Yi Diar Ye Bu La- It is not hot at all

"It is not hot at all," Shou, my Japanese next door neighbor, says as sweat is pours down his face and he coughs up hot pepper. This is what happens when Hunan people invite you to dinner, one mustn't say it is too hot, when in Hunan, do as the Hunan people do and sweat it out. (Especially hard for Japanese people who are known for lighter tastes).

Collin, our friend, invited us to visit him on the new campus of Hunan TCM university. Far out in the suburbs of Changsha, near the farmers and mountains, we entered the front gate to see a huge fountain sculpture of 12 foot tall illuminated acupuncture needles. Collin met us and gave us a tour, the new library with fast computers, the comfortable dorms with only 4 students per room rather than the standard 8 students per room in Chinese university, and the huge new huge foreign student dormitory.

Collin, from a Southern town in Hunan, took us to his hometown style restaurant and ordered "blood duck", a famous dish. I must admit, I was scared of such a name. But then Collin introduced us to a technique of adding bing lang (betel nut), a mild stimulant Hunan people love to eat, into the beers, and this calmed me down a bit. The food came, as well as the sweat.

After the duck came, and a few liters of sweat later, Collin asks, " is it hot?" We all wipe our brow, smile and say, " Yi Diar ye bu la."