Let me start by saying that I love animals, all animals. I’ve even licked a slug to show my summer camp-mates how much I appreciated the little slime-ers, and I tend to make fast friends with just about any furry, scaly, fuzzy thing I meet.
I even like scorpions.
In fact, as a Scorpio (November 10th), I’ve always liked scorpions, they are a fascinating animal with so many stigmas around their venom and roles in popular culture.
So although I am astounded at the virality of this video, I still feel a bit bad about eating scorpions. But as they say – “when in Beijing…!”
I spent several days in Beijing after a trip to Qingdao courtesy of Tsingtao beer (it’s delicious, you should try it) and decided, as I always try to, to dive in and experience some cultural quirks. I got scammed into buying a painting, picked up some beautiful jade, drank plenty of tea, and thanks to a friend of mine, visited the night markets where you can find just about anything grilled, fried, or filleted and ready to nom.
I wanted to eat the oddest thing I could find, and one as outside our normal realms of snack options as possible. Thus, when I came upon a vendor with skewers of scorpions on the menu, I ordered (in what I now realize was quite poor Mandarin) some.
Honestly, the little guys were delicious. Crispy like chips but with a meaty chew and delicious aftertaste. I quite happily could have munched many more.
So I hope you enjoy my surprisingly popular video of Eating Scorpions in Beijing.