China Shopping

[liuzhou]

More street food

 

Sugar cane

 

Sugar cane Juice

 

This lovely women turns up in the winter months and sells specialities of Yizhou, a city nearby. Her main offering are warm blood sausages made from pig's blood and rice. I love them!

 

Chilled coconuts. - The vendor will drill a hole and give you a drinking straw to get to the coconut water. Great in summer.

 

Chestnuts

 

Corn

 

Sweet Potato

 

Corn cobs or sweet potato roasted to order

 

And another

 

 

Candied Fruit Man

 

Lovely Money!

 

A fruit vendor's stock

 

Candy floss / Cotton candy

[ChrisTaylor]

A fascinating series of photos, liuzhou. 

 

The beasties hanging on the right are dogs, right? How widely available is the meat? Is there any notable public outcry, as I've heard there is in South Korea?

 

[liuzhou]

A fascinating series of photos, liuzhou. 

 

The beasties hanging on the right are dogs, right? How widely available is the meat? Is there any notable public outcry, as I've heard there is in South Korea?

 

 

 

Yes. Dog.

It is not sold in supermarkets, but widely available in "farmer's" markets, generally in winter. The locals consider it to be a 'warming' meat in traditional Chinese medical terms..

 

I'd say a minority of people eat it and there is a growing middle class trend of pet dog ownership which has lead to a change in attitudes. 

 

A couple of weeks ago, there was dog meat festival in nearby Yulin city which attracted a lot of media publicity worldwide as protesters descended, in some cases literally. The festival went ahead.

Here is my blog on the issue with more detail.

[dcarch]

It is also interesting that food is not kept in "safe zone" temperature and people are not getting sick. 

 

dcarch

[liuzhou]

It is also interesting that food is not kept in "safe zone" temperature and people are not getting sick. 

 

 

Well, it's worth remembering that the vast majority of humanity survives without refrigeration.

 

China never really took to refrigeration. They took to refrigerators though. They were purchased and parked in the sitting room opposite the front door so that they would be the first thing any visitor saw. They were and largely, still are, a status symbol. 

 

I can almost guarantee that if I visit any friend's home and examine the contents of the fridge, it will be almost empty. Maybe the leftovers from the last meal.

 

I would bet heavy sums of cash on the freezer section being empty.

 

The supermarkets do have very limited frozen food sections. Mostly dumplings and steamed breads. Some ice cream. Maybe a bit of fish or poultry. But the big difference is that people don't buy this stuff and take it home and bung it in the freezer. They only buy what they will use that day, so they let it defrost without ever troubling their own freezer.

 

Markets never have freezers

Looking back, I realise my parents didn't buy a fridge until after I had graduated from university. Clearly, we survived without.

 

The only time in 20 years I have had food poisoning in China was after eating ice cream in a western restaurant.

 

[dcarch]

"----Well, it's worth remembering that the vast majority of humanity survives without refrigeration.---"

 

I remember many homes I visited kept their food days in cabinets made of insect screens to keep flies and bees out. The four legs of the cabinets would be in four dishes of water to keep ants and roaches from climbing up. Food would get moldy in hot and humid weather, they just wash the mold away and add more spices. I had never gotten sick either, nor had seen anyone else did.

 

It is worrisome to me that here in the US we are creating humans who are incredibly weak.

 

dcarch

Edited July 10, 2014 by dcarch (log)

[Anna N]

"----Well, it's worth remembering that the vast majority of humanity survives without refrigeration.---"

 

I remember many homes I visited kept their food days in cabinets made of insect screen to keep flies and bees out. The four legs of the cabinets would be in four dishes of water to keep ants from climbing up. Food would get moldy in hot and humid weather, they just wash the mold away and add more spices.

 

dcarch

I grew up with a screened cabinet in the coal cellar at my Gran's house and a larder with marble shelving in our pub. Only a wealthy aunt in another town had the luxury of a fridge. We were a surprisingly healthy lot. Funny how anal I am now about food safety!

[Shelby]

I want a chilled coconut with a straw 

[liuzhou]

The picture above. The lady with the dragon fruits, behind the dragon fruits, those greenish ones, are those fresh dates?

 

dcarch

 

 

 

Sorry, I don't know. It's a rather old picture.

 

I have now looked at the original, full sized picture and they are indeed fresh Chinese dates (jujubes).

 

[liuzhou]

I was enjoying looking at the fruit, and wondered about mangosteens.  Do you get them in season?  Are they popular?

 

I think they're my favorite fruit. 

