Comments on: Change and destruction

By: Paul Seno

Paul Seno — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 05:56:10 +0000

Further, if anyone is interested in getting a traditional hand hammered wok and accessories made by real craftsmen should try E-Woks. http://e-woks.com/index.php?main_page

They have a selection of traditional hand made Chinese cooking products such as woks, Sichuan cleavers, copper ware, utensils etc.

They are not cheap compared to modern machine made products but still far cheaper than fancy high end wares as sold in western kitchenware shops.

I have one of their handmade woks and am extremely pleased with it. will last a lifetime.

By: Paul Seno

Paul Seno — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 05:26:18 +0000

Being a frequent visitor to china I share Fuchsia’s sadness at the seemingly senseless destruction of old cities in China. I only went to Chengdu last year for the first times and there were only hints and odd reminders of perhaps what it once was. I regret I never got there 10 years ago. I visited the four major designated “old city” areas in town and found them disapointing. All fake new buildings and nearly all the shops sold tourist tat. If only there was a genuine hand hammered wok maker like the old fellow in Zhenjiang set up there. I would gladly have bought a wok or two to take home.

I did manage to get to Kaifeng which to me appeared much like Fuchsia’s description of how old Chengdu was. Perhaps one of the few cities which still express the charm of old China remaining.

BTW I am pleased to say that out of my entire collection of six cookbooks, three of them are Fuchsia’s works.

By: Adlyn

Adlyn — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 06:42:55 +0000

I also work in the Chinese food industry and events like this prove extremely challenging for me to tirelessly promote the beauty and diversity of Chinese cuisine and culture.

It is statements like this ‘No archaeologists monitor the razings, he said, because the government already knows everything about old Kashgar’ that frustrates and shows the disconcern of to the obvious heartwrenching loss of culture.

By: Steven

Steven — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 02:29:24 +0000

I just finished and thoroughly enjoyed Shark’s Fin & Sichuan Pepper. It’s by far the best book I’ve read on Chinese food and travel–so full of insight and refreshingly free of cultural platitudes that plague writing on China.

On a language immersion program in Shanghai in Summer 2007, some of my most memorable times were spent wandering old neighborhoods soon to be demolished–a respite from relentless urban redevelopment and endless review sessions.

Later, when I took an undergraduate course on urban planning, I couldn’t help but draw parallels between current urban development in China and the Le Corbusier-style, automobile-centered urban housing ideals that pervaded the US and Western Europe in the 30s and 40s.

It seems to me so much more culturally and demographically appropriate for China to avoid the mistake of remapping cities to suit the automobile and invest more seriously in neighborhood renewal and high-density mass transit.

By: Susan

Susan — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 08:44:47 +0000

Hi Fuchsia, Great post. Sad that people can’t recognise what they’ve got until after it’s long-gone (if ever).