沙县小吃 celebrates its grand opening.
Until you’ve lived in China, it’s hard to understand the speed with which everything changes: restaurants, neighborhoods, government regulations, you name it. This is an occupational hazard of travel writing here, since the expiration date on your recommendations can pass in the blink of an eye. You might recommend a neighborhood for shaokao, only to have the government close it down a month or two later. I notice this most of all in my neighborhood in Changsha, where every time I come back from traveling, a store or restaurant has reinvented itself as something entirely new.
Most recently, a shop selling dried fruit and nuts was closed, gutted, and within days reopened as a restaurant selling Fujian-style dumplings and wontons. The delicate, neatly pleated dumpling skins enclose a bright, flavorful mix of pork and vegetables. Order them 香拌, and they come doused in a spicy peanut sauce utterly unlike anything I’ve had before in China. The restaurant also serves a variety of noodles, but the dumplings are what has us coming back.
Unfortunately, every time I walk by, I wonder — and worry — how much longer it will survive. It seems crowded now, but perhaps when I return from winter break, it will be yet another Sichuan restaurant or clothing store.
For now, though, if you’re in Changsha, look for the 沙县小吃 (Shaxian Xiaochi) on 麓山南路 (Lushan Nanlu), just north of the Tianma student dorms. A bowl of 10 dumplings in broth costs 5 yuan.
Also see more recommendations for restaurants in Changsha.
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