The aquariums are a bit overwhelming -- there are dozens, each with its living display of seafood laid out before me. As with many popular restaurants in China, the customers are poring over and sizing up the food while servers encouragingly prod and corral their livestock. There are clams from Canada, abalone from South Africa and locally caught crabs.

    I am in Nanning, Guangxi’s capital city. 

    I both love and hate eating out in China. The food is always amazingly fresh and wonderfully prepared, but the noise and speed means it is rarely relaxing. I am pretty tired, as we are nearing the end of a field trip in which we will eventually drive 4,000 kilometers, staying in 15 hotels and collecting plants in 25 caves.

    South China is home to one of the largest and oldest expanses of exposed limestone in the world, weathered into intricate peaks and massive caves over the past 240 million years. We were lucky to obtain funding to compile an inventory of a group of plants in the nettle family that grow in these caves. These delicate, succulent and stingless plants have very unusual flowers. Collecting them has involved some of the most breathtaking experiences of my career. 

    As I stare at a small cluster of vulnerable-looking octopi suctioned to the side of their aquarium, I feel jolted by the noise and bustle around me. I ask a friend why it seems that everyone is always shouting, laughing or singing in Chinese restaurants. He looks amused: “In China, if you eat alone or are very quiet, then you must be very afraid.” 

    When I ask why, he replies: “If you eat alone or are very quiet, it means you have no friends -- if you have no friends, it means you could die.” This makes me feel a whole lot better.

    Source: The Independent

 在中国不要孤独就餐

       玻璃缸里的东西真是不少，足足有几十种，而且每一种都有海鲜菜品展示。中国有很多非常受欢迎的餐馆，顾客们在思考和品评到底点哪道菜时，服务员就在一旁准备着现给你捞，玻璃缸里有来自加拿大的蛤蜊、来自南非的鲍鱼以及本地产的螃蟹。

       我身处南宁，中国南部广西壮族自治区的首府。

       我对在中国吃饭是既爱又恨。爱的是食物总是很新鲜，而且做得很好吃，恨的是环境嘈杂，吃得又很快，难以放松。我非常疲劳，因为我们此行驱车4000公里，住过15家宾馆，在25个洞穴收集过植物。

       中国南方是全世界规模最大、最古老的裸露石灰岩地区之一。在过去2.4亿年里，形成了错综复杂的山峰和大量的洞穴。我们非常幸运能够得到资助来编撰一本有关生长于这些洞穴里的荨麻科植物的详细目录。这些植物脆弱、多汁、无刺，开着极其与众不同的花。采集这些植物是我职业生涯中最惊险的经历之一。

       当我盯着一小群吸附在玻璃缸一侧的章鱼时，周边的嘈杂和忙碌令我感到失望。我问一个朋友，为什么在中国的餐馆里每个人总是在大喊大叫、放声大笑甚至是引吭高歌。他笑着说：“在中国，如果你一个人吃饭或者吃饭时很安静，那么你一定会非常害怕。”

       我问为什么，他说：“如果你一个人吃饭或者很安静，这说明你没有朋友，如果没有朋友，这意味着你可能生不如死。”这种解释让我感觉好多了。