The air is surprisingly cold. Unprepared for the weather that I have entered into. I buy a cheap coat in the country where everything is made. This year I have made it to a few countries I have never visited before and this is one I have been waiting to go to for as long as I can remember. I have arrived in China with much anticipation but I stress to you with the upmost importance the emphasis I place and will continue to place on food. This place has been boasted to me on many occasions by my brother James and his girlfriend Alex about how great this place actually is. Not only can you eat breakfast for a few cents a day on the side of the road, whether you order the pork buns, or meat that is always chicken regardless of what it actually is. James had pictures of eating a BBQ snake on a skewer in Shanghai but I’m not here to describe their trip, I am here to describe mine. Being a tennis player I am in the country for that purpose but I try and do something local each week for each city and country I visit. Each tournament lasts a week and depending on how you do in that tournament you’re there for that week or part thereof and onto the next tournament, so there’s no hanging around once you’re out. So it’s important I experience the food when I can and try and fit it in. Often the tournaments I play are in the smaller cities and towns but I think it can often take me off the beaten track so I can experience a different kind of place rather than the typical tourist route. But when I can visit the bigger cities there are definitely local gems tucked away, well worth being found. So how do you experience the local food when you’re not actually a local? Well I can tell you how I did just that in Ningbo in China. One of the smaller cities in China, population: 2,218,000, Ok, not the smallest mind you but certainly nowhere near the biggest. Ningbo is known for its seafood and I was lucky enough to taste some of the market food that cannot be described by the English language, or any language for that matter. This market on a Monday night was buzzing. Open entrance and a low covering. The ground filthy, but I wasn’t going to let this get in the way of the aromatic smells of hoisin sauce and chili that was weaving in and out of the stalls that sizzled relentlessly.
So how did I find this place when pretty much nobody speaks English and directing a taxi driver could only end in misery? Rule 1: Find a local buddy. Rule 2: Once you’ve found your local buddy, tag along to where they eat dinner and do not lose your local buddy. The urge for local food had come on rather quickly, particularly during the last 20 minutes of my training session. So I hadn’t organized anything and it was almost 6pm. I was traveling with a fellow tennis player and we made our way down to sit in reception hopefully finding someone who would let us tag along. 15 minutes later Chun-Yan came through the front doors back from tennis. She told us to call her Cynthia, which is the name she gives herself for people not from China. My mind boggles at this. All the tennis players give themselves western names. One of the organisers at the previous tournament had called herself Serena because it was her favourite character in Gossip Girl. I have to admit I did need to use her western name as I found it hard to remember but I’m ok with remembering the names of most of the tennis players.
So we bundle into the taxi and Cynthia takes care of everything. She describes to us that we are heading to the famous local markets in Ningbo. McDonalds on every second corner, when we stop in the city centre we make our way past the 5th McDonalds we’ve passed since the hotel. To my delight the smell has hit me before I could see the markets and bustling people heading every which way creates an exciting atmosphere. We turn right and are directly in front of the entrance to the markets. I look straight in front and I see everything on skewers. Bok choy and Chinese broccoli drizzled with sauce, being cooked on hot plates. To my right, whole prawns in soft shells, skewered, covered in spices and chilies, dunked in a deep fryer for a few minutes, lightly battered with a crispy outside. Along with all types of different seafood, crab, prawns and fish all different sizes. I can only begin to imagine how many spices and ingredients are used to create this taste, cooked to perfection. As I turn to Cynthia with complete satisfaction written all over my face, holding as many skewers that could fit in my hand, she asks me if I’m ready to go to dinner. I would have been happy with just this but another meal sounded only too appealing. We made our way through the square about a 10 minute walk from the market. Ningbo is very modern in its architecture, particularly in this square with public artwork and soft lighting overlooking the water features that shape the square. People all around were enjoying this cold night that had become dark without me realising. We made our way over to the restaurant which was one of many in a row, all restaurants packed with people, which is always a good sign. We shared a noodle hotpot with pork and mushrooms, tofu with dried shrimp and sauce, rice and dumplings. I was officially stuffed and was very lucky to have experienced the market of Ningbo which goes down as one of my favourite experiences of cuisine outside of Australia. China is truly a spectacular place for food and culture and I plan to return to experience Shanghai and Beijing, maybe when I play one of the bigger tournaments.
