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Published: January 9th 2010
Getting off of the Great Wall was sweet; Alpine Slide. Kind of cheesy and touristy, but I had a great time zooming on the little sled after several hours of climbing stairs. With our tour came a lunch, and after waiting a bit for everyone in the group to come down we had a pretty awesome meal. There were eight dishes brought out mostly similar to chinese food you would get in America but oh so much better. I especially enjoyed the glazed pork as the sauce was cleaner and more flavorful than anything you can get back home. As we got back on our bus we had picked up some extra travelers. A Russian family that spoke almost no English had found there way onto the bus; we were pretty sure the got screwed by a taxi driver and were desperate just to get back into the city without having to deal with a sleazy cabby. After some initial confusion the bus headed out three passengers heavier and an hour later we were back at hour hostel forming the group that would hit the town that night to ring in the new decade. We had arranged to meet some of
the girls that we met the other night at 8 and while we waited we met some more fellow English teachers. I grabbed a shower and we relaxed for a while chatting about Korea, our schools and our experiences. Dinner time rolled around and it was decided we had to try Beijing's famous dish, Peking Duck. We got a recommendation of a restaurant from the hostel worker and proceeded to enjoy another spectacular meal. We got two ducks between seven people which were brought to the table uncut, full bodies, head and all. From there they were masterfully sliced and brought to the table, it was quite the procedure and took three people to cut and serve the succulent meat. We ate the duck by wrapping it in thin pancakes with sauce, and it was nothing short of outstanding, truly a special meal (the restaurant we ate at had been visited by Fidel Castro himself, among other notable people). Full and satisfied we returned to the hostel to organize and find a new years party.
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Anne Rowan
non-member comment
Loved hearing about your trip!
I enjoyed your trip to China and brought back some memories,too. Your duck dinner sounded wonderful and I remember the Peking duck we had was very greasy and had a plum sauce. When I cook duck I get rid of a lot of the grease first. i didn't like it much and ate most meals in our hotel and took bread and fruit with me to eat at noon. I bet yours was good,though. In Beijing did you get to see some of the sights like the Summer palace and Tieneman (sp?) Square? When I saw the city when they had the Olympics, I was amazed at how it has changed since I was there. We saw China before it had become modernized, so to speak! No cars and no American dress and etc. Sounds like your trip was wonderful and I wish I had seen Gulian, but have seen many pictures of it. Lucky you! You have seen so much of this world and I am so glad for you. keep it up and glad your back is better. We all had a great Christmas and was a wonderful day of togetherness. Now back to normal and lots of cold weather and snow. Am ready for Spring already. Keep posting on your blog and love to hear all about what you are doing. hope you can get some pictures on,too. Love and hugs, Aunt Anne