Durian

There is a fruit here, which is apparently especially prized. It looks like a Medieval weapon and smells like severely-used armpits, but if you can get yourself quickly through the odorific aura and into its guts, it is a magnificent treat. It's called a durian.

It is a binary thing, apparently: love or hate. Some Chinese friends have told me that they can't stand it, but I suspect that they've never gotten past the smell and the looks to dip a spoon into its lovely yellow belly.

Trust Mart sells gutted durians, which look like this and cost less than a dollar. This meal can feed you for half a day.

You have to be brave, though. The odor of this thing can own a room, so it really must be eaten... let's say... expeditiously. When you walk into the produce section of any grocery store here, it is an exercise in self-control not to vomit from the locker-room stench of it. How can something that smells so vile taste so good? It's China -- the land of paradoxes.