Wangfujing

王府井（Wángfǔjǐng）

Recently I visited the snack street and night market at Wangfujing. I first visited the area last summer, when my parents came to visit. It is famous for selling a smorgasbord of strange and striking street food. It’s popular with Chinese tourists from outside of Beijing and there are usually a handful of foreigners meandering through the hungry crowds.




There is something about the market that appeals to my curious nature. Food that I would never consider trying in a restaurant, suddenly becomes intriguingly appetising when displayed on kebab sticks and presented to me by persuasive vendors. It is almost as if I have to accept the challenge of gorging on bizarre refreshments.



On a hot summer's day, my dad and I decided to try deep-fried scorpion(蝎子xiēzi) and seahorse (海马 hǎimǎ). From what I can recall, they tasted rather salty and crunchy. Mum did not want to try such exotic delicacies, so ended up eating candied fruit and tteokbokki.










On my latest visit to the market, it was time to finally try stinky tofu (臭豆腐chòu dòufu). I was pleasantly surprised that the taste was far less repulsive than the smell. Following that, I thought it was necessary for me to reward my adventurous culinary experiment, by trying deep-fried ice cream. It was rather sweet and after being deep-fried, the ice cream melted into a fruity, creamy substance. It wasn’t such a terrible ordeal. The best part of this edible escapade is not necessarily devouring the nibbles on offer. Just taking in the market atmosphere and viewing the wide variety of “treats” on offer is quite an experience.


                   Stinky tofu

          Deep-fried ice cream

Pineapple fried rice

Silk worm, squid and innards on sticks

Quail eggs

Too cute to eat?

Spiders and other creepy crawlies

After walking around the stalls, Liz and I ended up at the main street flanked with large shops and malls. We then stumbled across the Beijing Foreign Languages Bookstore. Since getting a Kindle, I have downloaded a rather large catalogue of ebooks to keep me busy. However, I had just read about the author Yu Hua (余华) and was unable to download his books. So I seized the opportunity and bought his novels “Brothers” and “To Live”.



Wangfujing is definitely a place that visitors should see and I will make sure to return there next time I am feeling adventurous and hungry.

Cuối tuần trước, tôi đã đi đến một chợ đêm. Ở chợ đêm này, tôi đã ăn bọ cạp, cá ngựa, kem chiên giòn, và đậu phụ thối. Thức ăn vặt ưa thích của bạn là gì?