Taylor Townsend “honestly just so shocked” by Chinese buffet dishes

Taylor Townsend always speaks her mind, but her latest comments have sparked mixed reactions.

The American is in Beijing preparing for the China Open, a WTA 1000 event. She and Katerina Siniakova are the top seeds in women’s doubles, while Townsend also entered singles qualifying.

Read More: Taylor Townsend, doubles No. 1, proves herself a tennis player in full

The 29-year-old shared a blunt review of her restaurant buffet while dining with fellow player Hailey Baptiste—and Townsend’s Instagram commentary ranged from skeptical to scathing.

“We’re at dinner, and look,” she said in an Instagram Stories video, panning the camera across a table full of dishes including dried sea cucumber and Jia Yu Fu (braised soft-shelled turtle with fish maw), both of which are considered delicacies in Chinese cuisine.

“You guys, this is crazy,” she continued. The caption read: ‘This is the craziest thing I’ve ever seen… and people eating this.’

Later that night, Townsend posted again her hotel, and was still thinking about dinner:

“I’m honestly just so shocked by what I saw in the dinner buffet,” Townsend said. “These people are literally killing frogs—bull frogs, aren’t those poisonous? Aren’t those the ones that be giving you boils and stuff? And turtles?

"The fact that it’s all stewed up in chilis and peppers and onions… It’s like, oh, y’all really made this a dish.”

Currently ranked world No. 1 in doubles, Townsend is competing in Asia for only the second time in her career. She has skipped parts of the calendar—including much of the WTA’s Asia swing—in previous years due to financial constraints, opting instead to compete at North American ITF events after the US Open.

“I don't have a whole bunch of sponsors knocking down my door giving me money. A lot of the stuff is coming out of my pocket,” she said in 2019. “I have to be very financially smart with where I go, where I travel, what makes sense. This is a very expensive sport. I think that a lot of people don't really see that side of it.”

Her only previous appearance in China came in Beijing last year—which may explain some of her culture shock, as she encountered many local delicacies for the first time.

Townsend, whose comments have been criticized for being disrespectful of the host country's culture and cuisine, has been documenting her trip on social media. On Monday she posted a series of selfies with the caption: “Not one for mirror pics, but why not try new things when I’m in new places.”

Read More: “No class, no education”: Jelena Ostapenko lashes out at Taylor Townsend after US Open loss

She also made headlines at the US Open after Jelena Ostapenko accused her of having “no class” and “no education” when Townsend didn’t apologize for a netcord. Their exchange went viral as Townsend replied, “You can learn to take a loss better,” and Ostapenko fired back with a warning to “see what happens when we get outside the U.S.”

In Beijing, Townsend wrapped up her food review by giving the buffet “a solid two out of 10,” adding that noodles were “the only thing that we ate.”

Townsend and Siniakova, currently ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in doubles, are one of three teams to secure a spot at the WTA Finals Riyadh. The American-Czech duo won the Australian Open, captured the DUBA WTA 1000 title and finished runner-up at the US Open.

The Beijing Open, a combined WTA 1000 and ATP 500, starts on September 22 and will be streamed live on Tennis Channel.