Pink Suitcase Chronicles #47 Part One: Eating Adventures

We're home! Having been in China for the past 10 days was certainly an adventure. This time was far easier than the last trip there in 2010 --- we knew much more about the culture, cuisine and customs. We also went in a group this time with present MBA students, alumni and faculty from the SBNM (School of Business and NonProfit Management) at North Park University. The biggest plus for us was seeing Chinese students and friends we made during our last extended stay as Wes taught at Guangdong University of Foreign Studies in Guangzhou, China.

However, the saying we heard about food consumption by the Chinese in the Canton area still rings true, "We eat everything with four legs except for a table and everything with two legs except for a human." Our group experienced many adventures with unexpected food combinations...eel, snake, squid, octopus, sheep, duck, chicken, etc. But I am proud of their "try it" attitudes and no one went hungry, to be sure. They were all masters of chopsticks by the end of the second day. We all agreed that it is a much healthier diet than ours here in the states with all the breads, cereals, junk foods and desserts and carb consumption. We noticed many fewer citizens with waistline girth and heaviness in general.

Join me now in a little tour of our eating adventures...follow right behind the man with a basket full of expired chickens! The fish are adorned with fancy, colorful garnishes.

Look closely for little curly tentacles nestled in a bed of veggies.

The food goes round and round on large glass Lazy Susans.

Who wouldn't be attracted to eat fruits when they look like a party hat on a plate?

The above platter was filled with little bite-sized pieces of fish. The fish tail was inverted to look like a rabbit's head. A bit confusing, but highly amusing!

Unknown meat here; garnished with a little orchid.

Fried rice was a given at many meals. This one was surprisingly hot.

The Chinese version of bread, deep fried option (brown) tasted like a doughnut and was served with sweetened condensed milk to the side. Yum!

This little dumpling revealed sweet, black sesame seed "ooze" once it was opened.

We were told this was dessert, and it was delicious.

Much broccoli was paired with carrot strips.

Here's a sneak peek of one of our dining outings.

Does this make you hungry?

Would you be one who would like this experience?

Please join me for more China adventures...comments will encourage me along the way.