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Q: Is there anything to eat for Europeans in China?)I mean,potatoes,pasta,eggs,etc?
Didn't you know that the Chinese invented pasta & Marco Polo stow the recipe & took it back to Italy? Same with Rissotto!
Though seriously you'll find potatoes & eggs anywhere in China. For pasta then most big supermarket chains sell it now. If you want a good selection of western restaurants then you'll need to look to the big cities. Also the bigger cities normally have import food stores though the prices are high.
I would say all basic ingredients are easy to come by except for diary products. Large supermarkets should have diary products though. Like someone mentioned above larger cities are more likely to have imported goods but the price will be a little higher.
Potatoes => Yes, but with less choice in varieties
Eggs => Yes, all kind of eggs : chicken, duck and others, raw or prepared in various ways
Pasta => Plenty of local varieties, which are cheap and a good basis to work with. Italian pasta are available in export section of some supermarket, in large fancy cities, and it's more expensive.
Etc => Proper cheese can be expensive to really expensive, when you can find it. Ok grape wine can be found at ok price (starting at 100 RMB), in large fancy cities. Same goes for Europe-made chocolate, quality coffee, and so on. If you want all that as often as home, it's going to be costly.
Noodles are basically pasta, and potatoes and eggs are easy to find anywhere.
Helena don't worry there are tons of russians here. If you are a real person asking these questions if you go to any decent sized city you can find chat groups of russian expats who you can ask for help finding things.
Most country expats do this...only americans think they're too cool to stick with other americans.
Spiderboenz:
It isn't that I am too cool for other Americans, it's that I only associate with people that I have commonalities with. Sharing the same country or origin does not automatically mean that I should be someone's friend.
Englteachted:
"Most country expats do this...only americans think they're too cool to stick with other americans."
I am one of them
No, there isn't, and you will probably starve to death if you come here.
Markets are cheaper and better than supermarkets. If you want to save money then eat what the locals eat. If you want to eat cheese and butter everyday then be prepared to pay. I buy bacon, butter, cheese and other goodies from Taobao and it costs a bit. I end up evening out my food budget by shopping at the local market. I'm cooking dinner for four people tonight and the ingredients cost me 22 kuai.
Be prepared for a life that is quite different from what you are used to.
The whole point about living/working in another country is experiencing the differences.
if you are not adventurous enough to eat food outside of your comfort zone then ask yourself why you are going to China, as the local food is part of the experience.
Yes, you can find food that you are familiar with, but you could also spend a lot of your free time sourcing it and a large part of your salary paying for it: like a friend of mine who every time he went on holiday he brought tins of food from home, and would bemoan his inability to find everything he wanted every day.
Think long and hard if access to familiar food is a major concern about being in China.
On my first contract, a colleague was always moaning about the fact he couldn't buy this or that in the local supermarket: TBH, what did he expect? It was a 3rd tier city in China, not a small town in Europe.
if you are a non-native English teacher chances are you will be in a 2nd or 3rd tier place, so be prepared for doing without your favourite foods.
Even in a 1st tier city I have had to do without having, for me, the basics such as fresh bread every day due to the location of the nearest international supermarket.
good luck with your decision, but remember that China is not Russia, it is VERY different.
