Our hotel is a great find. It is in a hutong, an old traditional alley. The rooms are around a small courtyard with a gingko tree in the middle.
The courtyard with "our" table
Our room
At night the courtyard is lit with red paper lanterns, and despite being in the middle of the city, and with a lively alley outside it is so quiet you can sit and listen to the wind in the tree. We have taken to having a cool drink in the evening at the table outside our door before heading out for dinner..
We are in the centre of the city, not far from the main sites, which is good for us because we like to walk a city. You get to see much more this way, off the tourist trail. But back to the hutongs, this is where the people live and work. Our alley is a great example. Our neighbours include a small police station, a tailor, seamstress, hairdresser, bike repair man, tv repair man, laundry, couple of hardware type shops selling bowls and assorted everything, several restaurants/cafes, a man who sits in the alley with plastic bowls of fish, and young rabbits in cages etc. A mahjong game at night. All these are holes in the wall shops, with much of the work done outside.
Dongsi 4th Alley
There is a continuous stream of bicycles and bicycle carts delivering stuff, food, water bottled gas, fuel, and collecting rubbish, rags, etc. There are pedicabs and rickshaw type vehicles.
What is fascinating is that more than half of these bikes are electric. I am very impressed with these electric bikes. They come in various combinations, usually with a rear seat to accommodate the "wife" or children. They are silent, nippy, and I want one! There are also electric scooters, look just like the
real thing but with electric motors. Prices start at around 3000 yuan which is about 350€.
Once you leave the alleys, the electric bikes are still filling the cycle lanes on the boulevards, and the buses are mostly electric trolley buses. Modern apartment buildings are topped with rows of solar water heaters. All of this I assume is an attempt to reduce the shocking air pollution which reminds me of the UK in the fifties.
We have had some interesting and delicious food. Our first night we ate in the hotels bar, quite pleasant. Next night, Saturday, went to restaurant just outside the alley, looked good, cooking at the table etc. Handy as well because the menu had pictures and brief English descriptions, and that was when we saw it - dog (roast or boiled)! We made our apologies and left. Had noodles down the road instead, 89 yuan for roast chicken, steamed greens, rice, taiwan noodles and 2 beers (11€) for
two people. Rather good.
Next night, Sunday, we went to Beijing's top restaurant for Peking Duck. The Dadong Restaurant. It was in the same district as our hotel, Dongcheng. Impossible to book on short notice, so we went and sat at the bar till a table came up. I think about an hour wait. Fascinating, because the duck ovens are behind a clear screen in the lobby, so you can sit and watch the process. There are 4 branches of Dadong, and they are regularly rated as the "best" in Beijing. The decor was very Asian contemporary, minimalist, with black marble tables. No faux traditional decor here! To begin we had gingko nut salad with lily bulbs, and sautéed bamboo shoots with light mustard. Then the duck arrived and was carved at the table, with condiments including crushed garlic and a rich sauce and sugar (to dip the skin in). Plus a steamer
full of light pancakes to wrap the shredded duck with the condiments. The best duck either of have ever had. The Dadong prepares the duck differently from many others, allowing the fat to drain. The ducks are also less fatty to begin with. Worth every penny.
Monday and tonight we had dinner at a Yunnan restaurant in "our" alley.
Dongsi 4th Alley. Yunnan Restaurant on the right.
Superb light cooking, lots of chilli, also lots of garlic. Had sautéed chanterelles with slices of garlic, shredded chicken, shallots, chives, with cream and chicken stock, and rice wine sauce. Tiny restarant, can seat only 10 people. Chef greets you when you go in, brings up a couple of things they bought at the market etc.
Food is excellent value (as is everything, especially when you convert to Euros.)
The Peking Duck converted to about 90€ including a nice Cote de Rhone, tonights meal at the Yunnan restaurant in the alley was 144 yuan which is 16€.
We have walked for miles it seems, good thing really considering the excellent food! Metro is also great value at 2 yuan a trip (23 euro cents).
We have done the usual sights, the Forbidden City(absolute hell with the crowds, but you gotta do it).
One of the corner towers of the Forbidden City outer wall.
Also visited the Drum Tower, Bell Tower, Tianenmin Square, discovered a beautiful Taoist Fire Temple, that doesn't appear on the tourist maps. Walked the city and the alleys and enjoyed it.
Taoist Fire Temple
Today, Tuesday, walked some of the Great Wall. We took the train (in keeping with our travel agenda), although all the tourist brochures etc. only tell you about using buses or private hire. Took about an hour to get there from central Beijing, for the princely sum of 18 yuan return.
The train was easy and fast, and although it only goes to the "most touristed" section of the wall, we were able to walk an almost empty section.
Even an hour from the city, notice the smog (white cloud) around the wall.
Visited the Pearl Market, where Merryn bought some large pearls to work with.
Beijing is a fascinating place, at once very modern and also retaining the old. Surprising how much survived the cultural revolution. Vibrant self assured place. Also very commercial, on the metro the commercials showing on the screens in the train are synchronised with the commercials showing on the big screens on the stations. There are video screens in tunnels showing commercials as the train passes. Very clever.
Tomorrow its Shanghai on the Chinese version of the bullet train. Readers may recall how much I love the TGV, we shall see how it stacks up?!
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