Before heading off to Jinan, the capital of Shandong Province, we had a short amount of time. And there would be no lounging around the hotel room for us! So we set out up the various hills in search of anything interesting…. and maybe some breakfast as well.
As we approached the top of one of the avenues, you could here what sounded like incessant buzzing. We walked toward the noise, and soon enough we could make out voices. It was all coming from a large walled lot…… I was pretty sure what was going on as we turned the corner.
It was a morning market of course……. over the years, I've been to many of these, and even though I haven't found anything that quite tops the exoticness of Luang Prabang's Morning Fresh Market, I'm still fascinated by what these markets offer. I think it really teaches you a lot about the people and culture; insight that staring at the world from inside a tour bus could never provide.
Like this machine making sesame paste and sesame oil.
Here are where you get those breakfast staples You Tiao (fried cruller) and Soy Sauce Eggs, among other things.
Fresh vegetables and herbs galore……
Though there's always something interesting and exotic to be found…..
A reader emailed me mentioning that folks in my photos look a lot larger than what he considers typical Chinese in his neck of the woods. I wrote to him saying that the Chinese up North are bigger boned, and many of them like the Missus's Boy Cousin who towers at somewhere around 6'4" are quite tall.
Some folks were surprised when I mentioned that tomatoes are very popular….. they are eaten literally by the truckload……
But are consumed more like a fruit, than a vegetable.
Right down an alleyway from St Michael's Catholic Church, was another street lined with vendors. This one stretched for blocks, literally in the shadows of the downtown skyscrapers.
As always, there were tons of fresh and live seafood……
And other stuff……
Near the bottom of the hill, right across from and next to yet another truck full of tomatoes……
Where a few eating places….
The prices are very reasonable. All the food is cooked outside, and you eat in the cave-like, dark and dingy, and even perhaps a bit scary looking dining areas. I grabbed a seat while the Missus did the ordering…..
Of course there was You Tiao….
Both Millet and Red Bean Porridge……
As you can see; a plastic bag is placed around the bowl, and the porridge is poured into the plastic surrounded bowl. Once you are finished, and the bowl is returned, the plastic bag is removed and discarded, and a new baggie replaces it…. ready for the next customer.
We also had a variety of Baozi……
On the soggy side……
Overall nothing to write home about, but it sure did fill us up…..
We walked back out to the street realizing that we needed to get back to the hotel and head to the train station. Looking down the road, I noticed that we were just two blocks from Zhongshan Lu, one of the main streets, and pretty close to our hotel. It was time to make a beeline for our room, grab our luggage, and walk on over to the train station.
And Jinan was two and a half hours away……
Well, that's it for my QingDao posts. I hope you've enjoyed them, and as always, thanks for reading. Here is a listing of those posts:
Post #1 – Lunch and Dinner at Fifth Aunts
Post #2 – Morning in QingDao, Tianhou Temple, and Zhongshan Park
Post#3 – Our first visit to Pi Chai Yuan, and Banquet #1
Post#4 – St. Michael's Catholic Church and Banquet #2
Post#5 – The original family home and banquet #3
Post#7 – An abundance of seafood
Post#9 – Beer Street and the Tsingtao Brewery
Post#10 – Dinner at Sixth Aunt's
Post#11 – Donkey and Brain Tofu (Doufu Nao) for breakfast at Pi Chai Yuan
Post#12 – The Children's Park (Chu Shui Shan) and going shopping