You ask, you get…

Nonetheless, I’ve taken your written requests seriously. I’ve gotten permission to send the Sailing on Your Stomach articles individually, as published in Blue Water Sailing, to our Aboard Lulu mailing list directly and to post them to the website.

Currently these pieces will dribble out into print at the rate of one every two months—unless there’s a groundswell (or sea-surge) of approval in the form of Letters to the Editor. No, I’m not suggesting you, my loyal readers, commit such morally reprehensible—and easily detectable—dishonesties, but with some such unsolicited luck, eventually they’ll appear monthly.

Which would be quite excellent, since I’ve been writing them at the rate of about three per month. And “researching” at the rate of 10 a month, which a cursory glance at my lower torso would confirm.

This introductory piece was printed as an endpaper, in their Blue Horizons column. It did not address food per se, but rather their question “What is your favorite anchorage?”

My answer—predictable to some—was plural.

L'Epi Soleil (January 2008)
Heidi's Honeymoon Beach (September 2007)
Tommy Cantina (April 2007)
Paradise Exponentially (March 2007)
Grace Before Meals (June 2007)
Hurricane Chavez (September 2007)

The LULU’s traveled China—a good part of that vast country, actually--in September/October 2007.

Skipping the Slow-Boat-to- option, we launched ourselves on a 35-day passage by 747—2 over-the-top (of the world) crossings, 9 interior flights, 19 separate hotel check-ins, plus one overnight train excursion and too-numerous-to-count van expeditions.

The logs that follow detail our experiences of this phenomenal and surprising country. Written sometimes by Gary, sometimes by me (you’ll be able to tell the difference stylistically and, of course, by their comparative length) they were originally emails sent to people at home who requested such commentary. Or, to those we decided would be happy about (as opposed to affronted by) having our observations about China appear unsolicited in their mailboxes. A third category of recipients was literally Shanghai’ed by genetic accident—that would be our kids.

Word-of-mouth caused a modest groundswell of demand to develop amid friends who ran the gamut from merely curious to slightly miffed to feeling excluded altogether--but mostly to downright insistent about wanting to read them.

So we’ve decided to post them on this website.

If you’re in none of these categories—or in the exclusive but largely accidental group who have already gotten them--we apologize. Pass them by.

But meanwhile, here they come…

Hello From Somewhere In China
BIG
On to Urumqi (OR) How's The Food In China?
The "Heavenly" Lake
Kashgar, home of the bizarre and the bazaar
Bulletin from Lhasa
China Flabbergasts
Guests of Tiger
Livin' Large in Tiger Land
Formula 1
Bettering Busby
China Distillation: Getting it right, getting it wrong