Duck, Duck, Duck.

Beijing is famous around the world for its roasted duck, a meal that has been created for the Emperor Thongzhi, in 1864. 

In French, we say le canard de Pékin or canard laqué (Peking Duck or Lacquered Duck) but it is currently simply translates in English as Roasted Duck. Note that Roasted is important here. Indeed, when you ask a cab driver to take you to a duck place, you have to be specific here. In Chinese, the word chicken refers not only to the bird we eat, but also to prostitutes. And from a chicken to a duck, many foreigners have ended up skipping a meal over a different kind of poultry leg!

It takes more than 70 minutes to cook a Beijing duck, and it is cut in a very specific way, to present its best meat in the plates. The duck is prized for its thin and crispy skin.

To celebrate my arrival in town, we were invited to a dinner by a colleague of Paul, who works with him as his counterpart in Chongqing. He wanted to impress our taste buds and chose to treat us to the best Roasted Duck restaurant in Beijing: Da Dong. 

De da dong roasted duck

The restaurant is so famous that to enter, we had to trail our way through a crowd of people standing outside the door, for hours, with a glass of wine. Mr Xu assistant spared us the ritual by standing herself at the door for two hours. 

The restaurant is busy, filled with a mixed crowed, expatriates, tourists but also Beijingers of all ages. Large round tables are topped with lazy Susan and a number of waitresses are busing around them, filling glasses, serving dishes and helping customers. We are given a menu the size of a coffee table book, filled with pictures more beautiful than most cooking manuals. We leave the selection to our host. 

Swiftly plates are brought to the table. Each of them are both an elaborate display of art and a gustatory pleasure. It was a pity that I forgotten my camera. Later I would remember my cell phone. 

De da dong roasted duck

After several appetizers, a cart was brought in front of our table by a chef wearing a surgical mask. The duck was proudly displayed to our table and its neighbours, before being carefully and lengthily carved up. Only a a few pieces were placed on each plates, and a set of condiments were organized by the side of each of us.

De da dong roasted duck

A young waitress came to demonstrate the way this should be eaten: put a thin crepe in the plate, dip a piece of meat in hoisin sauce, smudge the sauce in the crepe, add a few condiment of your choice and spring onions. The skin is simply dipped in sugar. 

It melts in the mouth! Simply delicious!

Hungry?

Eating is central in the Chinese culture. So much that when they greet each other during the day, they ask each other if they have eaten yet. Big circular tables are ensuring all can share an equal place at the table. Cooking is an art of balancing the ingredients of a dish in the right proportions to ensure they will reveal the best not only their flavours but also the healing powers of some of its elements. Without banquets there are no business deals. Chinese New Year is celebrated around food with family. And I could find you more and more examples (maybe later).
But our Western eyes and stomachs might not always be accustomed to some of the local delicacies. We had our first experience of the Chinese culinary tastes yesterday.

We took a trip around Wangfujing street. It is in the center of Beijing, 20 minutes from us by taxi. Wangfujing is a pedestrian market/commercial area. We found there a huge English language bookstore (yeah!), lots of other stores (Beijing is about shopping it looks like), many new buildings, even a very pretty scaffolding in disguise. The street was filled with Chinese tourists wearing coloured caps in groups and frantically following a guide waving a flag of the same colour.
We arrived at a junction, and on our left several hundred tables are lined up in a row, light up by as many bright red lanterns: the night food market of Donghuamen. On these stalls, an immense display of foods of all sorts. Kebabs are awaiting your selection to be grilled, vegetables and meat are ready to be dumped in hot broth, stirred fried or grilled. Dumplings are steamed, and hot oil is fuming here and there. Every man (and woman) behind the counter is together a cook and a merchant, talking and shouting and stirring and cooking at the same time. The colours are beautiful, the smells intense and my appetite somewhat awaken but damped by the content of some stands. Sea horses, sea stars, water bugs, cockroaches, to name a few. 

Here are a few pictures for you to make your own opinion.

De Food fair

De Food fair

De Food fair

De Food fair

De Food fair

Tiananmen or How to Get Spoted in a Crowd!

After Noam's long afternoon nap, we headed out to discover the touristic venues of Beijing. We have been twice in Hou Hai Lake, many times to the supermarkets in the Russian area, but have no important touristic site under our belt. 

What should we see first?  Tiananmen of course!! 

Tiananmen Square is certainly the most popular touristic spot in China, before or after the Great Wall, I am not sure. We all have seen a journalist speak in front of Mao's picture. The large pagoda behind is the Gate of the Heavenly Peace, separating the square from the Forbiden City, or the Emperor's Palace. The place is also well remembered for the protests which took place in 1989.

De tiennamen square

So Noam and I set off for this destination by subway. The journey in itself was memorable, but it will discussed it in another post. 

As we emerged at the East end of this huge square, I realize again that Beijing's scale is L A R G E. Me and Noam are setting foot in the largest open urban space in the world, with its 100 acres! 

And such large amount of space in China is not left empty: it is filled with tourists from all over the world, but mostly from all over the country. Tourists who maybe have never seen a white baby with blue eyes and blond hair!

De tiennamen square

With this in mind, you can imagine ourselves strolling along, trying to take a picture here and there. Every time I stop the stroller, someone dashes over to tickle Noam or touch his hand. If we keep going, people stare, elbow a friend, point at us, smile, wave at us, come closer, yell "hello hello" in a high pitch voice, and even wave a Chinese flag in Noam's face. As we are crossing the plaza, I feels like we are some people on a red carpet. Are we that famous yet? 