 

 

Yes. Mangosteens are very popular and in season now. They didn't have them in that supermarket today, but the farmer's markets are full of them. Also one of my favourites.

 

Right on time, this street vendor popped up today.

 

[liuzhou]

How many varieties of mango do you get? 

 

 

I was in the supermarket this morning and found five. The names I have given are direct translations of the Chinese used by the store. There may well be more 'official' English names.

 

Chicken's Egg Mangoes

 

 

Green Mangoes

 

Red Mangoes

 

Ivory Mangoes

 

Pearl Mangoes

Edited July 11, 2014 by liuzhou (log)

[liuzhou]

Here is one of the problems with the local market.

 

Inside the building are the official, licensed vendors. They pay for their stalls, are subject to regular inspections and are generally dependable and friendly. I've been shopping there for over 15 years and they treat me like a regular, as they should.

I tend to return to the same people again and again. There are at least twenty people selling mushrooms, but I always buy mine from the same woman. She is funny and lovely. She also does me a good deal on asparagus.

 

Similarly, I've been buying aliums from the same husband and wife team for 15 years. Onions, garlic (including the wonderful single head variety) and shallots).

Unfortunately, my favourite chicken lady* retired, but there are others.

 

Outside the market building, on the approach roads are all the unlicensed people. They sell pretty much the same stuff, but it can be a little sad to see an old woman setting up her pitch with three onions and a carrot.

 

Several times a week, the deeply unpopular bullying thugs from the local City Urban Administrative and Law Enforcement Bureau (chengguan) turn up and move them on - when they are in a good mood. When it gets ugly, they confiscate goods; confiscate vehicles carrying the goods (from bicycles to minivans); beat people up and on occasion kill them, although that hasn't happened in this city.

Anyway, they arrive, the vendors scatter in a panic of greenery, hang out round the corner and wait for the chengguan to go back to their office for a well earned cup of tea, then move back into place.

 

Here is a favourite spot for unlicensed vendors on the approach to the market. It is under a railway bridge and offers shelter from rain and the blistering sunshine we have at the moment.

 

Yesterday  - 11:22 am.

 

Today - 10:45 am.

 

I usually take my camera there on weekends. The chengguan don't usually work weekends, so it's a free-for-all. much more interesting!

By the way, much as the unlicensed people interest me, some of them are desperately poor, Most aren't. I usually only buy from the licensed people. It's just safer. Health-wise.

 

* I have to be careful with my expression 'chicken lady'. A literal translation into Chinese is also slang for 'prostitute'. A male prostitute is a duck. © 2014 Things You Didn't Need To Know

Edited February 1, 2016 by liuzhou
typo (log)

[KennethT]

I'm loving this thread! Thank you so much for taking the time to document it all. I've loved going to markets on travels through Thailand and northern Vietnam, and these photos are making me very nostalgic for them. I wish we had something like that here in NY... like others have said, it is strange, from a Western point of view, to see raw meat lying around in 90degF heat with no refrigeration. I didn't notice anything in the photos - how do the vendors keep the flies away? I remember from some of the markets I have visited that most vendors would rig fans with a bunch of streamers and install them every so often over the meats.

[liuzhou]

it is strange, from a Western point of view, to see raw meat lying around in 90degF heat with no refrigeration. I didn't notice anything in the photos - how do the vendors keep the flies away? I remember from some of the markets I have visited that most vendors would rig fans with a bunch of streamers and install them every so often over the meats.

 

I've seen that too, but not round here.

 

Flies aren't that much of a problem here. Some vendors will have a plastic bag tied to a stick to wave at odd intruders (including me) but mostly no one bothers.  Everyone is going to wash that meat to death anyway.

[dcarch]

I think this is an on-topic question:

 

Is smoking banned in shopping areas or eating areas? It is here in the USA.

 

dcarch

[liuzhou]

I think this is an on-topic question:

 

Is smoking banned in shopping areas or eating areas? It is here in the USA.

 

dcarch

 

No. It's compulsory!

But seriously, although it seems to be compulsory, it is banned in most shops, I suspect for fire prevention rather health considerations.

 

It isn't banned in most restaurants.

Banquets in particular can he hazardous as people light up midway through the soup.

 

That said, I have, over the last five years or so, noticed a marked decline in the number of people smoking. Or at least they go outside to indulge. Usually. Sometimes.

 

Good question. It is also banned in the UK.

Edited July 11, 2014 by liuzhou (log)

[liuzhou]

I  really want to know what is in each of those containers! Looks lovely. Can't wait to hear more on this topic and others. Thank you for sharing! 

