Calling all Americans, Chinese, and ABC's

This past week us Americans celebrated July 4th.

Hong Kongers celebrated the turnover.

And as an added bonus, it was also the 30th anniversary of Chinese-U.S. relations.

To celebrate these events, my family took the train to Guang Zhou (a nightmare to anybody who had the luxury of growing up in Hong Kong) and stayed at an ecological resort called Chong Mine. I will most probably never learn to appreciate mainland China as much as I should, but Chong Mine surprisingly has tons to offer. Connected to the resort is (as standing) the number one water park in the world, a zoo that includes a safari, an amusement park, and a circus (with such lax safety regulations) that would never be permitted in a first world nation.

In celebration of July 4th, the U.S. Consulate in Guang Zhou

hosted a standing picnic at the Grand Hyatt Hotel. The concept was genius, and one you'd never expect to be pulled off or be found in the mainland. There were no tables or chairs, forcing guests to mix and

mingle, or at least bop to some American classics being played in the background. Around the perimeter of the room were a variety of food stations guests could pick from. There was: a NY styled cold cut meats station, a hot dog stand, buffalo wings, a dessert table, and a make your own ice cream sundae table. There was also servers serving hamburgers off of wooden trays.

I went straight to the hot dogs. Living in Asia, the closest exposure to a real hot dog was the hot dogs sold at Ikea. As seen, these hot dogs were cooked in a large rice cooker which I found overly amusing, and resulted in them being a tad overcooked, but the choices of toppings made up for the slightly chewy dog. I topped mine with chili, cheddar, and there was actually a hot dog relish made with mustard that added an extra kick.

I always look forward to desserts at these functions. I pretty much sampled everything except the cheesecake (because i hate it), and was utterly disappointed. The apple pie was however, the best I have ever had in Asia, and the cherry was decent enough to be noted. The cookies were dry and tasteless, but the brownies had a fudgy texture that was interesting enough to eat. Overall these desserts confirmed the notion that Chinese people should stick to traditional treats, but I appreciated the effort.

The experience of this event was more worth while than the actual eating, but then again, what would food be without its presentation?

man man sik,

Elyssa Yuen