So I was getting water from the cooler at the office and glancing around to see if any new mooncake shipments had reached our lonley administrative part of the hospital. Alas, it had not. However, I was intregued by these:

On the bag it said beef orchid bean. I know these characters, part of them are in my Chinese name, so I knew I was not making a horrible error and that it actually said “marinated century livers” or something. And yet, it did not look like any kind of beef, or any kind of orchid.

My curiosity got the better of me and I grabbed a handful and tried them. They were pretty good, a sort of spiced up, dried broad bean snack. They tasted salty and savoury and sweet at the same time and were very fragrant (fragrant is my new favourite word, it sums up China so perfectly all year round). I suppose they are meant to taste a little floral and beefy, hence the name.

Perhaps it is time to explore other uneaten snacks in the capital.