Going Out with the Panda#
This post was supposed to belong to last week, but I started working as soon as I got home last week, which left me with no mood to write.
The panda was bought at the Hongshan Zoo, and it was so cute hanging on my bag. However, I usually don’t take bags out, but since the panda wanted to go out, I hung it on my hand and took it with me.
There aren't many places to play in Changsha. Talking about places like Jiefang West, it’s just okay if you don’t go to bars; I can’t comment on bars since I’ve never been. So during my free time in Changsha, the places I visit the most are the library and the university town.
I took the panda for a stroll around the university town.
University Town#
There are quite a few delicious places in the university town, and there are a few fixed spots that I must explore.
First is "Xianfeng Bread," which is hard to please everyone; this bread is known for having no flavor, some like it while others don’t.
And then there's the Hong Kong-style restaurant across the street, which I’ve always wanted to try, but didn’t go this time. Mainly because it was still early when I got there, not yet mealtime.
And the infamous "Stinky Tofu."
Traditional Xiang-style stinky tofu is benchmarked against the stinky tofu from Huogongdian, with a black outer skin, crispy texture, salty, fresh, and spicy, mixed with garlic and soup, emphasizing the aroma. Other versions usually play with the spiciness or cooking time.
For example, "Wuyouzi Stinky Tofu," which many locals recommend, is crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, both spicy and hot. It’s the kind of small stall set up at an alley entrance, and business is great; then there's "Black Classic," which I personally find to have an industrial taste, even though it looks freshly fried, why does it taste so industrial? And there's "Dong Shun Tofu," which has recently introduced a small piece of stinky tofu, with good flavor and spiciness, its uniqueness lies in its small size.
Changsha's stinky tofu is not lacking in innovation. This "Infamous" version uses white tofu (yellow tofu?), and the sauce is served in small cups, both of which differ from traditional Xiang-style stinky tofu, resembling the kind of stinky tofu found in Nanjing, but combined with local methods, making it completely different in texture. The stinky tofu has a crispy exterior and a soft interior, tender but not greasy (even if you find it greasy, it comes with side dishes to relieve the greasiness). Overall, it’s quite tasty, but usually, there are too many people in line, so it’s not necessary to wait specifically for it.
The really delicious stinky tofu is actually the kind sold from a cart; each stall has its unique flavor. This unique flavor comes from the chef's life experiences, it's the taste of the world. So personally, I don’t like the industrial taste of Black Classic; of course, industrialization can ensure food safety, but the elderly often say that if it’s not clean, eating it won’t make you sick (big fog).
I also went to "Awei's Dessert Shop," which focuses on being cheap, with each bowl of dessert crowdfunding for Awei's little villa and Ferrari. I don’t know if Awei is a Cantonese joke; I remember seeing "Under One Person" where Feng Baobao had an "Awei Eighteen Styles," but no one in there was actually named Awei... Anyway, I didn’t take photos; the inside was small and cramped, as if drinking dessert in Hong Kong? I finished it in two sips and left; if I go next time, I’ll take photos and write a review.
Houhu#
There’s a Houhu near the university town, which used to be a fishing ground in Hunan. Due to cheap rent and being backed by the university town, many art training institutions were established here, but Changsha is a place lacking in planning, and this area later turned into a muddy pond. It wasn’t until the urban renovation in 2015 that strange buildings started to pop up, making it more artistic, becoming a place for many young students to hang out; now it can almost be said to be the backyard of the university town.
Houhu is particularly romantic under the summer night sky, but not in winter.
I walked around Houhu a bit; there are many cafes and seemingly trendy restaurants.
The seemingly luxurious decor and buildings with a sense of age, of course, as I mentioned earlier, this place was a stinky ditch before 2015, so this building must have been built after 2015, with a deliberately aged design.
However, other shops were quite crowded, and not wanting to wait in line, I tried this one.
Near the university town, this shop's prices are relatively high, but the taste is extremely bad.
The meatball pasta is even worse than IKEA's; the meatballs are greasy and not fresh, indescribably bad, and the pasta has no texture at all.
These chicken wings are also confusing, using four different levels of doneness, from right to left: 110%, 80%, 60%, 40%, trying them all from burnt to medium.
The only passable item was the fries. The ketchup should be Heinz ketchup, and the tangy taste is quite acceptable. The fries were fried well but far from delicious (the others were just too bad), comparable to buying a pound of frozen fries from the supermarket and throwing them in an air fryer (it might even taste better), this soggy version deserves at most 4 points.
In summary, I highly recommend not coming here to eat, but thinking about it, it makes sense; in such a remote place, surrounded by poor students, who can afford a great chef? They probably hire students for work-study, and the premium is all in the decor, while taking photos inside is free.
Snow#
Under Lushan#
I didn’t eat well on Saturday, so on Sunday I went to eat at "Under Lushan." It’s quite strange why it’s called "Under Lushan" when it’s located near Zhongshan Pavilion. This restaurant operates on a membership system, and it’s best to make a reservation in advance.
