In China I've seen a lot of strange dishes : turtle soup, fried silkworm, deep-friend snake skin, dog stew etc etc but I'm afraid to try them. Some disgust me, and the other I just can't muster enough courage to try a bite. But when I'm studying in Shijiazhuang last year, I finally had a chance to try the local "special dish" : Donkey Meat (驴肉).

It was a cold winter afternoon, just a few days after Chinese New Year, and everything was closed. Me and my Ukrainian roommate, Max, had to walked about 30 minutes away from the university just to find a small restaurant that was open. At that time, my Chinese is not that good yet and I can only few characters. Max, who had passed HSK 6, read the menu posted on the wall for a minute and then screamed in astonishment.

"Keven, this restaurant only served donkey meat!" he said. I was shocked. While vegetables is not my favorite food, but all my life in Indonesia I have never eaten any other meat except chicken, pork, cow, goat, and seafood. Sure, in some area of Indonesia they also eat horse, rabbit, and dog but I have never tried them. This is my first time to know that donkey also can be eaten.

Usually, I will get out and try to find another restaurant without a second thought. But I hadn't eat anything but instant noodles since yesterday afternoon and my stomach is dying for some warm, delicious meat. Max looked at me, as if we're trying to read each other's minds. In the end, we ordered some noodles and meat loaves.

After the food was served, me and Max looked at each other in astonishment. The food looked normal, just like some usual Chinese noodles and meat loaves with pork. I smelled the meat and it smells delicious. We hesitated a little but finally take the first bite. And hey, it was DELICIOUS. It turns out that donkey meat tasted a lot like pork, but less greasy. It was far more delicious than the scorpions in Beijing's Wangfujing Street (I will tell you this story next time)

While it was not the most delicious food I've ever eaten, but I will definitely come back there to eat for the second time (which I did). I also want to recommend it to all of you, my dear readers. If one day you happen to visit Hebei or Baoding, you should definitely try donkey meat.

Thanks for reading. See you in next article =)