Inner Mongolian Breakfast in Jining

Unpaved streets of the courtyard residential neighborhood in Jíníng. Raw sewage flows down the center of the alleys.

Jíníng, Inner Mongolia, China 集宁区 — It’s the day of my recipe lessons. I wake up in my sleeping bag, my back sore from the hard surfaced kàng. I have the natural need to use the bathroom but have a little stage fright knowing my options; trough in the backyard fertilizing the garden or bucket in the coal shed provided especially for my Western, unaccustomed, upper-thigh strength. What to do? I’m struck by shame that I must opt for the town hotel amenities. But, first breakfast.

Nǎichá (奶茶, milk tea)

Eager to offer as many examples of breakfast available in Jining, Fāng Āyí 方阿姨 sets the table with Bèizi (焙子, pastries), Yóutiáo (油条, fried doughsticks) with chewier texture than those in Beijing or Taipei, fruits, pickled cabbage, enormous Bāozi (包子, stuffed steamed buns), hard boiled eggs, and Nǎichá (奶茶, milk tea).

Yóutiáo (油条, fried doughsticks)

Once again I am challenged by my need to show appreciation and do my best to sample everything on the table. I liked the Yóutiáo, in particular, finding it chewier than any I’ve had before .

Watermelons for sale

On a little excursion to a hotel, we pass through an empty lot filled with freight trucks, cows, and fruit vendors. The morning sun blinded me with high noon intensity.

Watermelon-sized chunks of coal

For the length of my stay in Jíníng, my nostrils and clothes were dusted with soot. Coal fires the kitchen stoves that warm the kàng beds, in cold season as well as hot.

Bāozi (包子, stuffed steamed buns)

Towers of plump Bāozi steam in the sun, ready to meet the appetites of a people whose sustenance relies heavily on wheat. The morning bustles with energy, rattling of truck parts with engines hissing. As far away from the creature comforts of Beijing I am, I still manage to find the perks of a morning cup of coffee. My phone rings and I am summoned back to Fāng Āyí’s home; the cooks who will teach, have arrived.

Creature comfort cup of coffee, a novelty

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