A perfect taste & picture

The amount of times that I am sitting amongst Chinese people and they ask how
I like their food, always causes a moment of embarrassment, when I have to admit that I don't. I have said it before and will say it again, that the food served here has a different taste, texture and appearance to that back home.

But, when I visited Xian, to my amazement, I found dishes that actually resembled things that I could work out what they were and tasted 'normal'! After
avidly watching the satellite channel (when it has not broken down), the one that
is called Travel & Living (I highly recommend it), I have come to the conclusion
that people do not eat 'ugly' foods because they really believe or view them as
appetising, but from force of habit of past generations, eat them as they believe
it is normal to do so!!

Worms, beetles, cockroaches, hamsters, raw fish (not Sushi) including bones and all, cannot in this day and age seem normal, but in past years due to lack of
food, education and modern civilisation became regular eating habits.

So arriving in this city, I was delighted to see recognisable food stuffs being sold even on the street!! Peking Ducks were lying out baked in the sun, (my only
complaint being that their heads were still attached and their eyes were watching me accusingly!) and a light or heavier sandwich according to your taste and pocket was instantly served up. Delicious! There was roast or fried chicken on a wooden skewer that you could nibble on as you pushed your way through the crowds and then the unmentionables, or at least for my palette, but seemed to go down more than favourably with the locals. This was the squid and pig bellies that were also attached to sticks, eaten with relish, but left me cold and shuddering.

Then to my 'joy' I found a European style bakery. Here the large double fronted store was a paradise of danish buns, many grained breads, biscuits and delicious
cream cakes! Walking around and viewing all that was on show, it was hard to choose, but finally with great restraint I chose a danish for my journey and a cream cake for my leisure. Now with all this display, the coffee seemed to cause the most difficulty, but after agreeing to accept a cold one instead of hot, I tried to find a seat.

The shop on the left hand side was packed full with patrons and all viewed me rather balefully as I attempted to take a seat, obviously they were ill at ease at
having to share a table with a blond alien! With the help of a waitress I succeeded in securing a seat. It was then that I took stock of what they were eating. It seemed that the second half of the shop was a mixture of frozen yogurt and ice flavoured granules. They came in an assortment of colors and sizes and were being devoured with relish, understandably as it was so hot outside.

Reluctantly a couple and their child drew up a chair and shared my spot. The little girl looked at me suspiciously as she was spoon fed her cake, somewhat reluctantly and kept eyeing her mother's iced concoction with a wistful look, after a long labored force feeding the mother begrudgingly agreed to swap dishes and
a happy beaming smile lit up the young child's face. It seems that children are the same all over the world.