Beijing Boyce

Update number three of my scorpions on a stick media monitoring project. For full details, see: On a stick? In Beijing? No way! (Note: Donkey meat and cooked penis are giving the scorpions stiff competition for the hearts and minds of the media.)

Category: You are what you eat, Garry

Candidate: Garry Linnell, Herald Sun

Clip: [Actually, this story is about penis. Oh, it also mentions scorpions.]

“No, we came here for the food, in all its bizarre, exotic glory. Take your pick. Scorpion kebab? Roast dog leg? Deep fried worm? And for the absolutely fearless, what about the ham sandwich on offer at the Olympic media centre?”

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Category: You are what you eat, II

Candidate: Staff reporter, The Sun

Clip: [This is another item about penis.]

“DOG may have been banned from menus at Beijing’s Olympic Games but Brits can still scoff a stomach churning array of food – including SEAL PENIS. Olympic chiefs will not be serving dishes containing man’s best friend at official Olympic restaurants – in a bid to make visitors feel comfortable. But they WILL offer a menu worthy of I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here including deep-fried scorpions and sea urchins, cow stomach, turtle and brains in a hot pot.”

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Category: They made me write it

Candidate: Mitch Moxley, Globe & Mail

Clip:

Every evening, a mix of camera-wielding tourists and locals gather at this 2,000-square-metre bazaar, where red lanterns mark vendors hawking standard Beijing street fare such as boiled corn — as well as slightly more exotic dishes including fried scorpion and lamb penis. [Moxley adds context in the next paragraph.] Truth be told, while the unsuspecting Olympic visitor to Beijing might find a crispy duck’s head or sautéed pig’s intestine on their plate, most people I have met here certainly do not eat everything but tables and planes. [Fair play]

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Category: I don’t get out of the house much

Candidate: Hal Habib, Palm Beach Post

Clip:

Mug of Tsingtao, skewer of fried scorpion – that will be more challenging for the uninitiated, not to mention songwriters trying to find something that rhymes with it.

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Category: Unfortunately, the scorpions aren’t curried

Candidate: DNA India [The title is: "Skewered scorpion? Coming right up..."]

Clip:

These days, about the only wildness you’ll experience [in Beijing] is in the menu itself: deep fried cricket or skewered scorpion or seahorse kebab is the standard bill of fare in Wangfujing Snack Street in downtown Beijing.

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Category: Hey, I have to at least *mention* it

Candidate: Iain Marlow, The Toronto Star

Clip:

In Beijing, be adventurous. Flee the main streets and get lost in the alleyways. Try the tripe and the duck neck and maybe even the scorpions. [This comes in the last paragraph of an excellent article about Beijing street food. Fair play.]

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Category: Hey, I have to at least *mention* it, II

Candidate: Mary MacVean, Los Angeles Times

Clip:

From the contemporary offerings of the Courtyard, diners can travel, culinarily, to the street fare of Beijing, where vendors sell such things as scorpions or starfish on skewers. [Again, this is stuck in the last paragraph of an otherwise interesting piece. Fair play.]

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Category: Penned as she ate a steak from a cute furry kangaroo?

Candidate: Mary-Anne Toy, Sydney Morning Herald

Clip:

DOG may be off the menu for the Olympic Games, but adventurous gastronomes can still choose from a dazzling array of culinary delights in Beijing – from seal’s penis to deep-fried scorpions and brains in hot pot.

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Finally, thanks to the BBC, we have this completely natural, unrehearsed, unposed photo of a woman eating scorpions on a stick.

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See also:

Scorpions on a stick update: Forbes, Wall Street Journal

Scorpions on a stick update: NBC

On a stick? In Beijing? No way!: ESPN, Boston Globe

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(Photo: MH)

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