QingDao: The original family home and banquet #3

After stuffing myself on the fantastic mantou at the Pig's Feet Banquet, I climbed back on board the mini bus with the Missus's family. The Missus whispered to me.... "we're going home". Meaning a visit to the original family home, the building where my MIL was born, and where the Missus was raised.

 The house, or I should say building is located on a side street in the older part of QingDao. In its heyday, it was the tallest building on the street at three stories, and the Missus's family occupied the entire compound. Then came the Chinese Revolution, and with the victory of PLA the concept of private ownership of land evaporated. But that is a story for another day. Eventually, the family was given back a portion (the second floor) of the home, where the Missus's Fourth Aunt now lives.

The Missus was quick to point out various landmarks to me. Like where the family used to hang sausages to dry in the winter. A number of times I heard Her say, "it all used to seem so big......"

As with multi-generational homes, there are many stories, and the Missus told me a couple about.... well, chickens. The family once raised chickens in this spot.

Of course, there was a purpose to raising said fowl..... it was to end up on the dinner table. One day, a chicken was selected to meet its maker, and the Missus's Grandfather set out to dispatch the bird. The details are lost to the sands of time, but the gist of it was that Grandpa's blow to decapitate the chicken was not true, and said bird only suffered a "flesh wound" to the neck. This bird was obviously no "dumb duck" and and made the only move it could have...... you get the picture, right?

This is usually where I lose the Missus to the giggles...... something about Her Grandfather chasing the bleeding chicken around the courtyard. And then there's the one about the large, beautiful chicken Sixth Uncle bought the family when he was still courting the Missus's Sixth Aunt. Somehow the chicken ended up eating a bar of soap and dying...... "chicken noodle soap anyone?"

China is growing in leaps and bounds, and prime neighborhoods like this aren't spared. The whole block is set to be razed in the near future. So I'm glad the Missus and my MIL had a chance to visit their "home" for one last time.

After taking photos of each family member stepping out the doorway, we walked up the street and boarded the minibus which dropped us off in the central shopping district where Sixth Uncle helped us to find gifts for our friends back home. This was followed with a walk to our next banquet, which happened to be in the hotel right next to where we were staying..... the Oceanwide Elite Hotel.

As folks trickled in, I managed to take some photos; like this one of the Missus and cousin Long Hui checking out the view:

 

While waiting for us to get our act together and get our gifts, the girl cousins each chose a piece of costume jewelry. When everyone was together, we started taking photos, and this is one of my favorites.

On very rare occasions I take a photo that will transcend any written description, this is one of them.

It was a nice setting......

Ready for another banquet?

Just hang on for a minute......... before eating there was a sort of ceremony that needed to take place. You see the Missus's Grandparents had six daughters, and there are twelve symbols in the Chinese Zodiac. When the family had found out that everyone would be gathering together they wanted to do something special. The Missus's Sixth Uncle is the artistic one in the family, and his daughter, the youngest cousin, has been the recipient of those artistic genes, becoming an art teacher. Together they took the lead in designing beautiful commemorative tokens, twelve in all.

Through a formula that took in year of birth, generation, a limit of two per daughter's family, a recipient of each one was determined. And guess what? I was the only one born in the Year of the Tiger. Beautiful, isn't it? And very special since this my Ben Ming Nian (Zodiac Year of Birth 本命年)

Ready for the food?

The Missus enjoyed the green peppers with preserved duck eggs.

I realized that I just can't get enough jellied pork.

Right before taking this photo, I noticed a little hand dart out and grab one......

They learn about good food early on in this family......

Cousin Long Hui's son just couldn't get enough of the QingDao Guotie.....

Like I said.... I can't get enough of Jellied Pork.....

Sorry about the bad photo.... this was sea cucumber in broth.....

This was one of our favorites, a melt in your mouth, mildly cumin-ny flavored lamb, over a mildly spicy silken tofu.

This is another favorite of ours. Can you guess what it is?

Those were shredded mushrooms, which were deep-fried. Earthy and savory, they were delicious! 

No meal would be complete without a whole fish.

And a noodle soup tops things off (except for the fruit plate, of course):

I'm stuffed just looking at the photos......

Meanwhile, the Missus and Long Hui were planning our next meal. Since Long Hui's son enjoyed the Guotie so much, we decided to pay a visit to Pi Chai Yuan before our next banquet. Suddenly energized, they also decided to go shopping after dinner! I was bushed, and decided to head back to the room and hibernate. I did manage to take a photo of the Oceanwide Elite Hotel.

 
Leave it to this family to start planning the next meal before the last one was finished! Stay tuned.....

In case you want to check out my previous ChingDao posts:

Post 1 - Lunch and Dinner at Fifth Aunt's

Post 2 - Morning in QingDao, Tianhou Temple, and Zhongshan Park

Post 3 - Our first visit to Pi Chai Yuan, and Banquet #1

Post 4 - St. Michael's Catholic Church and Banquet #2 

Comments

[Carol]

I love the picture of the hands. How was the jelly fish? (I love jelly fish). I haven't had jelly pork since my high school days, and mom used to make the best jelly pork!

[Long Yu]

Hi, Kirk, the photo of grandparents' house also bring me back to the childhood with them and cousins. Even the physical condition may not good at that time, but grandparents gave us the treasure of life. It's my paradise which I eager to go for each summer holiday. And I always back to there in the dream nowadays.

[Kirk]

Hi Carol - It was pretty good. There were better versions.

Hi Long Yu - 生日快乐 to you and your sister! The Missus asks if you've resigned yourself to fate, being middle aged??? She is still fighting it!

[Dennis]

Ah man, inside and out that's such a beautiful building! Such a shame it's going to be torn down....

[kat]

lovely get together and all that food!

[bill]

You are spoiled like me :-D.
I wish I could go back to Vietnam and meet my MIL's parent I think I would be on a eating frenzy like you.

[Kirk]

Hi Dennis - That building was made to last.

Hi Kat - Yes, it was.

Hi Bill - You should go see your in-laws..... and gain a few pounds in the process! ;o)

[kirbie]

What a wonderful, special gathering. The chicken stories remind me of the ones my parents tell. My mom's family raised chickens also to be eaten. But she and her siblings treated them as pets until they would see a chicken show up at the dinner table and then they'd be so distraught. It's nice you and the Missus go to visit her home before it's torn down. Usually when I visit Taiwan, I go to where my mom was raised. But on one occasion, I went to visit where my dad was raised. It was also right before it was about to be torn down. I couldn't believe it was being torn down because it still seemed sturdy and livable, but I was really happy to get to see where he grew up before it was gone.

[Kirk]

Hi Kirbie - I guess every family has their "chicken stories"! ;o) Seeing where someone grew up, gives you a better picture of what shaped an individual.

[sawyer]

"chicken noodle soap anyone?" rofl kirk. only you. man you really lived the good life over there...so many new things i've never seen and all of them look so good!

[Kirk]

Hi Sawyer - You know how much I love a good (or bad depending on your viewpoint) pun! I couldn't resist that.

[Bbq Dude]

Wow, that meal looks great.

[Kirk]

Hi BBQ Dude - It was quite a variety of different food and tastes.