Experience a love affair with Siming

Strolling through the city streets at a leisurely pace, trying out local specialties and learning their origins, Chen Meiling reports on her exploration of the beating urban heart of Xiamen, Fujian province

When I was worn out and famished after attending the 2017 China International Fair for Investment and Trade in September, wandering around Gulangyu Island in Xiamen's Siming district and having a bowl of piping hot noodles with satay sauce at a store along the narrow alley was such a relief from the daily workload. The dish I had is named Shacha noodles.

This simple fare is one of the specialties of Siming district in Xiamen, Fujian province, and it only costs 10 yuan (about $1.50) to have lettuce, lobster, tofu and sausage in the slightly spicy soup.

Visitors throng to this small isolated island, now on UNESCO's world cultural heritage list, with some 340,000 travelers flocking there during the National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holidays in October.

Like many other Chinese cities, the highlight after a full-day's hiking, shopping or sightseeing is to taste the distinctive local food.

The honesty of the food in Siming district, I must say, tends to somehow reflect the locals' philosophy of respecting nature and accepting what life gives you with gratitude.

Tusundong, or sea worm jelly, one of the locally featured dishes, was said to have been first introduced by Zheng Chenggong, an admiral of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).

Zheng stationed his forces to recover Taiwan, which had been occupied by Dutch invaders in 1624. Though his men lacked sufficient food supplies, the commander refused to ask for financial support from the citizenry.

Instead, he sent his men onto the beaches to dig out sea worms, to make soup. While cooling it down, he found the broth congealed to form a kind of brown jelly which embraced the white finger-sized worms, which turned out to be incredibly delicious.

The dish soon became one of the most popular gastronomic specialties of Siming. These days, a shop owner may put several worms in a bowl with some soy sauce, vinegar, chili and chopped garlic - for a vibrant and authentic street food with high protein, offering an unusual texture in the mouth.

A great characteristic of the local food, from my point of view, is that everything is kept simple, plain and pure.

I love the salty fishball soup, and the peanut soup is simple and sweet. Somehow this rustic cuisine brings to mind the images of the native folk - people who speak slowly, smile often and seem to have little desire for material things.

When I was on Gulangyu Island, I saw a group of people waiting in a long line around a small booth, run by an old woman and a middle-aged man - her son, perhaps. The little old lady, using plastic gloves, deftly and quickly rolled out sticky rice balls in sweet sesame powder.

I am always touched when seeing old women making food. Their skill and steadfast facial expressions remind me of watching my grandma, when she was alive, honoring her guests with simple dishes that she had cooked for her family for more than 40 years in the old, hard days.

In contrast with many coastlines of districts in other cities, the route along the Huandao South Road in Siming district retains an elegant manner. On one side of the road, lines of villas stand proudly among the trees, while on the other, local residents or visitors go jogging or cycling, either alone or with partners.

At night, wandering along the sand, away from the coast road where there are no street lamps and it is pitch dark, I can barely see the sea's surface or the scenery further away.

Hearing the waves break on the beach, smelling the wet sand and fresh sea air, my mind was clean and clear, finally at peace from the chaos and pressures of work and life.

Though alone with a heavy bag on my shoulder, I felt no stress or fear.

There is a sentence in science fiction film Interstellar, quoting the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas: "Do not go gentle into that good night."

Yet in Siming district I was glad to keep strolling out into the gentle, quiet and inviting night.

(China Daily 11/27/2017 page12)