Welcome to Da Chong

When I first got here, I was definitely a little in shock.  It is dirty, smelly, and difficult to breathe. Living on the edge of the Da Chong market, I see A LOT of gross meat and animals about to become gross meat (including chickens, cats, dogs, and fish).  There are dead rats on the street, and poop, and a lot of super nice cars which I still don't understand ha ha.  Anyway...it took a while to get used to, but now I love it here. Living in the market means I have fresh fruit, vegetables, and spices literally on my doorstep.  The hole-in-the-wall restaurants serve some of the best food I've ever eaten (usually for less than two U.S. dollars), the vendors and the schoolkids know us and say hello when we pass (sometimes in English, sometimes in Chinese), and we've found our place here.

SO THIS IS HOME...

Da Chong skyline at sunset

buying fruit at the market

our street (and the lovely Rachel)

the view from my window

a glorious (and rare) blue-sky day

color-selects taken from my porch

If you're squeamish, don't look at the rest...

A turtle being chopped to bits

Just a bucket of snakes

The covered section of the market

It's hard to tell, but those are chicken feet

And of course, the dog butcher...If you look closely on the left you can see the skulls (also for sale) and on the right you can see the tails)