cafeteria

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Cafeteria no. 7 at Tsinghua University is incredibly crowded.  The space issue is compounded by the reservation system, which is a fancy way of saying that students stake out seats with a mitten, hat, or notebook.  Walking into the cafeteria at rush hour – 12 pm sharp – is an entire lesson in strategery.  Otherwise you may find yourself with a full plate of whatever RMB 4 buys you these days, no seat, and nowhere to go but the -2 C weather outside.  Groups complicate the issue; it’s really best just to go with one other friend to lunch.  On a particularly crowded day, I once saw a guy chowing down on his plate of… READ MORE | 3 Comments

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Sadly, there is no way even Jen can make this small hot pot 砂锅 station look delicious. The presentation of the ingredients was the most saliva-inducing part of this experience.

This is the first station when you enter cafeteria no. 7. Shaguo 砂锅 refers to a small earthenware pot (in this case, tin, which is probably the first issue) in which the soup-like stew is cooked.

You pick your ingredients, which top a mix of mung bean noodles and cabbage. I went for the safely vegetarian egg and mushroom; Jen was braver and had mushroom and lamb. We handed over RMB 3.6. It’s cooked on a gyrating… READ MORE | 2 Comments

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Noodle station at Tsinghua. Tomato and egg noodle soup, with hand-cut broad noodles.

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We used to eat at the Tsinghua cafeteria (shitang 食堂) everyday. There are lots of options, the turnover is tremendous, and sometimes it can be nutritious, filling, and warm on a cold day. Sometimes it is completely disgusting. Here, we eat our way around cafeteria #7, because we hear tell that it is the most delicious among the options on campus. Either way, it’s one of the cheapest: meals average 4-6 RMB each. Food is served (slopped?) on a tin plate, and with a swipe of a card, we sneak our plates out to eat outdoors, near a small jungle gym.


Each cafeteria has different stations, including… READ MORE

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