I'm looking forward to this report from Rick. Al Roker had the most insipid report on the Today show wherein he told the viewers that the food in China is not like the Chinese food we in America are used to. Wow, Al, ya think? He had an "expert" who merely explained which foods would never be found in China any more than those carry-out containers we all know and love.

When in China last year, we found the presentation of the food was VERY similar to what we get here. No rice unless ordered - it would be considered an insult to present you with it, since it is considered a "filler." The food was much fresher, and the sauces tended to be less gummy and thick than here...

Al Roker has spent way too much time on the food network.

The Baltimore to Beijing blog has been a lot of fun. Lots of good inside stories and observations. 2nd only to D@L!

I am reminded (not so fondly) of 1988, when every Western journalist accredited to the Summer Olympics was expected to file a story on his/her sampling of dog meat at a back-alley restaurant in Seoul.

Do you think people in China ever approach dinner time and say, "Nah, I had Chinese for lunch"?

I find it quite odd that the buffoonish Al Roker spends so much time on food on the unbearable Today Show - he had a gastric bypass.

I wonder what real Chinese food is like. Yes, like American Italian food we seem to have invented some of them here. Do you wonder if TV emphasizes just the really weird Chinese food (oh no, more scorpions on a stick) and ignores more humbler fare that might resemble what we get here?

Sorry, I don't usually ramble like this. If so much of Am. Chinese food is a fabrication, then how come every take out place from Kennebunk to Huachuca City has nearly the same menu since 1949? It is odd. Even if everything was authentic, how did this homogenizing of the Chinese take out menu occur in a huge country by people from another huge and more diverse country in the non-information age? Ding, laundry's done.

Hmmm, terriermom, that is interesting. I never stopped to think before about how, say, General Tso's Chicken came to be the same all over the country if it's something we essentially made up over here. Again I say "Hmmm."

Oh - and as a houndmom, I've always wanted to say hi to my fellow dog lover. Hi!