Before he left to return to China one of my grandsons was given a very nice camera. He has taken some pictures with it but hasn’t begun to explore what it is capable of. We spent some time playing with the camera yesterday and today was our first field trip to explore what he had learned.
When we visited the morning market a few days ago I had been impressed with all the colors and textures created by the wide variety of foods available. Today we returned with the purpose of attempting to capture some of the experience. We had agreed that my grandson would ask permission in Chinese before we took photographs of the people and their shops. We didn’t accomplish this at every shop, but when we did, we quickly got approval.
We should have taken pictures as we went further into the market and then made our purchases on the way out. We probably would have made somewhat better purchases and would have left our hands free for taking pictures. The strawberries caught our attention and once we had made our first successful purchase, I was distracted by all the things I wanted to purchase. That didn’t keep my grandson from taking some great pictures as I carried all the bags with our purchase.
The purchase process can involve haggling, but we didn’t do any of that. We would point to what we wanted, and my grandson would ask how much it was. If the price was okay, we would say how much we wanted. This was generally a kilogram. In most cases we would be given a plastic bag and asked to fill it with the amount we wanted. The vendor would then measure the bag and let us know how much it cost. Several of our purchases cost less than $1.
The variety and quantity of food is amazing. There is literally everything from soup to nuts. Our purchases were limited to fruits and vegetables. Next time we go Grandma wants me to pick up some backed goods. There were some pastry twists that looked very tasty. We purchased strawberries, kishu mandarins, pomello, tomatoes, and bell peppers. I hope you enjoy all the pictures. I’m looking forward to our next visit to the market. It is wonderful to have grandchildren who can help me navigate the purchasing process.
Most of the pictures below were taken by my grandson.
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