Ni Hao - hello from China

[madmel]

Hi to all of you rawsome people!

I have lurked around here quite a bit and have just a couple of minutes received my Alissa book and DVD plus a bag for straining nut milk and my saladecco. Despite the hefty post and package I decided to buy these things because what I have read here surely made an impression on me!

I cannot wait to try a couple of things out - still have no dehydrator and am not sure whether or not it's available here. The oven is an alternative (mine goes as low as 30 degrees Celsius) but not wise with regards to environment (uses too much electricity).

Greetings from the other side of the globe,
Melanie

[wyjoz]

Melanie: Sit down and read Alissas book. Read all the recipes first, and experiment. She has many recipes, and there are more available on this forum that do not need dehydrating. If you have questions the people here will help you. So enjoy this healthy experience. RAWgards Joz

[moonstone523]

I am in Thailand.... so we are kinda neighbors. We could have a pot luck and meet up. he he he.

[nezumi]

Ni hao ma?

I live in China, too! I've been lurking here for few weeks, picking up many ideas and recipes, and preparing what I can raw. I don't have a dehydrator, either, but I've been making a lot of great foods with my blender and juicer. What part of China do you live in?

[madmel]

Hi nezumi,

I live in Tianjin, not far from Beijing - where do you live?

Hi moonstone,

a potluck would be swell - I am just afraid my dishes wouldn't make it so far ;)

zaijian
melanie

[rawpriestess]

WELCOME WELCOME WELCOMEglad to hear from you.

Alissa has alot of recipes that don't require a dehydrator

[madmel]

Hi rawpriestess,

You are right, but I would so love to try the crackers and enchiladas - but, I might be lucky and have a dehydrator soon ;) Wait and see.

Thanks also for your reply about the books!

mel

[sport]

Welcome all our new friends from Asia. It does give us more of a global feel. I envy you all your your huge selection of raw produce.

[madmel]

Hi sport,

yes, raw produce isn't much of a problem here - organic is also becoming more and more popular. But we have other problems with finding many raw ingredients like raw nuts, dried fruits or special things like carob and so on. But, well, you can't have it all ;)

Greetings from Northern China
melanie

[moonstone523]

What do you do in China, may I ask? Can you speak Chinese?

Could you give me travel advice? I have a cousin living in Hong Kong and would like to visit her then hit China. But I don't have a clue where to go, and well, I am worried about language barriers since China was NO english. Oh, yeah, I like traveling off the beaten path. :cool:

[madmel]

My dh has a job here and so we moved to Tianjin (near Beijing) 2.5 years ago.

Yes, I do speak fluent Chinese - but in Tianjin it really is necessary.

If I were you and travelling to China, I would do:
Beijing
Xi'An (terracotta warriors)
GuiLin (amazing countryside)
Chengdu (Emeishan, Leshan, pandas)
Shanghai (just a nice place)
Lhasa, Tibet (which according to China is China, to the rest of the world it's not...)

There are plenty of places and I don't know how much time/money you have.

If you buy a good guidebook (Lonely Planet) and a good language helper (also Lonely Planet, the Mandarin thing) you can get around, if you don't mind the usual frustration of not being able to communicate or the problems that arise from that.

Try to do a couple of things in advance, check out travel agents, tour agents (usually not expensive and you can do tours alone), check transport (can be a big problem travelling alone not knowing Chinese).

But: That shouldn't intimidate you, there are so many travellers in China travelling on their own, without a big budget or communication skills - and they have fun, great adventures and I believe, they all return home safely :D

melanie

[Tombi]

Welcome Madmel!

Embrace your journey! Glad to have you aboard!

[nezumi]

Hi Madmel,

Sorry - it took me a while to see there was an answer! I live in Longhu right now, which is close to Zhengzhou in Henan province. We've been here for almost 3 years. We live about 15 minutes away from an awesome open veggie & fruit market. Veggie I have yet to find in China - avocado.

This summer we're supposed to move to Guangxi province, though, to Beihai. My husband and I are both teachers. Hopefully there will be lots of good fruit down there. There certainly was in Hainan.

[madmel]

Hi nezumi,

awesome to meet you here! What a pity you don't live closer - we could have had a twosome raw potluck :)

I can get avocados either here in Tianjin or in Beijing at imported goods supermarkets. Sometimes the Homeworld/Carrefour supermarkets have them too, but very rarely.

Do you get organic where you live?

Guangxi province is great - and they should carry all the fruit from southern China as well as Thailand. We are lucky here, Tianjin is a big city (10+ mio) and growing, expats like us are also coming on strong plus the richer Chinese who also want to enjoy the "better" things like good papaya and stuff. I am very grateful to be able to stock up on good fruit and veggies for not too much money (unless I buy organic, that's a wee bit expensive here).

zaijian, melanie