Local Market Part 1: Vegetables, Seafood, Meat

Near our apartment their is an outdoor market that is approximately three miles long and literally sells anything you could possibly want to buy. The market is informally divided into sections with multiple vendor selling similar items. My favorite place in the market was the warehouse selling vegetables, seafood and meats.  What I liked most about the warehouse was that even though it was a huge space, there was so much commotion it felt disorientating.

Vegetables
When you enter the warehouse the first two aisles is where the vegetables and seaweed is sold. What struck me first about this section is the array of vibrant colors, variety or produce and the multitude of shapes and sizes.

Vegetable aisles

Seaweed Stand

Seafood
What struck me about the seafood aisles was the controlled chaos. The chaos was a result of large portion of the seafood aisles still being alive. Crabs and crawfish were trying to escape from the cages and fighting off potential buyers. Sellers were continuous chopping fish while customers shouted orders. I even had difficulty taking a picture of the mussels and clams because I would be occasionally squirted. Also, seeing the variety of seafood usually not available in the US was fun.

Bags of Dried Fish

First of Three Fish Aisles

Shellfish that Squirted

Various Squids and Octopus for Sale

Meats
I loved the rawness and simplicity of the meat section. There was no plastic wrapping, hiding of unwanted body parts, obscured identities or posing next to your trophy kill. Simply, the animal was killed, dissected and arranged for purchase.

An interesting side note about the meat aisles was the floors were very slippery. As you walked, you would cross perpendicular drains where water mixed with blood and little body parts would float by.

Fist of Three Aisles in Meat Section

Pig Faces in Cardboard Box

Ears, Feet, Intestine,  Stomach,  Liver, and Kidneys (Thanks  Rick)

Cow Tail

Meaty bones are very popular in China and even in nice restaurant meaty bones will be expensive. When eating meat bones it is customary to eat around the bone and spit the bones onto your plate.

Whole Ducks, Hearts, Wings, Breasts

Whole Chickens

The second blog post about this market is titled Local Market Part 2: Spices, Tea and Various Shops.