First published in November 2008 on the old Danwei under the headline "RMB 3 million foreign douche bag in Shanghai" -- aged mp3 link newly restored! -- this tape is a genuine recording from Sherpa’s from a freewheeling customer who really likes comped hamburgers and isn’t afraid to show it. At one point the brutal laowai -- use of the term here meant as pejoratively as possible -- tells the Sherpa's operator, who gives her name as Sunny, that she doesn't have a "sunny disposition" and chastises her on lacking a "sunny attitude."
The Beijing News reports that a Beijing resident, surnamed Shen, was sent to the hospital on Monday after drinking water containing toxic dish detergent.
On Saturday, Chinese president Xi Jinping surprised diners of a neighborhood eatery in Beijing when he walked in and ordered a set meal that included steamed buns, some veggies, and a chitterlings. It was a modest lunch that cost 21 yuan, reports Global Times.
But what do we know about this place, Qing-Feng, located in Xicheng District?
Look at Xi Jinping eating lunch. When the story broke yesterday that the president of China was spotted in Beijing ordering steamed buns at a local restaurant called Qing-Feng, I noted that we'd be seeing more pictures, since if you can't take pictures of the president of China on your camera phone, you might as well never take another camera phone picture again. Well, here's a video, which surfaced on Youku about nine hours ago. It is wonderful in the following ways:
This certainly looks like Xi Jinping in a crowded Beijing restaurant. Weibo user @四海微传播 wrote at 1:20 pm today: "People, I'm not seeing this wrong, am I? Uncle Xi came to Qingfeng to eat steamed buns (baozi)!" The same user messaged again at 1:34 pm: "Uncle Xi queued to buy steamed buns, even paid his own bill, carried his tray, chose his own buns." The message was forwarded by none other than the official Xinhua Sina Weibo account at 1:38 pm.
As you've surely heard, president Barack Obama has nominated Democratic Senator Max Baucus from Montana as the next US ambassador to China. Baucus appears to have support from both sides of the aisle and is expected to be confirmed soon.
This video, produced by Radio Free Asia, was posted in May, but it just got a big spotlight thanks to Washington Post and Foodspin, so, thanks, guys, for showing us all how low the lowest low in food production can get.
Yeah, it’s full of students, and yeah, its bars cater mostly to the 19-year-old frat boy set. But there are at least a couple reasons to visit Wudaokou.
This story was never good to begin with -- authorities crack down on street barbecue vendors, who by the way may be passing off rat meat as lamb skewers, because they think street barbecueing contributes significantly to air pollution -- but the folks in charge have found a way to make it worse: more chengguan are expected to deal with this issue, because now fines are serious, as in quadruple what they used to be.
If you only had one plate and could make only one trip to the salad bar, what would you choose?
Take some inspiration from the pictures here -- posted to LabaQ and reblogged by the good folk of Kotaku -- which feature selected works from China's culinary Rodins.
Baijia Single Noble Black Bone Chicken Flavor Instant Sweet Potato Noodles, produced and sold in China, has been selected the world’s worst instant noodle brand in the world, according to American Hans Lienesch, a.k.a. The Ramen Rater, who apparently rates Ramen noodles professionally, having written more than 1,100 noodle reviews.
Xinhua News Agency reports that 904 people were arrested on Thursday as part of a nationwide crackdown on spoiled and fake food. How fake are we talking about? Deep breath time. “In Wuxi, in east China’s Jiangsu Province, suspects made fake mutton from fox, mink and rat by adding chemicals,” the news agency reported.
We know our friend Andray Abrahamian to be both a beer and coffee snob, so who better than he to discover an unnamed cafe in Pyongyang, next to the Pyongyang Hotel View Restaurant, that might well be North Korea’s first “third-wave coffeeshop.” (As Dray describes it: “For those of you unfamiliar with the term, ‘third wave’... Read more »
Like the most quintessential of Americana, chili is not complex — a stew of beans and tomatos, ingredients that fill the stomach, kick the tongue — yet it’s only with such a square, hearty base that we can sign our culinary art into the slight variances that elevate mere provision into the estimable domain of... Read more »
It was delicious. The bread, a special shade of mahogany, was lightly crisped with a glaze of cinnamon, as I imagined it. The sausage links were dipped in maple syrup before sizzling on the grill; one could, if he tried, detect the singed fragrance of applewood. The hamburger patties oozed a special type of grease,... Read more »
Its most controversial days are likely behind it, but we have one more update on Beijing Snacks, which some have taken to calling “the most racist restaurant in Beijing” thanks to its owner pasting a “no dog… no Japanese et al.” sign on the front window. RFH recently visited with friends, including a Japanese man... Read more »
It’s been a season of scandal for Yum Brands Inc., parent of KFC, which has been forced to apologize in response to a government investigation that found it was using pumped up and drugged out chicken from a local supplier. This has led to ticked off customers, decreasing sales and now a fallen stock price.... Read more »
This is a frightening lede. It is frightening indeed. More so if you knew this frightening read is about the food you eat. It’s from Caixin Online. It’s oil with an extra something, but there’s nothing virgin-like about it. Um. Pumped from sewers outside of restaurants, or pressed from trash, the oil is born... Read more »
Traditional ideas of what animals should be eaten are under pressure in southern China, a region where it’s often said anything that walks, flies or swims is fit for the dinner table. In Hong Kong, the controversy centers on shark fin soup, which has long been one of the city’s most popular dishes, especially among... Read more »
