For the past few days I've been factchecking the Xinjiang/Silk Road portion of the latest edition of DK's Eyewitness Travel China guide and I've run into an interesting translation problem. Or maybe it's a cultural difference. Either way, I'm now unsure how to categorize the food I eat here in the "Xinjiang Autonomous Region".
In preparation to phone all listed travel establishments in the book I practiced the questions I would have to use with a Chinese friend. For restaurants I need to find out whether or not they serve what DK calls "non-Chinese food". Herein lies the problem. Every restaurant currently listed in the Xinjiang portion of the book is annotated with the symbol indicating that it does, in fact, serve non-Chinese food.
"Wait a moment" my Chinese friend asked. "These aren't 西餐厅 (xi can ting)", which in Chinese means a western cafe.
"Well, no, they're not. But all of these restaurants serve Uyghur food" I told her.
"I know" she said matter-of-factly. "But it's still Chinese food. Why would you call this non-Chinese food?"
"Because it's not Chinese, it's Uyghur! They don't serve rice and chicken, they serve noodles and lamb." I said.
She, being a Han Chinese, adamantly disagreed.
Autonomy for areas such as Xinjiang and Tibet, although officially granted by the powers-that-be, has been a struggle to maintain for people groups such as the Uyghurs. This is a great example of why. In America we have no problem categorizing food as "Mexican", "Italian" or "Chinese", even if the food these places provide bears no resemblance to the dishes served in those respective countries. I'm sure the Mexicans laugh at us when we call that 7-layer burrito served at Taco Bell and developed in their U.S. headquarters "Mexican" food. But as far we're concerned, it is.
I think it's fair to say that the west generally tends to categorize people and their food ethnically while most of what I've seen in China is categorized geographically. Is it made withing the borders of China? It's Chinese. Do they live in a Chinese province? They are Chinese.
I'm not denying that a Uyghur person is a Chinese citizen, but to my western mind he is a Uyghur person who has a Chinese citizenship. He doesn't look Chinese, he doesn't eat Chinese food, and Mandarin isn't even his first language! Even now I can hear the objections all the Chinese have with this way of thinking, but isn't that what autonomy is about?
I'm willing to debate various aspects of geographical classification in Xinjiang, but for goodness sake, how can I call this area "Autonomous" if I can't even label the food for what it is?
UYGHUR Kebabs
14 Comments:
This post made me laugh because I could imagine exactly the conversation with your friend and the logic on both sides. I'm with you - the food should be described by its ethnic origins since that is what gives it its culinary characteristics. And Uyghur food is very different than the rest of food we had in China - I started to do a little jig when I'd see Uyghur restaurants in other parts of China. This meant that home-made laghman was just minutes away.
I have only been in south east China. I am so happy to have found your blog as I have a daughter of China's.
Careful, you sound a bit subversive. You don't want a one-way ticket home.
@Audrey - It's great to see you commenting here! I agree with you, a good Uyghur restaurant is a site for sore eyes when doing extensive travels throughout China.
@Meredith - If by southeast you mean Yunnan, that's awesome! That area of China has such a unique Chinese heritage. I hope you're able to raise your daughter with a respect and awareness of all of that.
@Anonymous - Yea, I'm aware of the thin line I tread here. Probably the reason I'm blocked here in China for the time being. I'm not trying to be subversive, though! I just want to call it Uyghur food, that's all! Is it too much to ask?
i've had the same conversation on more than one occasion. now i just call it 'xinjiang food' and no one bats an eyelash. clearly seems not culinary but political in nature.
stop threatening the integrity of the chinese territory with your remarks on kebabs. next you'll be saying genghis khan wasn't chinese.
I guess in Chinese mind, the corresponding word to Uyghur, Tibetan, is Han. And "Chinese" include Han, Uyghur, Tibetan. Although I do feel sometimes people are a bit insecure to worry too much about a word.
I guess in USA, "Mexican", "Italian" or "Chinese" food are not called "non-American" food.
@Kellen - yea, "Xinjiang Food" does seem to be the safe, politically correct way to refer to the food. Seems fair enough to me, except that this one phrase captures so many different types of food. It's like saying "American Food" - what the heck does that mean?
@Anonymous - I'm not trying to imply that America is superior in our food naming, merely that we approach it differently. I'm just as quick to call "Tex-Mex" food American, I just don't throw a fit if someone disagrees with me.
Why are you worked up about someone objecting to the term of xi can ting as Xinjiang food? It seems pretty clear 'xi can ting' implies western food, in the sense not related to China. Sounds like she believes the use is wrong and should be known as Xinjiang food, like how everyone else in China calls it.
If DK chooses to make the gross generalization of distinguishing between Chinese food and "non-Chinese food" (African food in Guangzhou? Vietnamese in Guizhou? Mongolian in Inner Mongolia?), then you've got to agree with your friend on his gross generalization: Xinjiang is China. (IMHO)
we have those kebabs in bahrain too - fabby - they're prepared with lumis (black lemons) and have the most delicious taste. i always thought they were from the persian/afghan border (home to my husband) and hadn't realised they had spread into china.
It's just tradition/Logic difference.
In China, you may also hear of Chuan Cai(Sichuan dishs), Yue(Guangdong) Cai, Lu(shandong) Cai, Su(Jiangsu）Cai, Zhe(Zhejiang) Cai, Xiang(hunan) Cai, Jing(beijing) Cai,............
All are categorized geographically. Just that.
@msittig - I think you're making a good point, but to be fair I would have to say that unless you live in China you would never associate Xinjiang food with "Chinese food". Yes, it is a gross generalization, but hey, that's what we're famous for in the west.
@wgaw - You know, I probably made a mistake by labeling it "Uyghur kabobs" because I would bet this isn't a completely Uyghur concoction. That said, they are pretty well known here!
@anonymous - I completely agree. Thanks for commenting.
the difference is that westerners think of Han chinese whenever they say 'china' or 'chinese', whereas for most chinese people, the word 'chinese' doesn't really have an ethnic connotation. we are taught from elementary school onwards that china is made up of many ethnic groups, etc. so 'chinese food' or 'china' in our mind doesn't equate with 'han chinese food' or 'han chinese'.
this is also the problem with tibet. most of people i know who support tibetan independence think it's justified because "tibetans aren't chinese"...what they mean by that is tibetans aren't han chinese. which i agree. however, chinese doesn't mean a nation of one ethnicity. i think that's the misundertanding most westerners have about china.
xinjiang food is not han chinese food. but it is chinese food.
Phooey. My comment got eaten. Trying again:
Very interesting! Oddly enough the Han people I was with had no problems referring to Uighur restaurants (or should that be "Uyghur" nowadays?) and Kazak restaurants. They did also use the umbrella term, Xinjiang food, but if I asked, what kind of restaurant are we going to, it would be "Uighur," or "Kazak," no hedging about it at all.
Apropos of...something, my Han friend, not from Xinjiang, swears up and down that the food in Xinjiang is just better - the quality, the way it's prepared.
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