Beijing Food Walk

Hakka Lunch!

After more wandering, I made my way to Qianmen, a grand street that runs just south of Tienanmen Square. A boulevard of buildings of the seat of government, and behind them lies a shopping district. Up to the Drum and Bell Towers to look at another part of central Beijing, (another area rife with intrepid German backpackers-- and hostels) --which includes the leafy guitar shopping district-- and a walk down to the meeting place for the food tour (http://www.hiasgourmet.com/gastro-walking-tours.htm.) There were only two others on the walk that day. The walk was interesting, fun, and delicious! *Boring food list alert * We had stinky tofu with mild cilantro, in a sweet bean sauce; not really very stinky; some baozies, doughy; then an interesting lunch including a blanched beansprout with rice wine and chili, refreshing and crunchy ( I think I'd modify to chili, a tiny bit of sesame oil, lemon or rice vinegar); a stirfry of celery, lily bulb scales, and cashews, very delicate with a light sauce; 1-1-1 duck (one part each soy, sugar, wine), very tasty; lotus root, not very interesting but I can see it as part of a meal; a lovely salad of tofu, smoked dried and shredded into vermicelli-like shreds; some wretched desserts. 

It's peach time! And nopales, and sunflower head time, too.

Then, cruising the neighborhood shops-- a revelation, yogurt in little jugs and the information that fruit from permanent stores was OK (tonight's dinner, apricot, peach, and yogurt)-- an imperial dessert that I think was rennet with red beans on top like berries but not. I am still not a big fan of red beans or hoisin. A lovely tour, if a bit of a splashout. Unfortunately, I could not recruit anyone to share dinner, Peking Duck, with me. I did learn to understand more of what I was seeing on my hutong strolls.

picnic dinner

Miscellany: I see mostly boys out and about, and unidentifiable babies. I know they outnumber girls, but not by 4:1...seems like I saw more little girls in Shanghai.

There is an incredible amount of construction going on here. I remember reading that the steel at times was substandard, and likely to start giving out in 20 years. But now it occurs to me that it might be the plan . . . that all the construction is part of the engine of growth, and they will happily rebuild when the time comes; that today's designs might be archaic by then anyway and may be considered stopgap anyway. I wonder if the steel in the iconic buildings is higher quality? There is a spate of articles in FP and the NYT  lately about how the construction boom here is economically unviable, and localities have taken on too much of a debt burden. Beats spending all the treasure in Afghanistan, though.