Chinese Food:
The food in China is so unique, it deserves it's own page. Although some of this stuff is pretty bizzare, most of it was quite tasty. Most of the restaurants were accustomed to Americans, and our tour guide ordered for us most of the time. We shared several dishes among the tour group. The food was very good, although a bit too greasy after a while.
Open Air Market:
These open air food markets are quite popular throughout the country. The food is extremely fresh, and some of it looked quite tasty, until you take a closer look......
Live Snakes:
These guys are live, if you care to buy and cook for yourself.
Live Frogs:
Pork:
Fresh Spices:
I could have gone nuts in here trying all the different spices. It was all so aromatic and fresh. I didn't think I could get any of this stuff back through customs, so I didn't even try.
Fresh Spices:
Really Fresh Chicken:
At this booth, you select the chicken you want and the girl will kill it and clean it for you while you wait. It doesn't get much fresher than that!
Mystery Fruit:
We saw and ate many fruits and vegetables that I've never seen before in my life. I still don't know what alot of this stuff was, but it was very delicious. I'm sure some of this stuff would sell in the states if someone would ship it. When I asked our guide what some of them were, she said there was no word for them in the English language.
Snake Wine:
I suppose this is the Chinese version of the agave worm in a bottle of Tequila. I'm sure it's just a marketing ploy to lure stupid tourists to test their manliness. The Chinese are probably laughing at people who drink it. I was assured by a couple of French tourists that the wine tasted very good and had no hint of snake.
Walmart:
We just had to visit the Walmart in Beijing to see how the worlds greatest marketing giant does things in China. This store was by far the largest Walmart I've ever seen. It had seven floors, and each one was about 2/3 the size of an entire Walmart in the US.
Walmart:
It's all about presentation. The items are displayed in booths similar to the typical Chinese open air street markets. There weren't very many racks as common in the US.
Walmart Meat Market:
The bottom floor of the Walmart had a grocery store (actually a large supermarket). This floor was laid out very much like an American store, except for the items unique to Chinese cuisine.
Note the heads and feet still on the chickens.
Walmart Fish Market:
Really fresh fish, eel, and god knows what....
Walmart Fish Market:
More fresh fish, octapus, eel, and other strange creatures from the deep.
McDonalds:
Of coarse, there are McDonalds in every big city. We actually ate at one near the end of our trip when we were getting sick of Chinese food. It's pretty much the same as in the US, except the burgers are much smaller. Also, Kelly and I each had a meal with burger, fries, and drink for a total of about 3 Dollars US.
