Shenyang - Post Report Question and Answers
How would you describe the availability and cost of groceries and household supplies relative to your home country?
It's China, so you can't find everything you want, but we have an IKEA, several Metros, Sam's Club, and a few import stores. There are also local versions of Walmart and Carrefour. Plus, there are still old-style markets where you can get your raw meat (or living chickens!), fruits and veggies, tofu, local sausages, etc. Non-imported food is generally very cheap; imported food is regularly priced. Amazing selection of imported beer and wine. - Mar 2019
Food is cheap in this part of China. Basic foods, like meat, vegetables and fruit, are readily available. Several traditional markets ("wet markets") exist, but we usually shop at Wal-Mart. Meat is easy to buy: pork, beef, lamb, chicken, duck. Some seafood is available: shrimp, fish, shellfish. Commionly-available vegetables are cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, eggplant, onions, bell peppers, mushrooms, spinach, lettuce, root vegetables, etc. Fruits tend to be available seasonally. Apples, melons, grapes, oranges are available year-round. Tropical fruits are rare. Local beer is cheap, local wine is not good. - Jul 2016
Almost anything is available in Shenyang; you just have to be willing to look for it! Some spend a good bit of their time criss-crossing the city for that one ingredient and others learn to go without. Use your consumables shipment well and you won't have to brave the winter to run to the store. Metro is a German Costco that has lots of import goods (cheese, dairy, wine, etc.) but limited selection. Import products also cost more. - Aug 2014
Fruits and vegetables are good and cheap so is pork and chicken. Western products like sour cream, butter, cheese, tomato sauces etc can be easy to find, (until you can't find it anywhere!) but more expensive. Say goodbye to just running to store to pick up MANY things. You have to be creative. So far I've made homemade pizza dough, chocolate sauce, ricotta, sourcream, peanut butter sauce, corn tortillas, pita bread, falafel, etc. It's been fun. Thank goodness for DPO for lots of things. I don't trust most of the local snacks. I'm not sure what is in them. - Nov 2013
