It was one of the best promises I have ever broken: "Go on, you have a bite first and then I'll try."
My friend Dominic -- a trusting, adventurous visitor who was determined to savor Beijing's most alternative tastes -- needed no further prompting.
Ignoring the unpleasant odor, the unappetising appearance and the disgusting name, he picked up a skewer of fried silkworm grubs and slid one between his teeth with an audible crunch.
As he nodded bravely while his teeth cracked the dark grey outer shell, I thought for one horrible moment that I might really have to follow his lead.
But to my immense relief, his face quickly contorted into a this-shouldn't-be-inflicted-on-anyone grimace (at least, that's how I chose to interpret it) when his tongue and his tastebuds confronted the gooey bug entrails inside.
As he spat out the contents and let his tongue air for a while, I silently thanked the Kitchen God for getting me off the hook.
The remaining bugs were binned. My measly punishment for failing to fulfil my share of the bargain was to chew my way through a grilled goat's testicle and lick the fluff which passed as meat from the inside of a brittle deep-fried starfish.
It could have been far worse. The exotic food vendors of Xiaochi Jie (Snack Street) are made for games of culinary dare.
Illuminated by red lanterns and strip lights, the stalls sell kebabs of roasted scorpion, cicadas, sea-horses, chicken hearts, frogs, sparrows and various animal genitalia.
Horror of horrors, there are even battered strawberries dusted with sugar.
China has a longstanding reputation as a nation where -- as the writer Xinran has noted -- people eat anything in the water except a submarine, anything that flies except a plane and anything with legs except a table and chairs.
But the impressive variety of peculiar tidbits offered by the street stalls near Tiananmen Square is testimony to a distinctly modern feature of the country's economic landscape: the liberalization of food.
Older Beijingers can still recall the coupon system of the 1970s, when even basic goods like sugar were rationed. Foreigners who were here in the 80s delight in telling newcomers of a time when they could only dine in state-run "Friendship Restaurants," where the rude waiters, dire menus and chronic overcharging of non-Chinese customers were a constant source of amusement.
But in recent years, the cuisine of the capital has been trans-formed by entrepreneurs, competition and a growing desire among consumers to try something new. Beijingers -- who are traditionally far more conservative in their tastes than people in the south of China -- do not usually eat anything stranger than rice, soup and dumplings, but rising incomes and the loosening of restrictions -- first, of people, and subsequently, of the food they eat -- have transformed the dietary options of the average city dweller.
Inevitably, there are McDonald's, KFC franchises and Starbucks coffee shops, which can be found even on the lakeside of the romantic and modish Beilu nightspot.
The huge influx of migrant workers from the provinces has also brought an explosion of restaurants and street stalls selling Uighur mutton kebabs, spicy Sichuan dishes and Korean dogmeat, and "gruel restaurants," offering a cheap and tasty range of glutinous dishes from the north-east of China.
Throughout the city, eateries and bars are now spreading at a stomach-churning pace.
Even the service has improved. But some Beijingers are shocked by changes, especially the weird dishes available.
The raw fish served at Japanese restaurants is quite a shock to many locals. As is the bangers, mash and baked beans at the English pubs. It's only a matter of time before someone asks me: "Do people really eat this stuff in your country?"
I will advise them to try the food before making a judgment.
Or, at least, to get their reckless friends to take the first bite on their behalf.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
RIVER TRAGEDY: Local fishers and residents helped rescue people after the vessel capsized, while motorbike taxis evacuated some of the injured At least 58 people going to a funeral died after their overloaded river boat capsized in the Central African Republic’s (CAR) capital, Bangui, the head of civil protection said on Saturday. “We were able to extract 58 lifeless bodies,” Thomas Djimasse told Radio Guira. “We don’t know the total number of people who are underwater. According to witnesses and videos on social media, the wooden boat was carrying more than 300 people — some standing and others perched on wooden structures — when it sank on the Mpoko River on Friday. The vessel was heading to the funeral of a village chief in