Dumplings

Xi’an: 9^th May 2014.

 

We were promised a ‘dumpling supper’, and that’s exactly what we got. Dumplings, more dumplings and still more dumplings! But, not the balls of suet we put in our stew at home. These are more in the nature of thin pancakes wrapped around an almost infinite variety of fillings.

 

It’s a food speciality of the region, but they like to eat them everywhere, especially at New Year. The shape is rather like a tael, a weight used for weighing coinage, and is said to be a symbol of wealth and prosperity.

 

Very nice, but not all at once, please! It seems that, every five minutes, a server appeared and made a hole to put down yet another platter of dumplings with yet another filling.

 

But, I can forgive them for that, for the floor show afterwards was superb!

 

The Tang Dynasty Court Music and Dance gave a stellar performance of real … as their title suggests … Chinese music and dance. There was a screen, on to which sub-titles were flashed in English … but it wasn’t really necessary. It was easy enough to interpret what was going on with the eyes alone.