Beijing says: “See you on the flip side, snookums.”

My last week in Beijing was a little less exciting than one would hope, mostly because it’s impossible with my family to get out of the house before noon (or rather, 2pm in most cases). So on the weekend we end up wasting the whole day, and by the time we get out, all the sights are closing and all we can do is have dinner, get home late, and start the cycle all over again. I had my heart set on the flag-raising ceremony in Tiananmen, and seeing Mao’s Mausoleum before I left, but ended up doing neither (and the flag raising isn’t even that early in the winter time… 7:30am vs. 4:30am in the summer).

But I did manage to have some nice dinners, including a splendiferous Christmas feast at Da Dong Kao Ya (Beijing Duck), reputedly the best duck restaurant in the city. It certainly was the fanciest. The duck itself is similar to Quanjude, but notably leaner and crispier because of their special roasting method (which you can witness from the foyer, this army of young chefs in toques, sweating as they hold fat, glistening duck carcasses over open flames).


The other dishes we got were, each one of them, were nothing short of a taste experience, visually artistic and flavorfully complex. Started with some cold broad beans mixed with some delicious mix of black bean paste and tea leaves.

Moved to two types of scallops, one in X.O. sauce and one fried lightly in batter and served over a corn and soy mash relish. Then had tender, flavorful oxtail (boneless, skinless, fatless), a kind of whitefish ball over some green sauce, and halibut glazed in a tangy, sweet sauce. Finished with a dessert of Beijing battered apple chunks glazed in melted sugar and tang yuan (sesame mochi) in a coconut milk broth.

I think I pretty much gained all my weight back, hah hah hah. That reminds me of a story someone told me (who shall remain nameless) that made me much less happy about losing weight while in Beijing. Warning: Don’t read further if you don’t want to spoil your lunch! Apparently he woke up one morning and really had to go to the bathroom. He went, did his business. But when he turned around to flush he saw something in there that really didn’t belong. It started moving. And to his horror he realized it was a 7-inch worm. A WORM! That came out of his BODY! He wanted to get rid of it but figured he should get it to a doctor for medical/scientific purposes, so he fished it out with a fork and stuck it in a water bottle. Even the doctor was grossed out and showed the worm to his doctor buddies down the hallway. Anyway, turns out there was only one worm and after a couple days of anti-worm medicine, he was okay.

Just be careful what you eat and get a physical check-up when you return home!

The rest of the week was pretty much spent re-eating at all my favorite places, except one nite we tried a new restaurant, Tai something or other. Most notable was the large sand pit in the foyer where they kept hundreds of live turtles. Cute as they were, they were intended for food, as I later saw braised tortoise on the menu. Sadness.

Had a good-bye dinner at the Hunan place near work and it was so bittersweet to say goodbye to some teammates and good friends that I’ve grown really fond of these past few months. I started missing them, and Beijing, before I even left. Gave out a lot of hugs and promises to visit next time I come to China (which may be sooner than I originally thought!).

More pictures form my last meal in Beijing, at, you guessed it, the Xinjiang restaurant:

My favorite dish, laghman. I could eat a whole plate of it by myself.

Da pan ji, a signature Uigher dish with spicy, flavorful chicken, potatoes, and flat, wide noodles.

Mutton and broth over Uigher bread.

Did someone say booties were "in" this season?

Check out these beautiful little boots my mom and I picked up at the "arts and crafts" warehouse on Wangfujing Dajie. These have got to be some of the best souvenirs I've gotten from China so far, even though only a small child, or woman with bound feet, could wear them. At Y48/pair, they weren't exactly cheap, but they're supposedly hand-embroidered. At least one or two pairs will find a happy home on my bookshelf =D.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.

Never felt less like Christmas Eve, so thought I'd share a favorite Christmas hymn of mine.



O come, O come, Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan's tyranny
From depths of Hell Thy people save
And give them victory o'er the grave
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Day-Spring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
And death's dark shadows put to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Key of David, come,
And open wide our heavenly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, O come, Thou Lord of might,
Who to Thy tribes, on Sinai's height,
In ancient times did'st give the Law,
In cloud, and majesty and awe.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

Beijing says: "We will out-Christmas yo' arse!"

