Looove coming here to buy dried goods. My parents always ask me to buy for them too! The dried mushrooms and dried shrimp are so much better price than grocery stores, and super versatile to cook with. My bag of dried mushrooms lasted for many months without going bad; a nice addition to Asian soups or stir fries! The lady working here was really helpful and can speak English too, so it's an easy shopping experience even if you don't speak Cantonese. They have many other goods too, like abalone and sea cucumbers. They also take credit card. My go-to for dried ingredients!

The great thing about CCC market is this big friendly cat at the front door. As I'm walking to work I notice him in full meat loaf position. I read his body language as "ok to approach" Its funny how you feel he is doing you a favor by coming over for a visit, when in actual fact you are doing him the good deed by a scratch behind the ear. I'm happy to cross the street just to visit my friend. I have no idea what this place sells, only that they have a mascot.

Stopped in when a large bag of dried Chinese black mushrooms (shiitakes) caught my eye. I had just read something last week about the medicinal uses for this, including hypertension. Never mind that, these were huge and very freshly dried. The label indicated that this big bag would set us back a whopping $3.25. These are also used in hot and sour soup. The store itself is chock full of traditional Chinese herbs and medicine. In LA I have sought the help of a Chinese Doctor who was often on hand in the store. I suspect they may do the same thing here. But all I purchased were these gorgeous black shiitakes. I can say a week later that they cooked up beautifully and the flavor was outstanding. The staff was friendly and didn't suggest anything I couldn't understand. I do wish I had purchased a few bags though.

My mom is a fan of chung chou city. They have tons of ginseng, dried herbs, medicinal items and various dried seafood items, and much much more. They had a really good extensive selection of stuff so it's like a one stop shop instead of going to different places to buy all your items. We saw their advertisement in newspaper last week about the celebration of their twentieth anniversary; they offer more favorable price during the celebration. My mom bought lots of dried seafood yesterday.

In general, I think this store has great customer service and a variety of products in stocks. When I walked inside the store in the other day, I was surprised that in less than a minute there was a sale member within the store warmly greeting me and asking what kind of products I want. I was unexpected at first, so I asked if I can look around before seeking for the help. The sale immediately agreed with a warm simile. As I walked around the store, I was surprised at the variety of products than I could image, from health products to dried seafood. I, at the end, decided to get one of the health products, I felt gladly that the sale the health product departments discussed patiently with me and gave me the recommendations to the products. As a customer, the sale showed me the respect and great customer service that I felt glad even though I was not buying very expensive items. I would recommend everyone who walks by Chinatown to check out the products the store has and experience the great customer services of their team members.

When you step into Chung Chou City you are immediately transported to China. This place has some funky stuff for sale, and I'm not even sure if all of it is legal! My coworker wanted to buy some goji berries & knew she could find them in Chinatown. I'm always up for a trip to Chinatown so I tagged along, mainly so I could get some delicious baked goods to satisfy my sweet tooth. We stepped into the store & saw bins filled with just about every kind of dried seafood. Fish, seaweed, scallops, sea cucumber, sharks fin (!!), shrimp. They also sell all types of dried mushrooms. Everything is out in the open which doesn't seem terribly sanitary, seeing that flies were buzzing all around. I'm a fan of this place only because it is so darned interesting, not that I would ever buy anything here. Too bad you can't take any pictures inside cuz this is the type of place you've got to see to believe.

Chung Chou City apparently started off in San Francisco in 1994 and has expanded to South and East Bay, in addition to a location or two in Southern California. Chung Chou translates to bug grass. The full name is actually Dung Chung Ha Chou (Cantonese pronounciation), meaning that this mysterious yet valuable Chinese herb resembles an insect during the winter and during the summer it looks like grass. The formal name for this is the Cordycept fungus. http://www.chungchoucity.com/products/cordycept.htm But here's the REAL story behind this. Make sure you are not eating anything or thinking about food porn right now, or drinking your favorite drink. Are you ready? It's not the most appetizing looking thing but has a lot of benefits that might give ginseng a run for its money. Let's just say this herb is kinda sorta by-product of what some insect larvae ingests during the winter (some sort of starting material or a grass/vegetation) and by the summer it comes out of the insect's body and plants itself onto the ground. This herb is found in high sea level areas like Tibet, Sichuan. It is a very powerful healing herb that helps the lungs, prevents blood loss, and alleviates the symptoms of cancer. As a result this is very expensive (and yes for something that's seemingly GROSS as hell). Supposedly you make small batches of this and cook with soups or broths for the full effect. While the smell is not that foul, you supposedly don't taste it once it is stewed with the soup or broth. We all know that China is arguably THE #1 country for counterfeits, replicas and/or mass producing with shortcuts (see recent toy recalls and chemicals used in one where if ingested has ROOFIE like effects). And this bug byproduct herb is no exception. I've heard stories of them counterfeiting this herb, and they try to make the herb look more stiff by stuffing the low quality insides with toothpicks! Cardboard stuffed buns anyone? (yeah I know that was a gimmick made up by a reporter to a vendor to gain notoriety) Capitalism within Communism at its very best! At CCC you can also find: Bird's nest (yep the goop from the swallow's beak that holds the nest together) - supposedly great for the ladies skin and looking younger. Aveda and Sephora, you have some stiff competition! Dried abalone - nuff said. Who doesn't like abalone? Even though it is shamelessly used as Cantonese slang to refer to a woman's privates by men of a different moral fiber... Dried sea cucumber - oh man these guys are ugly. Maybe this should be the afforementioned Cantonese slang replacing "abalone"! http://www.chungchoucity.com/products/seacucumber.htm Shark's Fin - you all know what this is. And yes CCC would be one of such herbal and dried good shops to buy them from. Fish Maw - stomach lining but oh wow great great great stuff when stewed with mushrooms and pork meatballs. Deer antlers - supposedly does wonders to blood replenishing, gives you more energy, improves circulation etc. Deer Tail? Or Deer's penis - affectionately called Deer's Tail anyhoo. It's like CHICKEN FEET at dim sum places but in Chinese they call them PHOENIX CLAWS. http://www.chungchoucity.com/products/deertail.htm Notice the pouch it rests in. Maybe it is a tail, but you never know if you are getting a piece of ass or a dong. The website claims it helps make the kidneys strong and uhm other organs and tha' part of the body around that area. Well what do you know it is a DONG after all! What lengths old skool herbalists wouldn't go to, to prescribe something that captures the male essence of a strong animal to give the fellas that EXTRA MILE between the legs and of course in stamina! :-D Frog cream - made with the secretions of real frog and dried. Uhm...no further comment Ginseng - two different kinds. Not an expert here. And of course, multiple variations of prepackaged dried herbs that you can use for home made soups that serve different functions. Don't knock Chinese medicine, it may not be something you are used to seeing, but if you know what are you doing, you might benefit from it. Personally I'm not so sure about that deer tail or tiger whip. Guys would you rather be complimented that you're like a horse, a deer, or a tiger in the sack? I know I know....but sorry, the Dragon is a mythical creature after all :-) If guys get prescribed the "whip" or "tail" as a remedy that the action on the futon has been less than stellar of late, I'd HATE to know what the ladies are supposed to have...