Whilst there are a couple of places where western food items can be purchased such as cornflakes, Kraft grated parmesan cheese (awful stuff!) tinned tomatoes, creamed corn, they are western prices. Cheapest and best way to eat here is – go local! There are fresh food markets everywhere – local growers hawk their produce on the streets, plus you have the more established covered markets. Food is very seasonal and therefore very fresh. Just remember to thoroughly wash everything, as they do fertilise with human excrement.
Pork and chicken are the most common. The only beef so far I have been able to find is already sliced up and marinated ready for stir frying. Fish is very fresh – in fact choose your own fish direct from the fish tanks and they will catch/kill and clean it for you. No fillets – most of the food here is just chopped into bite-sized pieces. Turtles of all sizes are all readily available, and also frogs in season. I do recommend that you purchase all your meat at the supermarket, as in the markets it is hung there from early morning until sold. As currently (June) the temperature is in the low 30’s and humidity around 80-90%, plus flies and dust, don’t recommend buying it from street markets.
Butter and milk are available at a very few supermarkets in the centre of town. The only cheese available here are cheese slices, and triangular cheese spread portions. All at western prices. Yoghurt is freely available, however it is called drinking yoghurt – and quite runny. The plain yoghurt has some sugar in it. We use it with home made muesli for breakfast. Powdered cinnamon is unknown, however stick cinnamon is freely available. Western herbs such as basil, oregano, rosemary are not available here. The nearest town for us to purchase these items plus various cheeses, salami and other deli items is Wuhan, which is approximately 5 hours by train away (2 trains daily) at a cost of 49 RMB single for hard seat.
The food here is very spicy as it is the next province to Sichuan, so almost everything has chilli in it. They even cut the red chillies into pieces and deep fry them. They do lose some of the heat that way and are rather nice.
If you don’t want to cook, eating out is very inexpensive. On campus we have several student messes, maximum cost 8 RMB for 2 containers of rice, plus 2 of various vegetable/meat dishes. It is enough for two of us for lunch. We also have what is commonly called ‘food street’. Several small stalls for both; sit-down or takeaway, plus quite a few up-market restaurants. A meal for two including a beer each for around 20 RMB, A take away container of noodles or a filled pancake are only 2 RMB . There are better restaurants around and compared to Australia are still very cheap and very good food and service- no tipping required here.
Food is served communal style in the middle of table on a lazy susan and you help yourself with your chopsticks. Tea or water is normally provided, hot or cold depending where you are. Serviettes are non existent, instead you get a little folder with tissues (which you pay for) or alternatively a container with a roll of toilet paper (no charge), and you just tear off what you require. Paper towels are extremely difficult to find.
Pork and chicken are the most common. The only beef so far I have been able to find is already sliced up and marinated ready for stir frying. Fish is very fresh – in fact choose your own fish direct from the fish tanks and they will catch/kill and clean it for you. No fillets – most of the food here is just chopped into bite-sized pieces. Turtles of all sizes are all readily available, and also frogs in season. I do recommend that you purchase all your meat at the supermarket, as in the markets it is hung there from early morning until sold. As currently (June) the temperature is in the low 30’s and humidity around 80-90%, plus flies and dust, don’t recommend buying it from street markets.
Butter and milk are available at a very few supermarkets in the centre of town. The only cheese available here are cheese slices, and triangular cheese spread portions. All at western prices. Yoghurt is freely available, however it is called drinking yoghurt – and quite runny. The plain yoghurt has some sugar in it. We use it with home made muesli for breakfast. Powdered cinnamon is unknown, however stick cinnamon is freely available. Western herbs such as basil, oregano, rosemary are not available here. The nearest town for us to purchase these items plus various cheeses, salami and other deli items is Wuhan, which is approximately 5 hours by train away (2 trains daily) at a cost of 49 RMB single for hard seat.
The food here is very spicy as it is the next province to Sichuan, so almost everything has chilli in it. They even cut the red chillies into pieces and deep fry them. They do lose some of the heat that way and are rather nice.
If you don’t want to cook, eating out is very inexpensive. On campus we have several student messes, maximum cost 8 RMB for 2 containers of rice, plus 2 of various vegetable/meat dishes. It is enough for two of us for lunch. We also have what is commonly called ‘food street’. Several small stalls for both; sit-down or takeaway, plus quite a few up-market restaurants. A meal for two including a beer each for around 20 RMB, A take away container of noodles or a filled pancake are only 2 RMB . There are better restaurants around and compared to Australia are still very cheap and very good food and service- no tipping required here.
Food is served communal style in the middle of table on a lazy susan and you help yourself with your chopsticks. Tea or water is normally provided, hot or cold depending where you are. Serviettes are non existent, instead you get a little folder with tissues (which you pay for) or alternatively a container with a roll of toilet paper (no charge), and you just tear off what you require. Paper towels are extremely difficult to find.
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