This is a post I've been preparing for a while, slowly collecting evidence and material to really get the idea across. That idea being Christmas in Beijing. Not "the holidays," as it is now known in the States, but Christmas. Yes, Christmas, and the holiday greeting of yore, "Merry Christmas," lives on...in China of all places. Apparently Beijing department stores have caught on to the commercial opportunities of the holiday season but no one told them it was so very un-PC to breathe the word Christmas. And, apparently, there aren't enough emphatic non-Christians in China to tell them otherwise. So the watered-down greeting of "Happy Holidays" is nowhere to be found.

I find this all incredibly fascinating because of everything I've read (and seen) about post-Cultural Revolution China being spiritually void. We talk about Christmas as totally commercialized and devoid of meaning in the States, just an excuse to spend a boatload of money on presents, and get together with family, and assuage our yuppie guilt for the less fortunate by unburdening ourselves of old clothes and canned foods. And maybe some portion of the population holds onto the idea of Christmas as it was originally celebrated--the birthday of Jesus.

But here in China, it's like they take the commercialism to a new level because even fewer people, if any, really believe in Christmas... and the idea of the holiday's origins is only a vague and distant novelty of a notion. To my coworkers and friends, it's just an interesting Western import, like KFC or McDonald's, a fun festival time and an excuse to have lots of sales and go shopping.

And yet Christmas is everywhere! Every hotel, shopping mall, restaurant, club, tourist destination is totally bedecked in Christmas decor. Observe the following.

Exhibit A: Christmas tsotchke hanging from the foyer of the Xinjiang restaurant. Xinjiang. As in, "Christmas Greetings from our Muslim family to yours."

Exhibit B: Christmas display in front of Cargo club, plus detail of some odd but strangely cute snowmen. But of course, the one thing you want to see while stumbling around tipsy and half-deaf is a bright and cheery Christmas display!

Exhibit C: Christmas paraphernalia adorning the entire front facade (five floors!) of a department store off of Third Ring Road:


Exhibit D: Gigantic white Christmas tree in the lobby of my apartment, with gigantic banner proclaiming "Merry Christmas." Followed by decorations on the revolving doors:


Exhibit E: Scary-looking Santas and sparkling reindeer in the hallway at 中八楼 restaurant near 新中关：


Exhibit F: Christmas tree at Alba in Nanluoguxiang. Yes, it's got color-changing fiber-optic lights woven throughout! So high-tech:

Exhibit G: More scary Santas at the door of our cafe at work, and full-on life-sized gingerbread house display in the lobby of the office building next door:


Exhibit H: Bored-looking worker at the food court in Zhongguancun shopping mall, complete with Santa hat (in fact, all the workers there were wearing Santa hats, even the women clearing the tables of dirty dishes).

Yes people, I do believe the Christmas spirit in Beijing is even more pervasive and replete than in California. I remember years where, if I didn't happen to go to a shopping mall in December or tune into KOST 103.5, it wouldn't feel like Christmas at all until maybe Christmas Eve.

Here, do you know how they've been answering the phone at the reception desk in my apartment? "Hello, thank you for calling ______, Merry Christmas, how may I help you?" They play Christmas carols in the elevator and in the cafe at work. And probably the most bizarre display of misplaced Christmas spirit was when I entered a mall in Chaoyang on my way to South Beauty restaurant, and was surprised by no less than six Chinese girls flanking each side of the entrance, all dressed in identical short-skirted Santa outfits, who bowed at us in unison and exclaimed, "Merry Christmas!" I hardly knew how to respond and now I wish I'd gotten a picture of them for Exhibit I.

And yet, all of my coworkers will be working through Christmas Eve and Christmas. I will surely take Christmas Day off, but I think I will go into work tomorrow. Kind of sad, and I'm not even sure if there are church services to go to on Christmas Day. Note to self... always try to be home for Christmas from now on. It's just not the same.

Today we put on our tourist hats...

