Some random remarks:

The idea that "mantou" could have fillings is not at all foreign to the Chinese. For instance, the most famous restaurant for Shanghai-style small steamed dumplings (上海小笼包) in the city's City God Temple (城隍庙) area is the Nanxiang Maotou Restaurant, but it doesn't sell any mantou as commonly known - it only sells baozi. And if you ask older people from the region, they will tell you that baozi was once commonly known as mantou there.

The commonly known mantou (without any filling) doesn't just reach as far west as Eastern Europe, but deep into Western Europe. In Germany, it is called Dampfnudel (lit. steam noodle), and it has the exact same shape, size, look, smell, taste and consistency as the mantou you would get in Beijing (there are less common variants, including those with filling, and those that are steam-fried). The only difference is that the Germans most usually eat it with sweet vanilla sauce - the same sauce you put on a piece of pie. (But they eat their Dampfnudel as "main staple", whereas the pie is eaten as dessert.)

Speaking of "main staples" (主食) in Germany, the Germans do have such a concept, only they call it Beilage, which means "laid by (the side)" - pretty much the opposite of "main stable".

And speaking of noodles with vanilla sauce, the Russians have pelmeni (which is the same as jiaozi) with vanilla sauce fillings - or cherry sauce fillings, too. I could never get used to that.

Recommendations

Jen:

1. Foreign Devils on the Silk Road: The Search for the Lost Treasures of Central Asia, by Peter Hopkirk

http://www.amazon.com/Foreign-Devils-Silk-Road-Treasures/dp/0719564484

2. The Road to Oxiana, by Robert Byron

http://www.amazon.com/The-Road-Oxiana-Robert-Byron/dp/0195325605

David:

Wealth and Power: China's Long March to the Twenty-first Century, by John Delury and Orville Schell

http://www.amazon.com/Wealth-Power-Chinas-Twenty-first-Century/dp/0679643478/

Kaiser:

The Enemy at the Gate: Habsburgs, Ottomans and the Battle for Europe, by Andrew Wheatcroft (audiobook)

http://www.amazon.com/The-Enemy-Gate-Habsburgs-Ottomans/dp/B002R85JEK

I have to take issue with the love given to 羊肉泡馍 (Yangrou Paomo) in Xi'an. I was there in March and spent several days on a quest to find the authentic stuff, but of the 20 or so restaurants I came across (in the Muslim quarter and well outside of the tourist areas), all serve a bowl full of machine diced bread, topped with soup and a razor thin slice of mutton for 25-35 yuan. It's a total rip-off. I've had excellent lamb soup with "mo" on the side in Xining, Hancheng, Taiyuan, Kaifeng, and Luoyang all for 10 yuan and more meat than is healthy to eat for breakfast.