One of my favorite ways to get to know a new place is to visit the local market and when possible cook or assemble a meal using fresh local ingredients.
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I just visited my uncle in Zhuhai, a seaside city in Guangdong province between the financial powerhouses of Hong Kong and Macau. You can see both places from Gongbei, the neighborhood where I stayed in Zhuhai.
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Above: the view of Macau and South China Sea from the apartment in Gongbei, Zhuhai where I stayed.
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As you might imagine, the seafood is superfresh at the market. I bought about half a pound each of live shrimp, live clams and tiny octopuses. The shrimp continued to jump around in their bag as I walked back to the apartment in the sweltering heat. Amazingly fresh. There was a huge variety of fresh seafood there, and if I had more time I would have loved to try them all.
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One of the cephalopod-selling ladies:
And of course no good Chinese meal would be complete without some sautéed greens, which I got on the vegetable floor:
Along with some local fruit, including longyan (which grow natively in my family’s home village about an hour north of Zhuhai) and big fat thick-skinned grapes.
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When the produce and seafood are so fresh, all you have to do is steam it with a tiny bit of salt, and it is hao chi (delicioso)!