Meals could be quite exotic, the Joneses discovered. During one, they sat around a table with a gas burner in the center and a large container filled with hot spices and bubbling broth and a smaller container with not quite so hot spices and broth. With each meal, the Joneses found some pleasant surprises and some things they expected. Rice, as one would expect, is very prevalent. Breakfasts included quail eggs and oatmeal.
Restaurants typically have a lazy susan at each table.
Watermelon is a favorite for dessert. The Joneses traveled through China by plane, bus, foot and boat. Going down the brown muddy Yangtze River from Chongqing, then transferring to smaller boats to explore the majestic mountainside gorges along the Daning River, the Joneses learned that much of what they saw would eventually be submerged under water when the largest dam in the world is built. Whole villages will be moved and millions of people will have to be taken to higher ground when the Three Gorges Dam causes water levels to rise about 600 feet above current levels. The dam is expected to become a source of much-needed electricity and will also help control floods and irrigation.