Fisher Village

> Location : Guang Zhou, Guang Dong, Mainland China
> Cuisine : Chinese
> Tel. # : N/A
> Website : N/A

Greetings from the mainland china! well, where i am isn't too far off from hong kong. just about an hour and a half taking the ferry, in shun de, china. if a person doesn't have to worry about all the fancy colorful living they expect to be apart of everyday, just being concern of the simple life, having enough money, shelter, food and so on, any decent city in the mainland can provide such things perfectly. everything is cheaper in china, especially when it comes to food. even fast food is cheaper for example micky dees. for instance, small french fries is 4 dollars r.m.b. compared to 8 dollars rmb in the states. divide those numbers by 8 and you'll have u.s. dollar. that's half the cost! the ice cream cone is even more insane. it's about a bit less than 1/3 of the price of what american's pay. so it's like 20 so cents for a vanilla ice cream cone. here's another example, 4 people for chinese dim sum. everybody eats just about right, for about 20 r.m.b. how about a bit fuller? 25 r.m.b. that's 25 divided by 8 = 3 dollars and some change u.s. dollars. a good breakfast for 4 people for 3 bucks? a normal human being from the states would say, "WTF?" haha. it's incredible, living cost is so low yet the standard is at a decent level to pretty good. of course when it comes to food, everybody who comes to the mainland needs to go through a little workout with their stomach a few times. things aren't super clean in most restaurants in china and things tend to be a little dirty in the food sometimes. in a sense, it's kinda like a vacine. after a few trails, your stomach won't have these problems anymore because you're immune to it. yes, i am vacinated! haha.

i've been here for about 3, 4 days now. i realize that if i stay here any longer, i'm gonna start gaining weight again! seriously, the chances of eating good chinese food here is far greater than any place. then again, it is CHINA, so of course thats the case if you think about it. but i'll like to spare you people with my words like always from my food reviews and give you some clickable photos and simple comments of them instead. yet, before i do, i'll like to comment on how people usually call each other here in the mainland. when people call each other here (if they don't know each other), they tend to say handsome boy or pretty girl. fat, skinny, ugly, or actually pretty, this phrase is still used quite often. seriously, i had a hard time getting use to using it at first because it just seems so 'fake.' but this has become like a habit of this country so in time i got use to it. hey, it's nice being called handsome all the time you know? =)

soooo.... i'll like to finally share to you my experience with this huge ass restuarant i went to in guongzhou (near shun de). the place is called fisher village. it's a place with a lot of seating area, performance stage, a wet market like area where you can look and order your seafood, dim sum, soup, drinks, anything you can imagine! a very exciting, type of feeling when you go there. before i share the photos, i'll like to say, in the mainland, the phrase 'what's for dinner?' has a totally different meaning. why? 'cause you never know what u're really having if you don't really ask! note to all the new viewers: i'm warning you now! if you just ate, don't look at the photos below like my friend diana. she threw up her dinner because of it. seriously! ^_~

all photos described clockwise from top left :



1) the restuarant logo and name in chinese and english at the front desk.
2) the staging area with performances every weekend.
3) all sort of vegetable on display for you to choose.
4) that's right, aligator meat. haha. didn't have it this time but it's like beef but chewier.



1) a picture of the wet market area and some of the seating area.
2) food on display for easier ordering!
3) a closer look at some of the dishes available.
4) a lot of seafood selection. anything you can imagine from turtles to eels.



1) a lot of chefs working hard to prepare food. the place is huge so it requires so many.
2) soy sauce chicken, bbq pork and all sorts of goodies.
3) these pots are all preparing different types of soup.
4) some type of sea shell being prepared by the female chef. looks tasty!



1) they call them 'fleas/ticks.' pretty big to be ticks though. haha. yes, you eat them!
2) more shell meat being grilled by the chef.
3) wtf is that? yes, they are bees. you fry them and yes eat them. haha. stuff like this is what i meant when i emphasized on 'what's for dinner,' haha.
4) the chef preparing haaka tofu. firm tofu with meat in the center and sour fermented cabbage. the best thing ever at this place.



1) haaka tofu. same as what i said above.
2) portuguese custard tart! like my other review.
3) surrounding the staging area is water filled with kois and turtles.
4) bbq pork, duck, a type of sausage with salted egg yolk, fat and bbq pork.



