Let me share with you some of my wonderful purchases....
For those of you who love cucumbers, chinese cucumbers are a magnificent thing. They are crispier and almost seedless-similar to the seedless European cucumbers available in the US, but 10 times better. I love to eat them many ways but most of the time I just cut them into sticks or eat them like an apple! I buy them from the street vendors REALLY cheap. These three cost about 3 RMB - less than 50 cents USD. 
Then there's the carrots. Mmmmmm. There aren't really "baby carrots" here in bags like in the US. Even better are these jumbo carrots that taste better than any carrot you've ever had - almost sweet - never bitter. These cuc's and carrots I bought yesterday for about 5 RMB (~0.75 cents USD). These cucumbers are actually a teeny bit different than the ones above - they are a bit more tender but equally great.
And then there's the fruit. The sweetest pineapple you could dream of. I remember, from my first trip to China over a decade ago, how surprised I was about the pineapples here. Almost every day, I pass by many fruit vendors selling fruit from the back of their tri-bikes. (Note: These bikes are like truck bikes - they haul stuff. And when I say they haul stuff, I cannot express to you in words what that means. They haul everything you can imagine and more - amazing amounts of stuff. I need to start taking pictures of some of these feats of balance that people are able to transport on their bikes to show you. I could write a whole blog entry about it. I never cease to be surprised at this.) I often buy fruit from this guy in the pictures. I'm not sure why I choose him, but I tend to stick to the same people so they know me. Most produce here is sold by the "jin" or half kg. I buy a pineapple a few times a week for ~7 RMB (~$1). AND he cuts off the skin for me! See photos. It's awesome. I bought this pineapple and the mangoes (which are as equally unparrelled to those available in the US- these are smaller but have very thin pits - I think they come from the Phillipines) for 9 RMB. (~$1.50)Oranges are very popular here. There are as many varieties of oranges here as there are apples in Upstate NY. Any given day, I see at least a handful of people peddling oranges from the load in the back of their truck bikes. I bought the ones above from one of these people. Five oranges ended up being 4 RMB ($0.65).
And where to even begin on the street food...I finally gave up on resisting the delicious looking fried noodles and dumplings. For many expats, they stay clear of these roadside stands in lieu of more hygienic food with a much lower risk of making you sick. But if you ask me, you're missing out on a great opportunity to experience some of the best China has to offer! I mean, why waste my Hep A and B vaccinations! Dumplings, noodles, bao buns, onion pancakes, oh my! It's so cheap, you could literally eat a few meals for 1 USD. Across the street from our apt, I buy delicious bao buns stuffed with some kind of green veggies and maybe tofu or some kind of mushroom for 1 RMB each. Two makes a meal for me! See pics. A couple stalls down, I buy a yummy thing made of bok choy and chinese chives wrapped in some version of onion pancake for 1 RMB.
Potsticker dumplings filled with pork and chinese chives are one of the many things sold around the corner - 8 for 4RMB.
Possibly my favorite so far - these fried noodles I bought for 5 RMB just around the corner from my apartment this evening! In the evening many vendors with their bicycle "kitchens" with propane stoves come out and you can get stir fried stuff made to order just the way you like it. When I brought these noodles home tonight and proudly showed Bill my new find and said "Only 5 kuai!", Bill responded "Yeah, 5 kuai worth of toilet paper that you're going to need tonight." He hasn't quite joined the street food movement. So far everything is settling just fine...Thank you.
I love having fresh flowers at home. I buy lilies because they're everywhere and they make the apt smell great. About 12 RMB a stem - that bunch is three stems so $6. Or potted orchids - the white one on the table has 5 phalenopsis orchids in a fancy pot - 180 RMB ($27). The purple Dendrobium orchid on the black cabinet - 60 RMB ($9). You can buy name brand clothing pretty cheap like this Addidas gear. After some hard core bargaining I got all three of these items (pants, shorts, shirt) for 100 RMB (~$15). Only problem is that clothes here are in Chinese sizes (aka dwarf sizes). Which means I wear an XL here and still some things are skin tight or shirts are cut off shirts or the sleeves are a couple inches too short. These things in this pic are either L and tight or XL size. And shoes... if you wear bigger than a size 8 in womens - you'll have a hard time finding anything your size.
Yesterday we went on a trek to find an old style chinese bike. It was a great adventure! Along the way I saw a bonsai stand and stopped to buy the most perfect bonsai ever. I wish I spoke more chinese so I could find out how old it is. Hopefully I don't kill it! I'm usually a good bargainer, but this time I couldn't stand paying the poor guy less than 80 RMB - he started at 100 RMB (~$15). I should've offered him half that or less, but I loved it so much I only bargained him down to 75 and then gave him 80. Seems like it's been loved for a long time. This wasn't like some middle man retail outlet - this guy shaped and cared for all of these himself. Bill snapped a couple blurry pics from the van. You can see the men watching me buying it. People love to stop and watch foreigners buy things!
Then there's the beautiful new old style bike I bought!!! These chinese bikes used to be mainstream, but now they are becoming less and less a normal thing. They're actually not made as well as they used to be - almost a bit janky, but still quite beautiful. We bought this one from a quaint bike shop that seemed like it'd been there for decades. There's the guy bolting the basket onto the front of it. Oh and there's a pic of our van. Sweet wheels eh? All the cool people roll in Buick minivans. Hehehe. I know, I know. You are thinking - another bike?! Didn't she learn her lesson with the first one? No. I didn't. I will be riding my bike again as soon as my arm is strong enough to steer the handlebars!! And anyway, this bike is more of a collectors item in my opinion. Great to look at - not so great to ride!
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