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In China and eating

jokhm

By jokhm
in China: Cooking & Baking

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jokhm

jokhm

Posted
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Posted

It is gross... as is soo much of the architecture here. Though I am told it will get better in shanghai.. so what's up with that?!?

It IS the architectural Biennial here in beijing, and that's great news for hot architects with wild ideas, cause China is all ears for implimenting crazy things into Beijing's landscape. Only problem is that when I looked for info on getting into some of the site areas, the prices started at 700US....! Am I missing something?.

Anyhow..

any new food recommendations for this city. I need a place that has some good southern fare.. and dumplings in particular. Everytime I go and seek out something similar on my own I end up thoroughly disappointed..

but still.. the duck is good, and there are a number of good sichuan and xinjiang places that I've found.. funfun

chengb02

chengb02

Posted
Posted (edited)
It IS the architectural Biennial here in beijing, and that's great news for hot architects with wild ideas, cause China is all ears for implimenting crazy things into Beijing's landscape. Only problem is that when I looked for info on getting into some of the site areas, the prices started at 700US....! Am I missing something?.

any new food recommendations for this city. I need a place that has some good southern fare.. and dumplings in particular. Everytime I go and seek out something similar on my own I end up thoroughly disappointed..

There is only one free event (a 2 week exhibit) as part of the biennial, all the others cost around US$800 to get in. This is a very important event, but not so much a "public" event as it is designed for the major architectural firms from all over the world to come in and offer their designs. China suffers from a lot of Soviet/Socialist/Utilitarian architecture, but the newer stuff is very interesting (like 88 Soho), but sometimes it does start to look a lot a like...

Dumplings? in Beijing? This should be extremely easy to find as this is classic BJ food. It is hard to give a rec though, because almost any hole in the wall place in the city offers good, home made dumplings. As for southern food, I guess you are talking about Guangzhou? There is a place out by Kempinski that offers decent Cantonese food, in particular dim sum. Be Here, Be Square is a chain that also has decent dim sum offerings (if you're looking for something quick). Have you been to 3 Guizhou Ren yet? Pretty good food from a different area in the south. There is always the 2 Kong Yiji's (Dongsi and Houhai) but that isn't far enough south I'm guessing...Have you went to houhai yet? You could spend a week going through the houhai/xinjiekou area eating, as well as the area around dongzhimen. Go out to 798 art community in DaShanZi one day and get an excellent french crepe with brittaney cider, look at the modern art, and then sample Korean roast duck at the place (forgot the name) toward the exit of the area.

Edited by chengb02 (log)
Gary Soup

Gary Soup

Posted
Posted
Ahh, good to hear you are still tuning in Shewie!

Xi'an is high up on my list, having met quite a few people living there. As is Shanghai, since it seems like the wrong place to skip. .. anything else?

Nah, you can't skip Shanghai, Joel. It has something in common with Montreal, each having the most tastefully fashionable women on their respective continent. Stroll along Huaihai Zhong Lu; you'll fall in love two or three times. :wub:

jokhm

jokhm

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted

I don't know.. maybe it is just the style of dumplings here that I simply cannot get into. That.. and perhaps I feel lost without a few good and cheap shrimp dumplings now and then. So far my luck has been hit and miss with jiaozi here.. when it's a miss, it's barely edible, and a hit consists of something decent and filling but requires far more vinegar than I'd normally use.

uch, i'm not eating today.. so why am I on this forum, it's killing me.

--

Gary

Shanghai.. yes. I'm definitely headed there.. common in MTL?! heh I will check it out 100%. Not looking for love at the moment.. unless it's been cooked. Your wife reads this forums doesn't she.....?

Gary Soup

Gary Soup

Posted
Posted

Gary

Shanghai.. yes. I'm definitely headed there.. common in MTL?! heh I will check it out 100%. Not looking for love at the moment.. unless it's been  cooked. Your wife reads this forums  doesn't she.....?

Joel, I meant that you will fall in love two or three times in the course of a single afternoon stroll, sort of a Jimmy Carter lust-in-my-heart kind of unrequited love. My wife doesn't read the forum (she tends to avoid reading English except when necessary) but wouldn't feel threatened. She knows I love Gong Li too, as evidenced by the 14 Gong Li movies I have on VCD :wub: .

  • 2 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...
jokhm

jokhm

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted

ahh chengdu food.

I wish I could get back there now.

I'm still in Beijing.. ! no - really.

I will be heading to pingyao in a week or so to restart my travels. Plane leaves for home on december 11th. So I have just about 1 month of regular china travel which should include Pingyao, Xi'an, shanghai and not sure what else. I was initially thinking that I would limit it to that, but maybe that's more time than I need in some of those places. I will probably spend the last week or so in Guangzhou getting a tiny bit of work and a lot of eating done.

