Antoine – Yunnan travel adviser at China Roads
A few questions for Antoine – his story, advice and favourites
How did you end up in China?
I was drawn to China quite early on in my language studies (English/Spanish). I was drawn to the country because of its writing system, which is different from ours. So I wanted to study a language that was completely different from what I knew, in order to see the world from a different angle and gain a more global view of humanity. After finishing my DEUG LEA, I decided to do a BTS in hotel and restaurant management. My idea was that if I could speak English and Spanish and was competent in this field, I’d never be unemployed! Once I’d passed my BTS, I was lucky enough to be accepted onto the Professional Licence in Culinary Arts and Tableware at the University of Angers, with a major in Chinese gastronomy. As part of this degree, I was lucky enough to do a 3-month work placement in catering in a major hotel in Guangzhou from June to August 2006, which was a very memorable experience that confirmed my orientation towards the East. On my return from China, I enrolled again at university, studying languages with a Chinese option. My Chinese teacher put me in touch with Binzhou University in Shandong to go and teach French. So it was in September 2007 that I arrived in China in a stable position. I’ve been living there ever since, with the firm intention of staying for a while!
Where do you live now?
After starting my career as a French teacher, and then as a freelance translator in Shandong for 8 years, the climate in the north of China no longer suited me and I wanted to live in a region closer to nature, in a less urban context, to find a place where I could grow my own garden, and do more hiking and outings in nature. Then I heard about Dali in Yunnan, a place that seemed to suit me perfectly. Without ever having been there before, I decided to move there at the beginning of 2016 and I really don’t regret that choice at all because I found what I was looking for in my life, and I still congratulate myself every day for having taken that decision.
What’s your favourite place in China?
Without hesitation, I’d say Yunnan in general, where the climate is pleasant all year round. There is great ethnic and therefore cultural diversity, as well as a wide variety of landscapes, flora and fauna and different types of cuisine. It’s my favourite province in China because there’s always something new to discover. My favourite place in Yunnan is of course Dali, a small town very well situated between the first mountain of the Himalayan range (Cangshan Mountain) and a large lake in the shape of an ear: Lake Erhai. I can’t get enough of the scenery here, the locals are very warm and welcoming and the population is cosmopolitan, with Chinese from every province and foreigners from the four corners of the world all coming here for the same reason: to enjoy every day of life, watching the clouds blow by in the wind, the sun shine and the rain fall, far from the stress of the big cities and ‘modern’ life.
When should you leave?
Autumn and spring are the best seasons to visit China in general, and Yunnan in particular, as the temperatures are neither too cold nor too hot and rainfall is less. In Yunnan, summer is rainy, but this still has a certain charm, as rainbows are often seen. Winter has lower temperatures, but as the skies are generally clear, it’s still very pleasant all year round. As for the rest of China, I’d say that summer and winter are not recommended north of the Yangtze, as it gets very hot in summer and very cold in winter.
An experiment to carry out?
Pick leaves and make your own tea at the foot of Cangshan Mountain, or for the more adventurous, join the ‘cloud path’ from the town of Dali, walk along it for a few kilometres, plunge into an icy torrent as you go before descending to the temple of the goddess Guanyin and enjoy a marble pierrade for dinner. The hike through the Tiger Leaping Gorges is also a must for lovers of breathtaking scenery.
Where in China would you like to return to?
The Great Wall of China, the Jingshanling section, is truly magnificent and not often visited by the masses. During his great march from south to north, Mao Ze Dong made the famous statement: ‘Anyone who doesn’t make it to the wall is not brave’. As far as I’m concerned, I could do with a little more bravery.
A favourite hotel?
My personal favourite would be 12 Manor Residence in the Yuanyang region, where you can take a hot bath in your room with a direct view of the rice terraces, a UNESCO World Heritage site.
What travel destinations do you recommend in China?
Yunnan, of course, but also Guangxi and Sichuan, in my opinion the three most interesting regions in terms of culture and geography.
Do you have a book or film you’d like to see before travelling to China?
For books: ‘Entretien du maitre avec ses disciples’ is the Confucian reference, the ‘Dao De Jing’ is the Taoist reference, which allows you to grasp the deepest cultural foundations, the ‘Yijing’ is the traditional divination book based on the 64 Taoist hexagrams, and I also suggest that you study the 5 elements of traditional Chinese medicine.
Films: Tsui Hark’s Chinese Feast and Tsui Hark’s films in general, Wong Kar Wai’s films including Chongqing Express and Once Upon a Time in China with Jet Li, to name but a few.
A restaurant or dish you love
My favourite dish is the ‘northern China’ version of Chinese fondue: a clear broth in which thin slices of lamb or beef are quickly cooked before being dipped in a sauce that you make yourself from sesame cream, it’s completely addictive. For a more affordable budget, I recommend that you go at least once to a ‘Lanzhou pulled noodle’ restaurant. ‘Pulled noodle’ in Chinese is called ‘Lamian’ and is in fact the Chinese version of the famous Japanese ‘Ramen’. He rolls them, stretches them, taps them on the work surface and repeats the operation several times to obtain very thin, very long noodles. These restaurants generally offer the same menu of dishes typical of the Hui Muslim community in Lanzhou, which is a veritable institution in China, I’d say the equivalent of our French-style jambon-beurre.
A souvenir to bring back from China?
Yunnan tea cakes that improve with age like French wine, decorative tea cakes that ‘suck up bad energy’, Chinese chopsticks, tea services…
Any last words of advice?
Don’t be shy when the locals stare at you, install the Pleco app on your phone.