China Taxicab Chronicles 4: Mr. Liang, Future Beef Pot Boss
Learning about north Guangdong beef clay pot and why Shanghai is bad, bad, bad!
This essay is a repost of a Twitter thread originally posted on 21 February, 2023. It has been edited lightly to better suit a longer essay format on Substack.
Today, my cab driver Mr. Liang was a passionate foodie, traveler, and aspiring restauranteur with a LOT of opinions about Shanghai, none of them positive.
Our conversation started fairly innocuously: he asked do I like Shanghai?
"Sure” I said. “If I didn't like it, I wouldn't be here, right?" [This is my stock answer for any time I’m asked if I like Shanghai, or if I like China, which is often]
"Not necessarily!" he retorted "I'm here, and I don't like it! I don't like this city. I don't like these people! I really don't like the food!" Bam. Shots fired.
Liang tells me he’s originally from Shaoguan, in northern Guangdong Province. Even from where I’m sitting in the backseat, I can tell he’s a short guy. He’s energetic and animated, and has a shiny bald head with a baseball cap. He says he's a "car guy". He reminds me of my uncle.
Liang tells me he moved to Shanghai with his buddy a few years ago to start a Didi taxi service. A one million CNY investment (~145k USD) bought them ten cars. They each drive one car and rent out the other eight cars to other drivers. They've been working hard to make their money back. They originally estimated it would take a year and a half to break even, but Covid slowed their profits.
Back to his opinions about Shanghai:
"Let me tell you!" he says, swelling with indignation. "The food here is terrible! It's so bad! I can't stand it."
I wonder what kind of food he would normally eat, to have such distate for Shanghai cuisine (which is infamous for being overly sweet, and disliked by most of the rest of the country). I search my memory for anything I might know about Shaoguan cuisine. I know it’s in very far northern Guangdong, right on the border with Hunan. That reminds me of something.
“Hey, I read before that some parts of northern Guangdong actually also eat spicy food. So does Shaoguan like to eat spicy food?" [This would be notable, since regular Cantonese food is not usually known for being spicy]
"Yes!" He almost shouts, excitedly, stabbing his thumb at his chest. "We like to eat spicy food! You know this! You know a lot!"
"Yeah I read this before. Previously I was curious about where the cuisine border is between Guangdong and Hunan so I looked it up. I guess it's not the actual province border…it seems people start eating spicy food in northern Guangdong, before you arrive at the Hunan border".
"Yes, that's right! Shaoguan eats spicy food. The people to our south don’t eat spicy food. But Shanghai people wouldn't know this. They only know Guangzhou cuisine." [Guangzhou cuisine is usually considered the prestige branch of Cantonese cuisine, or perhaps Shunde, more specifically]
"I'm sure that's not true." I say. "There are many Chaoshan restaurants and Hakka restaurants in Shanghai..." [other branches of cuisine found in Guangdong]
"Bullshit, they are not authentic. Let me tell you... they're so bad. Shanghai people don't know. They like Western food. I don't like Western food. It's not for me."
"Do you know how the old Shanghanese people treat the people who are not from Shanghai? So badly! But let me tell you...the 'old Shanghainese' are going to be replaced by the 'new Shanghainese' very soon."
"What do you mean?" I ask him, confused.
"Already, you see the 'old Shanghainese' can't afford to buy their children a house in the city, they have to go buy one far away in the suburbs. The rich 'new Shanghainese' [from other provinces] buy the houses in the city center." His rant continues...
“Shanghai people don't know how to struggle or endure hardships anymore. Their life is too easy. They just like to show off, but I think they are like a frog in a well!" [井底之蛙, an idiom to describe someone with a narrow view of the world]
"And the old Shanghainese think they are so fucking awesome because they have two or three houses to collect rent...and they don't have to work. Hah! How much can you make from that rent in a month? 20k? 30k? You know how many houses our Guangdong entrepreneurs have? Maybe 50! Maybe 100!"
"Is that why you are making money here?" I ask. "So you can go back to Shaoguan and buy houses?"
"No I don't want to go back to Shaoguan. Actually the salary there is not bad either, compared to Shanghai. A little lower. But my expenses are so much higher there".
I'm surprised. "How could your expenses be higher in Shaoguan? Isn't it a much smaller city? Costs should be lower there, no?"
"Yes it’s a smaller city, but I have a more relaxed life there. If I'm relaxed, I end up having more free time to go out to eat and drink, spending money. In Shanghai, I don't spend any money. I just work all the time. In Guangdong, we know how to eat and drink. When we drink tea, we drink the good tea. We eat the freshest seafood. We drink the good baijiu. I'm telling you, I spend more money when I'm in that environment, in that mental state, in Shaoguan! In Shanghai, I save!"
"Ok, so if you don't like Shanghai, and you don't plan to return to Shaoguan, what are you doing here? What is your plan?"
"I'm going to start a restaurant! A chain of restaurants! Authentic food from Shaoguan! Hey, have you ever had authentic Shaoguan beef offal clay pot?"
"I've had that dish in Chaoshan restaurants before..." [eastern Guangdong]
"No! They only think it's authentic in Chaoshan area. They make it wrong! Shaoguan Hakka style is correct!" [Hakka is a cultural/language ethnic subgroup considered part of the Han people found mostly in northeastern Guangdong, Western Fujian, and South Jiangxi, with smaller communities elsewhere]
He now launches into a lengthy description of the proper way to prepare Shaoguan beef offal clay pot. There’s a washing phase, and a blanching phase, and a first seasoning phase, then you take it off the heat, then a second seasoning phase…and then…
The time flies by, and so does the ride. We are pulling up to my destination. It's been such an engaging conversation, and I’ve learned so much. It doesn’t feel right to just jump out of the cab and go on my way, never finding out what happens to Liang’s restaurant dreams. I look for something to say...
"Shifu, we're arriving now...but I wish you good luck with your restaurant dreams. I hope to try your food someday"
"Of course! Let me add you on Wechat. When I open my restaurant. I'll call you first."
"Okay! I'll be first in line!”
I add him on WeChat and go on with my day. If I get to try his restuarant someday, I’ll surely keep you all updated.
-End
I also enjoy the taxi cab reports. We visited Fujian in January to attend a friend’s wedding, our first time in China. As you reported in an earlier taxi post, we were treated wonderfully in the smallish villages we visited. I can understand why young people head to bigger places - I did the same back in the day. However, as an old guy, the quiet & sociable lifestyle of the villages seemed, well, attractive. Anyway, I hope you’ll tell us many more stories from your taxi rides.
I love your mini travelogues David with their snapshots of daily life. We know so little about the 'real life' of Chinese people, keep it up!