Wanderlust

Nei Mongu

We went out in a larger group than normal to an Inner Mongolian (Nei-Mongu) restaurant last night. Their lamb dish was mouth wateringly exquisite. We had more of the camel meat, this time, it was a cold dish and I didn't particularly dig it. There was a performance at the place with some songs in Mongolian and some in Chinese. They were decent. Eug came here last night and it was good to see her after 3 weeks. Tonight - Deep Purple rocks Beijing and the Chinese superstar Cui Jian is opening for them. You bet we are going to go for that! More on that tomorrow...

The Superhero

I forgot to mention about our direction challenged driver during the weekend. Andrew refers to him as the The Incredible Leaping Driver. We would often get lost (say 5 times in the space of 10 minutes) and our man would almost come to a stop, jerk the handbrake and jump out of the car all in one smooth motion to ask for directions. It was hilarious. But he was a very nice guy and we warmed up to him. He practiced his English on us and we practised our Chinese on him. Also on Sunday night, we ate at a Hubei province restaurant and had a liquor which is special to their region. I forget the name even though Zhou Yun did tell me about it. It had directions on the backside (in English) which said that this should be consumed daily because of its medicinal value. It had 38% alcohol....I am moving to Hubei!

Today is one of the clearest days I have seen since I came here. So Northern California like with blue skies and minimal pollution though the wind chill makes it quite cold.

Weekend update

We had access to a car this weekend also and made full use of it by going out of town on both days. On saturday, Andrew, Frank, Zhou Yun and myself went to see two beautiful and ancient buddhist temples called Jietai Si and Tanzhe Si.

The former dates from the Liao dynasty (around 1000 AD) and was a temple where the monks achieved different levels (5, 8, 10) of monkhood. When they attained the 10th level, elaborate ceremonies were held after getting permission from the Emperor. It had some weird looking trees, one of them pushing over a pagoda on a terrace below. Tanzhe Si is one of the oldest temples in this region, dating from the 3rd century AD. It had an enormous courtyard with 2 famous trees, one called King of trees" which is more than 1000 years old and another called 'The Emperor's Wife' which was supposed to have produced a new branch everytime a new emperor was born.

On the way back from the temples, we stopped by the Luguo Qiao or Marco Polo Bridge, so named because the famous explorer mentioned it in his writings. The bridge is well maintained even though it was build it in 1192. On the river (dry) bank beneath the bridge is the village of Wanping, the site of the first shot fired in the Sino-Japanese war in 1937.

On sunday, Andrew and I were joined by Zhou Yun and her husband, Yuan Yi, and the four of us went to the Beijing Botanical Garden or Zhiwu Yuan. It was a sprawling park and is home to the biggest greenhouse in Asia. There were large numbers of local tourists here and this seemed to be very popular place for Beijingers to visit during the weekends. The greenhouse had a decent collection of plants and flowers. After lunch, Yuan Yi left us and the three of us went on to climb a popular mountain here called Xiangshan . It was a good hike and we climbed about 1600 ft. in less than 2 miles (my guess). But instead of trails, the path up the mountain was paved in stone and consisted of steps for the most part. There were rest areas along the way where people could stop to have tea and snacks. This mountain was a favorite destination for the Emperors and it seems to be still very popular with the locals.

Gou Rou

John D, don't be mad at me but I did the unthinkable - ate dog meat finally. Not that I was looking forward to it and I approached it with a lot of trepidation but Andrew's influence finally made me succumb to it. We had gou rou at a Korean restaurant on Friday for lunch. It was the Korean bbq style cooking except for the dog which was a stir fry of some sort. The meat wasn't that tasty but it wasn't as vile as I had imagined. The rest of the food was excellent. Now that this is under the belt, I think I will pass on having any more servings of the same. One of my colleagues told me that they raise special sort of dogs for cooking and it's not your regular pomeranians or german shepherds.

Friday night was my first night here that I went bar hopping. Andrew, Frank and I hung out in the Shi Cha Hai area and got totally sozzled. I tried the vile smelling but highly revered (by the Chinese) Mao Tai. It's definitely an acquired taste and is more similar to Grappa than anything else. The bars were quite nice and were mostly lounges, some with live local music.

