chinese food

[b][u][color=#0000ff]Rabbi Barbara Aiello [/color][/u] (2 of 49) [/b] [b]03:40am Aug 27, 2004 EST[/b] Dear Friends, I had the opportunity to lead a Jewish Heritage Tour to China in 2001. It was a wonderful experience, including the food. As others have said, the only way to NOT know what you are eating is to buy food from the kiosks or food stands along the way. The sanitation is marginal and it is hard to know what you are eating. With your tour guides, in my experience, all of whom understood western tastes, let them know what you enjoy. For me, although I did not keep to strictly kosher prepared food, I did keep my dietary laws by refraining from pork and shellfish and mixing meat with dairy. Each time I was unsure, I just asked. And for the entire three weeks I did fine with the rice and vegetable and tofu dishes. An interesting experience, on the river boat in Guilin, the boat captain brought out a bottle of snake wine... a clear bottle so you could see the snake inside...!!! He offered a taste to anyone brave enough to try... and one of our group did just that! But be assured that you will be asked to try something distinctly non western... I found no surprises!