After trying several different markets my Chinese teacher recommended I buy meat from Walmart as a reliable and better quality source. To be honest, from what I've bought and cooked it isn't that much better. It seems to release a lot of water when cooking (both chicken and beef). Could anyone shed some light on places to buy high quality meat, local and imported? One thing I'm keen to find is a leg of uncooked ham. Also steak meat, minced beef and chicken legs and thighs. Any recommendations on how to choose a chicken at the market?

if you find anything out, let me know - ihave got the same problem

You could go to some Tibetan restaurants and ask them where they get their beef. Yak meat tends to be higher quality than your average supermarket beef in Europe/the states, let alone most of Yunnan's beef. Some of it is grass fed/free range, perhaps most of it.

I have bought frozen Yak beef drectly from the freezers of Tibetan restaurants before. More expensive than some Chinese beef (though Carrefour's beef seemed overpriced as well), but still less pricey than imported beef, specialty Chinese beef, 'green chinese beef" Qingdao beef etc. (a la Metro Supermarket).

Sandra who runs Sandra's restaurant also has Australian wagu and angus beef as well as kangaroo and possibly others.

www.gokunming.com/en/listings/item/san_31631/

Usualy meat that releases watter when cooked is an indication of thawed meat..

I prefer small markets because the meat is usualy not from the big factories...

we've got some red angus, both steaks and ground, at salvador's. grass fed and hormone-free. steaks are a bit big, but very good.