day 34: qie zai mian noodles

so i spent the weekend in Lu Zhou, about an hour away from Sijhih. me, jessie, and jeri helped start the structure for a float for their annual qie zai mian festival. it is pronounced "che-a-may" and it is a famous noodle soup that Lu Zhou is known for. the concept of the float is a giant bowl tilted spilling tons of noodles all over the truck with a giant "noodle man" (the festival mascot and logo) in the back of the truck holding chop sticks eating the noodles.

the people we worked with were incredible hosts! They feed us constantly and so welcoming and fun to hang out with. other then the workshop, their hospitality, the food was also memorable. in less than 48 hours, i not only had the famous qie zai mian, but also shark, sauteed intestines, fried intestines, fried fish eye balls, eel and probably over two dozen other dishes with tons of different ways to cook meat, seafood and vegetables.


a side profile of the giant bowl covering the front of the truck


me with the hard working women to make the structure of the bowl


jessie with pony, making the structure of the head of the noodle man, yes his head is a giant bowl with noodles in it.


jeri with one of the women I work with that I can't remember her name, but she's a firecracker. they are making the body and feet of the noodle man