City Lights

Kustom Karz

Chinese bakeries

The easiest way for a foreigner to get breakfast in China is to go to a Chinese bakery. Everything is laid out in discrete packages; all you have to do is select what you want and bring it to the register--no Chinese needed. It's a little exciting too, because you never what the items will taste like or have inside.



I found it best to avoid boxed drinks, they always tasted too sweet, and frankly, too weird to finish. But the pastries were good, although I hesitate to call them pastries, since they were often something between bread and a croissant. They tended to be less sweet than I expected and often had some sort of whipped-butter filling (usually paired with raisins).



Once I thought I had purchased something made with chocolate which I found tasted like carrot cake. And once I lucked out and bought a pastry stuffed with ham and cheese. It's kind of like playing the lottery, but it's always tasty, so you always win.



They also open around 7am, so you can always grab something before you have to go to work.

Body paint

Cafe Mozart

A German bakery with all sorts of amazing things to eat, plus a drive-thru window.

The worst coffee in the world

I'm willing to bet China has the worst coffee in the world.

Chains, like KFC or McDonald's, serve their coffee with cream and lots of sugar (one Chinese sugar packet being the equivalent of about five American ones) which should always be used, as the coffee will taste bitter and bland.

From what I've heard, most of their coffee comes from a powder, and you can often see clumps of the residue at the bottom of your cup.

At one point I was served something made with actual coffee grounds, but it was served with the grounds still in the cup, contained in a rather large tea bag. Needless to say, it was strong:



Also, the Chinese have no idea their coffee isn't good and love serving it to Westerners. Be firm in wanting to try some of their "amazing tea" or bottled water.

Zhongshan (中山) by night