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Mount Lushan is located on Lake Poyang about a 3 and a half hour bus ride north of Nanchang. The national park covers an area of 500 square kilometers (about 320 square miles) and has more than 90 mountain peaks. The tallest of these is Hanyang Peak which soars to a height of 1473.4 meters (4,834 feet). Lushan owes its reputation to its wonderful, elegant, steep and spectacular features that embrace ravines, waterfalls, grottoes, rocks and rivulets.
There are 12 main scenic areas, together with 37 attractions, over 900 cliff inscriptions, and over 300 steles. The major spots include Wulao Feng, Sandie Spring, Lulin Lake, Flower Path, Ruqin Lake, Jinxiu Valley, Xianren Dong and Donglin Temple. The park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is a well known summer result in China.
One trip when my mom returned to China to visit her family, she took a trip to Huangshan (Mount Huang or Yellow Mountain) which is quite famous in Chinese paintings. Seeing the pictures my mom took, it was quite apparent that Chinese paintings, which are praised for being so impressionistic, actually are quite realistic.
It looks like we may have the opportunity to visit Mount Lushan (or should it really be Mount Lu?) and see Lake Poyang along the way.
Lake Poyang (Poyang Hu) is the largest freshwater lake in China. It has a surface area of 3,585 km² (1400 square miles) and an average depth of 8 meters (about 26 feet). It is fed by the Gan and Xiu rivers, which connect to the Yangtze River (Cháng Jiāng) through a channel. The lake actually is composed of a system of lakes and marshes and can vary in size greatly depending on the season and the amount of water that feeds into it. In the summer, the region becomes flooded as the lake serves as a retention lake for flooding from the Yangtze. In the winter, the whole area becomes a huge marsh. Over the centuries the lake has been silting up. Nanchang originally was situated on the lakeshore but is now about 15 miles from the lake.
There are 102 species of aquatic plants and 122 species of fish in the Lake. There are over 280 species of bird of which there are 115 species of waterfowl. This accounts for over half of all the species of waterfowl found in China. In late autumn and early winter, thousands and thousands of birds migrate from Siberia of Russia, Mongolia, Japan, Korea, and northeastern and northwestern China to winter at the lake. Lake Poyang is known for having the biggest wintering population of white cranes in the world, more than 95% of the total white crane population. Other protected birds include the white stork, black stork and swan.
Lake Poyang has numerous scenic sights such as the Fallen-Star Boulder and the Big Solitary Hill in the lake and Zhouyu Dianjiang Platform (the platform for Zhouyu, a famous senior official in the Three Kingdoms Period, to name his soldiers for particular posts) and Lake for Viewing Pavilion along the bank.
A famous naval battle took place on Lake Poyang in 1363 during the Yuan Dynasty. The Ming rebel forces defeated the Han fleet and five years after the battle, the commander of the Ming fleet became the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty.
The climate of Jiangxi is very hot and humid in the summer and so, like neighboring province, Hunan and Hubei, the cuisine is fairly spicy. Like other Chinese regional cuisines, chili peppers are directly used as a vegetable and not just for flavoring. A unique feature of Jiangxi cuisine (also known as Gan cuisine) is that tea oil is used almost exclusively as the only cooking oil in its dishes. The dishes often incorporate douchi (fermented black beans) and doufu (tofu).
The region is known for its freshwater fish and over 170 species of fish, which accounts for 21.4% of the national total of freshwater fish. Lake Poyang is the largest fresh water lake in China. Consequently, Jiangxi cuisine is known for their freshwater fish banquet.
Another specialty is soup. Every restaurant serves soup. Chefs put several small clay pots with water and duck, or chicken, or pig’s foot and ingredients such as ginger and green onion into a large pot over a slow fire. It usually takes at least five hours to cook the soup. Clay pot soup served with rice noodles (banfen) is the breakfast dish of choice for the residents of Nanchang.
The best food areas are along Xiangshan beilu, for fish. Jiangxi food is best tried in the upmarket Wenxuan Restaurant (Wenxuan jiulou), also on Xiangshan lu, or in many of the local hotels. For cheap snacks and fast food, around the railway station is a good place to go. Other places to go to taste genuine specialties such as Nanchang Rice Noodles and Shitou Jie Mahua are Ruzi Lu and Fuzhou Lu. For clay pot soup, Yuzhang Dalaowu Soup Restaurant located near Shengjinta Tower is a place to try.
Recommended restaurants for Gan cuisine:
Jiachang Fan
Hongcheng branch address: No.659, Hongcheng Lu
Ruzi branch address: No.141, Ruzi Lu, Xihu District
Yutu Fanzhuang
Address: No.168, Ruzi Lu, Xihu District
Xiangtang Tuji Dian
Address: Dieshan Lu, Xihu District
Three Cup Chicken (Sanbei Ji)
Three Cup Chicken is a traditional Jiangxi cuisine dish. Cut the chicken into bite-size pieces. Heat up the sesame oil, add garlic and ginger, stir-fry till fragrant, and then add chicken pieces till it changes color. Season with sugar, soy sauce and rice wine. After boiling, turn the heat to medium till the sauce thickens. Turn the heat to high and add basil and green onion, then serve.
Steamed Pork Slices with Glutinous Rice (Mifen Zhengrou)
Nanchang people like to have a bowl of steamed pork slices with glutinous rice around the beginning of summer each year. The main material is the streaky pork.
Cured Meat with Wild Artemisia Selengensis (Lihao Chao Larou)
Artemisia Selengensis Turcz is a kind of wild herb that grows around Poyang Lake. The nutritious herb is known to contain protein and carotene. Nanchang people are fond of it and like to cook it with cured meat.
Yuzhang Duck
A spicy crispy skin duck dish.
Ha, I finally have a reason to start blogging.
Yesterday we got a call from Hannah Epstein of Children’s Home with important information. We got a referral!! Her name is Wan Jin Run. She was born Dec 1, 2007 in Wanzai County, Yichun Prefecture, Jiangxi Province. Jaingxi is the province south of Anhui and Hubei, north of Guangzhou and east of Hunan. Nanchang is the capital.
My dad’s family was from Wuhu in Anhui. My mom’s family originally was from Hunan Province and we got Hua Mei from Hubei Province.
We can pick up her translated file today after 3 pm. We have two weeks to get her medical records examined and make a decision to accept the referral or not. We’ll send it over to the U for the review and also consult with some friends who are MDs. It’s quite possible that we could be going back to China in Nov or Dec. Wow. Hua Mei could soon have a mei mei.
