China Market Tour Part 1: The Fruit

One of the things that surprised me the most when I moved to China was the difference between the markets here and the ones I shopped at in New York. There are Jingkelong Supermarkets on every corner and plenty of Jenny Lou's import stores, but my favorite place to shop is at the massive produce markets--multistory affairs that look like food-filled dealers' halls at conventions where individual dealers set up giant booths selling their particular specialties.

This is what it's like when I buy groceries here.


I start at the entrance

There were so many pictures at the end of my last trip that I decided to break this tour up into its component parts. I'll try to take you along from the entrance on through in order, so we'll start with the vendors closest to the entrance, where everyone was selling fruit.


Rambutan, aka "hairy lychees."


Mangosteens


Lychees and rambutan, alongside some peaches, cherries, mangoes and breadfruit


Waxberries


Mangoes of varying sizes




Fresh water chestnuts -- these are amazing, very crisp and sweet.


Breadfruit, not durian. If they'd been durian, we wouldn't have made it much farther into the tour.

Next stop: Vegetables!