QingDao: St. Michael’s Catholic Church and Banquet #2

On our second morning in QingDao we took a morning stroll up Zhejiang Lu. You can't really miss the twin spires and crosses of St. Michael's Catholic Church.

The Cathedral has quite a history, and you can read in this Wikipedia post. Over the last century, QingDao has been under the control of Germany (1898 – 1914), Japan (1914 – 1922), the Republic of China (1922 – 1938), back to Japan (1938 – 1945), the KMT (1945 – 1949) which allowed QingDao to serve as the headquarters of the Western Pacific Fleet. On June 2, 1949 the Red Army marched into QingDao. 

The Cathedral itself was completed in 1934 by the Divine World Missionaries. The Mission Hall, built in 1902, and still standing, actually preceded the Cathedral.

Boy, the stories that hall could tell. During the Cultural Revolution, the Church was defaced, and the crosses, a landmark in a QingDao before all of the high-rises, were removed. You can read an eyewitness account here. According to Lonely Planet's China Guide, the crosses were saved by local Catholics and buried. In 2005 workmen found the crosses while repairing water pipes nearby.

 
Going past the Cathedral, we walked over to the hotel where The Missus's Second Aunt and two of Her cousins were staying. Waiting for us was a minibus, the destination? A visit to the Missus's Grandparent's grave site to pay respects. The Missus's Grandmother had a huge part in raising the Missus and Her older cousins, so this was an especially emotional moment for them. Their Grandmother was the Matriarch, of a Matriarchal family. The Missus Grandparent's had six daughters, those daughters had six daughters and one son…… so it's the women who shine brightest in this family….

One quick note about the drive to the cemetery and back. No sooner had the bus left the hotel, then the snacks were broken out, tomatoes (treated as a fruit in China), cucumbers, dried dates, you name it! God forbid anyone go hungry between breakfast and the banquet lunch that awaited us.

The Missus's Great Grandfather's family was from Liuting, the area near QingDao airport. According to the Missus's Aunts, this area has been known for pig trotter's, i.e. pig's feet, since the Qing Dynasty. So I guess that it was appropriate that we stopped for lunch in the area. According to the Missus's, Her Sixth Aunt took several trips to the area to search out the best pig's feet banquet. And the winner was……..

Liuting Fu Sheng Hotel. According to this "wiki", Fu Sheng pig trotter's are made from a secret recipe passed down for over 100 years. Sixth Aunt sure knows how to pick'em!

I had mentioned how nice it was to have the family together to the Missus. The Missus had responded with, "we're not complete yet, Yu Yu is not here yet. When she arrives, we'll be complete." It just so happens that Liuting is where the airport is located, and Yu Yu, Fifth Aunt's daughter had just arrived from Shanghai and met us here. Now the circle was completed.

And yes, there was nice gelatinous pig's feet, which I enjoyed……

But if that wasn't your thing…….  maybe pig's tail would do the trick. A bit more chewy and crunchy, but perhaps with a bit more "wildness". The Missus preferred tail to trotters…..

And if this wasn't enough, there was crisp, and well flavored fried pork skin……

The fried skin, a sliver or two of scallion, a bit of the plum sauce, all wrapped in a paper thin crepe-like pancake…… As you can tell, this ain't "the other white meat".

And all is right in the world. And yet, beyond this pigfest, was something surprising. An item we both really enjoyed….. it was the giant Mantou (steamed bread), which looked strangely like a derriere.

The bread was slightly but not unpleasantly chewy, moist, with a good springiness and graced the table with a wonderful aroma. There was a slight sweetness that I noticed while chewing. I remember telling the Missus that this put mantou into a totally different light, and I'm going to have problems finding anything this good back home.

I didn't know until this hit the table that Tofu Lees, what I grew up calling "Okara" is big in Shandong cuisine, where it is called "Xiao Doufu".

 
And of course, it seemed that no meal in QingDao is complete without…..clams of course.

Other then the Ga La (clams)……

And the Jellyfish.

Most of the dishes focused on "mountain" ingredients. Including a savory and earthy mushroom soup.

One thing I noticed quite early on in our trip was the amount of raw vegetables that were being eaten. I'd always been told that Chinese didn't eat raw vegetables… one of the reasons being, that eating too many raw vegetables "cool" down and weaken your digestive system, etc, etc, etc…. The Missus told me that folks seem to be eating much more raw vegetables these days.

 



Cousin Yang Yi, Third Aunt's daughter, the one whose wedding celebration we had come for, got my attention. She pointed to the table……. she had noticed that I missed taking a photo of one of the dishes!

I loved this family……..

While lunch was winding down, Yu Yu guided me down the steps and into the shop in the lobby of the hotel so I could check out the mantou, and other stuff……

Soon enough we were off to our next destination…. and then dinner, which was to be another banquet!