Rob the Fiddler

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.

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.

For the last two nights, I decided I needed go about exploring Beijing on my own.  Its been really nice having Jeffery around (a Shanghi native) to communicate and explain things. His experienced pallate has made for some of the most excellent food selections, despite the fact every place we have eaten at was choosen at random. There is a certain skill to guessing whats the best thing on the menu. Ill give him that.

Still, I HAD to get away and do some exploring for myself. Im sure he felt the same way too. You have to realize that he a pessimist’s pessimist. Everybody at work teases him for this. (and he knows it!) Some folks are half empty types, he worries about the glass breaking. If you correct him that your glass is plastic…well…even worse. Plastic has been known to cause cancer blah blah blah….you get my point.

When I heard him talk, I kept on hearing the same word over and over again. It sounded like “Mayo Mayo”. Turns out that was Méiyou, Chinese for “No”. It would come to nobodys surprise that THIS was the first word I picked up from him.

First off, I went to the supermarket close to the hotel. This market is in the basement of a large building. The experience was better than the first time I hit central market. Everything was strange and new. The fruits and veggies we exotic. The meat section was eye opening. The smells were wonderful. I think its just the Asian markets  in the US that are stinky because this market was awesome!

I bought a few things based solely on the packaging.

Qoo, an apple flavored drink featuring a perpetually frustrated cartoon character is probibly the best tasting “non-apple juice” apple juice flavored drink I have ever had. It was a let down to find out it was a Coke product. 

Pocari Sweat was exactly what I imagined a “salt and Glucose” drink would taste like. The name reminded me WAY to much of Steve Polcari though. A Dallas musician.  Kinda unfortunate name.

The best stuff was pineapple flavored beer. Its .8%, so its 1/4 the kick of Oklahoma beer. It tasted like pineapple soda.   

The problem Beijing is that the majority of the town closes up at 9pm on the dot. After leaving the market it was 8:20, I had to get a leg up. I picked a place that had a menu with pictures. Now I realize that these are not actual pictures, but suggestions….kinda like the posters on the wall at barbershop. I picked a dish with mushrooms (always a safe bet) and one with what looked like beef.

I probibly got beef, but it was most likely liver. Im still not sure. The texture was gritty, but the flavor was good. I ate it, but I dont think Ill be ordering it again.

Thursday I had hoped I could better. I was thinking about checking out the Sanlitun district. This is one of the more popular entertainment districts. A co-worker suggested I instead go to the HouHai area. It was supposed to be more “arty” with singers instead of just bars.

The ride down was interesting. I had a lively conversation with the cab driver using hand signs and vocal gestures.  It went something like this.

Driver: [ holds a mike in the air and sings a few bad notes]  Are you going to Houhai to sing Kareoke?

Me: [shaking head] No

Driver: [Makes a drinking sign followed by a stagging sway to his shoulders] Oh…you are going drinking?

Me: [ Making camera gestures and noodle eating moves]. No, Im just going to take pictures and perhaps have a drink.

Driver: [ Waves hands and sings into an air mike again] Oh, you really must try the singing. Its fun.

Me: Méiyou, Méiyou (Hey…I Jeffs pessimism paid off).

Driver: [Shrugs and sings again] You dont know what your missing.

Me: [Point to throat with tapping sign then I make a violin playing gesture]. Im not really much of a singer. I play violin though.

Driver: [Nods Head] Oh…impressive.

Driver: [Points to wrist]  ???? (At first I thought it was a time thing)

Driver: [Points again to his wrist then my arm hair....then my head and his head and laughs] Your arms are so hairy and head bald while my arms are baby soft and I have a full head of hair. Ha Ha

At this point I was at a loss of words in a situtation that didnt really require any in the first place. But the ride was over, so I paid the fare and set out to see the city.

It was nice to look at, but MAN every three feet had a bar barker asking if I wanted to step into their bar.  The majority of these were just shacks with a sofa.  Many more people stopped me asking if  I looking for a lady bar or who knows what.  My suggestion is to check this place out during the day so you can safely explore the alleys around the lake. The bars themselves do not really look all that exciting. There were lots of people singing with guitars and kareoke, but…well, there was a whole seediness too it that I just creeped me out. Plus I didnt want to drink and lose my edge. It was enough of a rush just being there. I took my pictures and walked a few blocks away to find food.  It was ok, but not as good as stuff I had before.

p>

When I was kid, if I didnt finish my food, my grandmother would tell to about all those poor starving kids in China to get me to finish what was on my plate.  Maybe things are different in other provinces, but there is no shortage of food in this city.
 
