Chopsticks

No they’re not cold tea-bags, it’s tofu on a stick! 3rmb / 30p a stick from the stalls around the lake.... read more

Found this on SanTanYinYue the island in the middle of West Lake. It’s sticky sweet rice and tasted a little bit like a cold rice pudding – I was wooed by the cute wicker basket. 10rmb / £1... read more

I kept seeing these green things by the counter in the YouEasy stores, and eventually my curiosity got the better of me. A quick google search says they’re made from squeezed wormwood and glutinous rice with a red bean paste filling. (Though there are other varieties). They have a fairly inoffensive mild flavour, but it’s a bit like eating chewy playdough so I’d hesitate to recommend them. According to our Chinese teacher they’re always sold around the Qingming holiday. Qingming is a spring festival here – some people translate it as “tomb sweeping day” However by the look of West Lake, which was completely rammed, it’s just another bank holiday where the 8.7million people living in Hangzhou all decide to squeeze their way onto the Su causeway. Mei banfa.... read more

Contrary to what you would expect for Chinese New Year, most of the restaurants and cafes in Beijing were shut, so there wasn’t a huge amount of choice for cheap eats. Luckily there were still a few larger places open so we took the opportunity to try some Peking Duck with pancakes, which along with Beijing noodles is now firmly on the favourites list. This restaurant was called Goubuli 狗不理 (on the sign it’s written the old fashioned way from right to left 理不狗 ) It’s a chain; this particular one was just south of Tiananmen square, 31dashilan street, and the staff were brilliant. There were four of us sharing two ducks and two plates of noodles and it worked out at about 75rmb / £7.50 a head with drinks.... read more

I didn't expect to spend my evening digesting a fried scorpion - but there's nothing like a bit of peer pressure. The market was on Dong'anmen Dajie - a bit of a tourist trap, but great fun and the scorpions weren't actually that bad - though I personally think it's hard for anything to taste bad when it's deep fried and covered in salt. The only difficult part was munching through the body which was a little squishy. It must have had a good meal before it got speared by a kebab stick. Credit to Katy who braved it first - no credit at all to Beales who stopped after a tentative nibble on a leg. (I should probably add here that despite no photographic evidence, McMullan manned up and had one too) Anyway, novelty scorpions ... read more