road building culture

[Marc]

Mitenbuler for US Ambassador to China. He's well versed in all matters guvmint, culture and industry, speaks fluently and is integrated with his own security detail.

Marc

[kurt]

Well, FTR, folks over here think America is the greatest, they're all adamant that the last thing they want is any kind of tussle, most would love to come to America and make lots of money (they think we're all rich, and compared to China, we are), and their greatest wish is that China and the US can work together peacefully to the benefit of both of our countries. I've had total strangers warmly and emphatically tell me they really hope our countries don't get involved in conflict.

Also for the record, the idea that China is stealing manufacturing jobs is fatuous. They're disappearing over here (at what looks like) a faster clip than in the US. It's about the robots, folks. China pretty much owns robot manufacturing, even though we invented it.

That said, on the military power front, everyone is pretty much dumbfounded that the US thinks they have anything at all to say about what happens in the South China Sea.

This isn't political; it's just reporting from the front line.

On the hot pot front....making serious headway. Bay leaf figures hugely, more than I thought. The mixes I've seen seem to be about 1/4-1/3 bay leaf. There's this other stuff I can't figure out; it looks like deer antler, but it's got this strange gingery taste with a little galangal root thrown in. And, dried orange and star anise. Cinnamon, nutmeg, cumin, and this other stuff that's all over Hubei. I don't know what it is, but it's kinda floral and cumin-y.

Oh, and peppers. 3-4 kinds of red hot peppers, and the Sichuan flower pods...hua jiao...the red one's and the red with little green flowery sheath ones. Not the black or green ones.

[Jim Katen]

. . . There's this other stuff I can't figure out; it looks like deer antler, but it's got this strange gingery taste with a little galangal root thrown in.

Perhaps sand ginger (sha jiang)?

. . . 3-4 kinds of red hot peppers, and the Sichuan flower pods...hua jiao...the red one's and the red with little green flowery sheath ones. Not the black or green ones.

I have red & green ones (The green ones, have, I'm convinced, an electrical charge. When I chew on them, it feels like I'm touching several 9-volt batteries to my tongue.) but I've never even heard of red ones with green sheaths.

[kurt]

Yeah. Ma La. *La* is hot like red pepper hot. Ma is the numbing electric tingle. Ma La is that hot pot tingle thing. There's a lot of hua jiao...at least 4-5 types, or so it seems.

Maybe sand ginger. I just made friends with Peng Jie, whose husband is from Chongqing and is claimed to be an expert hot pot chef. Ms. Jie, miracle of miracles, teaches English at a small university in the mountains, and speaks perfect English. . I may have found the Rosetta Stone.

[Jim Katen]

Yeah. Ma La. *La* is hot like red pepper hot. Ma is the numbing electric tingle. Ma La is that hot pot tingle thing. There's a lot of hua jiao...at least 4-5 types, or so it seems.

Maybe sand ginger. I just made friends with Peng Jie, whose husband is from Chongqing and is claimed to be an expert hot pot chef. Ms. Jie, miracle of miracles, teaches English at a small university in the mountains, and speaks perfect English. . I may have found the Rosetta Stone.

That sounds promising. I thank you in advance for any and all information you can gather from these folks.