Herbivores in China

China has a well-deserved reputation for being difficult for vegetarians. The words for "meat" and "seafood" seem to mean different things in different parts of the country. And even when language isn't a barrier, not everyone understands how strict we are about the "no animals" rule.

Before my first visit to China, I resigned myself to the fact that I would probably have to eat Western/Indian food the entire time and miss out on this particular aspect of travel. But when I arrived, I found that it wasn't as difficult to eat vegetarian as I had feared!

Here are the strategies that worked for me...

My Favourite Travel Purse

In the past I viewed purses as a necessary evil. Women's pants don't have a lot of pockets and since we can't go around wearing cargo pants every day, you gotta have one. But I didn't have to like it. In fact, I went through a phase where I gave up on purses all together and just took my MEC Pika Plus daypack everywhere!

Then one day, my Pika Plus and I wandered into Powell Books in Portland, and we spied the most interesting purse on sale.

This compact little Baggallini:

I had never heard of this brand before, but now I love them so much that I go around telling everyone who cares to listen (aka my sister) all about its awesomeness!

Here's why this particular baggallini made me give up the backpack...