die. Also I found that some hospitals had secured advanced technology medical instrumentation such as $ 240,000 echo systems and multi-million dollar cardiac catheter laboratories. I was trying to contract with them to provide education for these procedures and an on call 24 hour a day assistance. I was unsuccessful in my efforts as I was about 10 years too early in the evolution of China’ s politics. I did manage to meet some extremely interesting people including the family of the consultant that I used to allow me to experience local life. My consultant / interpreter was an ex-supreme court judge and had many contacts throughout China. Her family were so warm and friendly and we had so much fun as I ate dinner and other meals with them in their apartment. We then had so many banquets with the hospital CEOs and their entourage as we traveled extensively throughout China. Each region wanted to show off their unique cuisine. I did tell my consultant that I did not want to eat any organs or animals other than cows and chickens.
Soldier on Great Wall, Beijing, China Photo by Barry Epstein
The banquets in each Province were delightful and sequential. The first course that always came out was the local delicacies. These were presented nicely on the table and a Lazy Susan, rotating tray, allowed everyone to take what they wanted. Rice was not served at this point and we ate and drank their rice wine until I sat back in a gesture that I was satisfied. Then everyone smiled and they took away the first course and brought out the second course and this time rice was served. The food now was varied and my interpreter kept a close eye to make sure that I did not consume dog or body parts. Again, I sat back to indicate that I could not eat anymore. But this did not trigger another course, as people kept feeding until they were full. There was some serious shoveling of food from their rice bowls into their mouths and some serious drinking. Apparently, these types of feasts are rare for them
Mother and Child, China Photo by Barry Epstein
and only occur when a VIP arrives. After a while they took away the food as I sat back in the chair ready to undo my belt buckle. Then to my surprise, they served me a very large bowl of dumplings! I guess this was to fill me up in case I wasn’ t already full.
One time during the second course of food a very special dish was brought out. I didn’ t realize the significance of this dish at the time but I figured it out later on. The Chinese are very superstitious and this dish was to determine the outcome of doing business with them. Immediately after this dish appeared on the table, my host used his chop sticks to indicated that I was to take from the dish, raise the chopsticks and dip the food into his wine. He kept doing this over and over again. So I took some of the glazed noodles and raised it upwards and I then dipped it into his wine glass and ate the noodles. Everyone looked stunned and then the laughter started and got louder and louder and one person actually fell backwards. I looked to my interpreter and she was crying because she was laughing so hard. I asked her what happened. She said that I was supposed to dip the food into my wine glass not his and I had caused a faux pas of enormous proportions. But thankfully, it was all in fun. The story goes that when I take the
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