...took one of my coworker's advice and made our way to Laoshe Teahouse near Qianmen for very typical Beijing food followed by a smorgasbord of traditional Chinese entertainment. Dinner (stir fried snow peas, some delicious whitefish, and jiajangmian) was accompanied by some traditional music and shadow puppet show:

In the foyer was a statue of some Chinese bigwig shaking hands with George Bush Sr.:

Included with the show were some Beijing desserts and my favorite tanghulu, plus tea.

The performance started off with some Beijing opera (from Farewell My Concubine), followed by more singing, a magic show, kung fu demonstration, acrobatics, traditional Chinese dance, some strange dudes whose talent was imitating various sounds like a train, a baby crying, and birds chirping. Below are pictures of the dance and my favorite act, the Chinese face-changing performance.

All in all, a very satisfying entertainment experience =)

Now, where was I?

It's been a while since I last updated because I've been wrapping up my final project at work. Wow, what a relief to finally finish it. So now I have lots to catch up on. Starting from last week:

Saturday we went for, what else, Xinjiang Uigher food. Got almost all the favorites, including yoghurt and hand pulled noodles and lamb skewers. My mom really wanted to see the Beijing Wax Museum but it was closed indefinitely, so we went instead to Beihai Park. It had a decidedly different flavor from the other hai's... more chilled out, plus some pretty interesting courtyard mansion/temple thing.

It was seriously freezing, and you could see the ice on the lake, and ducks and koi kind of paddling around miserably.

We hopped a bus (my first time on a bus) to Wangfujing, where they were just setting up the snack street stalls. I just realized I never posted pictures of this touristy but pretty interesting night market, where you can get everything from lamb skewers to silkworms and centipedes. One of the more ingenious things I saw were giant xiaolongbao with straws stuck in them so you could suck out the soup before you ate the dumpling. So brilliant:

And of course the obligatory photo of crazy insects and stuff that normal people would never eat:

Then we went to Silk Market, and wandered around looking at cheap stuff we didn't really want to buy. But I did see this gorgeous Yunnanese headress made totally out of silver. It was like having a garden made of silver on your head.

And I ended up buying a pretty silver necklace from the same vendor. Bought a yam off the street before wrapping up the evening with another night at, yes, Cashbox KTV.
____________

Sunday we went to Prince Gong's Mansion in Houhai, which is probably one of the hardest places to find, buried as it is in the hutong. I'm glad I finally finally got to see it... pretty cool but after a while you realize every Ming/Qing-style mansion in China pretty much looks the same. Some pictures:

Then caught a rickshaw ride along Houhai and had an early dinner at No Name Restaurant. My mom, having been born in Kunming, loves Yunnanese food, especially the rice noodles in broth that she used to eat every day for lunch when she was in college in Burma. She asked the chef to make a special order of suancai zhurou mishen, or rice noodles with pickled mustard greens and pork.

She was so happy about it. We also tried these amazing sweet corn fritters, delicately punctuated by special Yunnanese ham:

Then went to Yandai Xiejie again and found this little boutique specializing in minority-inspired designs, but they owned their own factory and had their own designers to the clothing was pretty unique, unlike any other I've seen in the regular shopping malls. My mom bought a cotton top with Chinese collar, and I bought two dresses, one rose linen halter with hand stitched embroidery along the bodice and another made of blue and white batik in some flowery design. And a kimono-like tunic.

Walked afterwards to Nanluoguxiang. I was determined to find Alba, this tiny coffee shop my friend told me about that supposedly had the best almond tofu he's ever had. We found it and tried it, and yes, it was damn good. I think they add some heavy cream to the almond pudding to make it really thick and rich. Then got some yummy mini buns to go at Hangzhou Baozi.

Monday, took my mom to that amazing Guizhou restaurant near Yuanmingyuan. We had suantangyu, a tomato-based sour hotpot soup with whole catfish and all the fixin's:

Tuesday, bid farewell to Joe and Aki with a quick dinner at Ganges, the Indian restaurant in Wudaokou. Pretty good overall, but I think it's whack they serve Chinese white rice rather than basmati at the Indian restaurants here in China. And the saag vaguely resembles soylent green.

