Beijing Food

After my Shanghai Food Experience, I thought I have finally experienced authentic Chinese Food, to my surprise I was completely wrong. I failed to consider how extensively broad Chinese Cuisine is, and i found this out on the very first night of my stay in Beijing.

Old Beijing Food -  Old Beijing

We found this restaurant while walking around the area of our Beijing Hotel. We just got to Beijing from an 8-hr train ride and only had cup noodles and microwavable lunch meals, surely not enough for your exhausted body!

This restaurant serves the best Old Beijing food I have tasted!

The restaurant wasn't busy, the only reason that drew me in were the pictures hanging on the wall and the facade. I know I can be shallow but at least I am honest. Since the server only spoke mandarin, I instructed Qing to ask him, what are they specialties and their best seller. We trusted what the server said and just got lucky! We had no clue we were about to have our best meal of the entire trip!

The food didn't take long to arrive. The waiter "introduced" each dish to us, only Qing understood what he was saying and Qing in return would translate it in English or Tagalog. I forgot the exact description of each dish but here is what I remember: 

Aged tofu with bean sprouts chickpeas and other legumes , this was simply sublime! it has the consistency of a hummus and richness of a bubba ganoush but there is something else to it.

Aged tofu mixed with bean sprouts, chickpeas and other legumes, sheer goodness!

Old Beijing Style Sausage - until now I can't seem to forget how this sausage tasted. It isn't like Italian sausage, its nothing I have had before. It comes with a clear vinegar and garlic dipping sauce.

Old Beijing Sausage. It can't describe how good it tastes! Dipped in clear vinegar with garlic.

We had to order rice as well, if i remember it correctly this is also the Old Beijing Fried Rice. Fried Brown Rice with ground pork as simple as that and topped with a fried egg. I had to control myself from having more than half of the bucket.

Not to forget the extremely good rice with fried egg on top.

The Verdict:

Price: 50-75 CNY, mid priced but super worth it! 

Taste: ★★★★★★★★ , ok so maybe I am a bit exaggerating but the food was really flavorful, tasty and it is a first for me to experience these food!

Overall: Ok it is obvious, I really like the food. To be honest I am already planning my next trip to Beijing with my sibling to experience this restaurant again.. perhaps next year.

Street Food -  Beijing Style 

Since we were traveling on a budget, my friend and I always opted to go for street food, not only that most of the time we were lost and trying to figure directions, subways and buses out so we would always end up eating street food since they were cheap and fast. Most of the time I forget to take a picture of the meal since 98% of the time I was starving. Here a few of the meals I was able to take a picture of:

Beef Chinese Noodle Soup

This reminds me of Ramen, it is said that Ramen is actually of Chinese origin. This beef noodle soup is actually pretty good considering the fact that it is street food. It had generous servings of beef and mushrooms that really surprised me since here in Manila, even decent restaurant wouldn't serve half as much as they did.

The Verdict:

Price: 13 CNY, super cheap! thats less than a hundred pesos!

Taste: ★★★★,  pretty good for a street food

Overall: Makes me wish street food were as clean and affordable here in the Philippines.

The Hotdog Wrap

If there is one thing I look forward to whenever we get lost in China, somehow we would end up discovering something. In one of our lost sessions while on our way to the Summer Palace, we keep on seeing people munching on this lettuce wrap. We got curious and decided to try it once we found the stand that sells them.

Mother and Son Team - China's version of Hotdog Stand. Healthy and Yummy!

The wrap is made from scratch by the mother, the son cooks them on a flat grill together with the hotdog. Once cooked the mother smoothers this peanut sauce onto the wrap puts the hotdog and adds the lettuce. Simple, healthy since its not fried and yummy!

Grilled hotdog and fresh lettuce with special peanut sauce.

The Verdict:

Price: 4 CNY, unbelievable cheap. converted to peso that is less than 30.

Taste: ★★★★,  pretty good for a street food

Overall: I think i can recreate this.

Exotic on a Stick -  Beijing Night Market
While doing my research for this trip I came across a site that lists down unusual things to do in Beijing. One of which is to chow down a scorpion, seahorse, starfishes, roaches, larvae, goat's eyeball and testicle and snake meat. I opted for the scorpion since it was the smallest among them.

The Verdict:

Price: 35 CNY, friggin' expensive!

Taste: ★, tastes just like crablets.

Overall: If i think about it the 35CNY was really expensive for the scorpion, but hey i have a kick-ass video to brag!

