Tongling: Visiting a Student's Hometown. Includes Baozi

Following our trip to Huangshan Katie and I went home with John to Tongling.

According to John, Tongling is China's smallest city with a population just over 500,000.

The weather wasn't on our side in Tongling and with relatively few things to do outside shopping we spent our time at the hotel and at John's grandparent's home.

Some of the best food I've eaten in China was at John's grandparents place. His family despite speaking no English and Katie and I speaking very little Chinese, treated us like honored guests. After finding out that my favorite Chinese food was baozi they made us a baozi feast!

Baozi is a steamed bun with a filling inside. John's Grandparents made us pork and vegetable filled steamed buns! I have eaten baozi in every city I've been to (in China) but no baozi compares to this baozi.

The Chefs!

Beyond the great food, visiting John's grandparents gave me a first hand view of how families live in China. When I told them that my family gets together (everyone at the same time) maybe twice a year (Thanksgiving and Christmas party) they were horrified. The family gatherings that I love and long for happen many times a week here. Families live closer, and even those who live further away seem to put a greater emphasis on the family unit. Seeing the family interact reminded me how much I love and miss my family and wish I would have been around for our holiday celebrations.