Beijing hutong marketplace
We happened upon a sprawling outdoor market on our second day. Hidden in the expansive heart of a byzantine hutong near our hostel, this bazaar had a huge covered hangar for the produce, bordered by little prepared food and butchery stalls. On one end it drew itself through a gauntlet of junk dealers and into an open courtyard jammed with tables of treasure masquerading as communist-era surplus knick-knacks. This is a corner of Beijing that I hope most will survive the imminent bulldozers, and these are some of the faces that I hope will survive Beijing rising.
Stand aside, Gilroy: almost all of the garlic available in supermarkets today is grown in China.
Eggs and more eggs. A staple of the Chinese diet, the delicious ova from a variety of animals (quail, duck, pheasant, etc) can be found preserved (thousand-year old egg, anyone?), pickled, smoked, hard-boiled or just raw. Look closely at the sample in the front, cracked open for your perusal.
Pickle Heaven! Not only a clever method of preserving surplus produce, pickled veggies are also deeeelicious, briny, crunchy, sweet and sour gems from the gods.
Forget about the sterile tetra-pak blocks of bland bean curd from your supermarket... this is TOFU. You can smell its freshness, hand-made and blocked and sliced to order. Vegetarians of the world, you have these people to thank for perfecting the art of vegetable protein.
A wealthier woman and her shopping companion.
This man is rolling out his wheat dough for hand-cut noodles. In Mandarin, handmade noodles (made traditionally and most impressively without the assistance of a knife) are called soh-la-mien, or literally "hand-pulled noodles". More simply found on menus: la-mien.
Unlike their American counterparts, Chinese children actually interact with food in all its rudimentary forms. Its a facile and intimate knowledge born out of humble markets like this one. Needless to say, I LOVE his little velcro panda shoes.
Stand aside, Gilroy: almost all of the garlic available in supermarkets today is grown in China.
Eggs and more eggs. A staple of the Chinese diet, the delicious ova from a variety of animals (quail, duck, pheasant, etc) can be found preserved (thousand-year old egg, anyone?), pickled, smoked, hard-boiled or just raw. Look closely at the sample in the front, cracked open for your perusal.
Pickle Heaven! Not only a clever method of preserving surplus produce, pickled veggies are also deeeelicious, briny, crunchy, sweet and sour gems from the gods.
Forget about the sterile tetra-pak blocks of bland bean curd from your supermarket... this is TOFU. You can smell its freshness, hand-made and blocked and sliced to order. Vegetarians of the world, you have these people to thank for perfecting the art of vegetable protein.
A wealthier woman and her shopping companion.
This man is rolling out his wheat dough for hand-cut noodles. In Mandarin, handmade noodles (made traditionally and most impressively without the assistance of a knife) are called soh-la-mien, or literally "hand-pulled noodles". More simply found on menus: la-mien.
Unlike their American counterparts, Chinese children actually interact with food in all its rudimentary forms. Its a facile and intimate knowledge born out of humble markets like this one. Needless to say, I LOVE his little velcro panda shoes.
Labels: Beijing, China, open air market, travel
