Market Day

Just as I was about to head for home on my walk yesterday, I noticed an increasing amount of foot traffic along the highway. Following the crowds, I found that they were heading to an outdoor market.

In a few hours many Chicagoans would be spending their Saturday morning scoring the dregs of the season at the Evanston Farmer's Market; but I was admiring some of the best-looking produce I've ever seen。(Of course, who knows what sorts of insecticides and other chemicals the farmers here use to harvest such a bountiful crop.)














The market seems to be where the fishermen I observed earlier take their catch. (At this booth, you can select a live fish from under the table.)

The bounty available for purchase made me wish that I was doing my own cooking here. All I wound up buying were a tasty fried squash cake from this cart and a few bananas and tangerines.

Even the kids help out (although I couldn't tell if the boy sitting on the table was selling the eel that's in the bag, playing with it, or both).

...The market's the one-stop spot for provisions of all sorts: Meat...

...tofu...

...buns...

...roast poultry...

...tea...

...and hens awaiting their fate. (The merchant who cleans and chops them for buyers is in the background with the cleaver).









My tiny Kodak may not have been all that I'd hoped for with the seaside shots in the previous entry, but it was ideal for unobtrusively catching the merchants and their wares (or as unobtrusive as a laowai can be in rural China).