Drunk in Northern Shaanxi

Shannxi Association of Canada

2025/12/8

Life is full of firsts. My first time getting drunk was in the winter of the year I graduated high school and went to work in the countryside in northern Shaanxi. It wasn't that I was a heavy drinker; I simply had no idea that alcohol could make someone drunk.

I remember it was a snowy day in December, close to the Lunar New Year. A young man from the village, a friend of mine who had returned home, invited me to his house. His mother had made Shaanxi rice wine and fried cakes for me to try. His family lived in a three-room stone cave dwelling on a hillside in the village. The yard was very tidy, and they had a big white dog. I often went to his house, and the dog recognized me. As soon as I entered the yard, the dog saw me and wagged its tail, rubbing against my trousers to show its affection. After entering, I greeted the auntie. She was very welcoming, gesturing for me to sit down, and then brought out the piping hot rice wine and steaming hot fried cakes and fried bread. It was my first time drinking Shaanxi rice wine. Shaanxi rice wine is a bit like thick millet porridge, sweet and sour, it's delicious. The deep-fried golden-brown cakes and steamed buns are also very tasty. I said to the aunt, "Auntie, your rice wine is delicious, I like it. The fried cakes and steamed buns are also delicious; I like them too. Thank you, Auntie!" The aunt smiled and said, "I'm glad you like it. I was just worried that you, a city kid, wouldn't be used to our rural food. If you like it, eat more and drink more." I said, "Okay!" As I ate, I chatted with the aunt and her son, my good friend. Her kang (heated brick bed) was warm and cozy. Sitting on the warm kang, eating Shaanxi fried cakes and steamed buns, drinking Shaanxi rice wine, and talking about everything under the sun, with snowflakes falling outside the window, the scene was exceptionally warm and cozy. In those days, there was a well-known song called "The Red Flowers of Shandan Mountain Bloom Brightly." The lyrics included these lines: "Steaming hot fried cakes, hey hey cough yo, set them on the table, hey hey cough yo, bubbling rice wine offered to loved ones, come on, gather around loved ones, hey hey cough yo, sit on the warm kang, hey hey cough yo, heartfelt words fly from the depths of the heart, come on, hey hey cough yo." I was immersed in the scene described in the lyrics. Before I knew it, I had drunk two or three bowls of rice wine in conversation. Who knew that rice wine would have such a strong aftereffect? ​​In no time, I was completely drunk, lying unsteadily on the warm kang. It was a long, long time before I woke up.

This was my first experience of being drunk. Although decades have passed in the blink of an eye, I still remember that snowy December day when I was first drunk, the warm kang, the sweet and sour Shaanxi rice wine, the steaming hot fried cakes and fried buns. I also remember the kind, hospitable aunt and my good friend. In short, the rice wine of northern Shaanxi is delicious, and the fried cakes and fried dough sticks of northern Shaanxi are also very tasty. The people of northern Shaanxi are simply: dear!