Donkeys and the Great Wall of China
This weekend, we were shown around Beijing by some family friends of Jeffery. I enjoyed the sites and tastes they offered and am in debt for the hospitality. Friday night they picked us up right after work and took us to dinner. I’m still not sure if they are part owners, or have and interest or what, but we were treated very well and had a meal that apparently you just don’t come by everyday.
The restaurants specialty was Donkey! And just like the duck night, they treated us to the whole animal.
We started with a cold cut of donkey. It tasted similar to beef. Not gamey as I had feared. The dipping sauce was excellent.
Next was a gelatinous dish made from the skin. Apparently donkey skin is very good for your health and is a valued part of the animal. In fact, just about everything you can eat in China has a purpose or value or some kind of benefit. These are a people that are in touch with what they eat.
A pot of Donkey Soup was served next. I’m getting spoiled with real soup. The only other time I get real soup made from bones is when my girlfriend makes it. The simple stock that was not salty complemented the meal.
Next we fired up a big bowl of stew. The meat was tender and mixed with carrots, root vegetables, mushrooms and many other things. Not very hot spicy, but seasoned nicely. Seriously, it would taste great to any American too.
Then the waiter brought in the plate of meats that I feared. Weird stuff. I had a feeling that when we were told we were eating the whole donkey that I would see this. Guess what cross section of the donkey this is from?
Yep Donkey dong.
Pretty chewy…again, the dipping sauce is key. Kidney was good, so I had a few pieces. Liver was ten times better then that dish I accidentally ordered…but I didn’t have too much of it.
Finally a salad and donkey dumplings with a vinegar dipping sauce. An amazing dinner. Its going to be hard to top that one off.
Saturday, we went to the Badaling Great Wall. There are several sections of the wall all over the mountains around Beijing. Stretches of it go on for as far as the eye can see. As it was raining in the morning, the air was actually pretty clear. It was nice to just be able to drive to the wall as opposed to have to deal with a tour bus and all that junk. This was the way to go. Again, I am in debt to Jeff’s friends for taking us.
The Badaling wall is one of the more popular wall sections. Its views are stunning. We took a cable car to a point almost to the top. From there, we climbed to the top. Again, China has a different viewpoint when it comes to liabilty. The steps were STEEP and there were sections that were at 35-40 degree angles without steps. It was crowded, but not as bad as it could be because of the rain.
When we finished, we stopped in store for tea. The really expensive kind. It was served on a special table made from a tree root and we had a personal server that kept everybody’s cup topped off. I had the green tea but tried the (expensive) black kind. Very earthy tasting. Its getting more difficult to accept teabags.
After tea we drove back to town (still like 45 mins away) to the Ming Tombsite.
Before heading in though, we had lunch. More food. This time the featured dish was a fish egg thing with green bean noodles. The roe was cooked in a pepper oil. It was hard to explain, but tasted excellent. Additionally, we had a kinda kung pao shrimp and bitter melon/taro root/pumpkin salad.
The ming tombs were interesting too. A bit touristy it would seem. I still cant get my head around how powerful the title of Emperor really was. A most excellent time indeed.
