Enjoy A Hot Pot Meal In China

Hot Pot is like the Chinese version of fondue, minus the big pot of chocolate or cheese. 

A metal pot is filled up with simmering broth and placed in the center of a table.  The broth is filled with a variety of noodles, veggies, and meat.  Once cooked, the pieces are plucked out with chopsticks and dipped with a sauce.

The Hot pot has been around for more than 1000 years originating from Mongolia and gaining popularity during the Tang Dynasty. 

There are two varieties I was eager to try, the Mongolian Hot Pot, and the Chongqing (Sichuan) hot pot.  One with a subtle broth, and one with a spicy broth.

I had hired a local guide, Cathy during part of my stay in Beijing, and I asked her if she would take me for some hot pot.  It was a blessing to have her along for the ride cause she helped me buy things off the street like these candied hawthorn berries...

Don't mind that I wore everything I had in my luggage to keep me warm!   Also to save you a few bucks, skip the candied hawthorn berries.  It was DISGUSTING!

A Mongolian Hot Pot was exactly what we needed to warm our insides after a day of walking around in the blistering Beijing cold.  It was also inviting when they decorated our dips with a smiley face (see the bottom left of the above photo).    We ordered a variety of veggies, noodles, and meat.  We placed the noodles in first because they took longer to cook.  The meat cooked surprisingly quickly because they were thinly sliced.

The Mongolian Hot Pot was good, but I love my spice so I was super keen to try the Chongqing hot pot.

So during our stay in Chongqing we were treated with a free hotpot meal.  We were able to split the hotpot with one side spicy and the other side a wimpy traditional hotpot.  Guess which one I tried?  The one completely saturated with Sichuan chili peppers OBVIOUSLY!

I love spice, but I will be the first to admit that it was NOT easy!  I add sriracha sauce to just about everything, but this had my mouth on FIRE.  When I get Thai food I usually get a 5 or 6 on the spice scale, but this was easily a 10 on the scale!!  It was still really good, but only with a few Tums tablets as a chaser!

Date Accomplished:  March 2nd, 2012

Visit The Forbidden City And Tiananmen Square In Beijing

Tiananmen Square is a large open area in the city of Beijing adjacent to the Forbidden City.  It was built in 1651, and has grown 4 times in size since its original design.  In 1974 after the leader Mao passed away, the people built a mausoleum under the square.  There his body lays embalmed and open for public viewing.   Seeing Mao's body didn't really tickle my fancy, so I skipped out on that.

The square is most popular for the number of protests and demonstrations that have occurred on the square. The most famous occurring in 1989.  Students went on hunger strikes and occupied the area for several weeks, and at the end of the debacle hundreds to thousands of protesters were killed.  The media often referred to it as a "massacre."  When people are being randomly shot,  being run over by military tanks, and being burned alive, I think the media has every right to call it that.

Nowadays, apparently the square is used as a meeting place for some locals, although I don't see how you can find anyone in the vast sea of people.  It's like finding a needle in a two ton haystack.

A view of the Forbidden City from Jingshan Park

North of Tiananmen Square is the Forbidden City, and it is faaaaaar more impressive than the Square.  Built during the Ming Dynasty and housing 24 emperors over a course of hundreds of years, the Forbidden City is located in the heart of Beijing. 

The Forbidden City consists of almost 1000 buildings, and nearly 9000 rooms!  Imagine having to clean that place!  I have a difficult enough time with my 3 bedroom home!  The city is also surrounded by a high wall and moats.

It is mind boggling to think that the Forbidden City took only 14 years to be built considering how massive it is.  La Sagrada Familia in Spain has been under construction since 1882, and even with modern technology it will still take an approximate 15 more years to complete!!  The manpower to build the City was an apparent million hard working souls!

Walking through the city was majestic.  The ornate construction of the buildings, and just the sheer size of the place would make anyone stop with awe.  Most of the city is off limits, and you are not allowed to see much of the interior of the buildings (besides going through the buildings to get to the next square).  Even though most of the city is restricted it still took 3 hours to walk one end to the other.

If you are a history buff, I suggest getting the audio guide or hiring a local guide.  The buildings do start to look alike otherwise; and getting a history lesson of each help in deciphering the buildings.

Date Accomplished:  March 5th 2012

Take A Calligraphy Class

I have always been interested in calligraphy, and wanted to learn how to write my name in Hanzi (Chinese lettering).   While traveling in Yangshuo, China, I had an opportunity to take a calligraphy class. I have (at least I think I have) fairly nice handwriting so I thought this class would be a walk in the park.  I was wrong.

