Challenge 6: ACCOMPLISHED!
Challenge 6: Work in the kitchen at a noodle shop.
It wasn’t too hard to find a noodle shop in Lanzhou. Afterall, this is considered the home of the noodle. As one man on the train coming here told us, “Lanzhou noodles are the best. Everywhere else, they’re just not as good.”The problem we had was finding a shop that would actually let us work in their kitchen. We imagined the situation reversed - would we let us work in our kitchen? Absolutely not. But luckily, once again, the kindness of the Chinese people came to our aid.With the assistance of a man named Cloudswhite, the headmaster of a local school, we approached the shop where we’d eaten our breakfast. The remarkably kind family who ran it not only agreed to show us how to make noodles but also let us have a go.Now I’d like to say how natural the art of making noodles came to us. I’d also like to say how much the customers enjoyed our efforts. I’d like to say these things…but I can’t. We were quite simply hopeless and our noodles never made it near the customers! Instead the dough was gathered back together into a ball and the restaurant’s chefs made amends for our poor attempts. We once asked the owner's older sister, Xu Ping (the one teaching us), if she’d ever consider giving us a job. “No!” she replied without hesitation.We had a great time and learnt a lot. We now know how to make beef noodle soup, although no-one would reveal the shop’s special secret recipe. “I’ve never written it down and I never will. It’s only passed down through the family by word of mouth” the owner, Lu Jing, told us. The day really couldn’t have been any better…but as we went to leave there was suddenly an unexpected twist.“What will you do next?” Lu Jing asked.“We’re not sure yet” we told her and started to list some of the challenges we still have to achieve. “We still have to learn a martial art, street perform, attend a wedding…”Suddenly, Lu Jing interrupted and pointed at her daughter saying, "Her older brother's getting married the day after tomorrow! It's two hours from here by bus. You can come if you like!"Amazing!
