Facing the day
Today was my second full day in Beijing, and I had such awesome adventures! My tour guide, Mr. Slackerson, said yesterday that today it would be too cold for the rickshaw drivers in the morning, so we should go to them in the afternoon. The itinerary was to have lunch at 11:30, go do a rickshaw tour of the Hutong alleys, then a tea ceremony, then visiting Shichahai Lake. After yesterday, I had little faith in his ability to actually arrange the tea ceremony that I had requested, so I got up this morning and hoofed it over to a fancy tea parlor. Let me back that up a moment. Still very jet-lagged, I woke up at 3 a.m. today. I tried desperately to go back to sleep, but alas, my body was certain it was time to wake up. I did what I could, which ended up being that I got up, put clothes on, and showed up for breakfast when it opened at 6. This was actually kind of awesome because there were fewer people around so I could spend more time figuring out the buffet. I got a bowl of pumpkin congee, which was not terrible. I had some super delicious local yogurt. I had noodles and cabbage with soy sauce and chili oil. And a pea cake and a Beijing petit pastry. It was fun and delicious.
Morning tea
Anyway, back to the tea. I walked about 3km (1.8 miles) to get to LaoShe tea shop. They have a tea house with 5 rooms. You rent the room by the hour and a lady comes in, you order tea, then she prepares it for you with a lot of pomp and pouring of water over cool slotted boards. It was beautiful and the place is full of fountains and soft music. Very spa-like. I only had half an hour to enjoy my tea, but that was enough time to re-calibrate after a long, sleepless night followed by a rushed hike. I tried to focus, center myself and relax (not my strongest skillset), as I prepared myself for confrontation with the tour guide. I hurriedly hiked back to the hotel to meet my guide and start the day.
Lunch
We met at 11:30 and walked down the street to a restaurant. This one was, at least, an actual restaurant. No buffet this time. I had already prepared myself to give him a hard no if we arrived somewhere and there were tour buses. But there were none; it was just a normal restaurant. We went in and were seated and he took the menu, ordered some things in Chinese and handed it to the waitress. I asked to see the menu. Seriously, I don’t even get to pick what I want to eat? What is wrong with this guy? I looked through the menu, noting a couple of alternate options should whatever he ordered not be something edible for me. The menu was full of fascinating things and strangely translated descriptions. Our food arrived and it was a spicy pork stew with white rice and a green bean/eggplant dish. The pork was just on the edge of being too spicy and I had to temper that with slowly eating it between rice and eggplant. But the eggplant was phenomenal. I have no idea what was in it… it was just like coated in a brown sauce. So good. I also had a YianJing beer. I was warned, amusingly, that it only comes in a big bottle. I was ok with that. It arrived: a 500 mL bottle. It’s a solid lager. After lunch, tour guide was like ‘Do you drink this much beer at once often?’. Lol.
Rickshaw tour
Then it was off to the rickshaw tour of the Hutongs. We walked for a bit through the narrow alleyways, looking at how families in Beijing used to live. I asked about one of the street food items, looks like tiny apples on a stick. So we bought some. Super delicious, not sure what the fruit was. Then I did the rickshaw tour. I took photos for 20 minutes as the driver pedaled me around the neighborhood. Then it was off to the tea ceremony, which is inside the Bell Tower, an ancient tower used for time-keeping.
Afternoon tea
The tea ceremony was actually pretty cool, despite being yet another thing that involves an exit through the gift shop. I am totally a sucker for fancy tea pots and I would certainly own like 10 of them if I wasn’t an adult who has to be responsible about space in my home. We had a private tea room, and a lady came in, explained all of the steps as she made tea. From a large kettle, she poured hot water over the teapot, inside and out. The teapot is sitting on a wooden (bamboo?) tray with a slatted bottom that lets the water pour through into another tray. Then that hot water is poured over the strainer and the cup and those are both emptied. Everything should be the same temperature as the tea. Then the tea leaves are added to the teapot, then hot water. Some ceremonial swishing and swirling and voila, time to pour the tea. She pours the tea through the strainer into a glass serving vessel. I have in front of me 2 tiny tasting glasses. The tall one is the smelling glass, so she pours the tea into that. You rub the glass between your hands and smell the delicate jasmine tea. Then invert the shorter glass on top, flip them over, and remove the smelling glass. Now you can taste the tea from the shorter tasting glass. It was fun and we tasted 6 different teas this way, before sending me off to look at some of the most beautiful tea sets I have ever seen. Fortunately, anything I buy must be schlepped for the next 3 weeks, so I have to be very discerning about what I can buy.
