Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Show and Tell: Things Found At A Market In China!

Show and Tell
First, a reminder that today is the last day you can participate in my first ever Giveaway.  So if you have not yet joined in the fun, please do so now.  The giveaway ends tonight at 11:59 pm CST!

Now, back to business!  It's Wednesday, which means it's time for Mel's Show and Tell!

In the Spring of 2008, my Babe and I took part in a Ha.bitat For Huma.nity trip to the Yunnan province of China.  For those of you who like to travel, and would like to volunteer on an international trip, Habi.tat for Human.ity's Glob.al Vil.lage program is excellent for volunteering your time and experiencing a local culture.  They take you to places most tourists never see.

On one of the Sundays we were there, our local guide took our team to a local open air market.  It's one of those markets where the locals do their grocery shopping, not one put up for tourists.  Needless to say, it was quite an experience.  There were a lot of very interesting items there.  Here is just a selection of items that I thought you may find interesting.

Bundles of tobacco (the Chinese love to smoke)

  
Another type of tobacco

 
Tobacco and tobacco bongs.

White asparagus

Red hot chili peppers (the real thing!)

Pick your own white duck.

Black ducks all lined up

Tofu (soy bean curd)

Pig snouts! (my favorite on the gross factor!)

Pig's blood, I think (another favorite on the gross list!)

Frogs, and I mean HUGE frogs.

Doesn't that just make you appreciate your nice, clean grocery stores?  

Ha ha..... Now that I've grossed you out, go check out what the rest of the class is showing.

13 comments:

  1. I have heard from people who should know, that the fresh tofu one can get (like in the photo above) is so much better than the kind we generally have in our grocery stores.

    Those pig snouts are almost cute, until you realize that they USED TO BE ON THE PIG. Yeah.

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  2. that tofu looks great. i'm always so frustrated that the kind i can buy is nothing like the kind at restaurants that make their own (though not nearly frustrated enough to learn to make it myself).

    the snouts don't look so bad, either. (this is how i failed vegetarianism.)

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  3. Love these pictures, its like National Geo!

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  4. I do so love my food dead, pre-cut, and packaged in plastic or cardboard. I am not meant for primitive societies. You have my admiration for coming through that alive!

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  5. I have to admit that I actually had a couple of pictures of the area where chickens and ducks were slaughtered, boiled and plucked. There were blood and feathers everywhere. Not a pretty sight. I thought it would be too much to post here ;)

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  6. I love open-air markets, but they do often have some disgusting things on them! Wonderful photos though!

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  7. Love those pics. Bummer I missed the giveaway deadline. Did you ever eat a pig snout? Thanks for sharing. Good luck w/ IVF in Feb.

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  8. Those are fascinating pictures. I think I'd like to visit a market like that.

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  9. I would be very thin if I had to live in Asia. I would eat lots of rice and tofu. Thank you for the gross out pics glad I haven't eaten yet.

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  10. WOW it IS fascinating. I love the red peppers picture. So colorful ! If only I could get my hands on that tofu...

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  11. I'm in on the tofu and asparagus. The rest, not so much. Thanks for sharing though!

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  12. Oh my! Amazing pictures, and that you were able to experience it! :)

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