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Bumbling Through BeijingMy Favorite Eating and Shopping AdventuresBy Erika Wright
Getting StartedGetting from the airport to the hotel was already the first in a long string of challenges in the art of non-verbal communication. Very little in the city is actually in English. Nothing is in anything even remotely similar to Latin letters (this will perhaps change with the 2008 Olympic Games coming to the city). So no matter how hard I tried, I could not make head nor tales of the signs. We found the buses but it took four tries, a lot of pantomiming, and a lot of standing around looking bewildered before we settled into a bus that we were fairly assured was going into the middle of Beijing. The next problem was that we had no idea where in the city our hotel was located and the address, written in English, was of no use to the people trying to help us. We rode that bus with proud optimism until it came to a stop at what we figured was the main train station. (It was the end of the line.) We got out and still had no idea where we were. We were instantly surrounded by rickshaw and taxi drivers, eager to take us where ever we wanted to go. My wily travel companion decides to go ahead and hire a rickshaw driver to the unknown hotel. We pile on this rickety (does the word rickshaw actual hail from rickety?) thing with 2 huge suitcases and 2 backpacks and a very thin man on a bicycle in front of us. This was a partially motorized bicycle, but as far as I could tell, it was definitely not motorized enough. So imagine us, the two tourists with all our stuff on a rickshaw, with this man cycling us through the streets in the boiling summer heat. It paints a picture, doesn’t it? He cycled and cycled and cycled! At some point we were wondering if he even knew where he was going, or if he had some ulterior motive.
We paid the exhausted and sweaty rickshaw driver the full 8 dollars we’d agreed on rather guiltily. I’m sure it was a lot for him, but he’d just been cycling us through the heat for all that time with all our stuff! Just then a taxi driver spots us. Perfect! But he doesn’t know English or what a hotel is. At that moment, a man in a suit was walking down the street and I hoped that he might know enough English to help us. Not only did he tell the driver what we needed, he also used his own mobile phone to call the hotel and the hotel explained to the taxi driver how to get there. So now we drove another 25 minutes ON THE HIGHWAY to the hotel. That poor rickshaw driver! Was he really going to take us all the way to our hotel? The moral of the story? Be prepared and find or print out a bilingual map with the directions to your hotel before you leave! Once settled in the hotel, I set out immediately to get to know the city in the best way possible; through my stomach. I vowed to eat as much of everything as I could. And then, we got a phone call from home. ’Did you know that a German woman died a couple of weeks ago after having lunch in a restaurant with her tour-group while visiting Beijing?’ Why no, I was not aware of that. Thanks for mentioning it! I agree with Anthony Bourdain in theory, but I am not as fearless as he is. Nor am I a wealthy chef and writer … I’m a girl with no health insurance. But, I decided not to let that stop me. I would get to know China, and its food. Carefully. Ordering in a RestaurantThe first time I walked into a restaurant I figured out that I had to order at the counter and that the food would be brought to me. Beyond that, I was at a loss. The menu was hanging on the wall and it seemed apparent that each dish had a wooden board describing what it was, at least that was my best guess, because of course it was all in Chinese. Fortunately a nice man noticed our ineptitude and came over to offer his help. I still couldn’t fully communicate, so I simply pointed at the dishes that people were eating nearby that looked tasty and he ordered them for us. We had a really spectacular meal; we each had soup with noodles that had some kind of dried fish in it and we each had an order of dumplings on the side. And the whole thing, for two people, cost us less than $2.00. It was too good to be true! Note: Our next trip to this restaurant, we found out that there was indeed a menu in English. So if you don’t feel comfortable pointing at other people’s dishes while they’re eating, you might want to just try asking for a menu. Beware of the Stinky Tofu ... or whatever it was
We could not figure out what the orange stuff was. It had a very pungent smell, kind of like a mixture of feet and fresh skunk. It is an acquired taste, I’m sure. And as with all ‘acquired tastes’ the first introduction is a bit of a shock to the system. The smell permeates the streets of Beijing. My friend Tracy who lives in Shanghai, is the one who told us that it was undoubtedly stinky tofu; apparently a delicacy that comes in varying strengths. Mildly stinky tofu doesn’t seem so bad at all and would definitely be the best place to start. Snack Streets ... a Bit Touristy ... but Great Fun
Right around the corner we found an historic market area that has recently been refurbished to look like it originally did. But it was starting to close. They also had a variety of street foods, and clothes and various products there. There are in fact quite a few snack streets in Beijing, so if one doesn’t strike you as all that great, try a different one. And another great place to try foods is in the hutongs; the poor residential areas which are being destroyed as part of China’s ‘beautification process’ even though many of them are under historical protection. They run all through the city and are often built up against different sections of the city walls and they have an ancient history all their own. Hutongs
Fast FoodFor the less culinarily adventurous, do not despair! There is no shortage of fast food restaurants. McDonalds and KFC are both prominent fixtures throughout the major cities of China. My boyfriend forced me into about 4 McDonalds in Beijing, but I always managed to hold out for a noodle bar. There is actually one Chinese chain restaurant that looks like a KFC, except that the colonel is Chinese, but it’s not KFC. It offers really fantastic noodles and dim sum. Highly recommended! A Must Try: Mongolian HotpotI love to read up on the foods of an area before I arrive. So I had been looking forward to one of the famous meals, not to be missed in Beijing; the Mongolian hotpot experience. So, off we went to find out what a hotpot is. We chose Donglaishun which is very popular and was suggested by the guide book as well as the people on the street as having the freshest ingredients.
