Dinner that night was at Qin Chao Wa Guan, a Qin dynasty themed restaurant near my cousin Bo's home. Bo and his wife and daughter live in the west side of the city, in a gated community of high-rise apartment buildings. They bought their 4-bedroom / 2-bathroom apartment three or four years ago. It looked really nice and modern, with all new matching furniture through out. It cost 3,000 RMB/sq m (~$35/sq ft) back then, the total space is ~150 sq m (1615 sq ft), so that was ~500,000 RMB ($62,500). They spent another 200,000 RMB ($25,000) on upgrades and interior decorating. Now the place is worth ~1.8 millions RMB ($243,000+). I heard story like that over and over in China. Real estate price has skyrocket-ed in recent years. For ordinary people, the housing price is so out of reach now, it is on par with the U.S. market in some cities.
The restaurant.
Qin dynasty themed decoration.
Stairway railing.
There were 11 people total at the dinner. We ordered one soup (missing here), six cold dishes, and fourteen hot dishes. Yes, there were way too many dishes. But guess how much all these cost? Answer is at the end.
Cold dishes:
1. Shredded tofu noodle (豆腐丝).
2. Shredded jellyfish (海蜇丝).
3. Fern root noodle (蕨根粉).
4. Nanjing salted duck (桂花鸭).
5. Duck wings (鸭翅).
6. Pig ear (耳丝).
Hot dishes:
7. Wa Wa Cai (娃娃菜), some kind of baby bok choy.
8. Chicken joints (鸡关节).
9. Stir fry river shrimp (河虾).
10. Pig intestine (肥肠).
11. Mystery dish. I can't remember what this was anymore. :)
12. Steam assorted eggs (蛋羹).
13. Golden needle mushroom (金针菇).
14. Goose intestine (鹅肠).
15. Ginkgo seed (白果).
16. Bamboo lamb (竹筒羊肉).
17. Bull frog (牛蛙).
18. Eggplant (茄子).
19. Fish bubble (鱼泡).
20. Some kind of bun and mixed vegetable. The bun was hollow at the bottom, so you could put the vegetable there, and eat the bun with the vegetable together.
(To be continued)
Answer: Dinner cost 845 RMB ($114).