We went to Mr Young's studio to take our class.  He was an awesome teacher, and was very patient when I got frustrated and on the verge of giving up.  He first taught us how to hold our calligraphy brush, and how to dip our brushes into the ink pot.  This is an art in itself. 

We first learned how to write the numbers.  Mr Young did this so that we could learn how to draw the basic strokes.  Once we graduated from the numbers, Mr Young wrote our names on our calligraphy sheets.   We then made every attempt to replicate his writing.

I tried to white out that bottom bit, but thought a mustache would be a better alternative.  What do you think? 

At the top of the sheet is Mr Young's version of my name, and the bottom portion is mine.  It was pretty difficult, and it gave me a greater appreciation of anyone that knows how to write in Chinese.

The biggest plus of taking this class was that later in the evening while shopping the Yangshuo markets I decided to get a hand carved calligraphy stamp of my name.  I was able to proof check the artists work to make sure he wasn't ripping me off by writing a different name! 

Date Accomplished:  March 22nd 2011

Top 10 Things In China That Made Me Say WTF!

March 18th, 2013

Last year around this time I was traveling around China, and truthfully, it was a bit of a culture shock.  These were a few things that made me go WTF......

1.  Glasses With No Lenses-  The first time I saw this was when I was in an elevator filled with Chinese teeny boppers, I looked up at the girl next to me and noticed her lense-less glasses.   The elevator opened up only to find another group of teeny boppers with similar frames. This became an ongoing joke.  So one day while we were out shopping in Shanghai, we found several stores selling lenseless glasses.  We decided to buy a few (after bargaining of course) to "embrace" the culture.

2.  Public Ear Cleaning-  While traveling in Chengdu, China we were approached by men with rusty sticks with cotton like poofs at the end of them (that's what she said).  "Clean, Ear" they yelled.  I was familiar with the practice since I had seen it on an episode of No Reservations.  I somehow talked my friend Rance into doing it, and the look on his face says it all!  The unsanitary rods were placed into his ears, and with a metal instrument they would tap to cause a slight vibration ringing. 

3. The Beijing Nightmarkets- In Beijing, they have dedicated night markets specifically for selling edible bugs.  I even ate one.  It wasn't exactly the bugs that made me say WTF, but it was some of the other things they were selling like Sheep Penis!

4.   Chinese Hitch "Hiking"- While taking a hike in Emeishan I was surprised at the amount of men offering rides up and down the mountain.  The Chinese definitely do not dress to hike.  I saw many women wearing high heels, and fancy dresses as if they were ready to go to the clubs.  Then I saw a man in a full suit and dress shoes taking a ride around the mountain as if he were royalty.  Really people?

5.  The Lack of Western Toilets- Savor that picture, because western toilets can be a rare site in China.  In China, the most popular type of toilet are squat toilets.  It is basically a hole in the ground.  Some places (like in train stations) the "toilet" was a long flowing trough!  So in other words you would know exactly what your bathroom neighbor was doing because it would swim by your stall!   Some bathrooms didn't even have stalls or doors!

On overnight trains the squat toilet would "flush" right onto the tracks.  There was never toilet paper, and rarely could I find soap by the sinks.  At one place I stayed we had a blackout in the communal bathroom.  I had enough practice that I was able to use the squats in the dark with a flashlight in my mouth, and toilet paper and hand sanitizer in the other.    When I arrived in Hong Kong I almost wanted to kiss the first western toilet I saw!  I will NEVER choose a squat over my beloved porcelain throne. 

6.  The Constant Gawking- My previous post about this subject says it all!  The photo above was on an overnight train.  We were surrounded by curious stalking locals like this!

7.  Sichuan Opera- I cannot believe I paid to watch this.  It was one of the most bizarre and random things I have ever seen.  The Sichuan Opera was a collection of various acts, with the acts ranging from acting, very high pitched singing, music, face mask swapping, and even a shadow puppeteer.

8.  The Chinese Version of Online Dating (minus the online part)- While walking through a park in Chengdu we noticed groups of people looking at pieces of paper attached along a line of bushes.  We found out it was like online dating meets old school personals.  Some of the "profiles" even had photos. My friend Emma may have found the man of her dreams.

9.  Public Transportation-  Don't let our smiles deceive you, inside we were terrified! I have never hated public transportation more than I did in China.   The pushing and shoving was insane.  I always had a fear of not being able to get on or off, and being left behind.

