Smog and Sticky Buns

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Geo: 39.9165, 116.391

Upon arrival in Beijing, we were fortunate enough to pass through immigration with no problems, get into a taxi with no problems and arrive in Beijing/Peking capital with no problems. However, arriving at our hotel was a little problematic due to the traffic jam down our hutong (backstreet) and so we were turfed out to walk the final 200m. It was not a problem, however, and the hotel was a fine place to rest our weary, jet-lagged heads for an hour and a half, before Frau Turner ensured that we all got up and got moving to prevent further jet-lag later in the trip.

Our original plan was to head out to the hutongs, the classically beautiful and traditional backstreets that surround the major city-centre attractions of Beijing. Now, being a second-time visitor to the city, you would think that I would have remembered their location. However we wandered around (not lost, you understand, just taking in the area!) for a while in the building-site backstreets around our hotel and the outskirts of the Forbidden City, before we realised that hunger was beginning to strike.

Steamed buns, stuffed with pork and vegetables, dipped in a chilli and soy sauce have been my lasting culinary memory of China and an experience I was both keen to repeat and to share with Stacey and Ben. Soft, succulent and aromatic, they melt in the mouth with an explosion of flavour at their core. Divine. From reading the Lonely Planet Guide, we knew that there was an area at the Southern tip of Wanfujing street called Snack Street, and this is where we aimed for to banish the hunger monsters from our rumbling bellies. However, we were soon distracted by the sounds and garish sights and lights of Wanfujing Street itself.

Wanfujing is the aorta of the modern Chinese retail economy. The street runs North to South through the heart of the city, crammed on both sides with high-end stores including Gucci and Armani, as well as the ubiquitous Mango, Zara and more than one branch of McDonalds. On either side of the street, air-conditioning units pump out cold vapour, dousing the passers by with a refreshing mist while the temperatures soar to around 32 degrees. It was mid-way down this shoppers' dream that we were lured away from our intended destination by an advert in a side street declaring the venue below to be the "home of traditional steamed buns"

SOLD! 2 baskets of 9 buns and 2 beers later, Stacey had been converted (Ben had been a long-time Soho bun convert!) to the delights of these fabulous examples of Chinese cuisine at its simplest (and in my opinion, finest). We eventually tore ourselves away from the buns and continued on our culinary tour of Beijing with Snack Street. Those logical amongst you will have guessed that it is a street selling snacks, but it's so much more than that: imagine every tacky present you have seen on markets in the UK, Spain....... wherever....... and then add to that the most bizarre examples of food you can imagine. You're halfway there. Neon LEDs, noisy dolls, chopsticks, silk purses, banners, pennants, magnets, key-rings - all there in huge quantities and all joined by delicacies to tempt the tourists and locals alike into the bizarre world of Chinese snack food. Starfish and seahorses on sticks. Scorpions, still twitching, impaled on skewers. Sugar-coated fruit kebabs, crickets, cockroaches.... the list goes on. Once again, it was the smell, rather than the sight of these things that put me off tasting them.

We left snack street behind and decided to head for the Lama temple, since our Tibetan tour had been cancelled - it's apparently the finest example of Tibetan architecture outside of Tibet. I say apparently as when we got there, it was closed. However, what we did find was the hutongs we had been searching for that morning. So we meandered through the traditional streets and found a chilled out bar to sit in and rest (our eyes and heads too, we all had a wee nap at one point....!)

Then we headed back to Wanfujing for dinner. It took us around half an hour to decide on which part of the shopping centre food court we wanted to eat in. We sat down. We ordered drinks and I had a passing (horrified) glance at the menu and tried to signal my distress to the others. The waitress would not leave. She stood by the table while I showed them the menu. Boiled duck's blood anyone? Roasted Duck neck? Duck head? Softened chicken's feet? Pig's trotters? I could go on and on and on, but it's making me baulk just thinking about it. We left; pronto!

Another half hour later, we decided to head to a Peking Duck restaurant where we ordered half a duck and some pancakes. It came to the table and was expertly sliced by the chef who presented the finale to us with a flourish; a duck's head. Roasted and sliced in two (remember, this was half a duck), the beady eye still staring on one side, the other side like a mini-duck MRI picture, the brain, optic nerves and tongue still in place. Ben and I shared half a duck-tongue each. It didn't set my world on fire...... The rest of the duck was, however, delicious 😊 Home to bed ready for a long day exploring the Forbidden City.

* By the way....it's hot. Smoggy, humid and hot..... Air-conditioning is VERY welcome!

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