Pork Barbecue

Pork BBQ - or at least what I was told, could have been snake meat.. errk!

The Verdict:

Price: 7 CNY, not bad for the quality and quantity

Taste: ★★★★, really tasty, not like any other street barbecue.

Overall: I can attempt to make this here in the Phils and start a franchise bwahahah!!

Fruits on a Stick

This has got to be my favorite street food China has to offer. It satisfies my sweet tooth!

L-R. Cherry Tomato, Melon, Plum, Cherry Tomato, Kiwi, Cherry Tomato and Pineapple

Juiciest Plum!

The Verdict:

Price: 13 CNY, Qing had to Haggle for a while since they initially offered it a higher price.

Taste: ★★★★,  Fresh fruits glazed in sugar, couldn't go wrong with that!

Overall: I am seriously planning to have this in my future restaurant ;) * dream mode

Overpriced Swirly Sausage -  Water Cube

While visiting the Water Cube, Qing and I got these overpriced swirly hotdogs that were only consumed within two-hungry-adult bites. They are quite attractive to look at since the presentation is very kid-friendly.

Qing like a Kid with a treat on his hand!

The Verdict:

Price: 15 CNY, expensive for a hotdog on stick

Taste: ★★,  Nothing special about it

Overall: Attracts the kid in you but leaves you unsatisfied

Quanjude's Peking Duck - Qianmen Avenue

Established in 1864 during the Qing Dynasty, Quanjude has maintained its famed status both locally and abroad. Known for its longstanding culinary heritage and Pecking Roast Duck is sells over 2 million roast ducks served in 400 different styles over 5 million customers annually.

Qianmen's Quanjude is the original location of the restaurant.

Qing and I opted to have the most common yet best selling roast duck of Quanjude, we call it here "one-wa" you know the one with the wrapper,cucumber and spring onion, in Beijing it is served with this super thick and extremely rich duck broth. I could only handle two sips of the soup it was too fatty for me.

Super thick and extra rich Duck Soup

I am no duck expert more so a food connoisseur but I didn't really find any difference between the Peking Duck served here in Manila from Gloria Maris, Spring Deer or any other local restaurants from that of the Quanjude's, however there is a huge difference with the sauce.

Perfectly roasted duck with abundant duck fat on each piece and  long lasting crispy skin

Here in Manila the sauce they serve if sweet, it is bordering peanut sauce and asado sauce at least for me. The Quanjude sauce is not sweet at all, it is actually on the roasted bitter side, zero sign of sweetness.

The wrapper was served warm unlike here in Manila it is cold

Shanghai Food

Any travel would not be complete without experiencing the FOOD, in China's case I am certain we have all had our share of Chinese Food. I mean Chinese food has gone global and is usually equated with fast, fried, flavorful food! The big question is how authentic is our local Chinese food? During my trip in China I made sure I would experience Chinese Food as authentic as it can be.. heck I am in China! (Anthony Bourdain- wannabe) 

The Chinese Fast Food -  Shanghai Expo

The Expo had several cafeterias with various cuisines to offer, depending on the theme location of the section you are in, you can choose from European, Mediterranean, American and Asian. Fortunately the nearest cafeteria served mainly Asian Food.

Typical Chinese Fast Food Tray @ Shanghai Expo

Tray on the left was for my friend, consists of (upper right clockwise) Miso soup, radish on the side,generous serving of rice, chicken curry, scrambled eggs, grilled pork and meat balls with taro, pumpkin with special sauce. That is if i remember it correctly.. hehe

I had the tray on the right, with the following (upper right clockwise), sweet and sour meatballs, a ton of rice, corn,carrots and green peas, miso soup, pork with carrots in tomato sauce more like menudo and that viand I can not remember! hehe 

The Verdict:

Price: 50-60 CNY, reasonable price considering the amount of food you get.

Taste: ★★ , I anticipated it would be really good considering most Chinese I have back home is flavorful read: salty 

Overall: I have had better meals, I hope our next meal is better.

Meet the Dimsum - Yu Yuan Garden

After the tiring wandering experience at the Yu Yuan Garden, my friend and I had to cool down. We found this refreshment shop that had all sorts of liquid refreshment. I know it isn't the smartest idea to have local ice since you wouldn't be sure how your stomach would react, but what the heck I was hot, thirsty and hungry! Turns out the drink was pretty darn good.

