Comments on: First Visit to a Wet Market http://www.navalgazing.com/2009/06/30/first-visit-to-a-wet-market/ the perspective of a military family . . . the narcissism of a blog Sun, 05 Sep 2010 23:57:21 -0400 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 hourly 1 By: Katherine http://www.navalgazing.com/2009/06/30/first-visit-to-a-wet-market/comment-page-1/#comment-1993 Katherine Wed, 01 Jul 2009 23:11:10 +0000 http://www.navalgazing.com/2009/06/30/first-visit-to-a-wet-market/#comment-1993 So not all jins are created equal, huh? How confusing! OTOH, can't go wrong with a $2 plate of roast duck. Yum... So not all jins are created equal, huh? How confusing!

OTOH, can’t go wrong with a $2 plate of roast duck. Yum…

]]> By: Beth A http://www.navalgazing.com/2009/06/30/first-visit-to-a-wet-market/comment-page-1/#comment-1976 Beth A Tue, 30 Jun 2009 15:00:53 +0000 http://www.navalgazing.com/2009/06/30/first-visit-to-a-wet-market/#comment-1976 When I first arrived in Beijing as a young foreign exchange student, I went to a restaurant with another newly-arrived classmate. We were both starving and decided to order dumplings (as it was one of the only food words in Mandarin that we knew). Upon ordering, we were asked how many jin we would like-- which we assumed was a dimsum-sized steamer. After some discussion of how ravenous we were, we ordered three jin as well as several randomly-picked dishes from the menu. The other dishes arrived first and as we started to get full, we wondered what happened to our dumpling order. Imagine our surprise when two HUGE steamers arrived at the table with over three pounds of dumplings in them! We adamantly vowed to learn measurements after that and made a hungry homeless man very happy that day. When I first arrived in Beijing as a young foreign exchange student, I went to a restaurant with another newly-arrived classmate. We were both starving and decided to order dumplings (as it was one of the only food words in Mandarin that we knew). Upon ordering, we were asked how many jin we would like– which we assumed was a dimsum-sized steamer. After some discussion of how ravenous we were, we ordered three jin as well as several randomly-picked dishes from the menu. The other dishes arrived first and as we started to get full, we wondered what happened to our dumpling order. Imagine our surprise when two HUGE steamers arrived at the table with over three pounds of dumplings in them! We adamantly vowed to learn measurements after that and made a hungry homeless man very happy that day.

]]> By: elysia http://www.navalgazing.com/2009/06/30/first-visit-to-a-wet-market/comment-page-1/#comment-1966 elysia Tue, 30 Jun 2009 08:06:02 +0000 http://www.navalgazing.com/2009/06/30/first-visit-to-a-wet-market/#comment-1966 When I was in Chinatown earlier this month and decided to buy some Chinese pork jerky, I had no idea how much I wanted. First of all, to make things harder, they sold by the <i>jin</i>, which is a traditional Chinese unit of measure. I didn't know whether a Chinese <i>jin</i> equals a kilo or a pound. In my head I replayed a song I remembered from when I was a kid, called "Half <i>Jin</i>, Eight <i>Liang</i>" -- which is roughly the equivalent of the English phrase "six of one, half dozen of the other." So I reasoned that a <i>jin</i> must be a pound, half of which would be eight ounces, or <i>liang</i>. As it turns out the imperial <i>jin</i> is closer to a pound, but in most modern Chinese communities in Asia, they use <i>jin</i> when referring to a kilo. Or at least that's what I think. And the song I remembered? It was a Hong Kong pop song from the '70s, still under British rule at the time, and which explains why they used English weights. Anyway, after staring slackjawed at the seller for about a minute, he helpfully asked me (in Chinese) how many people would be partaking in the snack. I answered three, and then we were in business. When I was in Chinatown earlier this month and decided to buy some Chinese pork jerky, I had no idea how much I wanted. First of all, to make things harder, they sold by the jin, which is a traditional Chinese unit of measure. I didn’t know whether a Chinese jin equals a kilo or a pound. In my head I replayed a song I remembered from when I was a kid, called “Half Jin, Eight Liang” — which is roughly the equivalent of the English phrase “six of one, half dozen of the other.” So I reasoned that a jin must be a pound, half of which would be eight ounces, or liang.

As it turns out the imperial jin is closer to a pound, but in most modern Chinese communities in Asia, they use jin when referring to a kilo. Or at least that’s what I think. And the song I remembered? It was a Hong Kong pop song from the ’70s, still under British rule at the time, and which explains why they used English weights.

Anyway, after staring slackjawed at the seller for about a minute, he helpfully asked me (in Chinese) how many people would be partaking in the snack. I answered three, and then we were in business.

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