Shìchǎng (Markets)

Markets in China are as lively as markets anywhere else in the world.
They are favoured by most for the cheap food and the kind of goods that can't seem to be categorised into any one shop.
The challenge of navigating through lively but slow-moving crowds is daunting, but worth its while for satisfying curiosity.

Fish are often displayed live and killed upon purchase- sent home in a random plastic bag, blood and all.

Fruit markets are abundantly stocked and explode with colour, displaying apples, pears, grapes, durian, star-fruit, dragon-fruit and a few others I have never seen before. Pineapples are decoratively peeled ready for snacking on!

The fruit stalls in Zengcuoan (by the beach) sell the biggest mangoes I have ever seen (even bigger than in mango-laden Africa). And what's more, they are succulent, string-less and perfectly ripe with a very small pip in the middle, offering days and days of mango nourishment.

I would have to say, however, that I often gaze at the goods here with more astonishment than delight.

Meat is often left out in the open all day, which aggravates all my hypochondriac tendencies at once and I crave the hygienic packaging of supermarkets in the west.

Plant markets are the most exciting: very cheap and lusciously stocked.