And now for something completely different ...

The bees were okay-tasting. Not bad, but not something I'd go out of my way to order again (especially not for 78 kuai). They had obviously been soaked in oil of some sort and this gave them a powerful aftertaste which was good at first but stuck around way too long to be really pleasant. They weren't crunchy or anything. A little chewy, maybe.

There was actually some discussion among my friends about whether they actually were bees or not. Justin and Helen broke open several of the little corn-fritter-like pods and discovered just mush inside. "See, no bees!" they said, obviously wanting to ruin this experience for me ;-) But I maintain that a heavy cooking process simply liquefied the bees beyond recognition.

Since I'd built up to the moment for, well, months now, I felt like I had to eat more than I actually would've wanted to had this just been a normal dinner. Honestly, the anticipation and the build-up were way better than actually eating the bees. But hell. It was fun. And that's all that matters :-)