Long before Beijing Olympics 080808

Many years ago, I spent 5 days in Beijing. It was a nice trip with friends. We climbed the Great Wall, we strolled the famous parks, the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace, the Beihai Park, the Temple of Heaven, we hanged around at Tiananmen Square and walked the streets shopping and eating. I like Beijing among other Chinese cities, because the feeling I had when I was there was very relaxed and happy. I love its profound history and splendid culture.

Beijing food, or Northern food, I had a little difficulty getting used to. One night we wanted to go out for supper as the dinner earlier was not exactly delectable. Well, let's put it this way, the dishes we had, half of them I hardly knew what I was eating. I remembered eating a dish of vegetables which was purple in colour, I remembered eating something soft and white, which they said was "camel's feet" (what the hell is that?!). So we ventured out in the streets trying to find supper. There were not any stalls along the Beijing streets compared to Singapore. Most shops were closed. We finally chanced upon a small eating house. We ordered some Jiaozi (dumplings) and wanted a bowl of soupy noodles. We waited for more than one hour (and we were the only customers). Finally the noodles were served. It was some La Mian (handmade) but it was served cold with some sauces and minced meat. And the thick long noodles tasted of flour. It was an awful experience. And I lost 5kg in the 5 days there.

Nonetheless, I love Beijing, and I would love to go visit again (after the Olympics though....)