While I got to roam through the beautiful streets of Xi’an, I also got the pleasure to experience the ultimate experience of the hungry man. And discover Xian’s street food all around me. Surrounded by meat, pastries and a constant invitation to try everything. So you spent your time eating through the streets? Yes! Yes I did! Jealous much? While you get to see the beautiful architecture of the city, you also have the chance to stuff yourself up with all this amazing food, walk through the sea of people that are there for the same reason, food.
And every now and then, you have those very young Chinese kids that want to practice their English and they stop you to ask you questions in English as basic as “What is your favorite color?” RED or “How long have you been in China?” 5 months! And “How do you like Xi’an?” It’s nice and I love the food! Then, they suddenly ask you for a picture where suddenly, it’s not only one person in it, but 5 more people jump in. As a blond foreigner with pale skin, a reddish beard and some nice feature, you become mister popular! Wait a minute, did… did you just say you have nice features and auto-complimented yourself?! Yes, I did just mention my nice features. You disagree? Nah, you would never! Hahaha!
With my friend Nora, we walked around and we became the object of the perfect picture, two foreigners, pale skin. We looked like a power couple. After 2 days in Xi’an, we ended up with 3 interviews… 3 Interviews?! Yes, interviews! With a camera, a microphone and followed by a picture to commemorate the event. For them, it was hitting the jackpot. For us, it was quite a surprise. But if you looked through the crowd, it was hard to spot two white foreigners with blond hair/dark blond/red hair (Based on the light…) that are pretty young and also, lets be frantic, that look acceptable for the camera. Dude… did you… did you just self-praise yourself again?! Well.. I didn’t exactly. Just a little. But if you looked around, there were not that many good-looking foreigners (There weren’t that many foreigners actually…haha). I’ll admit it, it’s nice when people consider you like someone that looks kind of good. Great for the ego and for self-confidence. Although the girls that asked me to sing a song in English regretted it a bit. For those that know my singing talent, you know what I mean. I was nice enough to hold back because they asked me to sing a song that I didn’t know (which is not hard since I can’t remember for the life of me most song lyrics…). Oh the disappointment these girls experienced… If only they knew that they actually avoided eternal regret if I started singing…
While we kept on strolling to discover Xian’s street food, my friend was looking for a souvenir. We did hit the “souvenir street” in Xi’an, but like all places, it’s filled with identical stuff from one stall to another. Until we met Helen. Who’s Helen? She’s a shop owner on the same street that has kept a sense of decency. She didn’t try to shove products down our throats, she just invited us in to have a look. Showed us which were her creations (as a calligraphist) and which are done by other local artists. Including a 65 years lady that made very contemporary art paintings with sometimes naked women and cats… Yes, the artist is Chinese! I know, we were surprised too. We bought two… Really?! Two? Why would you buy two! You were probably conned! Well, quite frankly, the paintings were nice and original. Only originals on that whole street. It felt right and given that Helen didn’t pressure us into buying them or anything like that, it felt comfortable to deal with someone that respects artists. Art is a huge part of Xi’an and therefore, it was nice to deal with someone that was quite proud of her art and the artists she represented. In turn, I respected also her love and pride for her own work and those of the artists in her shop. We sometimes forget that behind every work of art, there’s the artist, their soul and the pride they put in it. It’s not always about money.
At one point, through all this roaming around, you obviously start to be hungry. Since we were walking a bit aimlessly, I followed my instinct. Or more precisely (and I kid you not!), I asked my belly to bring us to where we could eat some good food. You… asked your belly for what now? Nahhh! Dudes, true story! I had a witness too. “Belly, find me good food!” And we walked until a very little inconspicuous little restaurant made my belly grumble. It was…
KOREAN BBQ!!!
Oh man! You order a bunch of food, cook it straight up on the grill while you drink beer and talk! It was an awesome experience while also being absolutely delicious. There you have it! MY BELLY SPOKE TO ME AND I WAS NOT DISAPPOINTED! It was a strange way to discover Xian’s street food since we ended up eating Korean. haha!
Dragos out!
Today’s item on the list :
Enjoy Korean BBQ with a good friend!
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