A note on mandarins...

I don't know about you, but part of what signals Christmas time in Canada beyond the crisp snow smell in the air and the gaudy light displays, is an abundance of mandarin oranges that flood grocery stores in December. Nothing says Xmas season to me like seeing those crates of oranges that are so sweet they seem sinful. Naturally, coming to China I was psyched to find these little orbs of wonder all over the place! Why, even in Korea I remember noting an influx of mandarin oranges around December, minus the wooden crates. While there are oranges here--many, many kinds of oranges, there aren't those little wooden boxes full of oranges. Yes, I know that the boxes facilitate trans-continental shipping but really, it just isn't the same without them. Also, there are either really large oranges, ones that are slightly larger than the mandarins I'm used to, or these little tiny ones that have leaves attached and roll off of all the grocery store shelves. The little ones taste exactly like mandarins but they are 1/2-2/3 the size and come with leaves! They are so small it takes more effort to peel them than to eat them! (They are probably the size of a ping-pong ball). I guess these will have to suffice in filling the void of the missing mandarins...