Saturday night we went out for Beijing (Peking) duck. This is one of the must haves in Beijing. Its about 200 Yuan (19 bucks) for a full duck. Of course, Jeffery (my Chinese co-worker) had to order other stuff too.

He ordered:

• the duck 
• duck feet
• duck intestines
• duck blood soup!!

They cut up the duck for you so that there is a sliver of skin with every piece. This is considered (rightfully so) the best part of the duck. You get stack of crepes that you wrap the duck in with a dab of sauce and stuff with veggies.

You start off with simply a bit of skin. It was GOOD!!!! The duck fat just melts in your mouth. The duck feet were ok. They take out the bones so its just..well…pretty much cartilage with a spicy mustard sauce.
(I like chicken feet better)

Duck!

The duck intestines were chewy. Pretty good, but definately one of those dishes that are best shared amongst several people.  I passed on the duck blood soup.

Duck intestines

Duck blood soup

Duck feet (boneless!)

Ill probibly have to have duck at least once more before I leave.
Nuts:
While visiting the Fragrant hills, I was handed a sample of some kind of roasted pecan by a street vendor. I think it was roasted…I dunno. It was definately a pecan, but it tasted sweet, like brown sugar. The shells tasted sweet to the tongue so I suppose they were boiled in sugar and vanilla. I dunno. Jeffery thought I was crazy for eating something from a street vendor.  Crazy like a nut-eating fox! I got a bag of them to nosh on for the week. So far, no stomach problems.

Szechuan:

Sat night we had Szechuan from a food court in a mall in the WangFuJing district. It was cheap, and incredible.

The first dish was this duck blood/Eel/Tripe combo dish. I had passed on duck blood before the first night, but tonight I had hearty helpings of it. Its basically a blood clot I suppose. Kinda like if you let cream sit in lemon juice??? Soft and chunky. The dish had these pepper corns in it that numbed my mouth so that I
could not feel anything. This is supposed to adapt your taste buds for the heat?

The braised beef was littered with thai chilis…didnt bother me a bit.

The Fish was smoothered in chili oil…no effect.

The eggplant was not hot…but mmmm oh so good.

None of the dishes seemed that hot to me, but they really were hot. (as was confirmed the next day by a part of my body that didnt have the advantage of pre-numbing peppercorns.)

Rolls:

Monday night we took the subway back down to Wangfujing. This time we had a smaller (thank god!) meal of buns. This was apparently a famous place, but Jeffery was not all that impressed. I, on the other hand, was very impressed. We got a combo dish of pork, veggie and something else buns. All were good.

Hot Pot:

Tuesday I wanted to walk to dinner. I just had to. Several times over the past few days, we had passed a venue called “Grandpa Lee’s” It had a pipe smoking grandpa as its icon and looked packed…good enough for me. I suggested we check it out, based entirely on its cool logo.

Turns out it was a “hot pot” place. This is another dish that was recommended as a must eat dish by all. (my bro mike also praised this dish highly). 

I didnt even bother to look at the menu. I let Jeffery order whatever.

Hot pot is basically a big pot in the middle of the table. It has a boiling broth that you dip food in to cook in a manner similar to Fondue. (I had just tried this only a month ago when my girlfriend too me out to Simply Fondue for my birthday dinner)

Its just broth, so if you order veggies, you dinner has the potential of being pretty healthy.

We had:

• Woodear mushrooms
• (some other) mushrooms
• Beef
• Duck intestines (again?)
• Kidney (cut expertly)
• Beef Tripe
• Beef Esophogus
• Seaweed
• Soy Bean sprouts (seriously good!!!)
• Spinach
• Fish Balls
• Fish paste

Esophagus, tripe, kidney and more duck intestines

Beef, tofu noodles, spinach, gross meats and schrooms

Our server demostrates how to dump the fish paste into the hot pot. When it floats, its done.

woodear mushrooms.  (VERY GOOD)

The esophagus really didnt have much of a taste as much as it had the kind of texture that you would expect from something that nature never intended to rupture. I think that what makes Americans squimish is not the flavor or origination of what they eat but the texture.

Made it to Beijing. All pictures are here (will add as I go)

After a 14 hour flight, 3 hour stop over and another 2 hour flight, we made it to Beijing. Im glad that I’m with a co-worker who was born in China, because otherwise I would be in deep trouble. Not many folks speak English here…although several folks have come up and say hello to practice their greetings. Many just like to wave and smile at me. Of course, I dont mind and always wave and smile back.

