I’m out of the country! So, after last year’s posts on Alaska, I’ve decided that this year’s trip should influence a post, too. Where am I this time? If you skipped reading the title when this post goes live, I’m probably getting fat on dim sum, seafood, and roast goose in Guangzhou, China, after visiting Chongqing and Chengdu earlier in the trip. Hot pot, dan dan noodles, mapo tofu, kung pao chicken; I’m returning at least a kilogram heavier from this trip with an even higher heat tolerance than I currently have. My wife and I make some of these dishes at home, but that’s never quite the same as getting them right from the source. And since Chinese cuisine covers so much ground, it’s nice to eat the things we don’t make at home too. Not having to cook them ourselves is a big plus, too.

If you’ve read this far and haven’t immediately jumped to a translator, 好吃, if translated literally, is good (好 hǎo) eat(ing) (吃 chī), but can be generally understood to mean delicious. It’s something I said a lot on my first trip to China and something I expect Future Adam will be saying a lot on this trip as well. Can you tell I like 中国菜 (zhōngguó cài) Chinese cuisine? Present Adam, the one writing this post, wishes it was already time to head off on vacation, but I know I can at least fill some food cravings here at home¹.