Since we returned to China, we’ve been attempting to restock our cupboard with a reasonable amount of western food items. I say “reasonable,” because western food is very expensive here. A couple of stores carry the items we are seeking:
(By the way, you might recognize that this is an updated spelling of a previous blog picture of “Impurted Food”.) We occasionally enjoy a “special treat” of Western cereal and the store above has some boxes to offer. But the “cereal aisle” at our local Walmart is pretty sparse:
We’ve also visited our local Carrefour (a French version of Walmart) to buy some things. It was pretty crowded that day – here are people in the checkout queue:
While shopping at still another store over the weekend, we were surprised to see some pecans in the shell, a rare item in China:
Unfortunately, the price works out to about $20/lb after you shell them. Amazingly, we also saw a pint of Breyer’s ice cream. Equally amazing was the price: about $54/half gallon. Needless to say, those items are still on the shelf. When it comes to getting veggies and fruit, the prices are lower and the lines are shorter in our local market (the sellers are also shorter):
But we did get to enjoy some Western food restaurants recently, including a tasty dinner at Pizza Hut:
and a burger at McDonalds:
and some BBQ at the local park. Very spicy – after I took this photo, the tears started to roll down Susan’s cheeks:
Nowadays, western food isn’t really norm for us. But our students enjoy sampling western items, so we try to accommodate them during English Corners. Last week the snacks were green in honor of St. Patrick’s day:
PS. No trip to Walmart would be complete without a few photos of unusual items. We were looking for a pillow, but avoided the one filled with excrement:
And although we purchase instant Jello in the US, we chose to avoid stocking up on the instant Jellyfish:
Finally, there are times when you’re just not quite sure what’s for sale at the meat counter:
Oh man…..I’m still trying to figure out just what that last pic is! Pig fetus—–dog fetus? Anyway, fun pics to share about your life in your intersting city. “Remembering” you.
Eating out seems like a much better option than going to Carrefour and trying to figure out what to buy and how to cook it when you get home. What type of things do you say about meal selection to each other now? “Honey, tonight would you like duck head soup or chicken chow mein?”???
Surprisingly, we’ve never seen ChowMein anywhere in China. When we eat at home, we stick with chicken/pork, veggies, and rice or instant potatoes. We recently had cheesesteak sandwiches (with lamb, not beef), and occasionally have spaghetti (although we can’t find angel hair pasta).
things i love about this blog post:
the fact that the lady selling vegetables is hardly up to dad’s waist.
mom’s face eating shaokao – it’s that look that says, “I’m eating this, but only because I don’t want to waste it!”
Finally, the silk worm excrement pillow. that’s just funny.
If we can’t tell what’s for sale at the Wal-mart meat counter, you can imagine the mystery at the local street market!
Fun fact: Carrefour is tied to be the 2nd largest international retailer in China w/ “RT-Mart”, a Taiwanese big box store. They both have 219 stories in China. RT-Mart seems to be gaining (opened 34 stores in 2012 vs. only 18 from Carrefour), Wikipedia says they have a more “Chinese feel” to them.
Of course, the largest retailer? Walmart. With 393 stores. Given that the US has 4,000 Wal-marts, suppose there’s still quite a bit of growth left!
Interestingly, Wal-mart is the “high-end” store here. Similarly, we’ll usually pay more for food at McDonalds than most local restaurants.