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China Elevator Stories
Signs of Unclean Produce in Chinese Markets
Some markets in China do not sell clean produce.
20/12/2025
Ruth Silbermayr
Author
Let me share a few pictures of a market here in Siping with you. As you can see in the pictures, produce is sometimes placed on the floor.
Now, in certain circumstances this may be no problem at all. However, when we consider that squat toilets are the norm in China, and that people step into urine and feces with their shoes, then step onto those mats and spread the uncleanliness there, I am sure the vegetables may not always be as clean as they should be for safe consumption.
China is not the most hygienic country, as people often do not handle food, vegetables, and other items with the level of care needed to avoid randomly spreading germs to others. It is also known as a country where people get—let me put it bluntly—diarrhea easily. I have far too many students each week who either need to use the toilet frequently because of diarrhea or have to take several days off because of it. It is a recurring issue.
Traveler’s diarrhea is a well-known problem for travelers visiting China and for expats alike. Even if you handle food and other things carefully, you may still encounter situations where it is not possible to eat completely clean food.
When I spent time with my children in Tai’an, I chose to eat at home and prepare food that I was sure was clean so they wouldn’t get diarrhea. It used to be very common to get it from normal food stalls there, so I had to be extremely careful.
Aside from the fact that markets and produce are sometimes truly not clean, I generally enjoy markets and think they are a great thing to have. Supermarkets also exist, but they can be quite unhygienic here as well. Problems such as vegetables or meat not being clean, or meat having been frozen for a long time, thawed, and then sold as fresh, are among the many issues I have encountered.
I have not been able to find good-quality meat here because it is either not fresh, thawed, or otherwise not handled with the care needed to ensure good quality.
Have you ever had problems finding safe food in China?