Special ingredients require skill
There are some Chinese snacks that foreigners may be hesitant about eating, such as animal claws.
Kat enjoyed many local snacks but found chicken feet quite hard to accept.
"I like the flavor, but it definitely feels weird to eat it because of the texture and the bones in it," said Kat.
She said most Americans prefer more processed food with the bones taken out.
Sockwell said the difference between American food and Chinese cuisine is that some Chinese snacks require special skills to eat. He said they also eat sunflower seeds in his hometown back in the U.S., only they eat them in a totally different way.
"Instead of cracking it like Chinese people, we suck the flavor out of it. We usually just put a bunch in our mouth and suck on them and spit out the shells."
He feels the difference more keenly when having duck neck and chicken feet.
"It's a lot of work for so little meat, but it is also where the interest lies," he said.
Sockwell thinks that some foreigners hesitate or refuse to try Chinese snacks because they might feel more comfortable sticking to their habits. He said he has always tried anything put in front of him "at least once." For example, he tried larvae and scorpion under the recommendation of his friends in China.
As for Guidry, ingredients like chicken claws is one of the most amazing parts of the Chinese food and snack experience.
"The Chinese have created a lot of dishes that only people truly hungry would have thought to be edible. Now, those dishes have been modified and made into popular culture," he said.
Various local tastes
In Sockwell's opinion, Chinese snacks can also promote social gatherings and cultural exchange.
He said that spicy duck necks are more enjoyable in a group setting. He enjoys gathering with friends on a Friday night after a long week of work or after a basketball game.
"There's something special about wearing plastic gloves, sucking on duck necks, and drowning it down with beer while gossiping with friends," he said.
Gathering to snack on local food also gives him a special taste of Beijing.
"I like going to food streets like Nanluoguxiang with friends - a cultural must for anyone coming to Beijing - or eating late-night chuar or duck neck with beer," he said. "You really won't experience stuff like that elsewhere."
Guidry, who teaches at Southwestern University of Finance and Economics in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, enjoys the various kinds of local snacks sold on the streets of Chengdu.
His favorite is beef guokui, a bread-like dough mixed with ground meat and spices that are deep fried and can be eaten while walking.
"It tastes like victory. I love eating and walking, so I love anything that can be held and eaten while walking!" he said.
Guidry makes videos about Chinese food to show people back home what Chinese food is like. He has 11,600 subscribers on Youtube.
"You'd be hard pressed to find a nation's cuisine as diverse as China's. There are eight major schools of cooking, plus local specialties in every single city, large and small," said Guidry.
Eating around China is his own way of understanding the country. "There are all kinds of crazy wonderful things that I have tried, and there is a whole lifetime of eating ahead!"
