Forget Fall Fashion, It’s All about the Seasonal Snacks
Eating bing tang hu lu in People's Park.
Fall is officially here in Shanghai. The weather has been lovely, cool and crisp, since my return from Chengdu (western China) after the National Holiday.
Juicy persimmon.
And with the cooler weather have come several new additions to the usual Shanghai snack (xiao chi: little eats) scene. Amidst the typical steamed buns, dumplings, and noodles; baked sweet potatoes, corn, yu tiao (literally oil strips), and persimmons have appeared. The moon cakes that ushered in the fall season have all but disappeared, now demoted to the discount shelves, and been replaced by steaming hot sugary soy milk and bing tang hu lu (candied fruit).
Gluten Balls in Chengdu
With all there is to choose from along the grocery store aisles and inside the street stalls, these seasonal treats have quickly become top-of-mind for me, erasing not only fashion but essentially all else from my mind as well.
Now, the question is: what’s to eat?
Do you have any favorite foods from your travels? Share in the comments below!
Ooooh noooo!! Your photo is showing up as a broken image link for me. I am so curious to see the bing tang hu lu!! I remember it from living in China, and I would love to see what you captured with your camera.
Okay, I just posted about eating more Ladurée macarons, lol, and those are definitely on my Top Ten List of Foods I have Eaten in Different Countries, but you know what? Even though French food/pastries are delightful and all, I can’t eat most of it because of my food intolerances. The irony is that I *can* eat most of the foods you mention in your post and I have really been missing Chinese food (authentic, as in inside- China- Chinese food) like mad! Chinese snack food is some of the BEST, for sure.
That, and authentic tamales, empanadas, and chili rellenos. Oh man is it impossible to find real Mexican food in Paris, and this Colorado girl has a serious jones for those things, too. Fish tacos would be another.
Hope you are well and thanks for a great post!
Hey Karin! The picture should be working now. Food has likely become my favorite thing about China, especially all of the snack food. Although I do desperately miss raspberry tartes, fondant du chocolat and Amorino gelato from Paris. The Laduree macaroons sound divine too!
If you are looking for TexMex in Paris try The Studio in le Marais. It is the best I have found in the city, and their margaritas are good too!
I finally made it back!! Oh fantastic photos!! Wonderful! Yes, I used to love those. Brings back some good memories.
Oh and thanks for the tip about the restaurant! I will have to look for that!
I don’t know what they are called but the pancake wrap with a scrambled egg, cilantro and a yu tiao in it is to die for.
Sounds like carb heaven!
Hi everyone,
I accidently stumbled in here while looking for some pictures of China since I’m currently living in Spain and doing a presentation.
First of all I wanna say I’m impressed not many people dare to live in China because I personally think it can be very troubling also. I still hope u enjoy life there and as it sounds you found a couple of interesting things to eat. The best thing u should do find a chinese friend there because he or she would be able to show the real treats in Shanghai. Since my chinese is that good and I also don’t remember everything I ate (it was A LOT my relatives where literally stuffing me) when I was China I can’t give u any tips right now but if you like I can ask my uncle for some real treats of Shanghai. My favorites are dim sum with every kind of filling! What’s disturbing though is the food that looks sweet and is actually hearty inside…
And nooow I need to continue my research
Have a good one
P.S.: I hope u won’t get any diarrhea because of the different kind of food…
*my chinese is not that good