This weekend, I went to Zhu Jia Jiao (朱家角), a small city located in the Qing Pu district of Shanghai. Zhu Jia Jiao is west of Shanghai’s city center and it takes about an hour to drive there. It is most famous for being a water town that has been preserved for the past 1,700 years. Besides the old Chinese architecture, I was really fascinated by all the different types of food stands. I wanted to avoid food poisoning at all costs (a lot of the food is just sitting out in the open), so I didn’t try most of it. But, I did get to try a couple of really delicious things and take some interesting pictures of 零食 (snacks).
Zhu Jia Jiao is well-known for its zhong (lotus wrapped rice on the far right) and its pork products (left).
These Chinese buns were filled with red bean paste. The top is crispy from semi-burnt sugar (think creme brûlée). I actually tried one of them and they were delicious (minus the red bean; I hate red bean).
She takes thinly sliced radish, dunks it in batter and deep-fries it.
Scrumptious cracker-like bread that has green onions and sesame seeds mixed in. They’re nice and crispy and still warm when I ate one.
Chinese calligraphy lays out to dry.
The only Western restaurant I saw in Zhu Jia Jiao was selling French crepes. I thought their advertising sign outside was pretty clever. You don’t have to travel as far to Paris in order to eat a crepe!
This man made beautiful lollipops out of semi-burnt sugar. He was so fast at making them!
The dragon was my favorite.
Only in China can you find preserved vegetables being sold in Sprite bottles.
Don’t worry! The sun did come out later at Zhu Jia Jiao!
Boat crossing
