Inside a Chinese Grocery Store

Even though you can find many of the same products in a chinese supermarket and a western one it is/was still a big adjustment for me! 

The three chinese food staples

Oil...chinese people stir fry everything! The amount of oil in chinese dishes is something that took me a long time to adjust to

RICE. Every meal is served with rice

I tried to find brown rice but could only find imported brands in the imported aisle...kinda weird! 

Soy sauce//vinegar 

Produce: (Prices are per 500 grams)

Beans (they don't sell any canned beans--it took me awhile to find these!) 

It is very rare to see any pre-cut veggies

It kinda looks like an outdoor street market

Some stores have precut fruits--usually cantaloupe or melons

There's many tropical fruit here that I love...dragon fruit, papaya, lichee, jackfruit

   

After you bag your produce or beans or sometimes even eggs you must take it to the weigh station. They weigh it and put a sticker on it that tells you how much it costs. If you go to the checkout without a sticker they cannot check it out. 

Chinese medicine//tea (the first few months i was here i could not find decaffeinated tea! I used to drink a lot of apple cinnamon tea and lemon ginger--I found lemon and ginger in these baggies and have started to make my own tea) 

Freezer aisle--Lots of jaiozi--dumplings, ice cream, and meat rolls

Dried meats 

and dried fish...just imagine how this smells. ewww

Meat and poultry...Theres a saying that Chinese people eat anything with four legs besides a table

They do not let any part of an animal go to waste

VERY fresh fish

octopus 

The selection of soda...pepsi, diet pepsi or sprite, coke, diet coke, or 7 up 

And the check out stand...batteries and condoms