Parting ways
I had scheduled a cooking class for 5:30 p.m., near the hutong area. So I had told my guide to just leave me there to wander after our tour was over and I would go to that at 5:30. Instead, he called the guide from the next tour and she met us at the Bell Tower at 2, when our tea ceremony was over. He didn’t tell me he was doing this. He also skipped the next part of our scheduled itinerary, which was to go to the lake. 3 hours of work for that guy. Tool.
Getting to the class
My tour guide for the evening showed up and suggested we grab bicycles to get to the cooking class. We pick up a rental bicycle and head off through the winding narrow alleyways filled with pedestrians and other cyclists and cars and motorcycles and dogs. It is a bit of an obstacle course. But we made it to the home of the chef and so begins our amazing evening. We are greeted warmly and given hot tea as the chef goes to the kitchen to wash the vegetables in preparation for our class. The chef tonight, whose name I do no recall, sadly, worked as a cook in a factory, but is now retired. He spends his time sharing his love of cooking with visitors to Beijing. Super nice guy, very knowledgeable.
Dumplings
We began the class by making dumplings. We started with dough and he showed me the proper way to pinch off the dough so you get even, 4-sided pieces. Then we roll them out into circles. Next, put the pork filling inside, and crimp the edges. It took several tries to roll out the dough into something resembling a circle, and to make sure the middle part is thicker than the outer edges. The chef kept saying I must cook at home because I was learning so fast. He probably says that to everyone.
Chopping veggies
Next, we make some other dishes. We started with a lengthy process of chopping vegetables. Carrots, celery, leeks, cucumbers, ginger, chicken: all had multiple uses and needed to be chopped into different sizes. He explained how each one would add a different texture based on its shape. Thinly sliced things cook through, while cubed things stay slightly crunchy. While we chopped away, the tour guide asked if I drink. I confirmed that I do and she suggested that I should try a local specialty liquor, one she calls ‘fire water’, made from sorghum. I’m game, so she went to the store and got a tiny bottle for me to have with dinner. It’s a little sweet, but also has some spiciness to it…like a sweet tequila. Very good. So she gave me the bottle and suggested it would help me sleep tonight and get over my jet lag.
Time to cook
Then it was off to the kitchen to combine our ingredients over heat. We made Kung Pao chicken, which was delicious. He started by frying some chili paste, then adding vegetables and seasonings, then chicken and peanuts, all into a giant wok-like pan over very high heat. It cooks so fast! He had us sample his dish, then it was my turn. Just do what he did with a smaller pan. My guide and I agreed that his wasn’t as spicy as we imagined from the color, so when it was my turn, I added a bit more chili paste. Now after the last 2 meals of very spicy foods, you’d think I’d learn. In the immortal words of Beyonce: Don’t play yourself. We continued cooking, taking turns making chicken with cucumbers and a fried celery dish. Then it was time to eat.
Time to eat
Now we have 2 plates of each dish to serve myself and the tour guide. The table is covered with our hard work and it is all delicious! We try all of it, talking and laughing. She is so knowledgeable about all of the people and historical buildings. She kept telling me such interesting things and asking about the things I had seen in my 2 days here. In this conversation, it became obvious that I was not really experiencing all of the things I wanted to see in Beijing, so I asked her if she was busy tomorrow. Over this amazing dinner, we arranged that I would call and cancel my tour guide, who definitely doesn’t want to be here anyway, and she would pick me up tomorrow morning for the tour I had initially scheduled with him. I am so jazzed! I called my tour company, and contacted my guide, and it was all settled in about 10 minutes.
After dinner stroll
Hearing that my guide had not taken me to the lake earlier in the day, she offered to take me after dinner, assuring me that it is more beautiful at night. We snagged some bicycles and took off into the cold night air, scarves whipping in the wind as we pedaled without any head lamps through the dark alleys still full of human obstacles. Yolo. She was right in that the lake is beautiful at night. It is lit up and surrounded by bars, most of which have only 1 or 2 patrons because it’s winter. Bar after bar with live singers, very loud, and very lounge-like atmosphere with sofas and comfy chairs. She suggested we stop into one and have a drink before she got me a taxi back to my hotel. She really wanted me to try the local beers. 🙂 We sat and had a drink and talked a bit more, though it was so loud in there it was hard to hear. And then she sent me back to the hotel in a taxi. What an awesome day!!
