The last few days have been rainy, so there was not much for Jon and I to do on our days off. 

We eventually decided to find a store that we  received gift cards to from our schools [we received them as a Mid-Autumn Festival present]. The store had a mishmash of everything, so Jon and I used the cards to buy ourselves some pretty bowels and spoons and I decided to try some Chinese wine. 

I have been pretty dubious about trying Chinese wine because I have heard from a few foreigners that it is not very good. A teacher that Jon worked with, however, advised him that most wine that costs over $12 is usually good, so that is what I gravitated towards. 

While I am glad that I decided to try a local wine, I probably won't buy Chinese wine again. It was alright, but it didn't hold up well over night and tasted pretty sour today. Since foreign wine is available here, I am able to buy wine that I know I like and it is only a couple dollars more.  

Speaking of local foods, Jon and I are having fun getting to know Ningbo, and China, through their food. Jon is particularly enjoying trying everything and is super excited at how cheap seafood is here. 

Shrimp, really all seafood, is kept whole here, eyes and all. It fascinates Jon and encourages him to play with his food before he ears it, as evidenced by the above picture. ;) While I am enjoying trying new food [the mall I work in has some great local restaurants], I miss being able to eat different regional food. I really like the food I have tried, but I get tired of noodles and rice variations pretty quick. In addition, I am limited sometimes since I don't like seafood. Ningbo, being a coastal city, is huge on seafood, which isn't always the best for me. It's even hard to cook some of the foods I like because I can't find the necessary ingredients in the stores. Luckily, I have found chickpeas and other staples, but I have yet to find things like couscous. There are still some supermarkets I have to scout out though, so I am hoping to still find some more international foods that I use to cook.

In spite of this, Ningbo is still a city and has a ton of foreign sweets and food chains. Sweet wise, I am happy to say that I am able to find every chocolate bar that I love, including Reese's and German/European candy, like Kinder Bueno. If you have not had a Kinder Bueno, go to either the West Point Market or the Mediterranean store on Graham and buy one [if you go to the Mediterranean store, buy their hummus as well! It is some of the best hummus I have had and it is homemade.]. Kinder Bueno is a wafer that is filled with hazelnut cream and then covered in chocolate and it is absolutely delicious. I have loved them since I studied in France. 

The other nice thing food wise, as I mentioned, is that Ningbo is filled with foreign chains. Of course this means that there are tons of McDonald's and Burger Kings and KFC's, but they also have pizza chains. As pizza is one of my favorite dishes, this is exciting. Normally, I would prefer to make my pizza, but I don't have an oven or my dad here, so Papa John's and Pizza Hut work just as well in this situation. 

I haven't tried Pizza Hut yet [sorry dad!], but I can say that it is quite popular here in China. The location in the mall that I work is always busy and I frequently see a line to sit down there. Papa John's doesn't seem to be as popular, but that could be because Jon and I have visited in the middle of the afternoon on a weekday. Their pizza tastes like home though and they have a Thailand Chicken pizza that is absolutely fantastic. I don't know if it is available at home, but if it is try it. It is not a red sauce pizza, but instead uses a sweet red pepper sauce and is topped with red peppers, chicken and cheese.    

All in all, Ningbo has a lot to try in terms of food. There are a few restaurants that Jon and I have lined to try up in the next month, both for his birthday and for our anniversary, and we run across more every time we go out to explore. Ningbo is turning out to be a nice city and I love it more the longer I am here. It will never compare to home, but it is definitely a nice place to experience!