After visiting the Zhangye Danxia Landform, we headed back to our hotel. We gave ourselves a few minutes to freshen up before heading out for a walk about the city. We happened upon a supermarket and took the opportunity to pick up a few snacks for our upcoming roadtrip. Supermarkets all look pretty much the same these days. This place had a good selection of both fresh and prepared food items as well as imported products. It definitely caters to a wealthier clientele.
Everyone had their idea of what snacks they were interested in. I am always intrigued by the different flavors of potato chips that they sell around the world. Out of curiosity, I picked up a bag of "Mexican" flavored Lays potato chips. It's interesting to taste how food flavors are interpreted. The countless bins of flavored tofu also caught my eye. I had to get a few bags.
Next, we walked through a night market area of sorts - a few vendors selling fresh fruits, dried fruits and nuts. But the area was mainly filled with small restaurants. Though the scent of what was cooking often smelled enticing, none of us were in the mood for eating a full dinner - we were still stuffed from lunch.
I, of course, love street food and the chicken parts vendors as I would describe them (for lack of an accurate term) have been calling me ever since I came across them in Lanzhou. Sal found one selling the braised gizzards I love. The woman wanted 40 yuan for a kilo but I was not about to buy a kilo so I handed over a 10 yuan bill. In return, I got about 6 gizzards. Perfect for snacking on!! Everything here is flavored with chili and Sichuan peppercorn so the gizzards were just mildly spicy and lightly seasoned with the peppercorns. They were tasty but I still remember the really delicious ones that I had on my last visit to China.
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| Sal helping me buy gizzards. |
Yim found a vendor selling fried meat patties. They looked like roti canai on the outside. Inside the crispy fried bread shell was a filling of lamb and veggies. We both enjoyed our lamb sandwiches in Xi'an and this version was an excellent take on those sandwiches. In fact, I think I preferred this one.....cause who doesn't like crispy fried things?? :-)
Back in our room, Mal and I settled in for the night. I took my shower and did a bit of laundry. The air is so dry here that even my t-shirts dry easily overnight. Such a change from Xiahe where it took two days to just dry my quick drying hiking pants!
As we wound down from the day, we chatted a bit. Poor Mal's facing some work related issues and she really needed to vent. I let her talk and I just listened though I think she wanted me to chime in with some advice. If I knew her better, I would have but I don't and so I kept quiet. Better to not say anything than give inappropriate advice.
Lights out. We are on a roadtrip tomorrow to Jianguyuan - our entry to the Gobi Desert!
Goodnight from Zhangye!
