posted 07-25-2007 08:44 PM               

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Coming soon to China: A taste of the taikonaut life.

Dishes like roast pork and stewed duck specially concocted for taikonauts -- the Chinese term for astronauts -- will be sold in supermarkets by the end of the year, the official Xinhua News Agency said Tuesday.

The Scientific Research and Training Center for Chinese Astronauts and a Shanghai-based food company have developed more than 60 space dishes -- including meat, vegetables, starches and desserts -- for the country's space program, only the third in the world to launch a human into orbit.

Confident of the products' appeal, the center began cooperation with manufacturers on mass production in 2006, Xinhua said.

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