Sweet and Tangy - I can barely remember what was in it but it was pretty good. I think it had chunk of fruits.

After cooling down we decided to look for a restaurant to have our first meal of the day and to plan out our itinerary for the day. We settled for a dimsum place because, first it was right next to the refreshment stand, second and most importantly we were starving and  the dimsum is already there you just have to pick it up and start chowing down.

L-R : Kuya Mushi, Steamed Dumplings, Rice with Chicken and mushroom wrapped in Lotus Leaf and Fried Vegetable Dumplings

Fried Vegetable Dumplings, unlike most Chinese Restaurants outside of China, Vinegar is the staple dipping sauce.

Yummy  steamed rice with chicken and mushroom wrapped in Lotus Leaf

Steamed Dumpling, I can't seem to remember the exact content of this dumpling but its not Hakaw

Steamed Egg with tofu and shrimp. In Japan this is a staple dish called Kuya Mushi.

The Verdict:

Price: 15-35 CNY, relatively cheap compared to dimsum here, and the place had a good ambiance

Taste: ★★★ , Although I have had better dimsum, they weren't that bad, I guess just normal.

Overall: Normal Dimsum nothing worth remembering, except the dumplings were already cold.

New Shanghai Cuisine -  Downtown Shanghai

On our last day in Shanghai, my friend suggested we try this famous restaurant that serves this special fish. According to Qing, it is a traditional recipe with a modern twist. I was not in a position to decline his suggestion since I have committed to try chinese food as authentic as they can be!

Typical Chinese Appetizer: Carrots and Cucumber with chinese Vinegar and oil with a dash of sesame seed

Cucumber bathed in milk and honey. Perfect to cool down the pallet from the spicy fish.

We decided to have the fish cooked two-way. The left part of the basin, yes it is an actual basin that has a divider in the middle, is the spicy one for Qing. It isn't that spicy at first but once you've had a couple of spoonfuls you get that burning sensation, that is why it comes with the cucumber salad to cool down your pallet from the heat of the fish. The fish on the right was for me, it was salty and oily, it is almost the same fish you will have at a Szechuan Restaurant my only problem with the fish is that they didn't bother removing the bones so you would have to spit it out since it is mixed with the fish.

Fish Two-Way. Spicy and Salty

The Verdict:

Price: 200 CNY, the price was bordering cheap and just right, with the tonnage of the serving it was well worth every penny.

Taste: ★★★★ , Although I got my tongue burnt, the cucumber cooled it down, the dishes were very chinese yet had a twist of modernity in it. This is a perfect dish with your friends with a bucket full of cold beer and you have all the night away to waste.

Overall: I finally got my wish! to experience Authentic chinese food but with a modern twist.. or so i think i still have Beijing food to conquer!

McDonald's Chinese Menu -  McWings Goodness!

Whenever I travel abroad I make sure I swing my McDonald's to check out their localized menu, like here in the Philippines we have spaghetti, burger mcdo, rice and mcChicken, in China they have these really good chicken wings called McWings that comes in three flavors!

Surprisingly McDonalds in China do not serve rice, so we settled for french fries!

I must say the chicken wings were pretty darn good! L -R. Sweet Chicken Wings, Crispy Spicy Wings and the Salty Chicken Wings.

Probably the best McDonald's Chicken Wings existing!

I rarely have McDonald's when I am here, I just make the most of my travels and experience what they have to offer that aren't readily available back home. I am just being honest when I say these chicken wings are pretty darn good!

The Great Wall of China

I first encountered the Great Wall of China when I was a kid. I was browsing an encyclopedia in my mom's office late one night when I came across it. I could barely read back then and was only attracted by pictures. I remember bugging all the adults the next day in my mom's office to read to me what was written. 

Traveling to China, in Beijing to be exact would be incomplete without seeing the Great Wall of China. I made sure while planning my trip to China, I would be able to make the most of it and experience the Great Wall. Once we got to Beijing, upon checking in our hotel the first night Qing made arrangements for us to join a day tour to see the Ming Tomb and the Great Wall of China.

The Great Wall of China Facts

The Great Wall is not a single continuous wall but a network of small segments built by various dynasties mainly to protect the northern boundary of China.

Even the Great Wall has an Empty Space

Quick number game:

The entire Great Wall with all of its branches, stretches for 8,581.8 km.

6,259.6 km sections of actual wall.

2,232.5 km of natural defensive barriers such as hills and rivers.