The decor of this restaurant is decent, and many people come here to take photos; the atmosphere is indeed there. Everyone around is taking pictures, while I’m here to eat, feeling out of place.
However, to be fair, the taste of this restaurant is quite good. The first time I came, I had a Tom Yum pasta, which was quite nice. The flavor of Tom Yum was preserved, and the pasta texture was surprisingly good; the second time I came, I was turned away for not having a reservation, so I went to eat Liling fried noodles; this time I made a reservation early, and even the rain couldn’t dampen my enthusiasm to come here.
I had an American burger set, which also came with a portion of fries, feeling very American. The burger looks small but is actually quite tall, impossible to finish in one bite, and the juice oozes out. It has everything: egg, tomato, lettuce, and cheese. A complete burger was cut in half, yet even so, I didn’t know how to eat it; I just stuffed it all in my mouth. The texture was quite rich, with a strong meaty flavor, and the rice cake's aroma paired well with the vegetables, but unfortunately, the meat was very crumbly, scattering everywhere with each bite.
The most annoying part was that the egg was burnt, resulting in a bitter taste... This is actually a sign of poor preparation; if I were someone who liked to cause trouble, I might have asked them to make me a new one. However, by the time I bit into the egg, I was almost at the end, and I wouldn’t have been able to eat a new one anyway.
The price of this burger is not much different from Burger King; Burger King's real beef is distinguishable, but this one is hard to tell what meat it is, probably pork. The fries were on par with the ones from the previous day; objectively, they might win by a point or two (given that other dishes were quite good, this one didn’t seem so excellent). Personally, I think it’s not as good as the Tom Yum pasta from last time, so I’ll give the burger an overall score of 7, just because I didn’t want to eat pasta again after the terrible experience the day before, so I switched it up.
This pasta isn’t traditional pasta; it’s straight noodles. I’m not a big fan of noodles, but I tried a bite, and the taste was surprisingly good. Although it’s not pasta, the texture is comparable to traditional pasta, without the dryness of handmade noodles. It’s chewy, smooth, and has a spicy flavor; I’d give it a score of 9 for deliciousness.
As for this dessert, it doesn’t have any major flaws, but I feel it can’t score high. The ice cream is tasty, the cream is good, and the waffle doesn’t have any significant defects; if I had to nitpick, it might be a bit hard and dry. It’s at a level of being unremarkable.
Next time I want to try the roasted spring chicken; the name sounds tempting.
First Snow#
After eating, I originally planned to go home, but thinking about how far I had come to Zhongshan Pavilion, I decided to take a walk after eating.
I strolled around Chayan, bought some snacks, and then went to Gudemo to buy some food.
I initially wanted to check out the two-dimensional shop in the pedestrian street, but ended up wandering around Guojin Street for half a day.
Coming out of Guojin Street, I saw it starting to snow.
Because a few days earlier, Hunan meteorology had started to hype up, saying that on the night of the 21st to the next day, there would be a "heavy snow," with a thickness of up to 10cm. Because of this, it seemed that even trains were temporarily suspended, and the temperature in Changsha in the days leading up to it didn’t show any signs of heavy snow, so for the past few days, Changsha netizens had been clamoring online.
Things like "If it doesn’t snow on Monday, we’ll see you in court" and "If it snows, I’ll lick from the foot of Yuelu Mountain to the top" and "Lick from Wuyi Avenue to Songya Lake" were being shouted. Southerners get very excited when they see snow; it’s somewhat ingrained in their DNA, having heard "A good year is heralded by snow" since childhood, believing that snow signifies good things to come (though in reality, there are more news about snow disasters).
The snow fell for an entire day.
The next day, Changsha was already dressed in silver, exceptionally enchanting. Hunan meteorology is reliable; if they say 10cm, it’s 10cm, no discounts, and even more.
I braved the wind and snow to take photos for over an hour; the photos turned out beautiful, and my mood was good. (From a historical perspective, the snow over these two days made me sick for several days; snow is bad!)
Changsha's infrastructure can’t handle this level of snow; branches were weighed down by the snow, and many roads became impassable. After the snow stopped, people began to come out voluntarily (or perhaps it was called for by the neighborhood committee) to shovel the snow, clearing the blocked roads. A city without snowplows operates in an orderly manner.
Treat yourself to "First Love," brew a cup of hot tea, add some honey, and watch the snow.
Hmm. This is what adult life is like.
Xiong Guang said: Life is inherently painful; it’s the existence of certain people that becomes the painkiller.
Boiled Meat#
On the first snow, I had to eat something good, so I decided to make boiled pork slices.
The chili used in the boiled pork slices is the spiciest "Brazilian chili" from the supermarket, paired with Sichuan peppercorns, making the entire dish fragrant and spicy, with a numbing kick; the pork used is "premium" pork tenderloin, presenting a soft and tender texture, with the soup seeping into the meat slices, making it delicious; the vegetables used are bok choy and bean sprouts as a base, providing a rich and refreshing texture; the soup base is made from a water-boiled fish cooking package, which doesn’t need much introduction.
Boiled pork slices paired with a bowl of rice is simply perfect.
