My new favorite place to eat is the soup place (Wenzhou Small Food) on the second floor in the student dorm area. You grab a plastic basket and pick from a variety of foods on sticks. They have everything from meat, squid, seafood balls, small eggs, regular eggs, mushrooms, tofu, Chinese style tortellini, and vegetables. Then you go to another counter and pick the type of noodle you want: thick of thin, rice, sticky rice, wheat, sweet potato, and/or other ones I can’t describe. The lady counts up the items puts a numbered clip on your basket and slides it to the two guys hanging over a huge steaming pot of soup where they attach the clip and put your ingredients into one of six net containers till perfect. They yell out your number and then slide it back to another lady who asks you if you want it spicy (la) or not (bu la) – I say “yi-dian la” which means a little spicy. YUM - it is so good on a cold day and less than a dollar. And it’s also right across the street from the bakery that has a great sunflower seed cookie that I love. I will definitely miss the food.
