It was wonderful and delicious to you. I expect it was moderately to heavily seasoned with the wonder-and-glory of novelty, which is definitely a spice many people like. How much did the average Chinese working schlub that you knew obsess over food? How many of them ate what was available, whatever it was? There are, of course, Chinese food snobs just as there are food snobs in every country. I am not buying the idea that every Chinese, or even a majority of them, obsess over food any more than the average Swede or Paraguayan does.