Belgian chef celebrates 'natural wonders'

Visiting chef Seppe Nobels' blue eyes light up with excitement when he is asked about his morning at Jingshen Hai-xian Shichang, the capital's busiest fish market.

"The fish were all alive," he says, grinning. "Amazing! At the markets in Europe, they are all dead."

He was similarly thrilled by a swing through the market stalls of Sanyuanli, where chefs from Beijing's top restaurants can be found pinching tomatoes and sniffing bunches of cilantro with grunts and satisfied sighs.