Rich in China

Paul Fussell, in his book "Abroad: British Literary Traveling Between the Wars," writes about the phenomenon of traveling in less-developed countries where the travelers find that they are rich. Not truly rich, of course: just rich in the sense that their money can buy things easily they couldn't at home. (What this actually means about how much people live on is a topic for another day.) For instance, going out to eat here in Beijing can cost only two or three dollars a person for a full and varied meal. Since Chinese restaurants serve family-style, going out with a group is the most fun; you may even get a private room. A round table is often set with a large glass lazy susan, on which the dishes are placed and then shared. The hardest task is choosing what to eat: last night we had rabbit (including the small but slightly gruesome head), pork, chicken, and beef prepared in various ways. Some small steamed buns, not unlike large marshmallows, came with a sauce that tasted familiar: one student recognized it as sweetened condensed milk. The menus have lots of photos, and some have English translations, but some do not. The waitresses prevailed on a helpful English-speaking young woman to translate for us (that's how we found out it was rabbit). Although we are still trying to straighten out our meal card plan, we have all eaten almost a week of meals at the dining hall for about ten dollars. We are in a section of Beijing better known for students than for tourists, although we don't know if that has anything to do with the prices. In some countries, walking around with a large group (say, eight or ten) is a disadvantage, because the restaurants can be small (Spain is one example: ten people would have been overwhelming at some of the places in Seville, or Cordoba, or Granada where some students and faculty traveled this past winter.) But in China, it seems, the more the merrier.