I am increasingly growing to dread groceries as they seem to always involve me in some sort of precarious circumstance. This is never a result of difficulty finding food or ordering items from deli workers. No, instead it is the epic game of cat and mouse that the checkout process brings. Without fail workers request my store card which, of course, I never have. So they end up using their own or another customer's. Then one of two situations seems to always occur. The first is that I manage to choose items with no price tag attached. The second is I am unable to pay.
The first variation has occurred two of my last three trips. The first time with a bag of mantou (awesome steamed bread/rolls) and most recently with a thermos I was purchasing. Each time, I manage to choose the one item in a batch of twenty or so that lacks a price, and so, inevitably, it is tucked away under their counter because they can't sell me an item without a price.
The second variation, is as frustrating as it is continually unexpected. I never have these issues elsewhere but somehow in China it seems to be my predictable mistake. I one time had all my hundreds in a book I had left in my backpack(Beibao- 背包) at home. Another time, I didn't have my card pin. Most recently, my account was frozen due to too many invalid pin entries at an ATM a day earlier. How, you may ask, do so many PIN related issues arise? Well, the keypads in China all seem to have random variations of 10-keys. So some have nine in the upper right, others the lower right, other maybe the upper left. Suffice it to say, memorizing a 6 digit pin is less than fun when the keys keep moving.
As a bonus, they also are very weary of my 100's bills. Which makes for extra fun.
Now, on to the part for those interested in Chinese groceries. First, let me say, I will go full tourist some day and rock some inside photography with my pocket cam. For today, you will have to be satisfied with the two pictures below.
What can you buy at a Chinese grocery? Meats without refrigeration. Cooked Duck, individually wrapped fruits and veggies (at awesome prices). Cookies and Candy. A huge variety of peanut oil, soy sauce, noodles, and instant noodles. Peanuts prepared at the deli (delicious supplement to the peanut butter).
What can you buy for a lot of money? Olive oil (staple of western cooking but not so much here). Hagen Daaz (which costs around $12 a pint and $3 for one of those single serving things).
What can't you buy? Frozen foods far beyond the realm of Jiaozi or baozi. Pizza and Frozen Pizza (almost done with the grieving process). Limes- this one has been a pain in my G&T side.
I will definitely do a full and rich post about both modern and traditional Chinese food markets in the near future. But, to hold you over in the meantime. I have a picture of an import beer close to my heart. Also, a picture of a happy lamb trying to sell frozen lamb stomach to you! Enjoy.
Special Bonus (construction sign untranslated):
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