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| Sometimes things are just plain weird in China. Like having to use scissors to pour milk out of a baggie for your morning Cuban coffee. And they are not refrigerated. |
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| Li Ang took a group of us teachers to Sam's Club this morning so that we could try to locate some of our favorite foods and such from home. This is my friend, Zuong, from Vietnam, who was so excited to find one of her favorite fish... |
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| ,,,and I found my first fish heads at Sam's Club- of all places! Not that I plan on making fish head soup anytime soon. Ewww. |
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| We hit the bonanza at Sam's Club- I found tortilla's, more avocados, spaghetti sauce, Malibu coconut rum, and Yellow Tail Merlot. Now I need house guests :) I only struck out on taco seasoning packets and an Oxyclean stain stick. If I have guests, bring me those in your suitcase, and I'll treat you to a trip around Beijing! Oh, throw in a jar of peanut butter, too- it's the one thing I can find here, but it's expensive, lol. |
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| If you remember, we have a three day weekend to celebrate the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival. It is typically held on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month. It is tradition for families to spend their time together, picnicking in the parks and celebrating the full moon with moon cakes. It is also tradition to pick up fall leaves and take them home to display in your home. Well, the festival fell early this year, and the trees are all still very green. So about the city, there are bucket trucks wrapping fall silk leaves into the trees. They must have bought out all the silk leaves at every Dollar Tree store they could find. Oh wait. there is no Dollar Tree in China...China supplies those silk flowers to all the Dollar Tree stores back in the States, lol. |
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| We took the subway past Ti'anamen Square to the Wafujing walking street. It's a very popular commercial pedestrian street in Beijing where you can get your shopping fix. It was a bit strange; I thought we boarded the subway in Beijing, but it looked like we popped up in London, looking at Big Ben, lol. |
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| I've read about this bookstore, and I was so happy to find it. 15 floors of books for me to browse :) I am saving this trip for a cold winter's Saturday, when I can while away the day sipping coffee and pouring over books to my heart's content. I am such a nerd sometimes. |
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| No time for books today, we came to experience the famous Dong Hua Men Night Market. I'm sure you've seen it on the Travel channel, Discovery channel or Food Network back home. I know I have...and now it was time to get up close and personal with all sorts of oddities to eat- if I was feeling that brave. |
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| Zuong and I were on a mission! |
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| Just the whole scene...the lights, the people, the shouting, the craziness of it all was entertaining by itself. We started with an ear of corn to warm up! It was terrible- nothing like Indiana sweet corn. Dang it. |
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| I was not interested in the octopus either. I tried that on the first day here at the crazy lunch buffet they took us to, and it promptly gave me my first experience with a public squatty potty. |
Eat a scorpian? or seahorse? No thank you.
The next booth sold starfish. I passed on that, too.
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| Snails with chili peppers? Passed on that, too. |
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| Wee little lobsters? They weren't even legal size, and I wasn't about to suck out their heads. Passed on that, too. |
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| Fancy potato chips?! Now you're talking my language! |
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| Fancy rice balls with 'chicken' filling- eh, it was okay. |
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| Roasted chestnuts are bitter; but very popular here. They are grown locally. |
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| The homemade granola bars are fabulous. They pound the nuts down in to a paste, then add more nuts, oats, and fruits. They form it into a loaf, and dip the whole thing in caramelized butter and sugar that hardens like candy apples. You then buy the entire loaf, or individual slices. Delicious :) |
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| As were the candied skewers of fruit :) |
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| This vendor was blowing the hot caramelized butter and sugar like glass and was making animal shapes. You could have a bull, a pig, whatever you want. Look closely at the bottom right corner. The candied rooster was ALL MINE, lol. |
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| I could not, would not, stomach the cow's stomachs. Ewww. |
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| Nor would I eat what looked like roasted pigeons with their heads still on. Now I know why I've never seen a pigeon in Beijing. Maybe they eat the damn things. (paying homage to Cousin Eddie in Christmas vacation :) |
The whole evening was an exhilarating assault to the senses.
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| We heard some Chinese opera being performed down another corridor so we decided to check it out. Chinese opera is performed by all male actors, even the female characters in traditional Chinese make up and dress are male actors. It's kind of like FantaSea Fest in Key West, only different! |
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| We decided to sit down to some 'real' Chinese food and enjoy the show. I have been pleasantly surprised to find so many Chinese noodle dishes have cilantro. Generally, you would only find that in Mexican food at home. I love fresh cilantro; I used to grow it in my herb garden back home. The plate in the center contained thin slices of tender, seasoned beef, that was wrapped in rice paper and grilled. They were delicious- the best meat I have eaten since I have been here- as tender as a chuck roast :) I was a happy girl, if only I could find a margarita in this town, lol. |
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| My interest in the Chinese opera was distracted by yet another look at a toddler in traditional split pants. Don't even get me started, I will save an entire blog post to their idea of potty training in split pants. As it is, I feel like a pedophile even snapping a picture of the rear view. |
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| With our bellies satisfied, we moved on to the non-food vendors and got an early start to Christmas shopping- so many pretty things to see and take in :) |
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| Who wouldn't want a paper hat? You might when you see what the crippled kid does with his paper hat... |
That's somethin' else, huh?
We stood and watched this guy do about twenty different
hairstyles with one barrette. I had to have one :) I
doubt I will even be able to make a ponytail with it,
but thankfully it came with a dvd to show me how.
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| After our fill of the Dong Hua Men market, we spilled back on to the street for some more serious shopping...Emily and Ellen, there was H & M (our fav!), Zara, Forever 21, Sephora, and so many others :) Zuong was living in Thailand before moving to China, so she also has not experienced a winter season in years. She cleaned up on blazers and sweaters! I got a blazer for myself, and continued with a little more Christmas shopping. A girl's night out with a new girl friend was just what the doctor ordered :) G'nite, y'all! |
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