Welcome to the Supermarket – Literature

It all began when the owner of the Jiajiale supermarket (Loudi, Hunan province) realized he couldn't pay his suppliers. His outstanding debts with them amounted to some 1,000,000 yuan. The suppliers waited and waited, but the laoban never told them when he would pay. One day， when he was not at the supermarket, they went in and took back all goods they had delivered.

When you’ve been living in China for a few years, you take things for granted. Like the innumerable bizarre items that you pass in the supermarket that you can’t identify, but don’t really think about.

Two days ago, Yonghui Supermarket on North Zhenguosi Street in Fengtai District (丰台区镇国寺北街永辉超市草桥店) opened for business. On display in its fresh meat section was a crocodile around 2 meters long.

When all you want is convenience, your local shops and supermarkets can usually get the job done. But if it's time for some deep digging to find exactly what you want, you're ready to hit up Chengdu's markets. Be sure to block out at least a few hours, bring or buy water, and wear comfortable clothes and good walking shoes—visiting most of these markets is an expedition.

Buying a loaf from Tesco will never be the same again: now it comes with harmonious filling, anti-western topping, a sprinkling of chipped shoulder, and a smiling Tibetan waving a Chinese flag.

A store in my Beijing neighborhood shut down a few weeks ago, and it has left me wondering if I should be so happy about it. The place was sort of like a supermarket, except it had nothing good—at all. It is how I would have imagined shopping in East Germany to be.

The Consulate General of Israel in Shanghai recently was surprised to discover on the shelves of a local supermarket chain a canned beverage called "The Jew's Ear Juice." However, he says he doesn't think it's case of anti-Semitism.

A shark with a bloody mouth painted on a wall seems to be leaping out towards a visitor in Shenyang, Northeast China's Liaoning province, May 30, 2011. A 3-D painting exhibition at a gallery corner in a supermarket showcases paintings from several Asian countries, which seem to come alive.

Be careful of buying really cheap fruit in China. A netizen's wife found a really good deal for pomelo (Chinese grapefruit) at a supermarket, but when she cuts it open for her family...