Indirect Vegetarian

Frank refers to himself as an indirect vegetarian - feed the veggies to the animals and he will eat the meat. We had many of these indirect vegetables yesterday most of which I was eating for the first time in my life. It was at a Cantonese restaurant called Yu Gong Yu Po where Zhou Yun took us. There were no menus here but they had displays of the food and live seafood. The latter had some especially interesting species including Strongylocentratus franciscanus or sea urchin, which we did order and Muraenidae or Moray Eel (at least that's what I translated from what Frank referred to in German), which we did not. We also had sturgeon (of caviar fame) and something that Cathy convinced me was 'sausage' but later turned out to be something in the duodenum of some animal. Since it was drowned in chillis, I didn't feel too bad.

Learning Chinese

We tried a local Chinese instructor on Monday but it didn't turn out as well as we expected. So, we are still on the lookout for a good instructor to teach Andrew and I, spoken Chinese. Actually, Andrew's goals are even less ambitious than mine since all he wants to do is just be able to order some of the exotic food that he likes (bird's nest, gou rou - you figure this one out, shark fin soup etc.) without having to rely on the picture menus or getting a local friend to translate. As for me, I want to read Confucian philosophy in Chinese. Ok, I am kidding but I still want to be able to converse with my in-laws fluently. Last night was uneventful unless you count dining at yet another Sichuan place (where we had fish and tripe) an event. Can't wait for the weekend where again we have planned two trips out of town.

Joy of joy, I discovered a supermarket here (thanks Zhou Yun) to buy my all-time favorite fruit, Mangosteen. Throwing Atkins' priinciples out of the window ever since I came here, I am now indulging in this most delicious of nature's creations. My stomach is now back to its pre-Atkins proportions and resembles that of Da Fo.

Ships of the desert

It's called luotuo rou in Mandarin. Zhou Yun took Andrew and I to a slightly fancy (they had live piano music and most people were dressed up) Sichuan restaurant called Qiao Jiang Nan or South Beauty restaurant (don't ask) yesterday. This is where we had the afore mentioned exotic meat. For those of you who don't know Chinese, it's camel meat. I actually liked this one. It was served with lily roots and was reasonably spicy. The best dish, however, was a fried whole fish cooked with an abundance of chillis and sichuan pepper corn (hua jiao). We were shown the live fish before they cooked it for us. It was absolutely mouth watering. The spices did wonders for my cold and today, I feel a lot better.

The Ancient and the Modern

Finally, I have broadband at home after struggling to set it up for a week due to a combination of logistical and technical problems. Am still feeling sick but I thought I will update the blog with some photos. Last weekend was a total blast, starting with a trip to two temples on Saturday. The first one was a beautiful lamasery called Yonghe Gong or Lama Temple. This is the place where the current Panchen Lama was chosen by the Chinese government in 1995. It was originally the residence of Prince Yin Zhen and was converted to the temple when he became emperor. The place also has the largest sandalwood sculpture in the world which is an 18m statue of Maitreya Buddha and is an imposing sight. We were taken here by our colleague Mike Cheng and his wife, Li Qiang.

We then went to the Confucius temple or Kong Miao which had more the feel of an academic institution rather than a temple. They had some Yuan dynasty relics on the grounds. We had lunch at a Dongbei restaurant and had some tasty dishes. At night, Andrew and I went along with a few colleagues to a place called Party World, a Karaoke bar, to celebrate Zhou Yun's birthday in style.

Despite being tone deaf, I managed to sing a few songs along with the others but there were a couple of people who were incredibly good. The song selection was a mixture of Chinese and English classics. We had a room to ourselves and it was great fun. I plan to go back there later.

On Sunday, Andrew, Frank and I were joined by a colleague here (Michael) and we went to the Ming tombs about 40km away from Beijing and also to the unrestored Huang Hua section of the wall. The Ming tombs were a bit of a disappointment but we did see the underground 'palace' of the Emperor Yongle and quite a lot of statuary. The Great Wall, on the other hand, was incredible and we were able to climb about 1200 ft. and walk on the wall. This section was not at all touristy and despite the locals asking us to pay for each segment of the walk, we had a great time. I will post more details in my travelogue section later on.

