Though the recipe I have below is not as good as the one I got from Jian Bing Dao 煎饼道 in Chengdu, picture above and at the very bottom. Is it good? It is good enough my family wanted me to write down these instructions so they can make it at home themselves. Jian Bing is a healthy and filling breakfast, or snack, food that is great for eating on the go as it is hand held and easy to eat.
Lets make one!
Ingredients
Onion Crepe 葱油饼 (I buy frozen pre-made), 1 per each serving
egg, 1 per each crepe serving
vegetable oil
Green onion, optional
1 teaspoon Minced Garlic
1 tablespoon Louisiana style hot sauce
AP flour
Tortilla chips, broken into medium pieces (can use crispy chow mien noodles)
After nine months in China as a enjoyer of coffee (I’m not an addict and can quit any time I want to, but not right now). I hope that someone will find this list helpful.
Here are some places that I could find some plain drip or black coffee in Chengdu, China.
There may be another foreign owned coffee shop and bakery in Chengdu, but I didn’t find it. This places makes authentic American style coffee and pastries, because it is owned by Americans. They also have a few items for the Chinese taste buds. yum. 好吃 好喝
Sometimes I miss being able to be alone in a crowd. I don’t mean being aloof or something like that.
When you are surrounded by a bunch of people who are speaking a language that is foreign to you your mind is not constantly working to listen to the background noise, and if you don’t totally know that language it becomes just that, background noise. I remember sometimes standing at a bus stop or in a grocery store surrounded by a such a cacophony, but I was still content and focused. I could stand on the bus or contemplate which yoghurt I wanted
Star Wars Actors outside theater showing Star Wars 7
to buy and be in my own little word if I wanted to, completely oblivious to the happenings around me. But lets not be silly, Read More »
I’ve always enjoyed teaching in some way or another. When I was in Boy Scouts I did two summers as a merit badge counselor and I have also enjoyed teaching bible stories to kids at my church back home. This year I had the opportunity to teach English here in Chengdu. And I’m glad that I did.
Running through flashcards
I have taught two classes and a one-on-one tutoring most of the school year. One class of 5-6 year olds and one class of 8-9 year olds and both have been a blast. I’ve learned a lot of things about how to teach kids, how to explain a new word or idea with a limited vocabulary, how to teach without words, and I’ve also learned some Chinese culture through little kids. Every one of these lessons will stick with me; now that my school year is almost over I figured it would be a good time to look back on some of my favorite stories!
What is your real hair color? [5-6 year old class]
We were talking about clothing and one of the curious girls whispered in my ear “What real color is your hair?” I had to stop myself from laughing as I thought back to stories about friends with blond hair who do mission work in Latin American areas. Since blond hair is not often seen there the kids are always curious about this odd color. For this girl all she had seen here in China is black and dark brown, except for people who dye their hair. So I had to explain this using a 2 year old’s vocabulary…
5-6 year old class at break time
Me: (I touch her hair) “This is your real hair”
(I touch my hair) “This is my real hair.”
Her: (she gives me an odd look)
Me: “Your hair is black. My hair is brown”
*To which she promptly corrects me, because I can’t tell the difference in colors.*
Her: “My hair is brown!”
That is a bad star! [5-6 year old class]
To keep young kids under somewhat control in a class many teachers use a rewards system. For my classes we used a points system by drawing stars by each student’s name. 3 stars = break time, 5 stars = class is over
When I would draw stars I tend to draw them carelessly thinking they wouldn’t care. Boy, was I wrong! Every time I would draw a ‘subpar’ star they would promptly tell me that their star is not pretty! Some of them would even insist on redrawing it themselves!
Go Fish
Don’t point your foot at me! [5-6 year old class]
In Chinese culture you don’t want to cross your legs so that your foot is pointing at someone else. It is sometimes seen as rude since you are pointing the dirty part of your body at someone. I heard a story about a past student in our program almost getting into a fight for accidentally doing that on a train.
Anyway… I had my leg crossed so that I could set the flashcards on my lap. One of the boys, to whom my foot was pointing, gets up, walks over to me, smiles, grabs my foot, and sets it gently down onto the floor! I think to myself, now why would he… Oh yea! I totally forgot. He gives me a smile of understanding since his vocabulary wasn’t big enough to explain, I tell him sorry and continue teaching class.
They laughed at my “Shy” face holding a fan.
Teaching Emotions [5-6 year old class]
This isn’t much of a story, but just a picture. We were learning emotions and to explain each one I would draw a funny face and act it out with them. That was a lot of fun!
Playing games with Chinese children [8-9 year old class]
Games that we think we think are pretty simple are not that easy to explain. How do we do that? Lead by example. Thank you Boy Scouts. Me and the TA would act out games to explain them. Think Go Fish (or as we called it “Did you eat that food yesterday?” to practice past tense words).
Story of Wee Willie Winky
Connecting through drawing [8-9 year old class]
Connecting to kids, or anyone, through a language barrier is difficult. Then how do you share thoughts or things about yourself? You draw. I would give a kid or two a white board marker and we would just start drawing. I would sometimes label things in English for them, and I would draw things like America, or foods I like. Or, we would just draw things from the book together or a short story. To the right is a picture from the book.
Sharing foreign products [8-9 year old class]
Everyone, and especially kids, enjoy seeing or having foreign products, but some countries don’t share the same products that another considers commonplace or popular. Candy and other foods are simple examples,
but one that I wouldn’t have thought of is an spring loaded umbrella. One day when it was threatening to rain I brought my umbrella with me to class.
My umbrella from Kohls
One of the kids asked what the button was for and I showed her how to open and close it with the button. Oh my, this was a big deal! We all took turns opening and closing my umbrella. After that I started to notice umbrella around me on the bus and streets and it seems that there are only a couple styles of umbrellas and neither are spring loaded. Curious no?
If you’ve been to a foreign country are there any odd products that you notice they had or did not have?
These are just a few of my experiences that stand out the most, and if you bring it up while we are together back in the states be prepared for a long answer. 😀
Mmm… My mouth is watering as my imagination brings to mind the smell of these lovely inventions. I believe (but am not taking the time to verify due to slow internet) that they were created in Taiwan. Soup dumplings were made famous byRead More »
The Imperial Bathing Pools in Xi’an. Ahh… What a place those hot springs. They say that the waters, which are imbibed with sulfur and various minerals, are able to relieve ailments like arthritis and some minor skin conditions. This must have been such a great place for the emperor and his advisors to relax. Imagine coming here before hot water heaters were invited, especially a place where the pools are so big (even by today’s standards). The first picture here is the emperor’s personal bath. Just the emperor. Only him. He had the entire thing to himself. Dang. Anywhoo… Tally-ho!
“Quick Pic” – A blog post series where I will post pictures throughout my time here along with my normal blog posts
The Imperial Bathing Pools in Xi’an. Ahh… What a place those hot springs. They say that the waters, which are imbibed with sulfur and various minerals, are able to relieve ailments like arthritis and some minor skin conditions. This must have been such a great place for the emperor and his advisors to relax. Imagine coming here before hot water heaters were invited, especially a place where the pools are so big (even by today’s standards). The first picture here is the emperor’s personal bath. Just the emperor. Only him. He had the entire thing to himself. Dang. Anywhoo… Tally-ho!
China, There & Back Again 