Dining and Cooking


21
Jun 09

A hike up Yunmeng Mountain (云蒙山)

Some students I met

From “Visit Miyun“:

Yunmeng Mountain National Forest Park extends over 2208 acres of land in the western part of Miyun. The main peak is 1414m high and the forest is lush with abundant plants and wildlife.

Last week I was out and about quite a lot until the weather deteriorated towards the weekend. On Sunday I decided to go walkies and ended up getting a long distance bus to Yunmeng Mountain ((云蒙山)) in Miyun District (密云) – which is a lovely scenic rural region to the north of Beijing. The mountain is over 1400m in height, amongst the highest of the mountains surrounding Beijing. Despite much lack of exercise recently, I still managed to stride up to the top despite the hot sun beating down and covered what should have been a three hour route in just an hour and a half – obviously my lungs haven’t been completely smogged out yet.

On top, I ran into some Chinese students who had just finished their exams and were also out for the day. We chatted for a while and in the end I walked down the mountain together with them. It turned out that they were local to the area and one of them had a house just by the entrance to the park. They invited me over for lunch and we all enjoyed an assortment of homely Chinese dishes along with some ice-cool beverages. It was lovely to meet such hospitable people and I think they also enjoyed chatting to a foreigner as most tourists don’t like to venture that far out of Beijing.

Motorway all the way
The Peak
Knackered
At the summit
Made it
Some students I met
Tricycle Ride
Out for a ride
Me and Zhou
Local Farm
Delicious Lunch

8
Jun 09

Jingshan Park

Me and Siqi have somehow failed to visit this beautiful park ever since I’ve been in Beijing (almost two years now) so it was about time when we visited last week!

Jingshan Park is situated just north of the forbidden city and is a must-visit on a “Blue Sky Day” if you want a commanding view over the entire city (well most of it anyway). There is a very strong Chinese feeling about the place – what with all the Chinese grannies and grandads gathering there to sing, play music and dance… or simply out for an afternoon stroll with their grandchildren.

After that there was a necessary bus trip to be made to Xinjiekou (新街口) where we had a super spicy Sichuan meal in our favourite little restaurant before retiring to the little tressle tables and chairs outside for a sample of some of the finest Xinjiang kebabs in Beijing.

Grand Day Out… This is the way things should be!

成都小吃
North Gate, Forbidden City
Beside the moat
North of Forbidden City
Gate of Forbidden City
Forbidden City Behind
Before the Forbidden City
Forbidden City from Above
Forbidden City Behind
Blue Sky Day
Superb Sky
Magpie in front of Beihai Park
Walk in the park
Looking out over Beijing
Sunbathing
景山 Park
Kebab Eater
馋~
Kebab Time
Xinjiang Restaurant
膀爷 Beijinger

8
Jun 09

Exam Celebrations

I took my Mandarin Chinese HSK exam on the 23rd of May after a couple of weeks of fairly solid revision. As expected, the exam was exceedingly difficult – not so much in terms of the difficulty of the language itself but rather the harsh time limits imposed. I managed to make a mess of the oral which is a shame as it should be my strongest point – but there’s nothing that can be done so I may as well just wait until July sometime when I can get my results back. The exam was split up into a Listening and Reading exam as well as an Oral exam and Writing exam. Even if I can’t pass them all it would be nice to have at least one HSK certificate!

Anway, to let off the steam me and Siqi and Ajun headed out to a nice restaurant where you can sit outside and enjoy some great food along with a nice cool beer. My studies in Beijing have in some ways reached a climax now… it’s downhill now right through to September when I pick up my studies at Leeds once again. So I might as well enjoy myself for the time being!

情侣?
感情深... 一口闷
"我不喝酒"
肉串狂
大排档
酒鬼
香死了
吃光了

31
May 09

21st Birthday Party

The Round Table

It was strange to spend yet another birthday here in China – in the end I took some friends out for a meal and then for some Karaoke later on. There are some interesting cultural differences with regards to birthdays over here…

Whilst in the UK it is often the birthday boy/girl who gets treated to a free meal, free drinks and is generally looked after for the evening, in China things are quite the opposite. Not only did I have to pay for all the food and drinks (there were ten of us, lucky food is cheap over here!) but it was also my responsibility to fuss over my guests during the evening, making sure their drinks are poured and that they have had enough to eat! Certainly a change from the drunkenness of the average 21st birthday bash back at home.

I guess that the Chinese see birthdays as an opportunity to thank friends for being there and give something back – whilst in the west it’s our friends who celebrate us being there and make sure we have a good night. Another thing to note however is that in China, the more money you have, the more friends you can afford to invite along and the fancier a birthday party you can throw – some invitees are not necessarily there for your birthday but just for the great food and entertainment (a bit like weddings maybe?). In the UK, it doesn’t matter how much money you have, normally only your closest friends go out with you on your birthday and maybe it’s more of a genuine experience.

Anyway, the food was excellent, we ordered far too much and still managed to eat it all. After slackening our belts, we headed to the KTV (Private Karaoke Club) nearby where we sang until the early hours of the morning to a mixture of Chinese and Western pop music. Photos below!

Nice Presentation
The Round Table
Plenty of Dishes
Ajun and Siqi Singing
Karaoke
The Girls
Subtitles and all
Xinlong
Xinlong and Duyong
Duyong and Ajun
Me and Sandy
Hong Kong and Macao Girls
Birthday Hotpot