Is the hot pot base you buy locally in Sichuan the same as the one you buy online?

It's definitely not the same.

There are generally three kinds:

The base made by the store itself. This is a different recipe for each store, different ingredients, different craftsmanship, the taste will be different.

Supermarket circulation goods. This kind of base material flavor to be almost, high-tech more, pay attention to see the ingredient list.

Open store with goods. This quality is also uneven, overall it is okay. You want to be used to open the store, the taste is poor not ah.

Online goods, basically also included in the above said inside. The first thing that you need to do is to check out the best way to make sure that you are getting the most out of your time. (Online does not exist handmade hot pot base, especially the sales are very good. As long as the starting volume, must not be handmade.)