Wednesday, went with the Happy Girls to The Secret Garden, a Hunnanese place close to work that I hadn't been to since my first week in Beijing. It was even better than I remembered. Started with this delectable fatty pork and "wahaha cai," or napa cabbage:

And had some jelly-like potato noodles with pickled cabbage, and yummy rice-based tofu stuffs:

And the crowning signature Hunan dish, fish head covered in chilis:

The rest of us gagged at the idea of eating the fish eyeballs, but that did not deter the intrepid 老P from trying it:


Friday night, after a long week, I went to meet my mom and brother down by Oriental Plaza, before deciding to try our luck at Chuan Ban. Even though we got there at about 8:45pm, we still had to wait half an hour for a table. But it was well worth it and we gorged on all the Sichuan favorites. The laziji proved too spicy for most of us, and at the end it served as fodder for a contest between Lucy and Armin to see who could pick out the most pieces of chicken from amidst all the chilis in a set amount of time. Here they are, each determined to win:


Yesterday, didn't do much. Had an early dinner at 中八楼 again. This time, tried a new dish, stewed beef with Yunnanese mushrooms. It came with some deep fried breadsticks that were delishous. The crock-pot mishen I was not as much a fan of:

Also got a picture of the beautiful peacock lamp along the wall:

At night, my brother and I checked out a different club strip I hadn't explored before, starting with Cargo. I was amazed at how local it was... I'd been under the impression that local Beijingers didn't really do the whole nightlife thing. I was sorely mistaken... there they were, packing the lounge tables at Y600 a pop, sipping their drink of choice, sweet green tea + whiskey, and dancing to super beat-driven house. Snapped this picture of the outside of Richy's before the security guard told me to put away the camera:

Then met up with another coworker at Vic's, and played liar's poker a while before heading to Bellagio for late-night Taiwanese eats. Finally snapped this picture of the sun rising from my apartment window:

Elegy for a "Falafel Joint."

More LA news. Someone alerted me today that sister restaurants Noura (on La Cienega x Melrose) and Eat-a-Pita (Fairfax btw 3rd and Beverly) were both shut down recently. Noura, at least, has been turned into a upscale French restaurant that serves the best hamburger Jonathan Gold has ever tasted. This is small consolation for me though, because Noura and Eat-a-Pita used to serve, hands down, the best falafel and stuffed grape leaves I've ever had. I didn't even like stuffed grape leaves before I ate them at Noura--most places make them too sour, to squidgy, too small. Noura used this delectably fluffy risotto rice delicately marinated in spices, not too strong, and they were big and fat like babies. I can't believe Mr. Gold missed this, as his review of the new French place reduced Noura to nothing more than a "falafel joint."

me: G! =(
me: they shut down

me: they shut down

G: who!?

me: they shut my favorite falafel restaurrrrrannnnnnt

G: oh where

me: it had the best

me: falafel

G: in beijing?
G: in LA?

me: and stuffed grape leaves

me: i ever hadddddddd

G: aw

me: in LA

G: i hate falafel, but i'm sorry for your loss
me: you hate falafel because you never had it from this place

me: apparently they replaced it with a french place that serves the best cheeseburger jonathan gold has ever had

G: oh nice, lets go there

G: awesome

me: did you know

me: did you know that meat rots in your tummy for TWO DAYS before your body can digest it

G: wow

G: thats awesome.

me: um ok

G: i love meat.

me: i love you.

G: lol i love you too

Unfortunately the shawerma there was not great, and same went for the grilled chicken. But beyond the food, I remember both restaurants for their unique and cozy atmospheres. I had many an industry dinner and drinks on the back patio at Noura, around the super cool fire pits where blue fire snaked across intricate designs carved into the sand. So nice on a warm summer night.

And Eat-a-Pita was the sort of place so covered in ivy that you'd totally miss it if you didn't know what you were looking for. Going through a wrought-iron gate you'd find yourself in this peaceful little shell of a covered brick courtyard, with a charming little fountain in the middle, plants everywhere, and the murmur of relaxed and happy diners.