 

Today, I finally caught up with one of the pickle vendors and took a few snaps. I haven't been out much recently - too hot.

 

Mixed pickles

 

 

A Close Up

 

Another stall had these (excuse the pinkish hue, but the vendor clearly bought a job lot of pink bowls and in the bright sunshine they coloured everything)

 

 

 

 

[rotuts]

the pickles seem to come from street vendors  do you get these from them?  does the pickleing make them 'safer' to eat than say the regulated market ?

[liuzhou]

Yes, pickles tend to be sold by street vendors, although the pink one pictured has been there for decades, so I guess they haven't killed too many people..

 

They are very popular, but I seldom buy them. They aren't doing anything I can't do myself with more control over the ingredients and process.

 

Pickling doesn't necessarily make foods safer. In fact, it can do the opposite, Garlic and botulism, for example.

 

The best pickles I ate here were the ones mentioned at the beginning of this post.

[Smithy]

I'm going back several posts now, but I want in particular to compliment you (and the photographic subject) on the geometry and composition of the photos of the candied fruit man. He made the nice display, but you captured it beautifully in two photos.

In the same series is a photo of a lovely woman who sells warm blood sausages. I take the 'warm blood' part literally, and that leads to the question of how recently and thoroughly they're cooked, and how they're held at the correct temperature, and whether I'm completely misunderstanding your description. More information, please!

[liuzhou]

On 16/07/2014 at 1:00 PM, Smithy said:

I'm going back several posts now, but I want in particular to compliment you (and the photographic subject) on the geometry and composition of the photos of the candied fruit man. He made the nice display, but you captured it beautifully in two photos.

 

In the same series is a photo of a lovely woman who sells warm blood sausages. I take the 'warm blood' part literally, and that leads to the question of how recently and thoroughly they're cooked, and how they're held at the correct temperature, and whether I'm completely misunderstanding your description. More information, please!

 

 

First thank you for the undeserved compliment. The fruit man did all the work; I merely I pointed a camera and pressed a button. I couldn't decide which of the two I preferred, so I posted both. I love his expression.

 

The blood sausage lady:

 

Sorry, my initial description is a bit ambiguous. What I meant was that she sells blood sausage which she sells warm.

 

The sausages are made in the usual manner by mixing the fresh blood with the cereal and whatever seasoning she uses (she gets a bit coy when asked about that), then cased in natural pigs' intestines and poached until the blood firms up and is cooked. That she does elsewhere.

 

What you can't see in the photo is that her trolley is actually a gas powered cooker. The sausages are re-heated and kept warm by being held in a steamer above simmering water.

 

She only turns up in the winter, when she does good business around noon by selling to the office workers looking for a warming lunchtime snack.

 

I tend more often to take them home and fry them briefly for breakfast.

 

More here.

 

Edited April 25, 2016 by liuzhou
formatting and a typo. nothing interesting (log)

[Smithy]

Thank you! Next question: why is there a lighter 'seam' on the inside curve of the sausage? My best guess is that it's casing that pulled away from the stuffing as it tightened and curled.

[liuzhou]

Thank you! Next question: why is there a lighter 'seam' on the inside curve of the sausage? My best guess is that it's casing that pulled away from the stuffing as it tightened and curled.

 

Not sure, but I tend to agree. I'll examine more carefully next time, but she won't be back for months 

[dcarch]

Thank you! Next question: why is there a lighter 'seam' on the inside curve of the sausage? My best guess is that it's casing that pulled away from the stuffing as it tightened and curled.

 

That is a type of natural casing. In the picture linked, you see the whitish film that is attached. After it is cut, it leaves a seam.

 

dcarch

[liuzhou]

Having a bit of a clear up/clear out of camera memory cards today, I came across a handful of pictures which I seem to have forgotten to post.

 

 

 

In the heart of the city's downtown shopping area is this alley which leads to a car park. Every day there is this bunch of women selling these bizarre preserved meat items. Bits of pork you probably didn't know even existed are braised in soy sauce and mysterious herbs and spices. I"ve never actually bought anything here, but often walk past. The alley is a sort of shortcut on my way home.

 

 

More pickled stuff

 

 

Two types of coconut. We get many more.

 

 

I feel a bit embarrassed at forgetting this one. It is the food outlet nearest to my home. Literally one minute from my front door, a neighbour sells freshly made rice noodles  - 米粉 as indicated by her sign. She operates on a trust system. You help yourself and leave the cash in a bowl on her table. I seldom actually see her, and she probably doesn't even know I am a customer.

 

More to come. I'm working on something.

Edited July 21, 2014 by liuzhou (log)