The food in China is quite diverse. The diversity comes from the variety of vegetables-which I prefer and the variety of animal proteins-which I could do without. Attached is a picture of what I think is a battered and deep-fried sparrow. I couldn't get myself to try this. I am quite particular about the animals I will eat, especially if they are in a complete form like this. While traveling through China I noticed a lack of birds, especially around farmlands and waterways, where you'd most likely expect to see them. I've heard a large part of the bird population was killed off from pesticide use. Well, this one didn't fair so well either. At this meal with the fried bird, we were served rabbit, turtle and frog legs, complete with skin and toes- a bit too graphic for me. This particular meal was served at a Chinese Medicinal restaurant. At another meal I think I accidentally ate coagulated pig's blood; it looked like dark tofu! For most of the trip, my preference was to eat mostly vegetarian. Luckily the tofu dishes and vegetables were great, and served at most meals. Peanuts were usually served as an appetizer in a small dish, and these were surprisely good! We had a vegetarian meal at a monastary, now that was more to my taste. I felt secure in trying all the dishes.  In my observations about the food, most seemed to be locally grown or produced, there's no vouching for exposure to pesticides and contaminates but always a good selection of vegetables and fruit is usually served as dessert.  While traveling on the freeways I only noticed pigs being trucked around.   Oh the pigs!  I saw my share of whole BBQ'ed pigs while attending the ritual ceremonies in our family villages.  Amazing how quickly a large pig can be hacked into edible pieces with a good cleaver.