Eating On the Street

A question I get asked many times is: Is it safe to eat food from the street vendors? In Beijing just off Wangfujing Street is the Night Market. You will see many people eating there as is the custom of young people in China. Cheap and fast food for those who do not want to spend the time cooking. That is the way of the young people in China today. Rightly so as it takes a great deal of time to shop, chop and cook Chinese food for one or two persons. Whether it is safe or not is really the question. I myself do not eat off the streets. Nine out of 10 times you will not get sick if it is cooked properly and was clean in the first place. It's that 10th time you might get sick. In 25 years I have only been sick one time but it was a bad one with high fever etc. I carry anti-biotics with me and I made it through without going to the hospital. I ate with a family in the countryside at their home because they were celebrating the Father's last day teaching as he retired. Something he probably brought home was not good. For fruits if you can peal it; you can eat it works. Otherwise eat at your own risk from the street vendors is my recommendation.