In Beijing my friend and I were almost separated while taking the subway.   We were attempting to get off the train when a barrage of impatient people sucked us back in.   We started yelling, and eventually someone that was outside successfully plucked us out.

The subways were always overcrowded, and often times we held onto each other since we had little to no space to hold onto anything.

Taxis in some areas were also very unreliable.  In Xi'an, a taxi driver tried to charge us an extra bogus fee that was not even on the receipt.  We didn't want to pay him the extra amount, in retaliation he refused to open the trunk until we gave him more money.  Because of this incident I ALWAYS have my luggage with me in the back seat.  This proved to be a life saver when I had a massive fight with a taxi driver in Hong Kong that ended with me being dropped off at a random hotel and throwing my bag out of the back seat.  The situation could have ended worst had I placed my bag in the trunk.

10.  Chinese Justin Bieber-  And I was like Baby, Baby, Baby....Ohh.  Last but certainly not least, my last WTF was China's version of Justin Bieber.  This man boy was allllllll over snack bags!  We called him CJB for short.  We created our own little scavenger hunt while at grocery stores, we called it "Who can find CJB."

. . . . . . . . . . .

I leave for my trip to the Middle East and Europe tomorrow morning.  I didn't want to completely abandon my blog while away so I have written a weekly post scheduled to be published every Monday.  If I don't respond to your emails and comments it just means that I have limited internet access, or I am having waaaay too much fun.  I hope it's the latter.  I will be updating my Instagram TripColor feed as often as I can. See you in May! 

Practice Tai Chi

Dancers in Chengdu

Going to a park or large public space early in the morning to practice Tai Chi is all the rage in China.

Tai Chi is a style of Chinese Martial Arts, however, Tai Chi has completely modernized in China and has become more like Tai Chi aerobics!

The best way to explain it to you is to actually SHOW you.....


During an early morning in Xi'an, just before heading off to see the Terracotta Warriors, a few of us bundled up in some of our warmest clothes to practice Tai Chi with the locals. Our guide told us that the locals love to share their love of Tai Chi with foreigners, and would likely welcome us with open arms. She was right. The lady in the purple jacket in the video was so welcoming and cheered us on as we tried to learn the steps.

I felt like I was doing the Chinese version of the Cupid Shuffle and Electric Slide. For me, that's not such a bad thing since I am the first one up on the dance floor when these songs play at weddings.  As you can clearly see from the smile on my face, I had a fantastic time!

As you can imagine, a group of foreigners dancing Tai Chi creates a big wave of attention, and in a matter of minutes our once small group transformed into a flash mob worthy dance crew.

We did encounter one man practicing more traditional Tai Chi and decided to join him for a few minutes just so we could experience both popular forms.

I also just realized it has been almost a year since I left for my trip to China, and I have barely scratched the surface of all the amazing things I did while I was there!  When you write a life list blog, you know you are doing life right when you have so much to write about!

Date Accomplished:  March 11th, 2012

Ride A Bike Through The Yangshuo Countryside

I loved Yangshuo.  I don't care what anyone says, it was one of my favorite spots in China.

Not only did most locals speak English, but I was able to go shopping, and go to a restaurant and easily order food without pulling my hair out of frustration.  It is a bit touristy in the central area, and unlike other areas of China you will (gasp) see other Western travelers.  It's definitely convenient for backpackers with its abundance of western food, wifi in restaurants, and bars and clubs for crazy nights out. 

The Yangshuo countryside was serene and beautiful.  It's not on the 20 yuan note for nothing.....

A popular thing to do while in town is renting a bike and taking a ride around the countryside.  Thankfully, Yangshuo is relatively flat, so the ride itself was absent of any difficult degree of elevation.

We rented our bikes in town, and our starting point was this beauty.....

Beautiful, right?  I told you so.

Yanghsuo is along the Li River, and is covered with hundreds of green peaks.  We took several scenic stops, as well as a stop near Moon Hill (a large mountain with a hole in it, think donuts) since a few of my friends wanted to go hiking to the top.   I opted out on the hike, and decided to relax at the bottom of the hill at a local cafe sipping on a smoothie.  Yum, yum. We also rode our bikes through several farms, and even met a few of the locals on our ride.

The people were so lovely.  This lady was along the Li River trying to repair one of her nets.  I asked her if I could take her photo and she was so ecstatic to have her photo taken.

The day before our bike ride it had poured rain in Yangshuo.  Somehow, I decided it would be a clever idea to ride ahead of my friends for the half day bike ride through the countryside.  As I was going up a hill I encountered two HUGE mud puddles.