Postscript#
The day after the snow, my throat hurt badly. Dragging my tired body, I worked for the whole morning, and with the sun shining brightly, I went out for lunch.
During the meal, I overheard three men and women at the next table secretly discussing national affairs. I thought to myself, how could our great nation be discussing national affairs in private? When certain topics came up, they spoke in hushed tones, and when mentioning "you know who," it was almost a whisper; it was truly ridiculous.
I stared blankly at the winter branches outside, with remnants of snow still on the trees, resembling clouds perched on the branches. The wind blew, making the clouds sway gently; the sky was blue, and the clouds floated lightly. Because of the snow, the city seemed less noisy, and time appeared to slow down...
But this moment of tranquility made me feel anxious because I still had to work; without work, there would be nothing to eat. This tranquility made me feel pain. When I realized that this tranquility was making me anxious, I felt disappointed with my life.
About Blogging#
For me, the word "writing" is the absolute opposite of "waiting." If you don’t want to wait, just write.
— Roberto Bolaño
I saw this on Dudu, and I never thought that the opposite of writing is waiting, but I have repeatedly persuaded people around me to write blogs together, to record beautiful lives, and starting a blog is quite simple. It’s often about waiting, as if you have to wait for a beautiful moment to start recording.
I started writing blogs in 2015 and have written intermittently until now. During this time, I’ve collected many personal blogs, including some that joined the "Ten-Year Agreement" alliance, but the environment for Chinese blogs is like this; most blogs don’t last more than a year. I haven’t persisted for long either, maintaining it intermittently (which is why I started writing weekly journals). The blogs I collected before, when opened now, are either static blogs that can still be accessed but haven’t been updated for years, or the domain names are gone. Over the years, only a few people have continued to maintain their blogs.
The original intention of building a blog may vary, and the purposes may be different. My blog doesn’t have a comment section (mainly because I didn’t want to start one), nor do I keep track of how many people have viewed it (too many is stressful, too few is annoying), focusing on self-appreciation. Now I’m simultaneously uploading my blog to xLog and also sharing it on Dudu, still focusing on self-appreciation, but some people have said my blog is interesting; some say my life is exciting; others say although my writing is average, it feels very interesting.
From a selfish perspective, I hope more people write so I can read more of their wonderful lives and gain some nourishment; to put it philosophically, writing a blog allows others to understand you. Even if you think you’re a boring person, there will still be people who find you interesting.
At first, I was always embarrassed to make my blog public because I felt a sense of "shame" when others read my words. Now that it has been public for so long, it actually feels okay; there are still many people recommending other things based on my interests, and some have come to broaden my horizons.
This may gradually become my motivation to keep writing weekly journals; it doesn’t matter if there are no visitors or clicks (after all, I don’t keep track). I am my first reader and undoubtedly my most loyal reader. Looking back at what I wrote years ago, I feel like I was an idiot, but so what? Every piece of writing showcases the self of that moment, whether it’s foolish or an interesting soul; if it’s not displayed, how can it attract similarly foolish or interesting souls?
Doppelgängers attract each other!
We Live in Nanjing#
This is an online novel; perhaps because I went to Nanjing a while ago, big data started pushing related content to me.
This book is a hard sci-fi web novel, with a core setting somewhat like a certain American drama, where the sheriff's daughter communicates across time with her father who died many years ago through a radio. This book tells the story of twenty years later, where only Han Xia remains; she contacts the male lead Bai Yang from twenty years ago through the radio. Of course, this kind of setting exists in many works, like "Your Name" and "Interstellar," but this book stands out because the initial three laws are relatively rigorous, along with many HAM terms, which feels quite cool. I recalled that in middle school, there were radio direction-finding competitions; I didn’t have the money to participate, but I watched other classmates play, and perhaps if I had played, I would have taken a different path in life.
There are a few things I’m not satisfied with in this book. When the male lead first demonstrates that the radio can communicate with the future, according to our country’s nature, it should have been immediately confiscated for research, rather than waiting until the third volume to take it away; the second point is that since this is a web novel, the writing is relatively humorous, leading to a lack of atmosphere; the third is that the macro control is lacking; since the state is involved, it’s inappropriate to make it seem like a small skirmish. For example, in the third volume "Meteor Like Summer Fireworks," it seems like a lot of things were done, spending a lot of money, but it was just to put on a fireworks show twenty years later. Of course, to say whether it works, it does, but this...
A pleasant surprise was when Han Xia arranged "HI" on the ground during the first satellite image transmission, greeting the male lead from twenty years ago.
Overall, it’s okay; it can be finished in a day, but there are many watery parts, and the ending solution is quite blunt, blowing up the swordsman with a nuclear bomb, solving all problems. But you can imagine that after blowing up one, there are still tens of thousands left; what will you do? Let the female lead go to the base to send a black box, and the black box repeatedly says, "Do not reply, do not reply, do not reply." Then the people from twenty years ago chose to indefinitely pause their replies, the world line converged, and the light cone reset.
However, considering that this hard sci-fi novel must have consulted a lot of information, the scope is still a bit small. BBQ rating: 7.3/10.