The first meal was a piping hot bowl of noodles with spicy, shredded pork at the Raffles city mall in Dongzhimen. Although this was a great start, I was hungry for more. For dinner, I ventured out to Wang Fu Jing to try some of the local street foods. You can find everything from giant turkey legs, meat on sticks, fried beetles and dumplings. I settled on scorpions. The scorpions, kept alive on sticks for freshness, are fried right in front of you. They were absolutely delicious! Crunchy and juicy at the same time. I loved it so much, I decided to go back and try some more.
The next day consisted of an exciting trip to the Great Wall. Lunch was included with the tour and it was a feast! Fish, spicy tofu, fried pork fat, flat noodles with pork and rice, all meant to be shared by everyone at the table.
After an exhausting day, dinner that night was a welcome affair. Guocheng Luo and his lovely wife Jane treated us to a great meal at In & Out restaurant in the Sanlitun area. The Chinese name for this restaurant Yi Zuo Yi Wang (一座一忘), meaning "Sit for a while and forget your troubles", is a more fitting name for this sanctuary inside the bustling city. The food is typical of the Yunnan province.
We started with Lijiang black jelly, fried potato cakes, fried egg with jasmine flowers, and BBQ fish bundled with lemon grass (dongba style). This was followed by pineapple rice, served inside a pineapple, and "over the bridge" noodles, accompanied with sweet rice wine served in a bamboo barrel. Yes, people here know how to eat and they eat well....The next day, after a mandatory trip to the Forbidden City, I decided to visit Nan Luo Guxiang and its Hutongs, a quaint little street, packed with bars, cafes, restaurants and shops selling souvenirs and traditional crafts. A great place to eat and drink or just hang out at night.
To be continued....
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