American food is alive and well in China. The hamburger has made it way to China, big time. McDonalds seems to be leading the way, with long lines in Hong Kong. While I was in Hong Kong, I went to the same McDonalds two mornings in a row. On both occasions, people were stacked five deep in each of the seven lines.
McDonalds in Hong Kong — not as healthy as chicken feet, but perhaps more appetizing.
KFC seems to me to be coming in a close second as far as popularity with the Chinese people. I have also seen a Burger King, Starbucks, and a Papa Johns.
Americans who are guests in China aren't limited to fast food if they want to stick to American cuisine. During the month I have been here, I have stayed in several hotels. Each of them has their version of a western breakfast. This is really a full menu of breakfast, lunch, and dinner — all rolled into one.
The breakfast omelet bar that is featured in many hotels offers food that is familiar to American tourists.
Here is food that Americans can recognize.
My favorite breakfast feast was at the Holiday Inn in Shanghai. It was divided into different sections that included a variety of breakfast cereals, fruit bar, sushi bar, omelet bar, dim sum bar, and a variety of rice, and vegetables. The breakfast comes with your night's stay. If you eat the breakfast and take a roll with a little meat and cheese for a snack in the middle of the day, you are good until the evening meal.
Although Americans aren't used to eating vegetables for breakfast, the breakfast vegetable bar offers the opportunity for Americans visiting China to have a breakfast salad.
Whenever you dine with a group of six or more in China, you are going to find a very special table. It is a round table with a round glass that is in the middle, like a lazy Susan. As you sit down, there will already be a few starters on the glass. These could consist of small plates of appetizers such as cucumbers in soy sauce. Today we saw a plate of apples with a dressing on it.
A table set for dinner, with appetizers on the glass tabletop.
Once you are seated, the dishes begin to come. Tonight we had 12 at the table, and by the end of the meal I counted 13 dishes of food that came out. The dishes can range from a dish of rice, dishes of noodles, two or more different meats (one of them is usually a sweet and sour dish), along with several mixed vegetable dishes.
But when small wedges of watermelon arrive, dinner is over. I am not sure that I have ever been to a meal in China where watermelon was not served. Watermelon is the only kind of dessert I have ever seen in China, but it is always present. When I attended a Chinese wedding there were 23 dishes before the watermelon arrived.
A Chinese wedding — 23 dishes, plus watermelon.
Watermelon — it's what's for dessert.
Street food is a real adventure in China. In many traditional Chinese fast food eating places, you will be greeted with roast duck. That's the whole roast duck, including the duck heads. Or if you can prefer you can buy roasted duck heads without the rest of the duck attached.
In China you can get roasted duck heads, with or without the ducks attached.
One day we walked down an alley that had so many surprises I just could not count them all. I think that best it to let the photos show you the variety.
Squid on a stick.
Mystery meat, with chilis.
One thing about the food in China is that you can never expect to see anything. Just know that sooner or later you will see things that you can not believe people put in their mouths. I am sure that if you were raised here, you would think that these foods are delicacies.
Ten years ago I was served rat and snake. I figured that it would be the only time I would have such a meal — and yes, I lived to tell about it. One day on this trip I saw dog on the menu. Besides the chicken feet that I tried I also ate turtle and saw one man eat and savor the eyeball of a large fish head. I tried the cheek of the fish, but that was as far as I was going.