As for beijing in the last 2 months... I've eaten sooooo much. And it shows.. !

Sitting here on my behind eating and studying the entire time has been absolutely fantastic. I love this city... though I'm scared what it might look like next year when I return. I think that even the chinese that occasionally pass through end up always losing their way. Everything that could be under construction or set to be torn down - is.

Anyway.. if anyone has any last food tips in Beijing.... write them now!

joel

  • 2 weeks later...
Makan King

Makan King

Posted
Posted
ahh chengdu food.

I wish I could get back there now.

I'm still in Beijing..  ! no - really.

I will be heading to pingyao in a week or so to restart my travels. Plane leaves for home on december 11th. So I have just about 1 month of regular china travel which should include Pingyao, Xi'an, shanghai and not sure what else. I was initially thinking that I would limit it to that, but maybe that's more time than I need in some of those places. I will probably spend the last week or so in Guangzhou getting a tiny bit of work and a lot of eating done.

As for beijing in the last 2 months... I've eaten sooooo much. And it shows.. !

Sitting here on my behind eating and studying the entire time has been absolutely fantastic. I love this city... though I'm scared what it might look like next year when I return. I think that even the chinese that occasionally pass through end up always losing their way. Everything that could be under construction or set to be torn down - is.

Anyway.. if anyone has any last food tips in Beijing.... write them now!

joel

Hey, if you are still in Beijing, perhaps you can check out Laohanzi Kejiacai, which serves Hakka cuisine (or kejiacai). There is one in Sanlitun and another in the Shichahai area. The Hakkas are from the southern part of China, and have traditionally been nomadic in nature. The food is pretty hearty. Two typical dishes are stuffed toufu and chicken stewed with red wine lees.

At Laohanzi, do try the meicai kourou (stewed pork belly with preserved vegetables), the 'paper wrapped' fish (a whole fish that is first deep-fried and then braised in tin foil) and the eggplant stewed in claypot.

If you like dumplings, Tianjin Baijiaoyuan is a great place to sample many different types of dumplings. The name of the restaurant says it all - a garden of a hundred dumplings. It's located in an alley immediately opposite the Marco Polo hotel. My favorite is the pork with lotus root.

  • 2 weeks later...
chengb02

chengb02

Posted
Posted
I love this city... though I'm scared what it might look like next year when I return. I think that even the chinese that occasionally pass through end up always losing their way. Everything that could be under construction or set to be torn down - is.

Well...If you think its bad now, wait! Things have actually just began to settle down around most major areas (after a boom in preparation for 1999), but there are still a lot of projects going on down side streets or in residential areas. There is a bit of a lull now, but in a year or two things will really pick up again in preparation for 2008.

In any case, I've felt like I couldn't recognize certain areas of the city or that favorite spots, especially restaurants (see, its food related!), have succombed to wrecking balls, but you get reaclimated quickly and start to find new favorite spots (until those close or meet doom). You actually see the character "chai" far less today, the changes won't be that major, though one day soon (if it hasn't happened already) the south part of Sanlitun will be no more...

  • 3 weeks later...
jokhm

jokhm

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted

Thanks everyone for all the great tips... though I must say that things started leaning towards the lazy side once I really settled into Beijing X-ist life. I don't know what to call it actually. I wasn't a tourist, nor was I an expat with real work in beijing, nor was I a student by any real standards. Though, I still ate well even on those days where I slipped and went for easier/cheaper (!!) food.

Right now I'm back in HK, wasting time before my 23 hour journey home.

Luckily I have nearly decided for certain that by March 2005 latest, I will return to Beijing and set up a new business. Yeah, something got to me.. but more than anything I think it was the idea of being so close to all this great food for the near future. If I can get onto east Asia for an extended period of time, who knows how much more food I can enjoy. Anyway, 3 months in one city with the purpose of exploring the language, culture and the city's pulse was more than extremely productive and insightful. Hopefully there's room there for some of my work.. (which is essentially all food related - but that would have to explored elsewhere/later).

until then......

Joel

Pan

Pan

Posted
Posted
Luckily I have nearly decided for certain that by March 2005 latest, I will return to Beijing and set up a new business. Yeah, something got to me.. but more than anything I think it was the idea of being so close to all this great food for the near future.

It wasn't all the beautiful women? :wub:

(Apologies for mentioning that if you're married or in a committed relationship.)

Michael aka "Pan"

 

Dejah

Dejah

Posted
Posted
Luckily I have nearly decided for certain that by March 2005 latest, I will return to Beijing and set up a new business. Yeah, something got to me.. but more than anything I think it was the idea of being so close to all this great food for the near future.

It wasn't all the beautiful women? :wub:

(Apologies for mentioning that if you're married or in a committed relationship.)

That's ok, Pan. We don't mind the looking :wink:

Dejah

Dejah

www.hillmanweb.com

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