Queueing for dumplings

Normally I go to the place across the road and get my dumplings to go, but I've grown a bit tired of them. They're pretty tasteless, or at least I've come to believe they are. So I decided to go wandering down Langao road to see what I could find. It's a public holiday here at the moment, as it is the Tomb Sweeping holiday. But shops were open..

I came across this place, and got in line. Then I saw they were handing over not money, but tickets. So I asked the last lady in the queue where she got hers and she told me inside at the counter (asked and told being generous descriptions of a series of gestures). So I headed inside and bought two tickets at 3.5 yuan each.

They sold out just as I neared the front of the line. Then they refilled the pan with fresh ones, and covered it with this lid.

Eventually, they were cooked. It took several minutes, if not five to ten of them. I lost track of time because spit while he talks dude in the line in front of me decided to speak lots of Mandarin at me. Apparently he works at some sort of processing plant and he liked my cellphone, which was an ipod touch.

The serving lady sprinkled spring onion across the dumplings.

Scooped up two tickets worth.

Prepared to put the pottle in the bag. When I first arrived, someone wanted a second pottle over their served pottle full of dumplings to keep them warm and fresh or something. The serving lady wasn't going to be having any of that sort of frippery going on.

And handed over to me. The thing about dumplings is that they are filled full of scorching hot broth. I have to spend five to ten minutes walking home and even then they're just cool enough to eat.

Good stuff.