Slumber Party Weekend, Plus the Awesomeness of Pulled Noodles

This weekend our Peace Corps regional director came to Chongqing in anticipation of the big meetings going on this week in Beijing, so several volunteers from nearby areas came into town to have dinner with him. A few of them crashed at my place. I'm not a woo girl, but, WOO, so much fun! It was just one big slumber party, and I love playing hostess, so I had a great time having them here.

Saturday lunch we went for noodles. I don't think I've posted pictures before of how delicious pulled noodles here are, so here goes. First, the cook prepares the noodles by pulling the freshly made dough like taffy, pounding it down, then pulling again and again until it strings up into noodles. It's magical. Here are a few pictures (notice the tables and chairs--these places are very casual):

And a close up of the dough-- he's smiling because he's shy:

The noodles are put into big pots of boiling water standing by:

And then the freshly boiled noodles are added to a bowl of beef broth, spicy oil, beef chunks, onion and cilantro:

Not very healthy, but delicious!