Chinese food mix tastes like Friendship

by Laura Manera (Spain)

I didn't expect to find China

I was in Beijing for a business trip and decided to stay some extra days to explore the city. During my stay I've enjoyed so much the food that I've ended up booking a cooking class, something totally out of the blue for me, to just learn how to use the spices, sauces and flavors from the different Chinese cuisines and so to try to bring them back home with me. In the class there was only another Thai girl and me. The Chef guided us to the steps of preparing 3 dishes, showing us how to cut vegetables, marinating, mixing sauces and then enjoying our elaborations. Both of us felt very proud of this accomplishment and after a cup of tea we left the school and said our goodbyes. Once we found out we were going in the same directions started talking and discovered we were both going to the Forbidden City. Since we were traveling solo, we decided to stick together for the visit and starting to wonder in this huge and fantastic palace. Hours passed by in a blink of eye and our visit ended and time to say goodbye came again. Food brought us together and we mutually felt this sense of faith bringing us together and decided to celebrate it going for dinner as none of us had any plan. We wondered then to Houhai to get some street food and walk around the lake. We carefully choose a restaurant and sit down for a memorable dinner watching the show of the sun going down near the water. Music, boats, other noises, food and drinks and a lively conversation about future and star aligning us in that specific place and moment make us both feel this encounter was special and magical. It was finally the real time to say goodbye and we exchanged our contacts. We now keep in contact via social network and hopefully one day we will encounter again, possibly in another part of the world, far from home but never too far from a new connection with humankind.