Beijing Wangfujing Night Market

[LivRules01]

@3:27 is that some kind of tea?

[ALTPhotoImages]

@LivRules01 Yeah I believe it is a tea with dry ice in it. A real novelty item like many things here.

[steve4123253526262]

I don't know about you guys but this is making me really hungry!

[naju332]

they would even eat my balls if i fry it in hot oil

[sofarsogood9]

If you didn't know already, this is a tourist trap. Chinese people don't eat this stuff.

[ALTPhotoImages]

@sofarsogood9 It is set up for tourist mostly, but I wouldn't call it a trap. Nobody is getting ripped off, its all good fun.

[sofarsogood9]

@ALTPhotoImages Having lived in China since birth and being a chinese myself, I call rip off. I could probably get the same stuff for maybe 3 times less of that price. Then again I've never seen that stuff being sold anywhere else.

[ALTPhotoImages]

@sofarsogood9 LoL, right.

[mohnlgabber]

its huge wtf

[tdotmiss]

yea the locals dont actually eat this shit...

and its Wangfujing is specially marketed for tourists, so of course its not cheap if you compare it to street food in other areas of beijing

[dayjun]

Wangfujing street food is really expensive compared to what you can find somewhere else

[ALTPhotoImages]

@dayjun Maybe but it seemed cheap to me and I guess you might be paying for the exotics.

[GanjaGrowers]

@ALTPhotoImages it isn't that exotic lol. 

[DONYSATRIO]

Love it..

[nbaalltheway]

oh oi hello!

[chengchunnam]

It's Guilliver's travel for the westerner

[jamesbrannick123]

Nice vid very interesting :)

[FarewelI]

WangFuJing is a great place to go, definitely a must-see in Beijing. It's over-day a shopping heaven and at night such a lively nightlife. I miss China ;(

[epski]

wht program diid u use in this video? thanks

[ALTPhotoImages]

@epski,

iMovie HD.

[bbly096]

2:08 Peeing Meatball???????? lol I'd like to try that!!

[kalyan01]

I was here recently. The smell at this place is sickening. Even thinking about that smells makes me want to throw up.

There is a food court at the other end of Wangfujing which has some excellent food.

[ALTPhotoImages]

@kalyan01

No smell problems when I was there.

[nbaalltheway]

@kalyan01 you smell like shit

[dxpeo]

Those are good and very cheap, but I never enjoy them , because when I was a little boy my father kept telling me how dirty the street food is, didn't stop me back then but now I'm an adult and I hate eating outside home, I can't even really enjoy eating in restrauts, street food always scares me, the only thing I can fell safe to put in my mouth on the street are drinks, alcohol.

[ngames1]

Sick and twisted!

[seswick]

is this market expensive? I'd love to visit one day

[ALTPhotoImages]

@seswick

Not expensive at all. Very cheap compared to food items in USA.

[seswick]

@ALTPhotoImages That's great news! I heard that this market was set up as a result of the Olympic games coming to China, so I imagined it would be a little on the pricey side. I plan on taking a trip to Beijing by the end of the year... I've only recently learned of this market and it's making me want to go all the more! What an experience, certainly more exciting then China Town here in London!

[ToiYeuDatNuocCuaMinh]

So many things to try looks nice . :)

[trigger00r]

LOL pissing beefballs. Stephen Chow for the win.

[QwertnotQuark]

I'd try the scorpions for sure(the big ones.)

[travelwebnyc]

Are there better things to eat? I mean, I am Chinese and I won't even touch pig ears or chicken feet and stuff like that. Can you give me one really good reason why you eat those insect and worms? What will other people think of us?

[ALTPhotoImages]

@travelwebnyc

Of course there are. On many streets there are many vendors and restaurants with really great and more traditional food. One of the first things we did was visit them and brought back some to our hotel. Spme of the best food I had in China was from street vendors and markets. This market is just for fun mostly.

[ToiYeuDatNuocCuaMinh]

@travelwebnyc U can try maggot cheese.

[spiderpig85]

are starfish even edible?

[ParadiseofTruth]

@spiderpig85 Yea, they are. But, I heard they taste like sand. lmao!

[spiderpig85]

@ParadiseofTruth I heard they have some kind of toxin in them...

[ParadiseofTruth]

@spiderpig85 Well, what you heard was correct. Starfish can be dangerous to eat due to the toxins (biochemicals) in their body walls. Feeding starfish to cats or dogs usually result in the animal vomiting or death. And, other species who consume starfish suffers from paralytic selfish poisoning. So, other species seem to be more susceptible to the dangers of starfish eating. I've come across people who have ate them years ago and they're still alive... *shrugz*.

[DL111]

what the hell? Starfish? that can't taste good

[ALTPhotoImages]

Yeah but it stays crunchy in milk ;)

[verryk]

I'm sooo happy I'm going to beijing in two weeks!!

but I don't know if I'll try these...:D

[haaklung]

Interesting Place! I very like it ^^

[Medracin]

lol, the raving stuffed animals made my day.

I'm guessing they don't have anything vegetarian in this market.

