Huaihua, where I live, is hundreds and hundreds of miles from the sea.  So I was particularly surprised to recently find a sea turtle sitting in a restaurant down the road from my school. The restaurant has rows of fish tanks that you can see from the road showcasing their impressive collection of seafood.  As far as I know they are the only seafood restaurant in the city.

How much does it cost?  I don’t know but more than I would ever pay, that’s for sure.  The sad creature is a stinging reminder that the Chinese often enjoy eating the rare and expensive just because they are that, rare and expensive.  The southern Chinese have reputation for this, one I’m afraid is well deserved (I even ate a viper’s gall bladder once, not to mention muntjac and stone frog).

Is this a sign that Huaihua is becoming a developed city?  I think so.   When you have customers in a landlocked province willing to buy sea turtles for dinner there must some well-heeled people living in the neighborhood.   One of those weird culinary signs that life is changing here.  This can also be seen in the city’s first McDonalds being built and the new French wine bar that just opened.