China is the most biodiverse country and has a unique geographical culture. At present, the world is accomplished with three main dishes, beef, pork, and chicken. But before this 20th century, people had to eat what is available to their culture. Like Paella is a special dish in Spain which is made of rabbit meat and in our Bangladeshi tribal culture, some of them eat crickets and bugs too as these are available to them. So the main point is, before our industrial farming and globalization, people had to find protein from which animals or insects are available to them. But in today's world, these things have changed and about less than 1% of the Chinese people eat wild animals.
Besides this, we have to admit that, the Chinese are one of the most fitted and healthy people around the world and they are also famous for their indigenous medicine. Along with their local herbs, they use some weird foods as medicine which help them to lead a healthy life. Chinese medicine includes more than 1500 animal species that are used for their medical purposes. Source
There is also one point that needs to be mentioned. From traveling the ethnic villages, we came to know that they don't follow any particular religion. They can't say anything if you ask them about their religion. To them, religion is their culture. For this reason, they do not have any specific halal or haram foods in their culture as we do. And this thing makes the distinction between us.
Now let me tell you what I have tasted and survived two weeks in China.
As I was in a cultural exchange program, the menu was almost the same for us. In the cafeteria of Yunnan University, they had quite good meals at cheap prices for their local students. It was a buffet meal with items like vegetables, chickens, and fruits.
On our first day, we got so excited seeing all the menu and tried every item. Though they look very delicious, their spices tasted and smelled so different compared to ours. With this weird smell, it became so hard for us to swallow the meal. So after the first day, the items got limited on my plate. In the last couple of days, I only survived on their fruits, lemon juice, crisps, and bread.
One day my roommate asked me with a crying face, "Rafa, for how many days people can live without proper food? Can I survive for two weeks? Will I see my parents again?" Though I laughed at her face, I was also feeling pity seeing her miserable condition.
We survived by the morning buffet in our Maple Palace hotel. In our helpless condition, it was the only light of hope because they had plenty of options to choose from. I loved their bakery and pastry items along with fresh juice.
They also had vegetable items which are mostly raw or half-cooked. Being Bengali, these are not edible for us because we mostly overcooked our food (which I know decreases the nutrition).
After going through like this for 4/5 days, we decided to try special street food. Yunnan is famous for its different kinds of street barbecue foods and after having a fish BBQ, we agreed on it. They normally have aquariums with different kinds of fish where you can choose your favorite one. They will cook it for you within an hour. After having those hard days, this BBQ was a great menu for us.
But I won't forget the taste of Yunnan Renowned restaurant. It had the best food and we totally indulged in their dishes which explained why we didn't have any proper picture of the food.
But I have to admit that, they have the best juice, ramen and tea collection which I won't find in Bangladesh. I loved their extra pulp juice without extra sugar which gave me the authentic flavour of the fruits. And for tea, they have so many types (almost 20) and different rituals to serve it.
Though it was pretty hard for us I tried my best to ignore the food problem which helps me to enjoy the other activities. If you travel to different regions, these things are common, so you need to get adjusted to them!
N.B. That crying roommate was able to survive for two weeks and is getting married this month. I am planning to make a toast including this epic survival story of her!