Taxis:

The taxi ride was nuts. All taxi rides have been nuts. There are no real rules to the road it appears. None of the cab drivers speak English, so you need to plan ahead and have your destination printed on a card. Im at a pretty nice hotel, so the folks at front will do this for you. I also carry a card with my hotel on it in case Im out in the city and cant get back. Taxis are cheap. $1.2 to get in and 30 cents a Kilometer. Highest fare I had was like 9 bucks for a 20 min ride. The problem is that if a destination is too close, the cab driver might say he doesnt know where to take you. We were trying to get to one of the most famous Beijing Duck spots, but it was too close to make it worth their while. Nobody except the last taxi in line knew about the place we wanted to go.

Pardon the Dust:

I got my first look at the haze in the morning. You can barely see more than a few blocks down the road sometimes.

It doesnt seem or smell smoggy, and I know what thats like coming from Socal. Its mostly just dusty. And there is a LOT of dust in Beijing. I guess part of it is from the deserts. They have perpetual dust storms. Additionally, the whole city is under construction and I would imagine plenty of it is just good ole smog. There are many trees planted around the city as dust barriers. They are supposed to
help clean the air and trap the dust.

Despite the dust and dirt, there is NO TRASH…ANYWHERE! Its totally spotless. No cigarette butts, no wrappers, no nothing. Every street corner has somebody with a broom too. Too bad out-of-towners will spoil it it when they
come here to see the Olympics.

Summer Palace:
Saturday we started off at the Summer Palace.

This place was amazing. I have pictures here. It was crushingly packed because it was a holiday weekend. The number of people here were staggering.

We were there for four or five hours and maybe saw half the grounds. Most of the park is actually a lake. The dirt from the lake was used to make a huge hill for the royalty. On a clear day, the view would be stellar. I probibly walked 10 miles that day.

At the top of the hill is a big Buddah.

The north end of the park has a street called Suzhou Street. It seemed to have a Disneylandish feel to it. Pics are here.

Step on a crack:

One thing I noticed was that there is no sense of liability laws in Beijing. Watch you step! Hills are steep, steps are jagged and there are holes everywhere. Seems like the city is in a mad rush to prepare for the Olympics so there is a lot of work going on. In America, these parks would be facing a lawsuit
a day. Check out this.

Seriously, where are the rails?

Maybe we are just too spoiled.

Sunday we went even further out of town to see the Fragrant hills park. (Xiangshan park)

Pictures are here.

The park is best known for its fall colors. In spring however, there were many cherry blossoms that were equally as impressive.

Some girls even wore wreaths of cherry bloosoms in their hair.

This park was even more amazing. If you ever go, bring good shoes. This day we probibly walked 12-15 miles easily.

Next door is the Azure temple. It climbs the hill with many gates. Each gate had a buddist temple/altar of some kind. There were many prayer ribbons throughout the park.

You walk around the temple and then there is another. At the top is a memorial hall to Sun Yat-sen.

Despite the dust, the view was really good.

From here we went to Tiananmen square. Downtown Beijing is huge and the square is pretty breathtaking. Not a lot going on as far as statues or what not, its just BIG. At the top of the square is the Chinese flag.

Pics are here

I saw several folks stare up admiringly and salute the flag. We got there in time to see the flag lowering ceremony. Several of the auxilary colorguard troops were out of uniform. It was pointed out to me that they were probibly really in “uniform”…just plainclothes officers that would normally be walking
the square. No wonder there is no trash to be found anywhere.

There was a checkpoint where they checked bags, but we were waved through. Seemed odd that it was the Americans were not checked, but it sounded like types of folks they were looking for were usually native. I ometimes felt this strange feeling like I was in a spot that an American was not supposed to be in. Sorta like when I was in East Berlin in 1990. Thirty years ago this would definately be the case. Instead I was greeted by many folks wanting to try out their English skills (and sell me stuff). I felt very welcome.

From there we went to the famous WangFuJing shopping district.

Pics are here. It looks like Vegas with all of the lights. The Oriental Plaza has South Coast Plaza beat hands down. The mall was huge, but all the items were western (Rolex, Hugo, Levis, Eddie Bauer, Swatch) and legit. There were no deals to be had here.

The food court here though is a MUST visit. Packed with people and just about every cuisine you can imagine. Very clean and cheap too.

This is also where famous night market is. The eating experience here is a little different. More more of a “dare you to eat this” tilt to the offerings.

Here you can get seahorse on a stick, scorpion, “stinky tofu” or a deep fat fried starfish (blech). I didnt try any of it yet. But I still have two weeks to go.