青团

The title of this blog refers to "qing tuan," the yuckiest thing that I have been asked to eat thus far in China.  They are small vivid green glutinous balls made of vegetable paste fill with 豆沙 (red bean paste, which I happen to love.  Qing tuan are a crime against red bean paste, in my opinion.  Unfortunately, right now, qing tuan are everywhere.  For some reason, they are the main food of the current festival, Family Holiday.  Every morning my host grandma gives me a few to bring to school for a snack, and everyday I try to refuse, saying I don't really like them.  Finally, this morning, she responds by saying, "Oh, I hate them, too.  Most people do," giving me the I Know This Is Ridiculous But This Is China face.  So I bring them to school and hide them in people's bags.

In other news, YouTube is now officially inaccessible from China.  

And now, two horror stories courtesy of some other Gappers.

1.  One of the Gappers has a penchant for purchasing.  This past weekend in Nanjing, this included a stolen iPhone.  He bumped into a Turkish criminal who whispered, "Hey, do you want an iPhone?" Only thinking of the great price he would get because it was stolen, he of course said yes.   Evidently the pair snuck into an alley and exchanged one nightlight disguised as an iPhone for 500 kuai (about $80).  The Turkish man allegedly made a call with a real iPhone and allowed my friend to sample it for a few moments, but in the blink of an eye switched the two.  The iFauxne is a iPhone shaped backlight with a semitransparent image of the iPhone homescreen.  Bummer.

2. Another Gapper was walking down Shanghai's busiest shopping street on a Saturday afternoon when all of the sudden, someone pulled her bag out of her hands before she could react.  Luckily, a crowded street of Chinese wanted to help, and called the police, attempted to track down the thief, etc, etc.  She was lucky though, because she didn't have anything valuable in her bag, only 100 kuai ($15), and some American money.  Well, she did have her credit cards, but those were easy to cancel.  Also in her bag were about 50 business cards from various people from her seven months in China.  She went to the police station, filed a report, changed to locks to her house, and accepted that she would never she her stuff again.  Nevertheless, the police still called her several times a day because they were determined to save face with the foriegner.  About a week and a half later, she got an email from someone she met during her first days here.  He was contacted by a restaurant that had found her purse in the bathroom.  Inside was her credit cards, all the money, everything except her cell phone.  However, the thief was careful enough to take her SIM card out of her phone and put it in a bag in her wallet so she could easily find it.  Honestly, I am sort of surprised he didn't right her an apology letter.  The Shanghai police, meanwhile, are proud to say the solved the case.