Coffins at the supermarket.

Yesterday I wandered over to the big supermarket on the other side of town.  I've not been there for a while. On my way I bought some breakfast, baozi and boiled eggs.  Baozi are a kind of steamed bun filled in this case with a sort of mince.  The boiled eggs, I really liked, as they had been boiled in a brown liquid, no idea what, and they taste kind of sweet and salty.  I popped in a few of the small shops on the way.  I like doing this because the owner(s) are so surprised, and usually so kind.  I usually buy a few things.  This time it was a few lengths of rope and a lock.  I won't explain!
Anyhow, I eventually got to the supermarket.  The supermarket is underground and you have to go down a lot of stairs to get there.  There are escalators, but like many things here, they don't work.  At the top of the stairs is a small area with shops on both sides.  In this area today were what appeared to be coffins.  I thought that was a bit odd, but why not.  I didn't look closely on the way in but I did notice what appeared to be a thermostat switch on the inside of the 'coffin'.

The Thermostat!

Panoramic display of 'coffins' at the supermarket

from another angle

longways

The 'upgraded padded liner version'!

I examined them more closely on the way out...there were various sizes which in my imagination were adult, child and baby sized!  The label seemed to say that they were electric ovens!  Yikes!  Had I discovered the hidden secret of Jiankou?  Was it twinned with Royston Vasey.. cannibalism!  Crikey, so as the woman who seemed to be in charge of them came over, I wandered off.  I should have stayed and asked but life is getting a bit tough at the moment and I need to pick myself out of it!  Anyway, I guessed they weren't coffins but did not find out the truth until a few days later.  I was having breakfast and showed her the photo.  She looked a little embarrassed when I called them coffins, but understood what I meant, and apparently sometimes if it gets really cold, you can actually lie down in them as if they were a coffin!  Actually they are called electric ovens and are placed in front of the sofa and you can put your feet in them.  It took Sherrie quite a while to explain this and to my mind there is a bit of over-engineering going on here.  But I'll accept what she says.. until I know better!  Apparently they are a feature of the Tongren area!