Last week my friend Liz and I decided to check out the wet market. The wet market is the place where many Chinese purchase produce, meats, seafood, even fresh noodles. You can bargain and pick through whatever you want to buy. Including the meat.I've always FEARED the wet market - live and freshly killed animals are there, and they frequently just wash down the floors with water to get rid of the blood. Perhaps you have heard of sars? It started in the wet markets. I was also always afraid to see Fido or Fluffy hanging from the ceiling, half-gutted. Fear. Silly fear. The only thing I had to fear was the smell itself. Awful. Offal. Ick. I made the mistake of having a bite of bagel in my mouth as I stepped out of the car into the wet market area. I felt as though I were eating the wet market - not pleasant. At all. Thanks to my friend Sharon's husband Ulrik for these fantastic photos...
Lovely, fresh, cheap produce that you can bargain and haggle over. Just about anything you're looking for you can find here.
I was definetly not looking for these. But there they were. 
Hot peppers, anyone? Bushels and bushels of them!
And of course the LIVE CHICKENS. I was going to buy a fresh chicken for dinner, break its neck and pluck all the feathers but I opted for the rotisserie-cooked one from the butcher shop. Ew.
And some people opt for just the feet. Chicken feet are served automatically at almost every meal in China - they're on the table when you sit down. People love 'em. I haven't even tried 'em and DON'T WANNA!
Only way to make sure your meat is fresh is to TOUCH IT. Yikes. I don't buy my meat here, where it sits out all day being pawed at by anyone and everyone. Again. Ew.
See your seafood before it turns into food! Buckets and buckets of all kind of ocean life that may or may not be considered actual food.
Tables and tables and tables of produce... It was an interesting adventure and I ended up with bags and bags of beautiful fruits and vegetables. Which I washed and washed very meticulously before eating. You may or may not know what is used for cheap, readily-available fertilizer here in China. I'll leave that one to your imagination. Scrub, scrub, scrub! More cool China photos to come, thanks to Ulrik.
5 comments:
It really is so interesting to see how similar China and Korea is in looks. Those red bowls that are everywhere? De ja vu, I tell ya. It always made me feel like such a wuss walking through markets like that one.
whoa! it is always so interesting to see what you post!
you are one brave woman!
Oh please tell me the fertilizer isn't a human by-product! :-O
That was very enlightening, and nauseating. I'll take Woodmans any day, thank you! ;-)
Michelle
Wow!! I'd love to see video of YOUR reaction to the wet market. I bet it was an eye opener (and sinus opener!!)
All I have to say is EW...except for the produce...that looked really good! Nothing like white vinegar and water to wash the YUCK away I always say...tee...hee
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