[princeaferd]

:57 wai wai hello, hahaha

[ALTPhotoImages]

I know, I was trying to ignore him because before that he had already tried to sell me something I didn't want. Of course he was having none of it and demanded attention. at around 1:18 he actually threw something at me-in good fun I think.

[XxGarraXxloverXx]

im going to china in four weeks and im checking out wangfujing first thing!!!!!.....after i pay my respects to my elders.^_^

[WoOTfoOT]

WOA I WOULD NEVER EAT A BUG!

[apearl420]

i wanna go to beijing. seems very interesting

[dj300234]

sick

[denouements]

wow. i'd fly straight over even if its only just to experience the atmostphere.

[zedude123]

You should see shan dong food

[coofootube]

you should see the shan dog bbq

[PaperClip459]

yum.

[amyftw94]

love that place.

[winkedinkie]

i really want to visit this market. i'd go so broke buying everything though.

[sofarsogood9]

Chinese night market stuff is pretty cheap.

[ClaudiaSwann]

jah like 5 - 10

at the very most the prices will be equivelant to about 1GBP

[winkedinkie]

'dont be shy if you see anything you like'

'i'm not even hungry'

'me neither'

hahhaha

[ALTPhotoImages]

Well we just got back from a huge dinner. There were some items that did look good and not on the unique, for me, side.

[Motleybrewcrew]

hotdog on a stick IS hot dog on a stick

[jabbasaw]

lol

[levbarg]

Wangfujing night market is a show for the tourists. Beijing people do not eat 90% of the food they serve there (scorpions and such) but the foreigners wdon't know any better. It's a total misrepresentation of Chinese night market culture. Gas grills? Please. For real Beijing street food, get into the narrow alleyways of the hutongs and eat some smoky charcoal fired lamb kebabs with cumin, some pork dumplings, some hand pulled noodles. You'll pay 1/3 of the price for authentic, much tastier food

[ALTPhotoImages]

While I agree with you to an extent, there where Beijing people at the market eating. I was in the hutongs and also saw some "unique" choices of food (donkey meat anyone) there. At least from my US perspective. How about the dog at another restaurant being served to locals?. Please don't take my mentioning these things as my putting them in a bad light, they are what they are and I had no problem with that. So it isn't completely black and white, but your suggestions to try other places is good.

[levbarg]

I wasn't suggesting that Chinese people don't eat *anything* that Americans consider strange. What makes me angry is the Wangfujing night market misrepresents Chinese culture, and what makes it worse is that it is totally operated by the government! Rather than encourage people to try the real local foods, the government totally misrepresents their own culture in order to make a buck. There's too much great, authentic Chinese food in Beijing to waste your time choking down a scorpion.

[ALTPhotoImages]

Well I won't argue that point, but if you really don't like tourist traps in China (and just about every other country) then you have a long ways to go then just this market. Though I guess you have to start somewhere. :)

Thanks for the comments, its always interesting to get different points of view.

[levbarg]

By the way, because this was next to a busy street with car traffic, I think this is actually Dong Hua Men night market... Wangfujing night market is in that little tucked away corner off the big Wangfujing shopping street which has no auto traffic.

[ALTPhotoImages]

Could be I have no way of saying for sure either way, I can only go by what we were told by many others.

[timothyand]

what hutongs? for night markets, go south, bro.

[levbarg]

My wife is from Taiwan, where giant, fantastic night markets are everywhere. We were a little disappointed that even after 2 months in mainland China the only real night market on par with those huge ubiquitous Taiwanese ones were in the obscure city of Kaifeng in central China. If you're familiar with Taiwanese nigth markets, I'd love to know specifically where in China we could find comparable ones.

[timothyand]

i haven't found anything comparable to taiwanese night markets, they are the best, by far. but, southern china, guangdong for instance, has some pretty cool stuff...night markets are a southern thing. it has something to do with it being so damn hot during the day that once the sun goes down and it's cooled off a bit, you hit the street. southern china is the answer.

[heatherzhy]

@levbarg That's so true! don't go to Wangfujing! it's a waste of time.

[fernandesfran]

@levbarg You answered one of the concerns I had. Have been to Beijing but didn't see people eating such stuff, so thought maybe they were shielding the tourists from these kind of things. But, now I know better. Cheers.

[tdotmiss]

@levbarg i LOVE yang ruo chuar. if you know what that is :)

[siambear50]

yucks

[ALTPhotoImages]

Well, not all of it was bad. There was some items that looked and smelled great by my American standards.

[idwoof]

I ate it all, Baby! Scorpions, silkworm larvae, sea urchin, pig tails, testicles, an entire shark, snake, starfish, EVERYTHING! A gastromonical thrill ride!

[ALTPhotoImages]

You are truly braver then I. Shark and snake may have been the only thing I might have considered.

[xMyxParalyzedxLife]

i love this place. xP

[muleDArule]

yes great place :)

But i could not eat something :D. Even my beijing friend adviced me not to eat there :D.

I love Beijing

[ALTPhotoImages]

Yea I imagine some health issues, especially for travelers not used to the local mix, might be an issue. I did eat food from other places, not street vendors, during my stay and had no problems and enjoyed much of it.

[muleDArule]

totally agree :) will spent my holiday in beijing .... wohoooo only 11 days left :) happy happy happy