Qingping Market

Jan Nik
Apr 17, 2016
2 min read

One of the greatest aspects of living in a trade city is the plethora of markets that you can explore. I came across the Qingping Medicine Market using TripAdvisor (so American) and went to check it out last Sunday. Accompanied by a new friend Natalie and a solid hangover we embarked from the Huangsha Metro station into the alleys of Qingping. The first few stalls we saw were primarily flowers and roots, nothing too serious. But before we knew it we were in the wet market staring at cages full of frogs and turtles. Initially I thought these were meant as pets but the lack of pet food and aquariums made me realise these guys had a different fate. All of a sudden I felt the beers from the prior morning and it was time to move on. We turned right and walked past a few vegetable stands and soon we made it to the main market. Ill be honest, I was expecting something a lot more low key than the 6 floored modern shopping mall full of various animal parts, plants and roots. Inside we found tubs full of dried seahorses, antler shavings, dried dandelions and an insane amount of swallow nests.

After milling around for a half hour or so we decided to leave and check out the Hualin Temple that was close by. On the way we went through a pet market with so many potential pets I'm amazed that I left empty-handed. There were salamanders that had their gills on the outside of their body, something I'd only ever seen on Planet Earth. While the variety of turtles was also impressive, I couldn't help but ponder the contrast of their situation to that of their counterparts we saw in the wet market. One will end up in a loving home, the other on a plate. Anyways, we made it to the temple. It was just what I was expecting. Peaceful and quiet which is always nice in a city of 13 million. So thats it. No better way to get rid of a hangover than doing something that pushes your stomach to the limit. All in a good day of exploring.

So thats it. First blog post ever. After much deliberation I decided to use the blog format over the traditional portfolio website because 1) I don't really have any portfolios 2) Theres more to my experiences than just the pictures. Plus, this format should motivate me to regularly update what I've been up to. Its difficult to keep in touch with so many people when I'm 8+ hours ahead. Hope you all enjoy it.