An added adventure bonus; the sauce happened to be flavored with a bit of stinky tofu! At this point, we are finding stinky tofu (in small amounts) almost delicious. I also had canned coconut juice that tasted like juice straight from the nut. And in fact, on the streets one can buy a whole coconut with a straw poked through a hole in the middle. That’s fresh juice. Another Must Try: Peking DuckNear the street with all of my favorite shops (see shopping below) there is a famous restaurant for Peking duck called Quanjude. Established in 1864 and in operation for 5 generations, it is the most famous place to have Peking Duck in Beijing. It is a little touristy, but still very tasty and I was told that it’s a good example of the traditional Chinese dining experience. In the back you can see the crispy ducks hanging over a wood fire. The servers bring the whole duck out, roasted and delicious and cut it into slices right in front of the hungry diners. The proper way to eat it is to take a few slices, dip them in the Hoisin sauce, place them in the crepe-like pancake, add some spring onions, and roll it all up together like a very thin and elegant version of a burrito. Another meal that was satisfying, delicious and fun. Note: On the menu, you can choose between a whole or a half duck, but when they come to the table, you don’t actually get the entire duck. There was still a lot of meat on our duck when they took it away and I noticed the same policy at the other tables. We seemed to get the choicest bits and I presume a half duck is simply half of those choice pieces. So beware if you are hungry! If you would like something cheaper and less touristy, there are a lot of places that offer Peking Duck throughout the city. A Tip for the Trusting TravelerI learned something from our fellow travelers which apparently everyone else already knows. We wanted to order coffee but the prices were quite expensive. I mean, the most expensive coffee you can imagine! So one of the men we were sitting with said that he refused to buy coffee that was more expensive than at a café in Germany and he wanted the Chinese prices. I was cringing a bit but then, but lo and behold … out came an entirely different menu with prices that were cut in half. Just a little tip for the trusting traveler. A Little Shopping to Work off the CaloriesShanghai, without a doubt, far outshines Beijing as a fashion Mecca. But that is not to say that Beijing doesn’t have plenty to offer. One should not be put off by the monotonous sea of ugly 1950s style high rises. There is a lot to be said for a city that is still far less Westernized than Shanghai. The biggest problem with those ugly buildings is that it’s quite disorienting at first, in that it seems like so much of the same everywhere.
I decided that what I needed to do was to buy something nice for a couple of friends. They are all about the same size as me, just much bustier than I am. So there I am in the shop trying to explain the size difference discreetly, but the woman does not know what I’m talking about. Finally, I say ‘she’s about the same size as me, but with much bigger BOOBS’ … with the full hand gestures and everything. Daniel pretended not to know me, but I got my point across, I bought a couple of beautiful gifts, and the Chinese ladies all got a really good laugh out of it.