Right or Left?  Think fast CeCe!

I decided to maneuver my way around the mud puddle to the left, but I quickly began to sink and FELL in the MUD!  My shoe and pants were covered with mud.  The rest of my friends saw me sinking in the puddle to the left, so they went around the puddle to the right which would have been the much wiser choice.   

The photo above was taken after I had spent almost half an hour cleaning the mud off my pants and shoes, and after yelling at my friend to frame the photo so that my muddy attire would be cropped out of it!  Thankfully I found a laundry service shortly after the bike ride!

We rode into a tiny town that welcomed us with real juggling monkeys, and then found a small restaurant that served locally grown food.  I always love supporting the small, independent restaurants.  We didn't have an opportunity to chose what we ate, everything we were fed was based on the food they got in the local markets.  The owners were so proud of their food and constantly  watched us eat searching for signs of approval.

We started becoming pretty silly (aka we were in the brink of lethargy and exhaustion) the last hour of our ride.  For instance we had the brilliant idiotic idea of taking the photo above while going uphill.  Look mom, no feet!   Do you know how difficult it is to ride a bike uphill without pedaling?  Phew, thankfully we had our ugly helmets to protect us from cracking our precious craniums.    Luckily there were many downhill slopes following this shot that allowed us to sail through the Yangshuo countryside.  It was my favorite part of the ride.

After our half day bike ride our bums felt like they had been whipped by a wooden paddle a good one hundreds times.  The following day I had a TWO hour massage and asked the masseuse if he could massage my butt. Yep, my bootie.  I sure hope he didn't think I wanted a "happy ending." 

Besides a very sore bum, the ride around the countryside was beautiful, peaceful, and exactly what I needed after a month in the polluted, crowded cities of China.

Date Accomplished:  March 20th, 2012

See The Terracotta Warriors

Me hanging with some fake terracotta warriors

The Number 1 reason people flock to Xi'an is to visit the famous Terracotta Warriors (sometimes called the Terracotta Army).  It is one of the greatest archaeological excavations of modern time.

Once upon a time, a long, long time ago (210 BC)....the first emperor of China pissed off a lot of people.  In order to protect himself during the afterlife he created an army made out of terracotta that would be buried with him.   It took over 700,000 workers in a span of  37 years to finish building his army.

In 1974 a group of farmers discovered the warriors while digging a well near Qin Emperor's Tomb.  One of the farmers was Yang Xinman, and I met him. In order to please the tourists, the surviving farmers all take turns sitting in the souvenir shop taking photos and signing autographs.

In all, there are three pits.  Inside these pits live 8,000 life-sized warriors, 130 chariots, and nearly 700 horses. 

• Pit One is the largest and most impressive of the bunch.  It houses long rows of thousands of warriors.
• Pit Two has more cavalry and infantry units, and still very much a work in progress.
• Pit Three is the command post with the high ranking officers, and the smallest of all the pits.

After taking a loop around Pit One you have the option to pay to have your photo taken in front of the pit.  The photographer attempted to bamboozle us out of an exuberant amount of money.  So naturally, we threw a fit.  The guy wouldn't budge with his price, so we walked away and created our own group photo.

We grabbed a young Chinese man walking by who spoke no English.  We then shoved our camera in his hands, and asked him to climb on a bench and take several pics of us.   I felt sorry for him for a second, but remembered the Chinese and their fascination of randomly taking photos of us.  We were probably the highlight of his day life. After taking our photos he scurried away with a big grin on his face.  I don't think he will ever see such a large group of ridiculously good-looking people again.  Just sayin.'

After that things got a little silly.  I don't know if the bitterly cold air was numbing our brain cells from functioning properly, or we had a severe acute case of ADHD. 

All jokes and silly photo poses aside, it was a pleasure to see such a huge part of Ancient Chinese history.  Despite the IMAX movie (if I could even call it that) being a huge letdown, the museum was a great way to see the warriors up close and to learn more about the history behind the warriors.

It's no surprise why The Terracotta Warriors are often referred to as the Eight World Wonder.

Date Accomplished:  March 11th 2012

Destination Uncovered: Chuandixia & Lingshui // China

August 16th, 2012

About a 2-3 hour drive away from Beijing are the UNESCO villages of Chuandixia and Lingshui.  If you have extra time in Beijing a trip to the ancient villages are worth a peek. My friend Elizabeth and I took the trip with a local guide, Cathy, and hired a driver for the day.

