Dr. Eric Freeman writes from China
Pictures from China by Dr. Eric Freeman5/4/08 5am
No General Tso's Chicken????
Given the 12 hour time change I just could not sleep any longer and needed to start my day. Even if I had a map of the city I know that it would be pretty usless. Making sure I grabbed a card with the hotel's address on and my post-it notes, I was off to wonder the streets of Nanjing, China to get lost and find some toothpaste. The sun was up by now and both foot and street traffic was starting to get a bit conjested. I decided it would be a good idea to turn off my Ipod and really focus on some landmarks after seeing a sign at an intersection pointing in ten directions all in Chinese characters. The subway? I think I will pass on that one unless I really want to have some problems. Ah, a Starbucks coffee store. I can remember that. I walked past a few major department stores that were not open yet since it was quite early. Approaching another major intersection with some bicyclists and mopeds, the traffic guy started talking to me as if I knew exactly what he was saying. After 5 minutes I finally figure out that he will not let me cross the street and I had to turn around and go via an underpass to the other side. No problem. Walking through the underpass I given multiple options, none of which was to go straight directly to the other side. So much for not getting lost. I saw another store that I recognized: Walmart. Thank god it was open. I grabbed my toothpaste and whitener and then had my next task on figuring out where to pay for it without being accused of shoplifting. I had to go to the first floor to pay. One thing about this Walmart compared to the ones in the States was that it was a huge supermarket as well. All of the produce was neatly organized. There was alot of yummy looking pastries which I had no idea what kind they were. You name the kind of organ from an animal and chances are it was being sold here.
At noon I met Dr. Zhao for lunch at a chinese restaurant near the hospital. There were lots of nice pictures of the dishes on the menu. I asked him if there the popular "General Tso's Chicken " dish I usually order at Chinese restaurants.
He gave me this confused look. Guess I won't be ordering that one. I ordered a great vegetable dish and some beef at his suggestion and washed it down with the local Nanjing beer. There were some computers in the restaurant so I figured I should email my mother to let her know that I arrived safely. I headed back to the hotel to take a nap as I was still feeling the jet lag. Dr. Zhao was to pick me up at 6pm for a welcoming dinner with other members of the Anesthesia Department.
We all met at a Brazilian restaurant called "Cariocas" in the Sheraton Hotel.I have been to Brazil a few times and love their food. The Brazilians are known for their meats. There was about 10 of us; 4 nurses from the department, 2 attendings, 3 residents and Dr. Cui, the Chairman. Everyone was quite hospitable. Dr. Cui, one of the attendings and 2 residents spoke very good English and made me feel right at home. Unfortunately, this was not quite an authentic Brazilian BBQ, rather one with a Chinese twist to it. I ate the duck which was tasty but stayed away from the pork. After stuffing my face for over one hour, I was very satisfied. Dr. Cui had to leave early for an emergency case in the OR of a VIP patient. After a round of coffee and dessert, I retired for the night in anticipation for my first day providing anesthesia in a foreign country.
Later, I decided to "google" General Tso's chicken. Here's what I found. "Outside North America, one notable restaurant which serves General Tso's Chicken is that of Peng Chang-kuei (Chinese: 彭長貴; pinyin: Péng Chánggůi), who is credited by some sources as the inventor of the dish (see below Name), in Taiwan."
It was really nice to see the MGH book translated. I of course had to take a picture of it.
