial tablet to the 7th century Buddhist temple that once stood on this site. Taken this morning on my way to pick stuff up from the mailroom at my new apartment. 

Northwest University, Xi’an, Shaanxi, China.

[xiangqiankua]

Phrase of the day: 解壓縮 jiě yāsuō / when one person stands in line at a restaurant (seems like usually ramen?) to save the place for a group who turn up late, much to the annoyance of everyone else waiting. Pleco only has the computing-related definition, to decompress/unzip, but I saw it in a restaurant review and had to investigate.  “ 麵很好吃東西品質很高  但今天被解壓縮兩次且也沒有讓他們重新排隊屬實比較可惜一點之後可能要考慮還要不要再來 ” 

代排「解壓縮」變插隊　拉麵店出招反擊 Apparently there was a fuss some years ago when a very strict 老闆 laid down the law with a pregnant lady trying to utilise this tactic: 不少餐飲名店在用餐高峰期都需要排隊，常見請親朋好友先到卡位，接著一個兩個三個晚到的人就插入，這種被戲稱為「解壓縮」的行為常常引起爭論。拉麵名店「勝王」在八月初發生一起孕婦請老公代排，之後才加入到隊伍中事件，店家最後採取鐵腕手段，訂下規矩，並且拿出板凳，請不耐久站的人可坐下，明文禁止「解壓縮」方式排隊，也獲得不少人認同。 卡位 kǎ wèi / jockey for position 戲稱 xìchēng / (in this context) jokingly called  鐵腕 tiěwàn / iron hand/fist (of the state) 板凳 bǎndèng / wooden bench or stool 明文 míngwén / written or explicit rules, usually 明文規定

[theamericanhui]

On the way to Jummah at the Grand Mosque of Xi’an in the Muslim Quarter. Sights, sounds, and tastes. (Mmmm biang biang noodles)

[theamericanhui]

Today (7.15.2022)’s visit to the Xi’an Bell Tower by me. Was a real treat this morning! Per Wikipedia:  The Bell Tower of Xi'an (simplified Chinese: 西安钟楼; traditional Chinese: 西安鐘樓; pinyin: Xī'ān Zhōnglóu), built in 1384 during the early Ming Dynasty, is a symbol of the city of Xi'an and one of the grandest of its kind in China. The Bell Tower also contains several large bronze-cast bells from the Tang Dynasty. The tower base is square and it covers an area of 1,377 m2 (14,820 sq ft). The tower is a brick and timber structure and close to 40 m (130 ft) high. It is located in the center of Xi'an, at the intersection of the four streets of the east, west, south and north. It is the largest and most preserved one amongst the many bell towers left over from ancient China.

[theamericanhui]

Life Updates!

-Lanzhou/Urumqi plans canceled due to a COVID-19 lockdown of Lanzhou :( BUT

-INSTEAD I will be spending 8.5-8.15 completely in Xinjiang. 4 days in Urumqi, 4 days in Kashgar. Trust me, you’ll get to see it as I travelogue it on here

-I move into my new apartment at Northwest University of China on August 1, and I begin teaching classes there at August 29.

-I will be doing a mini-episode for my Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution Podcast for this month where I review Carma Hinton’s 2003 documentary Red Sun: A Film About the Cultural Revolution. So I’ll link to that when I record it in the next few days!

So that’s where we stand folks. Another good day for the American Hui, alhammdulillah.

[theamericanhui]

The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution Podcast - Episode 02

The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution Podcast Episode 02 THE BEGINNING OF THE CULTURAL REVOLUTION (MAY-JULY 1966)

EPISODE 02 OF MY PODCAST JUST DROPPED COME LISTEN TO IT!!!

[theamericanhui]

RSS Feed

If you wanna follow my podcast via RSS feed, here you go!

[theamericanhui]

Braised Shaanxi Pasta Recipe here teaches you how to cook Braised Shaanxi Pasta (Ma Shi or Mao Er Duo) which is a traditional and popular food in Shaanxi Province of China.

Tonight’s dinner- local hearty Shaanxi ma shi stew

[theamericanhui]

Awwww! One of my English 2001 students (my man JOKER!!!!) gave me a box of Hui Muslim pastries as a goodbye/thank you gift! 

GONNA MISS THESE KIDS!!!! THIS IS WHY I LOVE CHINA!!!!

[theamericanhui]

Paper cuts from the Cultural Revolution

[theamericanhui]

“Look at all the love we found....” -Sublime, “STP”

[theamericanhui]

A farewell toast (don’t worry, that’s pineapple malt soda, not beer, we’re at a halal restaurant!!!) with some of my absolute favorite students at Xi’an Kedagaoxin University. I’m so happy to be transferring to Northwest University, but DANG I’ll miss these awesome sauce students!!!

[theamericanhui]

Still alive!

I haven’t forgotten about this blog. I mainly use Twitter as my main social media medium these days for academic networking, and I’ve been busy with creating and administering final exams and preparing things for my new position as an instructor and research fellow at Northwest University.

My trip to Lanzhou, Gansu and Urumqi, Xinjiang is still clear for takeoff.

I’ll try and start paying more attention to this blog after July 1.

[theamericanhui]

Tonight’s dinner: beef brisket with bamboo shoots, bell peppers, mushrooms, and rice.

Reason #840 that I love living in China.

[theamericanhui]

FURTHER ACADEMIC UPDATES

So after being invited by Dr. Gabor Holch via my friend Dr. Emily Williams, I have decided to join the Royal Asiatic Society China, a society of foreigners living in China who are teachers (college and high school), scholars, diplomats, journalists, novelists, and librarians dedicated to spreading knowledge about China to the world. For more information besides their official website above, here is the Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Asiatic_Society_China

(For fans of the show Frasier, I’ve essentially dropped money to join the EMPIRE CLUB from S2E18, but for Sinoboos)

NETWORKING, NETWORKING, NETWORKING!