From Our Own Correspondent: An Appreciation
Travel Blog • Frank Bures • 10.12.06 | 6:15 AM ET
Late last month, the BBC’s Andrew Harding ate at an unusual restaurant in Beijing. He reported back to the Beeb for the show that is one of my favorites anywhere, and a real gem for many of us who love good, vivid travel writing: From Our Own Correspondent. As Harding sat in the restaurant, he stared at the the grey and shiny food on his plate:
“Russian dog,” says my waitress Nancy.
“Big dog,” I reply.
“Yes,” she says. “Big dog’s penis…”
Harding’s story was on the Guolizhuang restaurant, which claims to be the only penis-specializing dinner establishment in China. It’s a typically interesting piece for the show, which lets reporters stretch their legs and contribute personal anecdotes, funny conversations, thoughtful musings or about whatever they encounter in their travels that moves them.
I have been a fan of the show for 10 years, and have found in it some of the most moving and transporting stories I’ve ever heard. When I can’t travel, the show lets me close my eyes and forget where I am for half an hour, being whisked across the world to odd corners, being taken to bizarre ceremonies and festivals and sitting down for intimate dinners far off the beaten path. FooC celebrated its 50th anniversary last year and put up a website with some of its most historic dispatches from Rwanda to Vietnam to Washington D.C. It also has Fergal Keane’s Letter to Daniel, which puts the program into perspective.
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