This is Randi Hacker with another Postcard from Abroad from the KU Center for East Asian Studies.

Here in China, rice and noodles have been the staple food for millennia. Dynasties have risen and fallen, grand canals have been dug and forsaken, characters have been created and simplified but rice and noodles? Stable staples. But rice and wheat are water-intensive so China has recently embarked on a campaign to shift public affection from these ancient grains to something more low-maintenance…the white potato. Introduced to China about 400 years ago, the potato’s high caloric value was a factor in the country’s population boom during the early Qing dynasty. Today, the potato is perfect for China’s parched soil. Since it has a reputation as a poor man’s food, the PR challenge is to spin this by offering a wealth of new potato-based dishes: Kung Pao potatoes, potatoes with cucumber, potato ice cream, potato –flavored cookies and steamed potato buns. Wait. What about vodka?

With thanks to Megan Phelps for this idea, from the KU Center for East Asian Studies, I’m Randi Hacker. Wish you were here.