Last Meal in China

I have to admit that after two weeks traveling through Vietnam and China most of my apprehension about the food I would encounter was unfounded. The Vietnamese pho is excellent (much better than what’s available in Savannah) and I’ve learned in my travels that its hard to mess up a kebab of marinated chicken grilled over an open fire.

I was feeling really good until my last meal in China.

Part of it was that intense desire to get home that always consumes you on the last day of an international trip; you start realizing how much you miss certain things (and people). Country roads, take me home!

I’ve also learned from experience that if the next day you plan to spend 24 hours on planes and in airports you should be very careful what you eat the night before

So on the last evening I had no reason for concern as we went out to eat at a very nice restaurant as guests of a wealthy family whose 21 year old daughter came to Christ through Martyn and Lynda’s influence. It was one of those REALLY nice places where they escorted us into a private dining room with three waitstaff devoted to our meal.

The meal is called Hot Pot, a local treat where the center of the table contains two pots of oil and different ingredients are added to the pot, brought to a boil, and then snagged with chopsticks and placed in each person’s individual soup bowl. I saw the setup and was excited in anticipation of something like a Chinese version of beef vegetable soup.

Not exactly.

Everything was fine until our hosts ordered for all of us (in Chinese) and I looked at the menu of various ingredients we could include in the hot pot, knowing I didn’t want to insult our kind hosts as they treated us to this obviously expensive meal.

Rather than explain the choices to you, just check out the pictures I took from the menu.

Needless to say, I am really looking forward to some good ole Savannah barbecue!

See you soon!