Table Manners in Turpan

The team prepares to dig in to a roadside lunch

October 22, 1999
Web posted at: 1:45 p.m. EDT (1745 GMT)

By Kyle and Kelly Westgard

We had finally made it through to the civilized edge of the desert to the city of Turpan. For dinner we sat behind ten fiery pots of veggies, squid, chicken, and many forms of bean by-products boiling in red spicy juices. We were armed only with two 8" long disposable wooden instruments.

Perhaps you haven't thought about it, but since we've been here, we've eaten almost every meal with chopsticks. Most people take eating utensils for granted. However, when you enter a different culture, local dining practices can sometimes give you a case of culture shock.

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The vast majority of China's 1.3 billion people eat almost everything with chopsticks. This is due mostly to the Han nationality's far-reaching influence over the years. To most of the AsiaQuest team, using chopsticks has presented new and unexpected challenges. John commented, "They're sure not very efficient," as he picked at grains of rice in his bowl one evening. However, we can assure you that the Chinese are very comfortable and efficient when using chopsticks. It is common when eating rice in China, to hold your bowl to your lips with one hand and use the chopsticks to shovel rice and vegetables into your mouth. David was having a competition with a man at the next table to see who could sweat the most, while devouring the delicious yet very spicy "hot pot."

Think about how you might eat some of the following foods that the team has tackled with chopsticks: whole chickens, peanuts, stir-fried lettuce, bread and jelly, tofu, bean noodles, pork ribs, and a lot of rice. Tomorrow, try eating all three meals with chopsticks. Or try 5 weeks!

Eating noodles with chopsticks takes practice

In contrast to the Hans, the Uighurs traditionally eat with spoons. Fortunately, the AsiaQuest team adapted quickly to this practice and gobbled up many Xinjiang specialties- like pulled noodles and stewed vegetables with mutton.

Although we've yet to see a hamburger, Xinjiang offers plenty to eat with your hands, too: fresh breads, apple pears, and even potato chips to name a few. A Uighur favorite is a simple dish called "grab rice," or zhua fan (jwah-fahn). It is a scramble of rice, cooked carrots and mutton morsels. Like the name suggests, you put it in a big bowl in the middle of the table, and everyone grabs bite after bite - with their hands! Yum!

Here are some other things the team has observed that are different from what they are used to back home:

If tea is served, it is presented at the beginning of a meal, not at the end as in Western society.

Most Uighur people do not drink coffee, and we came across a weird drink this morning - salty milk tea. Eeeek!

Soup comes at the end of a meal, not at the beginning.

Fish is usually cooked and presented whole - bones and all!

All drinking water must be bottled deep spring water or boiled-and that takes some getting used to!

What about passing plates around the table? Whereas passing plates around a large table of friends or family may seem perfectly natural to our primarily American team, it is not a normal Chinese practice at all. One of our first days here, when the ten of us picked up the serving platters, and started scraping off individual portions onto our side plates, or into our rice bowls, the other Chinese diners in the restaurant stopped what they were doing and stared at us in shock.

Stuffed and ready to explore Turpan tomorrow,

Kyle and Kelly

P.S. Two days after the accident David was feeling well. He rested at the hotel while the team finished the camel trek. Once the team was back on the road again however, David's leg began hurting. It felt fine when it was stationary, but when he repositions it, he gets sharp internal pain which lasts for about one minute and then goes away providing he does not move his leg again. Though this may sound overly dramatic, it greatly concerns the group. Stay tuned for more...