Yes, probably every year somebody gets the wrong mushrooms and actually dies, but considering the number of mushroom hotpot restaurants ,and the popularity of mushrooms locally, the percentage of those who are seriously poisoned must be pretty low - it's unlikely that they will be a major danger to you here (cf traffic, various 'natural' causes, etc.)
I have personally known 2 people (in 13 years) who got high by accident from mushrooms, one at a restaurant and one when her father cooked some up (her father wasn't affected at all by the same dish, for some reason).
Have eaten a few recreational shrooms while here myself - they were local, I'm pretty sure - were not fantastic as a high, although there are SO MANY varieties in Yunnan that there must be somebody somewhere who knows which ones to get. However, I wouldn't trust my own judgement to pick any, and in the market I only buy the few that I recognize to cook with.
Year of the Goat
Posted bySeems to me it's the year of the 'yang', and that there is no stable translation of this general category word in English, or in many languages - in English we are always forced to make a choice that is only sometimes sometimes necessary in Chinese.
Categories of thought are sometimes affected differently by different languages.
Counter example: English, 'couson'; Chinese, biaomei, bioajie, biaoge, biaodi, tangmei, tangjie, tangge, tangdi.
Year of the Goat
Posted byPersonally I prefer the goat, unless I'm going to eat it.
Around Town: Spring Festival 2015 business schedules
Posted byNow this is public service - thanks, you guys.
Shanren on cultural exchange tour of Midwest US
Posted byCongrats to Shanren, and to Sam.
Getting Away: 48 hours in Penang
Posted bySounds like an interesting place to visit - anybody have any ideas of what it might be like to live there?