3 September 2016
This is the 2nd of xx posts for "normal Life" in Shenyang, China.
Fresh Markets
One of my favorite "normal" life activities is going to the markets. Rod does most of the shopping so these trips are really necessary and normal for our life here. At first they were intimidating and and uneasy sure we could eat xx, trust xxx, communicate xxx...you fill in the blanks! Now, I can honestly say, we have acclimated, our guts have the right flora to handle the different things here (I think and hope that is true!) and now, things that used to surprise us are now just "normal". All of our shopping experiences are always a feast for all of the senses....sometimes an irritating or smelly feast, but always a feast!
If you know where to look you can find anything here in a market!
Fruits/ vegetables/fresh eggs/ fresh cut meat/ pre-made salads/ fresh bread...all in one "hole in the wall" or street vendor market or others that are specialized in vegetables, fresh made tofu for restaurants. These places are all over the city, fresh every day. It's a logistics wonder of the world!
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| Fresh Strawberries in the Spring from Dandong, so sweet, so big! |
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| Silk Worm larvae...the cook these and eat them..I'm not that far along yet in my Chinese culture! |
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| One of Rod's favorite "hole in the wall" markets, fresh eggs, fresh fruits and a nice little lady who treats him like a king! |
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| Fresh tofu made to order...fresh or smoked. Doesn't last very long, so it must be eaten quickly! |
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| Rod and one of his vegetable ladies |
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| Vegetables can be bought many many different places..always seems to be fresh! |
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| More fresh fruits |
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| One of our favorite larger fruit/vegetable/meat markets |
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| The best citrus fruits are in December - Feb...fresh from the south of China..real fresh, "mandarin" oranges |
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| Really fresh meat...not going to be a good day for the goat |
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| Fresh vegetables |
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| Fresh made salads ready to buy |
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| Get your own fresh Buddah gord! |
Plants/ fresh cut flowers/ fish
This is one of my favorite
markets...1st floor is has 2 things: fresh cut flowers and live fish.
There are scores of florists making up bouquets for weddings and other
special occasions. It smells and looks wonderful (don't look on the
floor...just look straight ahead!). It is a bright spot especially in
winter when it is bleak and dreary and cold outside!
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| Fresh flowers are always great to see in Winter! This is the lady Rod goes to to buy flowers...I don't really know her but, I like her already!! |
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| Fresh flowers...a feast for the eyes! |
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| Gong to be a big wedding! |
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| Getting the Rolls Royce all dolled up for the wedding..parked right outside the flower market! Probably the closest I 'll ever get to a Rolls Royce! |
The other thing on the first floor is the fish. Every type of fresh water (and salt water) fish you can imagine. We got an aquarium in our apartment about 4 years ago..it is very relaxing for me to watch the fish just gracefully swim around. It also serves as a great humidifier for our apartment! We have seen fish come and go and we have tried many different species to see which ones do well and which ones don't. I'm still not sure we know...but it's so easy and cheap to buy new ones that it really doesn't matter! Of course, like all markets, Rod has made friends at certain venders and they always give him a good deal (or at least that is our impression!). There are fish and of course all of the accessories for fish, fish tanks, decorations, filters, food, plants etc...all your fishing needs!
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| Fishes and plants in our apartment in Shenyang |
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| Fish in our home aquarium...Rod is a great fish care-taker! |
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| Fishing in Shenyang |
On the 2nd floor of this market is potted plants. There is everything from tiny succulents to huge potted trees and everything in between! There are several orchid dealers and even though I really enjoy working with plants inside and outside (when I had a yard at home I the US), I never had good luck with Orchids..but, I really enjoy looking at them! So, again, it is relatively cheap to go get a "new one" and give the old one (no longer blooming) to the cleaning lady! It seems there is an endless supply of them at the market with different colors and for 30 RMB (4.50 USD) I can get a new one that is just getting ready to bloom and it will give me blooms for 3 months! No brainier for me!
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| If one orchid is good, a few hundred is even better! |
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| Fur coats and Orchids...something strange about that! Must be Shenyang! |
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| Azaleas are native to the south of China..love them blooming in the winter inside the market! |
There is also a young lady who sells succulents in her little glass terrariums..they are exquisite and I have bought several from her, and made several myself. I was never a big succulent fan before, but living in an apartment with dry heat/low humidity, I found it was one of the few types of plants that does well here. I started taking snips off of the mature plants and starting new ones in a starter pot and soon I had many new ones..so I started buying small pots for new new plants and taking them to work to put in my window there. Occasionally, I give someone a plant and make them an "honorary plant manager" of their plant from my special little snip garden. It seems to be well received.
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| One of my favorite succulent market places in Shenyang |
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| One of my succulent purchases...they do seem to like the sunlight on the windowsill! |
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| My window sill at work, the small ones are from my "snip" garden and become gifts to my staff to become "honory plant managers" |
In addition to these markets, there are other markets for fabric, tailored clothing, spices, chinese medicine herbs, etc...that will be another entry! In addition to the markets, there are many sections of the city that have big shopping areas...electronics street, kitchen street, baking street, eye glass city, etc...another entry for that one too!
So that is about it for entry 2 for "normal life"in Shenyang, China!
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