To Market, To Market The Sophomores Go

Sophomore Class 1 (Monday, March 16, 2009)

This week was our "market day" when I promised to take all three of my Journal Reading classes to visit the local market. The idea was to identify the local Chinese vegetables for an upcoming journal article to be written by a couple of the students from each class. Each student would be assigned an article to write using the "journal style" we were studying in our textbooks. We met at the bridge near the China Post building and walked down to the local market just outside the university gate or about a fifteen-minute walk.


This is one of the "guest students" who is attending the sophomore class one to improve her English. She came completely prepared with a list of Chinese vegetables she thought we might encounter.

Here Dilly or Detective as she likes to be called, is checking out some strange looking vegetable. This was one of the few vegetables we could not positively identify in English. It is supposed to grow wild on the slopes of Emei Mountain and is used like a condiment and also a medicine. I seem to recall having seen this in several of the dishes served in the local restaurants.


The ever-present sugar cane. This is common throughout Southern China and one sees kids chewing on almost every street.


Craig is lazy! Here he picks out a vegetable that he knew. Unfortunately for him, every one else knew it as well and he was not given credit for his identification powers.

Dried noodles typical of those eaten every day by locals from Sichuan.

These mangos were obviously not raised in this are but imported probably from Yunnan in the south. Yunnan actually is quite near here so shipping them in would be very easy.

Ms. Double identifies this as a small pumpkin. The Chinese name is small "nangua" or small pumpkin. Kinda easy, this translation business, isn't it, Ms. Double?


Spring onions for sure but the other we simply have no idea. That will be the job of the two students who were assigned to write the article.

Green beans or Chinese long beans were very plentiful at this market. Looks like the veggies on the right could be bamboo shoots.

The big white things are Japanese radishes or Daikon Radishes. They often pickled and served as appetizers in downtown Emei City restaurants. Cucumbers on the right and baby pumpkins and Chinese spinach on the right.

Shirley is taking notes as she prepares for the article she and Sabrina will have to write for our Emei Mountain Travel journal.

Sichuan means peppers and here are some red ones. Peppers come in many different shapes and colors.

More peppers and some wax gourds next to a few mushrooms.

Great picture showing the variety that is the typical Sichuan small town Market.

Shirley and Sabrina will have their work cut out for them identifying all these veggies.

The center vegetables is very good. It took us a long time to get up enough courage to give it a try but it turned out to be one of our favorites. Not exactly sure what it's English name is or what family of veggies it belongs.

Sunee says this is obviously a zucchini. They tend to be small but very good to eat.

The eggs in the front are the "thousand year old" variety we see all the time in Thailand and in most large Asian markets back in the States. I also recognized the sea weed but nothing else.

Chestnuts laying on the cement floor.

This is unprocessed brown sugar. Easy to identify by its looks and taste.

Sophomore Class 3 (Tuesday, March 17, 2009)

Tuesday afternoon was Class Three's turn to visit the market. I was a bit skeptical as to how successful the trip would be since it was in the afternoon at 1400. Kinda feared that all the good veggies would be gone. I, of course, turned out to be wrong. Not many people around and this made for a fun time in identifying the veggies and visiting with the farmers about their produce.

Here Grace picks up some really bad looking things and claims it is nothing but fungus. What kind of fungus? Not sure but - FUNGUS.

Killua, acting in her normal up-front and aggressive manner, tries to identify all the spices and powders we encounter first. She identifies the various items as spice or powder.

Not sure but my guess is that this stuff is agar agar. Anyone have another idea?

Ms. Alisha (formerly Ms. Lisa) picks up the unidentified veggie the first class had trouble with. Sure enough, she had trouble with it as well. She did not even know what the Chinese name was.

This thing is a bean. Yep, a bean. Of course, what kind of bean remains a mystery.

The big green thing on the right is a winter melon. The other veggies were identified as "other vegetables."

Most of these veggies the students knew. The ones in the middle, they were unsure of what they were.

Lotus roots and . . . ok, I give up. Can you tell me what the other stuff is.

Pumpins, green peppers, red peppers, ginger and the wax gourds. So what else is left?

Carrots and, uhhh, well maybe some green onions. Hey, don't forget the mushrooms.

Bamboo shoots, baby pumpkins and the unidentified but delicious veggie on the top.

Clueless! Anyone have an idea?

Green beans, right?

Dried . . . . not a clue!

These are expensive mushrooms and resemble the Japanese shitake mushroom.

Mushrooms.

Peas, beans and note taking. A great educational opportunity.

I think these were some kind of yams but I can not be sure.

Sophomore Class 2 (Wednesday, March 18, 2009)

The last class (Sophomore Class 2) on the way to the market at around 1000 in the morning. A beautiful day to be out and about.

As usual, the market was active with many vendors and farmers selling their produce.

The bottom leaves are Lao Ing Cha or Eagle tea. The top wood looking stuff is actually cinnamon. Both come from the same tree - a type of laurel found in the high mountains of Sichuan.

Star anise in its robust form.

Have not figured out the top stuff but the bottom is definitely nutmeg in its raw form.

These are small taro roots ready to be peeled and cooked. They make a great desert when mixed with sugar and other spices.

Looking through the pages of Chinese vegetables I downloaded from the internet. This turned out to be a great help for English name identification.

Here Mr. January is joking around with Ms. Ivy over what to call the veggies they have encountered.

Maybe some kind of pepper in its raw stage.

Completely clueless on this stuff.

These are sesame seeds.

Maybe more taro roots but I am not sure.

Rapeseed which is now very much in season.

Cucumbers, of course.

Chinese spinach, maybe!

This is the typical Sichuan vendor. She lives all over Sichuan and makes a decent living selling some pretty impressive produce.

Baby Shanghai Cabbage or some such thing. Guess I will have to go look again at my cheat sheet.

Chinese leek.

A nice colorful and interesting presentation of the local produce.

Time for some snacks - according to Sunny. No one argued with her. Her she picks out some great steamed buns for the Gap Guys to try.

Hopefully we all learned something. If not, it was a nice day for a walk and a visit to the local vegetable market.