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1997
Around the world via China (CHINA - Guangzhou)
Bec2004-09-19 15:42:00
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of fish including eels, seafood including sea slug, several varieties of turtles, and some snakes.
The Chinese generally prefer pork to beef and duck to chicken, turkey is rare but they like goose and rabbit and relish all sorts of mammals westerners would not dream eating, even in the worst nightmare.
They eat dog as do the Koreans and relish cat as much as the French do horse. Monkey's brain is considered a delicacy but it is very expensive as are the more exotic rodents shown here. Of course, the average Chinese can not afford these sublime pleasures but some of them do and this busy market thrives.
I forgot what the Chinese name of this animal is but I remember being told there were excellent recipes for it. It looks like a raccoon. It was amusing to see a lady haggle at length to finally walk away grumbling and shaking her head about the price...
There can be no further doubt about the place held by the pleasures of the table when one considers the number and size of very expensive restaurants like this one in China. Food is an obsession in China, maybe it's because of famines in the past... It is available everywhere, from these big restaurants to push carts in the street, at prices from a king's ransom for a twelve course banquet to a quite filling fifty cent bowl of noodles.
There are many exclusive specialty eateries like this snake restaurant on Zhuji Lu. The Chinese have the right to boast about their taste for good food for they certainly are putting their money where their mouth is! I have made a point of showing several pictures related to food to convey my impression that the pleasures of eating are considered to be more important in China than anywhere else I have been. I generally ate in working class cafés and chose by pointing to what I saw being served to others without knowing what it was. It was always good and generally inexpensive. When I went
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See photographs from:
China Gallery