Today there were signs of an impending sandstorm on my walk to work. I am afraid this is only going to exacerbate my sickness.

Under the weather

Could be the weather and pollution combined, could be Andrew's cold spreading to me but I am feeling sick today and don't feel like updating the weblog about my adventures this past weekend. It was a fun filled weekend comprising of temple visits, singing karaoke (albeit badly), celebrating Zhou Yun's (Cathy's) birthday, hiking up a tough section of the Great Wall (Huang-Hua) and visiting the tombs of Ming Dynasty emperors. More details and photos will come tomorrow if I manage to get out of bed.

Back to the known

After almost 2 weeks of culinary exploration, I went back to the tried and tested at a nice neighborhood bar called Lush last night. Andrew was out sick and I went with Frank to this place which was on top of a Chinese bookstore. We accidentally stumbled upon it and were surprised by the place with its English language menus and the availability of familiar fare such as Jack Daniels, Club Sandwich etc. I had some Guinness to celebrate St. Paddy's day here. We live in a student district and this was definitely a hangout for both the local and the foreign students. We saw many non-Chinese people here and there was a DJ spinning Afro-Caribbean stuff. Today, the weather is back to the polluted state though it's not as bad as it was earlier this week. We are planning to do some major sightseeing this weekend. Stay tuned for photos and updates for those...

Hangzhou Cuisine

I haven't yet had the famous Peking (Beijing) duck yet but last night, Andrew & I went out with Cathy and Steven to a Hangzhou province restaurant also near the Chaoyang district where we had their specialty which was a full duck soup. The soup even had the head of the duck in it. It was ok but not my favorite so far.

We also had a few other dishes, the most unusual one is (I am told) available in many Chinatown restaurants world wide called dongpu which is a slightly sweet dish made from the belly of a pig. Again, I only tasted a bit and left most of the eating to the others. The one dish I liked yesterday was a white fish dish made with chillies.

Today is another cold and clear day. I hope the weekend will be as nice. Weekend plans are being made and it definitely includes an outing to a Karaoke bar with a few colleagues here to celebrate Cathy's birthday. Eug should be here by the end of next week and I am looking forward to that.

A Fun Ti

I woke up today to a clear blue sky - something I haven't seen since I left California. It was great to look out of my apartment today morning (see photo) and not see the smog. I could even see some mountains in the distance during my walk to work. It is very chilly today and the temperature must be quite close to freezing.

Last night, we went to a popular restaurant called A Fun Ti in the Chaoyang district. This restaurant specializes in food from the Xinjiang province which is in the northwestern corner of China, some parts of which border Russia. The food and the atmosphere was fabulous even though the check turned out to be more expensive than any other place we have dined so far.

The people from here are the minority Uighur and we (Andrew, Frank & I) were treated not only to fabulous food (shish kebab, spicy mutton, feverish beef with chicken, pumpkin with lily) but also to a great performance by Uighur dancers, musicians and even a traditional Kung Fu performance. Our table was adjoining the stage and we loved the place.

One of the dancers was gyrating to techno music with a live snake curling around her neck. She was stunning and got lots of cat calls from the crowd. This was the first restaurant we went to that had numerous non-Chinese people as diners. We also had a liquor from this region called Xin Jiang Ming Jiu which had a foul smell but was very strong. We were quite tipsy by the time we got out of there. I plan to go back there when Eug gets here.

Yunnan Cuisine

Yesterday's culinary adventure was at a Yunnan restaurant that Cathy took Andrew and I to. It was near the Qing Hua University that we live close to. They had both regular dishes as well as hot pot dishes. We ordered the hot pot. They had Gou Rou or Dog meat at this place and we could have ordered it but we balked at the last minute and decided to go with the fish. Some other time. They use some sort of steam pot with fancy artwork and they bring it filled with a sauce consisting mostly of vegetables especially tomatoes and fish. They also bring a bowl of ginger, garlic and scallions and a side of dried red chilli. You make a dipping sauce with this bowl and some liquid from the pot and then eat the vegetables and fish by dipping it in this sauce. Quite tasty but not as spicy as the Sichuan cuisine even though they are neighbouring provinces. We also had another kind of rice wine called Mi Jiu which was very similar in taste to the toddy that we get in Kerala but sweeter and low in alcohol content. I have to remember to take my camera along to these restaurants from now on...

