Will the real Jews of the East, please raise your hands?

Getting going

I woke about 0330 today. I have to be up about 0530 but an early night and the fear of missing my 0745 train to Kaifeng must have turned on my body alarm clock.  It does take time getting around Shanghai by metro and I set off from the hotel at 0545 arriving Hongqiao Railway station at 0645. It was a mega station and I believe it is joined to Hongqiao Airport as well (one metro station away). Due to the size, it took me a while to get around and there was just enough time to get some breakfast.

Choices were limited to big Chinese meals, dumplings or McDonald’s. I didn’t feel like the first, and I had dumplings for dinner so it had to be Macca’s (which is rather pricey in China). A McMuffin combo cost about CNY25 (NZD5) which is not too different from New Zealand pricing. As I was feeling woosy, I thought I’d better fuel up and had a second McMuffin … this time a spicy grilled chicken and salad one. Yummy.

It is strange that in NZ, I rarely have western food (driven by preference and better value of Asian fare). However, I’ve had cravings for things like chocolate cake and pizza in the last few days … they are things that I would normally go without for many months. Food in China, especially in rural areas, is nearly 100% starch and vegetables and the little bit of meat that is present lends the meal some flavour.  Pork is good but chicken is usually dry and boney.

High Speed across China

The bullet train to Kaifeng was smooth and fast. It appears to be he same type of train that goes to Beijing but the total travel time seems longer to Kaifeng (5h30). It appears that the second half of the journey was limited to around 150 km/h rather than the full speed of 250 km/h; combined with a few stops of up to 20 minutes it could explain why it is slower than the train to Bejing.

Upon arrival, it was 33 degC.  I felt good so I joined the ticketing queue to book the rest of my four planned rail trips.  The purchase was completed successfully in Mandarin … even though the lady had to mime a little bit when it came to explaining seat vs sleeper.  I did hold up the queue a bit with that big transaction though.

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Jews of the East

Kaifeng is an ancient walled city where Chinese Jews were centered.  It was believed to be the largest city in the world from 1013 to 1127 (according to Wikipedia).  It was also known as Dong Jing historically, written with the same characters as the Japanese capital Tokyo.

Chinese Jews? Yes, much like Indian Jews (in Kerala) and Ethiopian Jews, I suppose. Incidentally, when I was a child my dad’s lawyer was an Indian Jew. He was very good apparently.

It’s a bit funny to me that there are Chinese Jews when we Chinese are already referred to by some (notably King Rama VI of Thailand) as “Jews of the East”. Yes, will the real Jews of the East please raise your hands?

The Jews settled during the time of the Silk Road … information in English was non-existent in the Museum.  So I had to resort to Wikipedia.  My time at the museum was a waste … with everything in Chinese only, all I could do was walk round and glance politely at the bronze and ceramic artefacts.

Street Food

Kaifeng is famous for its street food.  It sure didn’t disappoint!  As I didn’t have lunch due to train travel, it was turbo carbo when I stepped outside the hostel.  The first item was somewhat of a crispy fried bread filled with meat and vegetables.  The second was a cross between a mega-pizza and a youtiau (Chinese doughstick).  Both were delicious.

Overcome with guilt over all that fried bready stuff, I did my penance with a vegetable soup in the market (with chilli and lip-numbing Sichuan pepper).