Eight Strange Things

French fashionable designer Maison came to Shaanxi and gradually fell in love with Xi’an. Right now, she can speak French, English and Chinese. She enjoys life in Xi’an.

She draws down the “Eight Strange Things in Shaanxi” in her eyes. In her drawings, she borrows the image of French Chef Martin, and she vividly, lively, humorously and accurately expresses the eight strange things in Shaanxi.

The first strange thing: it is difficult to distinguish bowl from basin. (Shaanxi is the haven for those who love eating food made of flour. Shaanxi people are bold and forthright and they love having noodles in very large basin-like bowls, which feels terrific.)

The Second Strange Thing: Houses are built half (during the past time when life was difficult, northern Shaanxi people adjust their construction measures to local conditions. They use the terrain of the Loess Plateau to build cave-like houses that lean on the wall on one side. It looks like a half-built house. The advantage is material saving and time-saving. The houses are also warm in winter and cool in summer. They are the real “houses of green ecology.”)

The Third Strange Thing: People squat instead of sitting. (Old Shaanxi people that live in rural areas like to squat under the roof or in sunlight when having a meal. They don’t like to sit down on a bench. People in most places still keep such a habit.)

The Fourth Strange Thing: Guokui looks like a pot cover. (Shaanxi Guokui is a big round flatbread that looks like a pot cover, hence the name. In ancient times, whenever people went on a long journey, they would take several Guokui as big as pot covers as their food during the journey. This type of flatbread could be kept fresh for half or one month.)

The Fifth Strange Thing: Pepper is the main course. (Old Shaanxi people like food with pepper in it. They think that when you have food made of flour without pepper, the food tastes dull. Shaanxi is famous for Red Chili Oil. The noodle with powdered pepper is poured with boiling seed oil smells really delicious and makes people’s mouth water. Everyone knows that Shaanxi is famous for Chinese hamburger but they seldom know that Chinese hamburger with red chili oil is also a great dish.)

The Sixth Strange Thing: Noodles are as wide as a belt (Shaanxi’s belt-like noodles are also called BiangBiang noodle. It is a type of very stretched noodles, which are really as wide as a belt. When it is cooked, it is matched with vegetables and meat. It tastes really good.)

The Seventh Strange Thing: Shaanxi girls never marry people from out of town. (In the past, life in Shaanxi is free from restraints. It was very comfortable. Shaanxi men were very hardworking and simple so most Shaanxi girls did not like to marry people from out of town. They usually married people from the same province. As the old saying goes, women from Mizhi marry men from Suide!)

The Eighth Strange Thing: Handkerchief on the head (Shaanxi women, especially those who live in rural areas like to put on a handkerchief on their heads. In this way, they cannot only use the handkerchief to tie their hair but also use it to shade off sunlight. This is like killing two birds with one stone.)