Qin hai Hutong

On Sunday, Cathy and Kyle were kind enough to take Anay, Andrew and myself to do some shopping in the morning. We went to a market called Hong Qiao Market which was quite similar to those of you familiar with the Burma Bazaar in Chennai, India. They had lots of stalls (indoor) selling fake designer clothes, electronics and even some good cameras, all at bargain prices. I bought a silk Chinese traditional shirt as well as a Prada leather wallet for $5.

We had lunch at a 3 storey restaurant called Golden Tripod Terrace (or something to that effect) where again we had more exotica, this time with a squid dish and chicken claw. I liked the squid but not the claw. We also tried some rice wine which was very good, tasting a lot like sherry. It was an 8 year old wine. They had other fancy stuff there such as bird's nest, shark fin soup etc., but these were ridiculously expensive and we decided to pass on these.

After lunch, Kyle left us and the rest of us walked across the street to go to Yonghe Gong or the Lama Temple but it was closed by that time as was the Confucious temple nearby. We then decided to go to the Hutongs (narrow alleys where the old people lived traditionally and where some people still live) around the Qin Hai area. Hai means Sea though this was a lake. According to Cathy, the Mongols named these Hai because they had never seen a sea before. The entrance to the place was marked by a Starbucks shop whic h seemed out of place. This area was full of pubs and lounges and is a place I am planning to return to.

We took a bicycle rickshaw ride from here through the hutongs and among the sights we saw were the Garden of Prince Gong, the house of Madame Sun-Yat Sen and the numerous hutongs. We also stopped by a few interesting shops including a Tibetan one where we chanced upon t-shirts with the Hindu God, Lord Ganesha, on them. We were quite tired after this and decided to call it an early night.

Eating Ass on the Wall

R.M. Nixon, when he visited the place said, "It sure is a great wall". And I saw it too on Saturday. We went to the Mu Tian Yu section of the Great wall, which is, according to the guide books, the second most touristy section after Badaling. It sure was crowded but not as much as I expected.

The place is full of hawkers trying to get you to buy the "I climbed the Great Wall" t-shirts (4 for a $1), artifacts, nuts and other exotica. We had hired a mini-bus to take the 13 of us from work to the place, my first foray outside of Beijing city limits. It was about 90km from here towards the northeast. Some of the group took the cable car up to the wall whereas a few brave souls including myself roughed it out by climbing the 1050 steps required to reach the wall (about 1000 ft).

It was truly spectacular at the top (on the wall) and it was a dream come true for me to be standing on it. We could walk in either direction for a bit passing through the occassional guard towers and climbing up and down ladders across different sections. Most of this section was rebuilt during the Ming Dynasty period (1368-1644 A.D.). It was a bit misty at the top and a few minutes after we reached the wall, there was snow falling for a while. It was fabulous. Some of the group took a tobaggan ride back down to the bottom while I just walked down again.

At the bottom, we went to a local restaurant where, for the first time in my life, I ate donkey meat. I can't say I liked it. It was a bit tough. The rabbit was delicious though. We had some Yanjing beer to help swallow the stuff. After we got back to Beijing, I went out for dinner with Andrew, Cathy and Kyle to a Hunan/Sichuan restaurant for dinner where we again had donkey meat (ass eating is turning out to be a habit now), this time prepared hunan style. It was almost unbearably spicy. The food here was delicious and it was extremeley cheap (only around 120 RNB for 4 people).

