Chicago Part 2: Ni Hao, Chinatown!

On Saturday morning we woke up early and headed out. The weathermen forcasted a beautiful sunny day in the low 60s, perfect April weather to wander around Chinatown. We thought it would only be a 6-7 block walk, but chose to take a taxi just to be sure. Better safe than sorry! Our cab driver dropped us off at the gates. There were lots of people in the streets, but no tourists like us. Neighborhood people were out and about, and going to the Chinese bakeries. The shops and groceries weren't open yet. We walked around peering into shop windows and checking out architecture. After walking by bakery after bakery, we decided to go in and get some of these Chinese biscuits that I've heard so much about. There were mostly older men inside sipping coffee, eating biscuits, and laughing with friends. I was one of the few females in the bakery, and we were the only non-Asians there for sure. My biscuits were an egg and bacon and then a biscuit that had a almond cookie top with red bean baste in the middle. They were heavenly! We'll show more bakery photos a little later. We walked around for a little longer, and Kevin went into another bakery. This time he bought us almond cookies and wintermelon cookies. Shops were starting to open up. We saw so much ginseng, dried mushrooms, and dried sea life for sale in little glass jars. There were lots of little grocery stories with sea life smells that weren't so pleasing to my nose. I think I'll stick to the bakeries.

Thanks to my adopting friend Erin, we knew to visit an outdoor mall. It had professional shops, lots of restaurants, groceries, cell phone depos, and bubble tea cafes. Erin recommended a little restaurant at the west end of the mall, and we decided to go in for some dim sum.