Going to Korea while staying in China.

Today I went to Xi Ta  with my friend.  Xi Ta is the Korean part of our city. Xi Ta means West Tower and there is an ancient pagoda there. We aren't very far from North Korea and there are a large number of Koreans here.  There are Koreans who are here for work or business.  There are ethnic Koreans who grew up here and speak, read and write Chinese.  There are probably some North Koreans here too, as is not uncommon along the border.
Xi Ta is a fun place to shop.  They have a Korean market where you can get some things that you can't get in a Chinese grocery store.  Sometimes the prices are better, sometimes not.  It's always an adventure to go.
So my friend and I got on the bus to go across the city.  She showed me a house that Paul and I ride past every day.  Apparently it used to belong to an old Chinese warlord who wanted to start his own country.  Not surprisingly the government frowned on this idea and he was put in prison.  The house still stands though - I'll try to take pictures some time.

When we got to Xi Ta, we stopped at an outdoor market which is next to the  actual pagoda.  There used to be four of these in Shenyang but they haven't really been preserved.

Entrance to the market.

The pagoda

Spices

Dried fish and sea creatures.

More dried fish and sea creatures.

Then we went out to lunch at the Summer Christmas Restaurant.

See the small print that says "Korean Bakery" and "Fusion Restaurant." Notice the mix of Chinese and Korean characters. It turns out that the restaurant had changed since my friend had been there.  Now it's a hot pot place!

You pick up what you want to cook from these little boats going around the restaurant.  Then you cook what you picked in your own little hot pot.  We had shrimp, beef, mushrooms, sea creatures, cilantro, and more.  It was fantastic and really a fun place.

Next we went to the Korean Market.  It was just a plethora of fun stuff to take pictures of.  I would have taken more but security is really tight there and I was afraid of getting in trouble! Here are a few.

Rice day shampoo.  Enjoy your Rice Day.  Play on "Have a nice day?"  We'll never know.

There is nothing like a chemical in the name to make me want to drink coffee!  Or to add to my well being!

Guts and chocolate.  My favorite!

Naming a chocolate bar after an African country seems a little odd.  But if it's only "half & fun?"  I only want whole fun.

The glare makes it hard to read but it said "Soundless merriment with friends getting together."

No thanks.  Believe me, everyone here knows that I am white.  This is soap, BTW.

Durian Milk Candy.  I am curious what it smells like.

Again, chemically named candy.  My friend said it's actually really good.  At least they are honest about the fact that there are chemicals in the food!