And now they're gonnnnnnnneeeeeeee. Where o where will I find my stuffed grape leaves now?

Beijing says: "That's how we do bidness 'round here."

On the way to work today, my cabbie got in a tiny, miniscule, diminutive little accident. I should have identified him as trouble the way he was driving, really impatiently, cutting people off here and there. Right in front of 商品 Off-Price he was trying to squeeze by a bus when it lurched forward and clipped his side mirror. Or maybe he clipped it; I'm not sure, I didn't even feel it.

Pissed, he swerves around it, blasting his horn for a good 30 seconds, then swerves in front of it, stops, and, in the middle of traffic, he yanks on the parking break so he blocks the bus--the engine is still running--gets out of the car, walks to the bus and starts yelling at the bus driver. I can't understand a word he's saying. Nonplussed, the bus driver gets out and follows the cabbie to the right side of our cab to inspect the damage.

I watch as the two men argue in the street, cars weaving around them, and some other dudes come out of nowhere to join the argument. From what I could tell, the damage must be tiny because I can see the cabbie rubbing it with his thumb. I'm like, are you kidding, you are stopping traffic and raising hell for a one-inch scratch on your car!? I look around for other empty cabs, thinking I might just jump out of the car and flag another one down because I don't know how long this argument is going to take. But something keeps me from fleeing the car.

After like 10 minutes -- during which time, by the way, the traffic in front of us has not moved because the traffic light is so dang slow--two of the men pull out these big wads of cash and hand them over to the cabbie. I look: they are mostly Y10s and Y1s, totaling MAYBE Y100, USD $13. I couldn't believe it, but this seemed to satisfy the cabbie, and he gets back in the cab and starts driving again.

At the end of the ride, he apologizes for wasting my time and gives me a Y2 discount. I'm like, great. I'm down 10 minutes but up by a whole $0.26!
________________________________

My mom got to Beijing today and for her first meal I took her to one of my favorite restaurants, 中八楼, this beautiful, minimal-modernist, zen-like and theatrically lit Yunnanese place near the apartment. It was my fourth time there, but my convalescing tummy could only take the mildest food and with every bite I prayed it wouldn't act up again. I downed tons of this excellent chrysanthemum-apple-chamomile tea, and my mom enjoyed the spicy chicken on top of thin slices of lotus root and a bed of taro mash:

And then, the star of every meal at this restaurant, the grilled veal accompanied with grilled apples and special mushrooms flown in from Yunnan. So tender and flavorful:

I'm on the BRAT Diet

Bananas
Rice
Applesauce
Toast

Except, no toast. So I guess I'm on the BRA diet. These are the foods About.com recommends for settling an acutely upset stomach. I like how having stomach issues gives me an excuse to eat stuff made out of super processed grains.

After downing four vials of Po Chai Pills or 保济丸, and sleeping a lot, I think I'm finally on the mend. That is, my stomach is actually holding things again rather than letting everything (including water) pass right through. I even had a banana last night, and made myself what my mom always made for me when I was sick as a child...rice porridge and carrots. I also, for lack of real applesauce in China, picked up some mashed apples in the baby food section of Carrefour.

Going to Carrefour, by the way, is an experience I don't want to repeat anytime soon, especially when I'm sick. It's a madhouse. It takes forever to find what you're looking for. And they make you walk through the whole store just to get to the grocery section, and then after you've paid they make you walk through an entire mall to get to the exit. It's so overrated.

Snow Day

I stayed home from work today trying to battle my tummy issues. Tummy on strike. I don't really blame it, given all the abuse it went through this weekend.

But I did go out, once for medicine at the pharmacy, and once to Carrefour to pick up stuff like bananas and stuff to make porridge with. To my surprise and delight, I saw that it snowed last night. First snow in Beijing for the year. I mean, not much snow to speak of, probably less than 1 inch, but still exciting =)

I have no idea what this says. But it makes a cool picture. If you can read Chinese and it happens to be a bad word, please let me know and I'll take it down.