Hot Boiling Fish

Last night a couple of my Chinese colleagues took Andrew and myself to a nice Sichuan restaurant which served the kind of food that I really like - extremely hot and spicy. We got there around 8pm and had to wait for about 20 minutes for a table. The place was huge and completely packed. It was interesting to see the number of attendants in the place handling the visitors. We ordered the fish dish that's their specialty which was a very spicy white fish in a boiling broth of some sort. We also had some clams, giant prawns and an eggplant/pork dish. All quite tasty but I loved the fish especially. It was good to go to the restaurant with the locals who spoke the language and we were able to sit back and enjoy the dinner rather than worrying about what to say. Cathy also took us in her car to a Costco like place called PriceSmart where I was able to buy some stuff for the apartment such as pillows and kitchen accessories. I am slowly beginning to settle down in this place.

Hot Pot

Last night, I started getting a little more adventurous with respect to my foray into the culinary experience in Beijing. Along with a German colleague (Frank) and an Australian colleague (Andrew) who are also visiting here, I went to a hot pot restaurant where they bring the raw materials and you cook for yourself on your table...more or less like Fondue. The staff there spoke no English at all and we had a tough time communicating what we wanted. The Tsing Tao beer was the easy part (pi jiu). Ordering eel (man yu), beef (niu rou) and chicken (ji rou) was more of an exercise which made me dig into my phrasebook. The pot itself consisted of yin and yang sides, one with a spicy sauce and the other more like chicken broth. The food turned out to be very tasty and we are planning on going back there. By now, I am comfortable to ask for the check, ask where the toilet is, and ask if they take credit cards, in Chinese.

Windy City

Throughout last night, I could hear howling winds. Jet lag is keeping me up watching all the Chinese channels on TV. Dont' have broadband yet at home to do any useful work. The winds did not abate today morning and on my way to work, I felt that I was climbing Mt. Whitney again. I was glad I had brought my hiking gear here and thanks to Mountain Hardwear for getting me safe and sound to work. No smog today due to the winds though and I was happy for that. Last night, I did my first groceries here. Salt was interesting as I couldn't find any English letters on the packaging. Finally, I used my phrase book to find the Chinese character for it and bought it. I am good.

Pollution

The smog today has to be seen to be believed. I believe that Beijing is right up there with Mexico City in the most polluted cities of the world. It's almost like the thick summer fog in San Francisco. It's warmer today. One thing I am noticing (at least in this neighborhood) is the ubiquitous construction. As one of our directors said to me yesterday, the national bird of China is the Crane (the mechanical one).
I already miss Eug. I wish she was here now.

In the mainland

Landed in Beijing Capital airport yesterday and am at work today. Immigration and customs were a breeze. I was greeted by a Mr. Huang, the cab driver sent to pick me up. I was dropped off at my apartment in the Hai Dian district around noon. It's a decent sized single bedroom apt. in a complex of high rise buildings. I stay on the 6th floor. I was quite tired by this time and spent the first few hours just figuring out how things worked in the apartment. I then had some scotch and took a nap after unpacking.

In the evening, I ventured out of the place to orient myself. It's a good neighborhood and full of nice restaurants of all types including the likes of Pizza Hut, Subway, McDonalds, KFC (yep, all the junk food joints). Walked around a bit before going inside Pizza Hut. They didn't speak any English. I managed to order a Pepperoni pizza and a beer with my rudimentary Chinese knowledge. Headed back around 9pm and went straight to bed.

Today, I got lost while trying to find my office but finally found it after successfully asking directions in Mandarin :-). It turned out to be only 15 minutes of walking from my apt. The Sun office is again on a high rise building called Innovation Plaza. Spent most of the day meeting people and straightening out the logistics of working here. Fortunately, all the employees here seem to speak English.

In the evening, I went out with a German colleague (who is also on a rotation) to a decent restaurant called Tomatoes Pizza (the low carb diet that I was on for the last few weeks just went out the window).

En Route

Eug dropped me off at SFO on Friday around 10pm and I am writing this about 15 hours later at the Seoul (Incheon) Airport transfer lounge. Finally on my way to China. Should be there in about 5 hours or so. I am looking forward to this now that I have had some time to think about it during the 13 hr flight here. Incheon is quite an impeccable airport more or less like Changi airport in S'pore. Now off to get some coffee.