359.7 km of trenches

It is only fitting to claim that it is the Longest man-made structure in the world.

Badaling Section of the Great Wall of China

Badaling is the most visited section of the Great Wall since it is closest to Beijing. This is the same section that was open to tourists in 1957 and where President Nixon visited.

A not-so-familiar view from the Great Wall

During the 2,000-year construction period of the Great Wall, it was colloquially called " the longest cemetery on earth" reportedly it cost the lives of over a million people.

The Great Wall of China with hundreds of tourists

Watch Towers were built at a regular interval along the Great Wall

The construction of the Great Wall produced numerous Chinese inventions that greatly affected civilization: the wheelbarrow and the gunpowder to defend the wall.

A signature pose for the Great Wall

At the Great Wall of China

Contrary to popular belief, the Great Wall of China cannot be seen from the moon without aid. This myth was started by an American published magazine and was made famous by Robert Ripley.

Badaling Section is always packed with tourists

Qing among the hundreds of tourists at the Great Wall

Posing with a smile amidst the hundreds of tourists at the Great Wall of China

It was also common to hear that the mortar used to bind the stones was made from human bones or that people were buried within the Great Wall to make it stronger, good to know this is only a myth

Hundreds if not thousands of Tourists at the Great Wall of China

Watchtowers at the Great Wall of China

Experiencing the Great Wall of China is quite overwhelming, when we were kids most things are grand, we used to look at pictures of places and imagine ourselves running freely around that place or  it was just me? Sure, not all of us are fortunate enough to be able to actually experience what they day dreamt of when they were a kid, but I am sure we all have experience a dream come true, childish as it seems who doesn't want their dreams to be reality?

Going down, after conquering the Great Wall of China -  Badaling Section

The Bird's Nest and Water Cube

In my Plan an Awesome Trip entry I mentioned about the how I got into this whole China Trip. The whole China experience will not be complete without us visiting the primary reason for all this awesome experiences! Qing and I were like little kids about to finally see the power rangers in person, yes the power rangers were the coolest things when i was a kid! but this time its the Bird's Nest and the Water Cube!

My friend and I intentionally planned not to see the Bird's Nest and the Water Cube during daytime, since we both agreed it is better to come there once it is dark because of the magnificent lightings of both  structures.

Beijing National Aquatics Center

fondly called as the Water Cube, hosted the swimming, diving and synchronized swimming events. Contrary to what its name suggest it is actually not a cube but a cuboid or in simpler term a rectangular box.

Beijing National Aquatics Center

The Water Cube was specially designed and built by a consortium comprising of PTW Architects, Arup International Engineering Group, the China State Construction Engineering Corporation and the China Construction Design International of Shanghai.

Back View of the Water Cube

The structure comprise of a steel space frame, it is the largest ETFE ( a kind of plastic designed to have high corrosion resistance and strength to over a wide temperature range) clad structure in the world with over 100,000 sq. m of ETFE "pillows" that are only 0.2mm thick. The ETFE cladding allows more light and heat penetration than traditional glass, resulting in a 30% decrease in energy costs.  Now that is Efficient!

Closer View of the Water Cube

After the 2008 Summer Olympics the Water cube was opened to the public as a water park. The redesigned Water Cube contains numerous water rides and slides, a wave pool and spa areas.

Interior of the Water Cube

Walls inside the Water Cube

Coffee Shops Snack Bars inside the Water Cube

Right next to the Water Cube is the Bird's Nest.

Beijing National Stadium

The Bird's Nest is considered to be the centerpiece of the numerous structures built for the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics. It hosted the opening as well as the closing ceremony, athletics and football finals.

Beijing National Stadium

The Swiss architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron is responsible for the design, which is said to be inspired by from the study of Chinese ceramics. Leading and equally controversial Chinese Artist Ai Weiwei served as the artistic consultant for the design project.

Closer look at the Bird's nest

The Bird's Nest from a different view.

Initially designed to have a retractable roof, the plan later changed after the collapse of a roof at the Charles de Gaulle International Airport. The eastern and western stands of the Bird's Nest are higher than the northern and southern stands, in order to improve the sight lines.

Jumping in front of the Bird's Nest

In 2008, my friend and I started talking about China, we agreed to visit China after college but didn't really plan out anything after that. Two years later my friend and I are having the time of our lives experiencing what we once only talked about. 

My point is, the best things are worth the wait!