I grew up as a girl who spent her childhood wandering through wet markets. In my day job, I’m an office worker tied to a cubicle, but when the Lunar New Year rolls around, I step in as the “second-in-command” at a market grocer’s stall.What sort of place is a…
Foodthink Says As the Qingming Festival approaches, whether for travel or tomb-sweeping, many will head to the countryside for a few meals of “farmhouse food”. This year’s Spring Festival was no different for the author of this piece. This account of dining during a return to the village for the…
I. Spreading White to Dry, Hanging Gold to Cure; Fragrant Wine and Curling Smoke From the Start of Winter, amidst the mountain ranges of south-west Zhejiang and across the Songgu Plain, the people of Songyang have already begun preparing for the New Year’s Eve feast. In these valley settlements, cradled…
Foodthink Says This marks the sixth instalment of story submissions for Foodthink’s “Eat Something Good” series, themed around “wet markets”. What has surprised us is that, in an age of relentless acceleration, we continue to receive a wealth of personal accounts from readers about these spaces. Set against earlier themes…
Foodthink Says Today, fresh produce delivery platforms such as Alibaba’s Hema, Meituan’s Xiaoxiang, JD’s Qixian, and Dingdong Maicai are capturing public attention like never before. From the comfort of your home, a few taps on your phone are all it takes to have your daily essentials delivered in as little…
Foodthink Says Another 618 Shopping Festival is upon us. After the thrill of endless buying and unboxing, have you ever stopped to think about where all that plastic packaging we so casually sweep out the door actually ends up? “Eating well” is not just about nourishing ourselves; it is also…
I am someone who succumbed to pressure; I couldn’t keep playing this game of racing between skyscrapers. Now, I write my story in the hope that as a “failed player” still in flight, I can identify from those past “failures” the things that truly made me feel lonely and depressed,…
Foodthink’s Take In the previous edition of our “Eat Well” column, dozens of Foodthink readers shared their “moments they wanted to avoid takeout”. Many expressed their frustration; although there are times they are tired of takeout, the frantic pace of work, a lack of culinary skill, or poor kitchen facilities…
I. Weather-Dependent Small Farmers and Mothers Seeking to Escape the Motherhood Penalty Affected by climate conditions, the survival rate for seedlings planted in late summer this year was remarkably low. Consequently, Hu Xuemei’s farm on the outskirts of Chengdu could not supply any vegetables for delivery over the past few…
Foodthink Says As May arrives, Yunnan once again enters the season for foraging wild mushrooms in the hills. In recent years, wild vegetables and mushrooms have surged in popularity. Not only are pricey varieties now regularly stocked in supermarkets, greengrocers, and online grocery platforms, but “wild foraging” (the practice of…