At some point, in fact not that much longer after we started our stroll of fame, Noam looks overwhelmed. It is too much attention, too much intensity. Mind you, every body is friendly, smiley and curious. But I don't want to make Noam stressed and afraid by this situation. So we simply retrieve! We abide! So much for Tiananmen, so much for our touristic intentions... Next time I will set out with my favorite body guard: Pauli.

De tiennamen square

Home or Camping in the Middle of a Big City

Have you ever done some camping in the middle of a very large city? You should try it, it is fun!!! I woke up today with a nice morning light filtering between buildings and shinning down below. We live in Central Park, in Beijing.  

We are high above the ground, in an empty cube. Our shipment arrived in China a day after us, now the question is to know when it will be delivered. Papers, bureaucracy and customs are all involved. It leaves us with a vague idea of a delivery date. So in the meantime we are camping. 

We live with a mattress (and sheets and really thin pillows), a baby bed (schlepped our first trip), a high chair and a comfy chair with its foot stool, a kid table and two kids size chairs (all from Eedjee-ah), a few toys, one pot and one pan, a couple plastic plates and cups. And our 6 suitcases. We also have 4 TVs! They came with the place. There are two miniature TV inserted in cupboards, one for the kitchen, one in our washroom. And to Paul's request, we have 2 giant ones.

De home in beijing

De home in beijing

De home in beijing

Our place is great and big, probably about 250 sq m (or 2500 sq ft). We have 3 bedrooms and a den (eventually will become a TV room). You get the hint? Come and visit us! There is plenty of room!!! We live on the 18th floor, a lucky number for the Chinese. But today while taking the elevator, I realized that there are no 2nd, no 4th, no 13th neither 14th floor. It is probably all due to superstitions - both Asian and Western - so in fact we live on the 14th floor. Don't worry, I am not going to believe it is bad luck as I am not Chinese!

De home in beijing

Just like everywhere else in China, we are surrounded by several others. The towers are arranged in circles, and in middle there are gardens. A larger park has been created over a street, and will unit another set of towers that are currently under construction.

De home in beijing

De home in beijing

De home in beijing

In fact, our complex size is at the scale of the city: composed of 25 buildings, it makes only one city bloc!

De home in beijing

In other words, it is easy to get fooled by a map if you see that we are only 6 blocs from Tienanmen. In fact, one bloc can take 20 minutes to walk, and Tienanmen is not really near by. Once again, I am amazed by how L A R G E Beijing is.

Hou Hai lake

This morning we joined a couple of collegues of Paul and walked around the Hou Hai Lake. A beautiful, relaxing area. I still have to receive our shipment with my guide book to tell you exactly what this used to be, but I beleive it was an area used by the Emperor's leisures. I imagine him boating with his courtisanes. The Forbiden City, the Emperor's Palace, is not far from there. 

De Hou Hai lake 12-oct.-2008

Around the lake you find a series of bars and restaurants, and a good selection of tourist shops. It is surrounded by hutongs, the old traditional courtyard houses. Consequently alot of people just go about their regular activities beside the tourist businesses. You find people playing Majong, playing cards and gambling, exercising, strolling with their babies, walking their dogs, playing ping pong (Paul showed off his skills), and even swimming.

De Hou Hai lake 12-oct.-2008

De Hou Hai lake 12-oct.-2008

De Hou Hai lake 12-oct.-2008 It is the second time I go there. My friend Kerstin had taken us there during our first trip last June. But each time I find myself wanting to back. It feels to me closer to my idea of China and to the poeple than the CBD and its tall bright buildings...

On our way to Eedjee-ah

Just to give you a quick look at what we saw from the taxi window on our way to Eedjee-ah. An endless sea of buildings.
When you start thinking about it, 16 Million people, that takes quite a large amount space!

De On our way to Eedjee-ah 11-oct.-2008

De On our way to Eedjee-ah 11-oct.-2008

De On our way to Eedjee-ah 11-oct.-2008

De On our way to Eedjee-ah 11-oct.-2008

You can also note the quality of these pictures (not in artistic terms, but in terms of pixel/quality of image). All because of my new Canon Powershot A2000, with Image stabilizer. Wow! I am really happy about it!

Ikea or the Scale Factor

Today we went to Ikea. I can't even remember how the taxi driver prononced the name! Maybe something like "Eedjee-ah" said very fast. I can't remember all the new words people tell me. But that can be the subject of another post.

So we set our to Eedjee-ah, by cab. After crossing a good part of the city, we arrived in front of a massive blue box. The second largest store, after the original one, in Sweden. I guess they respond to the demand here! A rising middle class mass.

De Ikea

 

De Ikea

First objective: food. Noam is hungry. So we try to find a free spot in a see of tables and people. After quite a few attempts and rounds around the cafeteria, we find a seat and a high chair, and I set myself in the queue. The same famous meatballs for me and some vegetarian stirfry for Paul. Noam gets a bit of both. Hummmy!

The we are ready to head in the jungle of the display room. It is packed of people! We are in a mission: finding a coffee table/baby table/high chair/cosy chair/plastic plates/plastic cups... 

De Ikea

We emerged 4 hours later: Mission Accomplie!