Honestly that's not even that bad in terms of weird Chinese food. The sliced pig hooves were what did me in. Also, I hate the "gunk at the bottom of the hotpot after several hours" gravy that my wife goes ape shit for. Also I just have to ignore nainai's crazy bad food safety practices. Squid bucket is the same bucket we use to wash the floor. I honestly wish I'd just listened to wiser folks and stayed out of the kitchen.

Natural casings from quality sausages are pig intestines. And chitterlings.

I've had some not so good pig intestine and some phenomenal, and the worse ones were similar to how you described it. If you ever decide you'd try it again, I think it's so much better when crispy. The texture reminds me of bacon with a gelatinous, melt in your mouth center almost like burnt ends.