Students with very little pocket money like to go to Hot Pots in China. They are an inexpensive way to eat out. Typically, at Hot Pot restaraunt there are two boiling pots filled with a different kind of flavored soup and people add a variety of vegetables or meat into either pot. When the various foodstuffs are adequately cooked they are removed from the soup (with chopsticks) and eaten.

I went to a Hot Pot last night with a delightful young student by the name of Mei. At our table was a large pot connected to a heater and filled with a spicy and red pepper soup. In the middle of that large pot was a smaller pot with a far less spicy soup.

As my friend was ordering she asked me if I would like to eat the brains or internal organs of an animal in much the same way we would ask if our dinner guest would like a Coke or an Orange Juice. I declined brain and every internal organ with the exception of a pig's heart. (I figured that a heart is like meat since its basically a muscle) Much to my regret it tasted like the darkest piece of meat ever and was rather unappealing. Additonally, we ordered potatoes, melon wedges, beef, lamb, fish, mushrooms and cabbage.

Regrettably, the Hot Pot, when compared to the other restaraunts we have frequented on this trip was rather luckluster. The problem was that everything was flavored the same and thus tasted very similar. For the locals I guess that Hot Pots provide a change of pace and for me it was a new experience. However, when I come back to China I don't think I'll put much effort into finding a nice Hot Pot place.