Carefour…..it’s like Super Target on Steroids.

Right next to my hotel is a mega-market called Carefour. Evidently this chain of stores is HQ in France. Basically it is a Super Target on steroids. You could spend ½ a day just wandering around looking at people. I took about an hour last night and did this plus handled a few errands.

One half of the first floor is a bunch of different small retail shops (i.e. Samsonite, Sephora, Apple Computers, etc). The second half is a great food court. They have all of these little stations cooking up traditional Asian-style meals. Plus there are a few sit-down dinner locations as well as fast food options including Subway, McDonalds and Pizza Hut.

The second floor is basically what you’d find at any basic Target store. All of the toiletries, stationary, clothes, cookware, etc are located here. The third floor features a full-line grocery store. It includes a decent selection of imported products. I even spotted flour tortillas. Maybe I’ll have to make my own Mexican if I get a craving – I’ve yet to see any Mexican places here (I’m not counting the Taco Bell I spotted during a taxi ride).

Last night I headed to Carefour to get a few pictures taking for a visa application, hit the ATM and to have dinner. I found the little photoME booth very easily. 30 Rmb later and I had 4 pictures that are sized for a visa in my hand. After that I headed for dinner. I ate at a place on the first floor called CoCo Curry. I learned later that this place features a Japanese style curry meaning it had a mixture of a sweet/hot taste. I had a chicken curry with rice for only 25 Rmb. My meal was great – it made up for the salty rice experience I had over lunch. After dinner I splurged for some coffee flavored gelato afterwards. YUM! Dinner and dessert for 50 Rmb (less than $8) – what a deal!