So Ubiquitous Jess’s boyfriend Tom is currently in Shenzhen on business [edited to add - he thinks this makes him sound very grown up and official and so perhaps it would be more appropriate to say, "tom's in Shenzhen playing with his techno junkie toys and getting paid to do it".  He prefers to think of himself "hanging in the Zhen"] and he’s been taking in the local gastronomic delights to be had there.  His comment last night was “if i have to watch one more LIVE animal being grilled or boiled…”

Dot dot dot.  Tom is a gentle soul, I can’t imagine him doing anything too violent, though his sense of justice is also acute so I quite understand his disgust at throwing live prawns on a grill.  Ugh.

Anyway, he just sent me a couple of photos which he’s generously allowed me to publish here, taken in a posh “restaurant of the world” (self styled as such of course):

See, when I talk about the “real” China, I guess that I’m talking from a slightly warped perspective.  I lived in a very muslim area in the middle of one of the world’s biggest deserts.  No Fangs, No Claws is, I believe the rule of thumb in muslim cooking.  Also, crocks are kinda hard to come by when the Gobi Desert is between you and the nearest large body of tropical water.

Looks to me like Tom’s found the Real China right there…  Thanks for the pics Tom!