I recently traveled to China as part of a professional/academic group. Our primary business was in a provincial capital several hours drive from Beijing. Our group, which was made up of Americans of various ethnic backgrounds, was treated as VIPs (!) in this city in which we saw no other western faces the entire time. We were in one of the nicest hotels, and, I believe, were taken to eating establishments that were among the nicest in town. I doubt any non-Chinese tour group has ever visited this (actually quite large) city. We were far off the beaten touristic path.

I would say that the culinary experience was extremely difficult. Part of the problem was that they were trying to "impress" us. We had no say over what was ordered, and, to all of our tastes, the food was not palatable. The main issue was the ingredients, many of which were not familiar. Donkey, ligaments, ducks' feet, various sea creatures, etc. Even the chicken contained elements that were problematic (Is that the aorta?). The amount of food was also huge (typically served on a lazy-Susan), resulting in a lack of hunger, thus making the palatability of these dishes even less. There was very little that was plain, and plain would have been significantly easier. (Please bring us some regular pork!) Vegetables were not considered impressive enough, and a request for rice or noodles seemed to be considered an insult.

Now, I'm a moderately (although not extremely) adventuresome eater, but I had trouble. Others in the party (including my colleague's children), had a very difficult time. Unfortunately, it was diffiult for our party to maintain a sufficient degree of graciousness for their hospitality. I think that we seemed very strange. But, especially with children involved, what could we do?

Following our "official" business, we had several days with a tour leader in Xian and Beijing. The experience in these cities was quite different. We could eat.

I apologize for this post, but it is an honest opinion. While I remain mortified by some of the things that were presented to us to eat, I am even more mortified that, as a guest in China, we were not able to graciously partake in the offered hospitality.