One other stop, also on the same street, is an old-fashioned apothecary shop called Tongretang which used to provide medicines to the Emperor and family. It was founded in 1669 and given royal patronage in 1861. It is modern looking, but full of traditional remedies. I really wish that the signs were in English because we were both fascinated with the different jars and the creatures in them (only when I got home did I find out that it is indeed possible to arrange tours in English). There were ginseng roots (worth thousands of dollars) and there were coiled snakes, dried animals and reptiles, antlers, pearl dust, birds nest jelly and the male genitals of various unfortunate animals … all dried and freezer packed. And now that Traditional Chinese Medicine has become interesting to people all across the globe, the Tongrentang has opened branches in Hong Kong, London and Sydney. If you keep walking straight down this street with the silk, tea, and apothecary shops, you will enter one of the hutongs. Wherever you go in Beijing, around every corner, there is always something interesting to see or taste. Addresses and Information: VERY nice hotel Beijing Ju Xian Ming Tea Co. *** Xin Li, Xin Fu *** Quanjude (Peking Duck) Donglaishun (Mongolian Hotpot) Tongrentang Pharmacy *** ***These three shops are on the same street, but they each spell it differently. I wrote the address as is it on each of their business cards. |
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I waltzed
into Beijing with a patchy understanding of their history, anticipation of great
food, and no idea what lay ahead. Armed with a trusty travel guide and a
reluctantly adventurous boyfriend, I set about getting to know the modern child
of one of the oldest civilizations on earth. China is an exciting travel
destination for many reasons, but at the moment it is especially intriguing
because it’s undergoing a fascinating transition. Just opening up, the country
is experiencing a sort of cultural metamorphosis. Sadly, many of the most
interesting bits are being destroyed as part of the urban beautification
projects. I figured this was all the more reason to go to China as soon as
possible.
Though not
our first rickshaw ride, this was our first rickshaw marathon and we were not
sure how to proceed. After a good 20 minutes, our brave driver was sweat through
and we were thoroughly embarrassed. We asked him to just pull over and let us
off. Where were we? No idea. By the side of a road. Where were we going? To the
unknown hotel, of course.
At some point,
while walking down a side street off of Tiananmen square we were persuaded, by
some very enthusiastic and persistent people, into a restaurant for lunch. The
menu was in English, but that was only moderately helpful. We ended up with a
nice plate of mustard greens and garlic and some hot dumplings. But then they
brought out a plate of cabbage (normally a good thing) but in this case there
were lots of bits of something orange. Daniel, my trusting boyfriend, thought it
was a slightly dehydrated carrot and popped the whole thing in his mouth. Big
mistake. It ruined the rest of his dining experience! But the look on his face
was classic! He gave me the most desperate, pleading look I’ve ever seen and his
eyes teared up while he fought to chew it up and swallow it. Then, completely
seriously he says, ‘here, you wanna try some?’
Finally we made
our way to a snack street. It was a little touristy I guess, but that’s ok. Most
tourists in China are actually Chinese anyway. I started off very safe with a
banana dumpling; basically just a doughnut. Then I tried some sort of meat and
veggie wrap. It was all fried on the grill right in front of me and then rolled
up with a little sauce inside. I got a little more adventurous and tried snake
skin. I didn’t know it was JUST the skin, but it was, and it tasted about how
you would imagine it to taste. Although I must say, it was well seasoned. Daniel
had some little octopi and we called it good. We could have eaten a variety of
insects, star fish, sea horses, scorpions, and cocoons, as well as organs …
hearts and kidneys etc. There was a very wide and exotic selection. I thought it
best not to push it too far on day 2 of an almost 3 week trip ... especially
after the aforementioned phone call.
Life in the hutongs happens out on the streets. People have small gardens and a lot of
people are cooking and selling food in front of their homes while the children
are playing on their doorsteps. A lot of people living in the hutongs (mainly
the older people) resist the government trying to move them into giant apartment
buildings. This would mean an anonymous life, without the same sense of
community. Old people are afraid that they will die alone and no one will find
them.
There would be no place for a garden. In the hutongs, men are sitting
around playing cards and the women are chatting. This also doesn’t happen in an
apartment building to the same degree. So the end of the hutongs would be a very
sad thing for everyone. Not only are the hutongs the best place to get an
intimate feeling for the city and it’s people, there is also a whole lot of
great food to be tried!
My favorite
place to shop was near the hutong area South of Tiananmen Square. I found a silk
shop called Xin Li, Xin Fu Silk & Jewelry Shop where everything was hand made on
the site and of very good quality and a good price. I even had a pair of pants
tailor made within 24 hours which all in all cost about 25 dollars. There were
hundreds of silk fabrics to choose from and you could walk upstairs and see the
girls sewing away (in what seemed to be a healthy environment, I hope).
Just a few doors down, on the same
street, we found Beijing Ju Xian Ming Tea Co., a wonderful tea shop with the
nicest tea I have ever had. I’m glad I bought some, not only does it taste great
with a delicate flavor, but it also has a wonderful, slightly sweet aftertaste.
My favorite was the jasmine tea in a ball. When it sits in the hot water, it
opens into a beautiful bloom. While not many of ours were as beautiful as the
one in the shop, they did taste far better than the tea at the larger store
across the street. I also highly recommend the litchi tea. If you want to try
one of the many teas, the girls are more than happy to brew something up for
you.