Food in Hong Kong and China for Vegetarians (and obviously meat lovers, too!)

I live in Tokyo, Japan but just came back from a trip to Hong Kong and China. In Japan, it's really hard to find food in a restaurants. Japanese food (and the people who eat it) is some of the healthiest and most beautiful looking in the world, but unless you can at least eat fish, you are out of luck. Having dinner with friends should be a fun experience but for me, dinners in Tokyo are often super awkward because I'll order something that looks good and it will arrive topped with bonito flakes or made with dashi fish stock. There are some good vegetarian restaurants in Tokyo, but since almost all my friends eat meat, it would be easier if there were some meatless options on the menus at regular restaurants.I was so worried about it being equally hard to find vegetarian food in China but I was completely wrong about that. Yes, there were a lot of really interesting things on people's plates. My friend Ada brought back a bag full of glazed sparrows and the kid in the picture below is eating one of them. In Shenzhen, I saw a skinned, hanging dog and fried snakes. I saw a lot of other, less esoteric-looking meats that actually looked delicious even to me, like abalone in shells and pork-filled dumplings. But there were always so many options for me and I was more full every day than I have been since I arrived in Japan. Japan isn't a country that is familiar with vegetarians and there's fish or dashi in almost everything. But China has a lot of vegetarians and even people who eat meat appreciate good quality vegetables. Vegans might find China more difficult because there are a lot of eggs in Chinese cooking. But for the lacto-ovo vegetarians who eat eggs and dairy but not fish or other meats, Mainland China and Hong Kong are great. My favorite things in Hong Kong were Hundred Year Old Egg (pi dahn is an egg that is brown and jellied and almost minty tasting. I can't even describe it properly but it's delicious)Hong Kong french toast (in the picture above) is deep fried with tons of butter and syrup on top, which is insane and unhealthy but so tasty. Chau Dau fu is a kind of fried tofu that people think smells stinky but to me it smells delicious. Durian and lychee were out of season when I went, but both of those fruit are incredible and really distinctive. Durian tastes like Camembert cheese to me and looks like a prickly monster.Roasted corn on the cob. Jing sui dahn, this watery egg that looks like pudding and tastes great mixed with rice. Dahn taht, the egg tarts that everyone knows from Chinatowns in almost every country in the world taste better here than they do in Vancouver or Yokohama. Yeow goh is a delicious yam dessert. Dau Pok Ngah Choi is a spicy soup with tofu and vegetables that I had on my first day.Salty quail eggs you can buy from street vendors. They're small like grapes and come in a paper bag. When I was sick, I ate nothing but congee for two days. I love congee even when I am healthy. Congee is the best for breakfast, but really I could eat it with every meal. It is like warm rice soup that you can mix with other dishes. We ate raw sugarcane that I haven't had since I was in Tanzania. In Shanghai the street vendors sell candied strawberries on sticks. The best bok choi in the world is here, too. I think Yum Cha (Dim Sum) is the best way to eat a meal out of anywhere I've been in the world so far. I love sharing the food with everyone and getting to try pieces of every dish. The best drink I have ever tasted is called yin yeung. It's a mix of coffee and tea and evaporated milk but tastes like chocolate malt. It is so delicious and I wanted it every day.Also food-related, I love this picture I took in rural Suzhou. The family is drying clothes, fish and chicken on the same line.