Deer Antler Gum Drops

I spent last Christmas eve up in Shenyang, China. Shenyang is a city in the cold harsh north, half way between Beijing and Russia. I had one of those stupid DJ gigs where I got to play for 20 minutes in between some Russian dancers and a group of Chinese b-boy break dancers (who do their routine to bad Chinese teenage pop music). The Chinese like to party wild on Xmas -- someone never told them it's more of a family holiday, were we sit inside sipping egg nog and watching the fireplace -- no, they like to get sh*t-faced drunk in a nightclub and whoop it up. Anyway, I spent 8 hours at the Shenyang Airport on Xmas day cause my flight back was delayed, "due to delay."

Their internet wasn't working and I'd failed to bring a book, so I had to resort to shopping at the airport. They had a shop specializing in exotic medicinals from the north-east of China. Deer antlers. Deer penis. Siberian tiger testicles. Weird dried mushrooms. Twigs, branches, and a variety of ginseng-like things. The penises were far too expensive, so I bought a bag of candy -- "Pilose Antler Soft Sweets" -- gum drops made from deer antlers.


(the product is called "Pilose Antler Soft Sweets". Pilose means having soft, fine hairs. Yes, the antlers are fuzzy.)

The antler candies were sticky and chewy, but not too sweet. They are good for male virility, so the story goes.

Poor Rudolph, his horns melted down to make soft candies, eaten on Christmas day.

* Check out these posts of us eating Deer Placenta, and Deer Penis Wine.

* (that guy on the left in the first photo is Luke. He's a hipster. See the unnecessary scarf worn with the hunting hat?)