Our first stop was Chuandixia.  In the summer, the locals drive from Beijing to the village to get away from the chaos of the city.  We were the only tourists in the entire town.  The snow made it a challenge getting up and down the uneven ancient steps, and I even slipped at one point with my camera falling out of my pocket.   I blame it on the nonexistent banana peel underneath the snow.  Just sayin'.

When it was time for lunch, Cathy went from restaurant to restaurant yelling from the entrance if any were open.  Because of the poor weather, and the lack of tourists, most of the restaurants were closed.  We finally found one "restaurant."  I use the word restaurant lightly because it was pretty much like having lunch at someones home.  Inside the "restaurant" was a bed, a few tables, and an old TV aka a Studio Apartment.  My seat was the families bed that had an old, tattered comforter that had poorly translated English quotes on it.  If you think about it, it's pretty much genius, you get the best of both worlds, eating in bed and sitting around the table with family.

We gave Cathy free reign to pick our lunch.  She ordered us a few things that were forgettable, but the Chinese pancakes were fantastic.  The family worriedly stared at us as we ate, looking for signs of approval, or maybe because they were still trying to figure out how I slipped on that nonexistent banana peel.

I smiled, nodded my head, and they looked relieved.  Yes, the clumsy American girl likes our food!  High Five!

The second village we visited was Lingshui, and again we were the only tourists.  Cathy asked us if we wanted to pay $3 USD to have a local of the village tour us around.  Our local guide was Mr Tan who grew up in the village and didn't speak any English, so Cathy translated for us.  The village has been featured in several Chinese movies, and has unfortunately fallen apart since Mr Tan was a child.

He took us around his entire village, his old school, the new school, and we climbed up a hill to visit an old 2000 year old tree that supposedly gives people luck.  On our way down I asked Mr Tan if he lived nearby.  He asked me if I wanted to visit his home.  I said I did.  For the record, I don't normally invite myself into strangers homes, but Mr Tan was a pretty cool dude. He was like a Chinese Mr Miyagi.  He took us to his home, offering us potatoes he had cooked that morning, and introducing us to his father.  The experience was $3 well spent.

The Great Wall, the Forbidden City, and Tiananmen Square are places you need to see while in Beijing,  but you don't gain an insight of the locals like you do with a visit to the ancient villages.  It truly was a peek into their lives, and into their homes as well.  :)

'Impressions' Light Show In Yangshuo, China

Did you love the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic games?  Then you will love 'Impressions (aka Liu Sanjie).'

The director is the famous Zhang Yimou who directed the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic games.  If you haven't seen it, then you should, cause it's pretty wonderful.

That was a decent try London, I know the Beijing opening ceremony was a tough performance to follow.

The impressive Light Show plays in the little Chinese countryside of Yangshuo.  Using a natural environment as its theatre, the Li River as its stage, and twelve lighted hills as its backdrop, it is a popular attraction in Yangshuo.

The stars of the show?  They are the 600 local people that work as fisherman during the day, and participate in this awesome light show at night. 

They allowed us to take videos and photos, so of course I recorded a few clips....


Some Things To Know:  The Cost is about $30 USD for general seating, and because it is outdoors their is a huge possibility that the show may be canceled due to rain or bad weather.  In fact, they gave us ponchos because it had rained earlier during the day.

Beijing Olympic Park

July 30th, 2012

 

In lieu of the Olympic craze, I thought I'd write about my experience of visiting Olympic Park in Beijing, home of the 2008 Olympic Games. 

A few miles away from the city center, it thankfully is still accessible via metro.

Never mind the fact that it took us nearly an hour to find the right metro line. 

Never mind the fact that Beijing metro maps have lines that aren't yet in existence.

Never mind the fact that you have to push and shove to get a spot in the metro. 

Never mind the fact that when you're in the metro everyone stares at you, and they don't stop either. 

When you do finally arrive, you are welcomed by a vast empty area of concrete, and in the distance you see the stadiums where Olympic history were made...

You know that yellow hue in the photo?  No my camera wasn't dirty.  It's called pollution, and unfortunately China has a lot of it.  That huge web of metal is called The Bird's Nest.  The stadium was designed specifically for the Olympic games.  It cost a whooping $423 million dollars to build, and holds 91,000 people.  It hosted a variety of events including the amazing Beijing opening ceremony, and track and field events.  It is now open to tours daily. 

How can you forget the Water Cube, where 25 world records were broken during the 2008 Olympics.  It's also the place where Michael Phelps rocked it and won 8 gold medals. 