1) broiled clams in a type of soup with tofu and other things. so busy taking photos everybody ate it all before i even had some, doh!
2) a type of chinese squash steamed with garlic. very good stuff.
3) yes, that tick stuff. lol. yes, seems nasty but it's cooked in this sauce so when you eat it, it doesn't taste nasty at all. this stuff supposedly is good for your bladder / urinal path.
4) baby yellow jacket bees. stir fried with pepper chili, green onion, garlic and such. yes, seems nasty again but seriously, high in protein and tastes very good.

so yeah, i certainly spared you with all the words right? haha. fisher village is a very entertaining place. the wet market, ordering area, the stage performance, the decorations and huge area for you to roam around is all a plus. the food quality is good overall with selective dishes being excellent such as the haaka tofu. some are just about a bit over average but nothing horrible. if you want an overall great experience with the food taste, there are a good amount of places out there that can satisfy that need. pricing wise, it's more pricey compared to a lot of places out there. but for all the entertainment you get, it's definitely worth it. so anyways, to close things up, i hope everybody is doing well with their lives. like always, take care and good luck ~

< 4 out of 5 >

Shui He Tian

> Location : Shunde, Guangdong, Mainland China
> Cuisine : Shunde (Chinese)
> Tel. # : N/A
> Website : N/A

According to chinese folk tales, a celestial being name lu dongbing made immortality pills on tiger nose peak (also known as the two finger peak due to its appearance) located in taihe. the completion of the pill led to a celebration with other celestial beings. they celebrated near the "pill making pool" which is within the wushan mountain where the tiger nose peak is at. during their celebration, two wild chickens flew into the pool and ate the immortality pills. after taking the pill, the chickens magically turned into two white phoenix. due to these events, these chickens and others that were bred from them have high medicinal properties because of the immortality pill.

in real life, these chickens are called silky (or silkie) bantam chicken. marco polo supposedly is the first westerner to bring news to the world about silky chicken. originally, they are called taihe chicken (taihe is a county in the jiangxi province of china) and the scientific name is gallus domesticus. they come in a few colors, but the most popular bred is of white feather like in the folk tale. their feathers are very smooth and hold a very attractive appearance compared to other chickens. yet, the most talked about thing when it comes to eating these chickens is the color. their skin, meat and bone is all black. this is the only type of chicken in the world that has this characterisitc. silky chicken are easily managed chickens. you can pretty much call them domestic animals due to their fairly obedient personalities. therefore making them show animals and pets in the western world. another interesting fact is that, silky chicken has five toes compared to four in other chickens.

in chiense medicine, one's health is split into four categories: yin, yang, qi and blood. according to some research, medicinal properties of silky chicken will overall help each of these categories. yang and qi equates to the warmness, activeness and metabolism part of the body. yin and blood refers to the flow, color, and circulation of the body. research also tells us it also helps women especially with gynecological dieases (reproductive problems). silky chicken contains a lot more amino acids and vitamins compared to other chickens such as various vitamin B, C, E, calcium, iron, phosphorous, nicotinic acid, and niacin.

cooking wise, most chinese use silky chicken in herbal soups and stews. usually ginseng being the most commonly used ingredient along with ginger and a red colored seed (i think it's called negla seed). all these extra ingredients plus other forms of combination with chinese herbs and such can help vitalize the body and fight a lot of dieases.

to connect with this little story, there's a really good restuarant around shun de called "siu wuo tian" but before i talk about all this chicken business, i want to share with you some dishes that are commonly good in most chinese restuarants here in southern mainland. and yes you can find all of this at "siu wuo tian" the first dish is braised pork with taro pot. in hong kong, it is hard to find fresh taro unless it is according to season. however, here in the mainland, you pretty much get to eat it fresh (for the most part) whenever you want! the dish is cooked in a special sauce until the taro (a bit firm still on the outside) and the pork is very soft. usually, the pork meat used in this dish contains more fat because that's the whole point of the dish. it is a very tasty (salty but not too salty and a bit sweet) dish and goes nicely with rice. usually, you use your chopstick and pick up a piece of taro and a piece of pork and eat it together like a sandwich. usually, the thing to look for in this dish is the freshness of the taro. if it breaks too easily when you pick it up and it seems watery when you eat it, then it is not fresh. anyways, if you ever get a chance, try it out!

chinese people and steam fish go hand in hand. if you go to chinese restuarants often, i'm sure you've seen steam fish all the time. yet here in the mainland, people tend to like to cut little fillets into the fish but leave the part connecting to the bone intact slightly. after all the parts are fillet, then the fish is steamed. this way, the cooking process is faster and even the eating process is easier too because everything is fillet for you. it is quite an interesting way to have your fish steamed. definitely something everybody should try if they love steamed fish.

lastly and most importantly is the silky chicken. no it's not in a stew or in a soup. it is actually just served like any chicken dish like soy sauce chicken or hannan chicken. because of the lack of burn marks, my best guess is that it is stir fry in a light soup base which in turn gave its taste. some ginseng and negla seeds are added along with some garnish on top. the taste is a saltiness sweet type flavor (the silky chicken already provided some of the sweetness by itself). it is one of the more famous dishes at "siu wuo tian" so yeah, definitely something worth ordering for its taste and of course for its nutritious / medicinal characteristics!

it is another level of rating restuarants here in the mainland. the standard and quality of the food, the skills of the chefs are just totally different. when it comes to chiense food, everything is simply up a notch. until one day i have a good understanding of the "standard" i gotta say "siu wuo tian" is a pretty good restuarant especially the silky chicken they serve. in addition to this, they also have a very good rice porridge. they cook it for so long in very high heat that the rice is broken down to very tiny pieces. anyhow, hope the little story and everything above was informative and entertaining!

< 4 out of 5 >