万花筒 2008-08-07&-08-08 老外奥运尝美食（在线收听）

Here in the Back Alley food markets, one of the most interesting foods you can try, are live scorpions. They take live scorpions and fry them, and put them on a stick, put them in your mouth. Taste just like any other fried food you’d ever have. Very delicious, very delicious. Look scary, taste like French fries. No kidding.

I would like to try er, starfish. Starfish. No no no starfish. Yeah, Yes! All you need is a little Chairman Mao, you can have lunch anywhere. Looks like a starfish, one of the most beautiful creatures in the sea, about ready to go into my tummy. Very hot, tastes like catfish. Tastes like catfish. Seasoning, somewhat of occasional seasoning, very salty. It's fried and very hot, just got I, very interesting, you look inside there, it’s black. I don’t know what that is.

Look around here, everything up here is some sort of raw meats, insects. Everything is taken here and fried. As scary as it looks, you just have to assume it's been fried enough to stay safe once you eat it. And judging by the crowd of people that are out here, you know, you have to feel it's a safe place to eat. You have a lot of concerns about eating new foods, you know, my rule of thumb, follow the crowds, whatever the crowds are eating at must be good food and must be safe food. See if you will enjoy something as much as I am.

I’m Mark Carlson, the Associated Press, in Beijing