After two days of feasting, I must say that Beijing food is not so bad after all :) Although one of the three restaurants I went to was a Sichuan restaurant (Qiao4 Jiang1nan2--they have branches in Shanghai too), the other two were Something-Fang3 Shan4 and Da4 Dong3 (roast duck!).
Couldn't find a bubble tea store near Tiananmen Sq. but we visited the Forbidden Palace yesterday. After so many novels and movies and documentaries, finally seeing the inside and outside of this magnificent place, and listening to the official guide (nice girl from Hebei) tell stories about each palace is unbelievable. I feel proud to be Chinese and also sad at what happened to the country since the late Qing dynasty. The pollution is sad! I feel bad for the locals. My throat burns and my skin is so dry after just 3 days. Someone should do a study into the lungs of the average Beijing native.
Watching the people is very interesting. Equally rude and polite at very unexpected times. I have so much fun talking to cab drivers. Nothing is obviously black or white--there are always exceptions. Labour is so cheap, I see people whose jobs are just to stand outside restaurants and say hi to passersby. Everyone knows what rules to obey (never do anything stupid near Tiananmen Sq. or the Forbidden Palace) and what rules to ignore (almost any rule outside of these politically sensitive places :) ) Bring a formidable, brazen Beijinger to one of these places and he/she becomes a kitty cat.
No comments:
Post a Comment