Oh, and those bodies....those bloody hot bodies.  Mmmmm.  Did I just say that outloud?

Near the Bird's Nest is a huge statue symbolizing the Olympic Torch.

Even if you aren't a big fan of the Olympics, you can't help but love the spirit and dedication some of these individuals possess, and how they are able to push the human body to do exceptional things.

Am I the only one that has to have a box of kleenex nearby when hearing the inspiring stories that some of these athletes have to endure to make it to the games?  Or maybe that's just the effect Bob Costas has on me?

One of these days I hope to attend the Olympic games.  Until then I will have to continue my tradition of gluing myself to the TV screen from the comforts of home. 

Will you be watching the Olympics this year? 

Visit A Panda Sanctuary

As China's national treasure, the Giant Pandas are one of the most loved animals on the planet.  I recently saw a photo making its way through Facebook with an image of a Panda and the caption reading, "Dude, Racism is Stupid, I'm white, black and asian."  Okay, maybe I was the only person that thought that was funny.

In 2007 a report showed that their were 27 pandas living outside China in zoos around the world.  The remaining 1800 were in China either in captivity or the wild.  The San Diego Zoo is home to some of those pandas, but every time I've visited the panda exhibit they were difficult to see, or not in sight at all.  Unimpressive at the very least.

Chengdu, China is home to Sichuan food (spicy!), Sichuan Opera (real weird stuff), and the Panda Sanctuary.  Chengdu loves their pandas, and it is rare to walk more than two blocks without spotting some Panda paraphernalia. Even the traffic signs have pandas on them; I wish we had panda-inspired traffic signs....

The Chengdu Panda Base is dedicated in panda conservation, and enables the public to see the pandas in an environment that imitates their natural habitat.  The best time to visit the sanctuary is in the morning as the pandas are most active during this time.

We first went to the toddler exhibit just as they were taken out to have breakfast.  We watched them eat and munch on their bamboo for more than 30 minutes.  I never knew I would be so fascinated to watch an animal eat.

Then as some of my friends were busy paying $200 to hold a panda for a minute, I watched the baby pandas.  I didn't know pandas could get any cuter.  They were cuter than cute.  I watched one little guy (or gal) for more than 30 minutes trying to climb a bamboo stick, and maneuver its way up and down a ladder.  Fascinating, right? If I were to do that no one would care, if a baby panda does it, you have a herd of paparazzi like tourist treating you like your Suri Cruise.

I wanted to make a short video of my panda experience, however I found it mighty difficult to crop all the adorable-ness....so my planned one minute video became nearly 3 1/2 minutes.  



If you ever make your way to China a visit to the panda sanctuary is an absolute must.  The pandas are so well taken care of, and their living spaces are clean and open.  I must warn you that you will fall totally in love with them, and evidently, you must fight the desire to smuggle one of them back home with you.

Date Accomplished:  March 13th, 2012

Eat A Bug

Yes, you are reading that title right.  Eat A Bug.  I'm all about eating weird, adventurous and out right odd things.  I'm no Andrew Zimmern (meaning I would never eat a cow's freshly extracted placenta that is still laying on a manure filled ground), but when traveling I do try to eat what the locals eat.

In Beijing the streets come alive after 5PM with an assortment of weird and odd delicacies.  The Night Market is home to freshly cooked dumplings, noodles, candied fruits, and bugs!

 

In addition to selling bugs they also sell sheep penis, snakes, starfishes, sea horses, and balls (of a few different animals).  I wasn't interested in all that other stuff, I wanted to try a bug!  Umm...and by chance did you notice how long the sheep penis is?  Just sayin.'

Truthfully, I always get a tad bit nervous eating street food even in my own country. So the first night I went to the market I played it safe (a.k.a. chickening the f*** out) and got some hot steamy dumplings instead.  I knew I would be back, so it gave me some time to ask people around about the best bug choice (if one even exist).

My friend Steph was also interested in trying some bugs, and we were told that the Scorpions were probably our best bet.  She was extremely nervous, but braved it out and bought a stick with two scorpions on it.  The cook deep fried it (not alive) for a few seconds before handing it to her.  The arrangement was that if I tried one she would try one, but I insisted that she go first.....

Then it was my turn, and without hesitation I put it in my mouth.  Crunch.  Hmm...it taste like a chip (or "crisps" as some of you people call it)!  Not bad at all!  In fact, Steph said the scorpion was the tastiest thing she had in all of China!

Date Accomplished:  March 5th, 2012