I managed to get in touch with Jo and Charles (some relatives) who were up in Beijing for four days and we arranged to go out for a meal together last night. They are staying in the Peninsular hotel in the centre of Beijing - next to Beijing’s biggest and busiest shopping street. The hotel is quite simply unmissable and is so grand that I was initially concerned that they might just turn me away at the door (in my hoody and shorts)! Jo and Charles were waiting in the lounge/lobby so we had a drink and some nibbles together before heading out to find somewhere to eat. We found a lovely restaurant where we ate sweet and sour pork (糖醋里脊), crispy peppered lamb (黑椒铁板羊肉），griddled aubergine with beef and bak choi (油菜）along with a couple of cold 青岛 (Tsing Tao) beers. I think we can definitely say that we ate well! On the way back to the hotel we passed by the Wangfujing night market to see some of the weird and wonderful edible-things-on-sticks that they had for sale.
All in all it was a lovely meal and nice to see some familiar faces so far away from home. Here are a few photos.
Jono
