My fourth day in Beijing was another jampacked one. We started off rather late, actually, and headed over to a restaurant across the street for brunch at around noon. Again, Fangyin ordered more than necessary to make me try a bunch of things, the most exciting of which was zhajiangmian, which is supposed to be the origin of Korean jjajangmyeon. :D
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| Restaurant name: 北平楼 Beipinglou |
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| Complimentary strawberries upon arrival :) |
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| 炸灌肠 Zhaguanchang, which I think is some fried "sausage-but-actually-just-starch" |
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| Corn juice, which is already pretty new, was warm, which was even newer. |
Zhajiangmian (炸酱面) literally means "fried paste noodles" - the black sauce thing on top is soybean paste. I have to say the taste certainly reminded me of the Korean version, but wasn't as tasty (bit too salty for me).
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| 京酱肉丝 Jingjiangrousi - basically it's another wrap, with thin tofu slices and meat. |
After another scrumptious meal we headed over to Beijing University of Foreign Studies, which is one of the schools I am considering for next year, because it has English-held linguistics programs and seems to have a good reputation. I wanted to know more about the program and admissions, and thought I might as well ask in person while I can.
The campus, to be frank, was not very impressive. There's a couple of
what seems to be the main buildings, and a bunch of other buildings I
was really confused about because they looked more like residential
houses instead. Indeed, the international student affairs office (or whatever it's called) was literally just a house, the main office being in the living room part.
But, obviously, campus aesthetics aren't really at the top of my list of priorities when it comes to selecting schools. Though on a different note, the school didn't seem too close to any subway stations. So location (which can't exactly be ignored) was a bit of a minus.
Next stop was Yiheyuan (颐和园) or the Summer Palace. There's a gigantic lake in the middle, and a long extended walking path, that leads to an assortment of... buildings (?) as well as a bridge that leads to some island where people prayed for rain among other things, not sure.
The sky was clear and I was lucky enough to witness some gorgeous views, but the
wind was monstrous!
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| Walked for about 5 minutes and we already felt like a taking a break... what else to do but take selfies? |
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| Each lion? creature? is in a different pose/position/whatever |
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| First telephone in China! Or was it Beijing? |
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| This reminded me of Mushu from Disney's Mulan |
By the time we finished touring the palace I was feeling a bit drained after days of endless walking and exploring. It just goes to show how desperately I need to exercise more - who runs out of energy after three days of traveling? Sigh. Anyway, I decided I was done with any major sightseeing, and so we made our way to Wudaokou (
五道口) a neighborhood where a bunch of universities are located. There is a special Beijing restaurant there called Juqi (局氣), and according to James (whom we were to meet for dinner) there was always a long line to get in. Since James gets off work at 6, we went at 5 pm to wait, but surprisingly there was no line at all and we were seated right away.
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| The chopsticks package thingy includes hand sanitizer, gum, and a toothpick. How considerate! |
If you walk through the halls of this restaurant, the rooms are all decorated with memorabilia and props from Beijing in the older days: bicycles, phones, maps, and instruments just to name a few.
As for the food, when James arrived he promptly ordered pretty much everything that seemed interesting or worth trying. He flipped through the menu and seemed to pick without much thought, and in the end it amounted to 16 dishes! For three people. Our table wasn't enough to fit in all the food, and the waiters had to combine some and clear away the ones we finished early.
I have a photo of the receipt to show the whole list, as I don't really feel like matching all the photos to corresponding Chinese name (click to enlarge).
Here is what we ate for dinner:
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| Assortment of desserts |
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| Yogurty thing |
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| Fried tofu in the shape of a traditional kite? |
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| 胶圈豆汁 The douzhi was ordered solely for the purpose of making me simply taste it for the experience. It's like the... juices from mung beans or something; smells like barf and tastes like feet. Definitely an acquired taste. Not exactly horrible but I won't eat it again unless I lose a bet or something. |
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| Fried shrimp again |
And check this out! Some cool effects added to make it smoke. At first glance it looks
like a bunch of mushrooms (it's also mentioned in the name of this dish,
which I feel too lazy to actually find from the receipt photo) but take
a bite and you'll find...
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| It's a dumpling!!! |
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| 炒肝 - Fangyin and James both like this. For me it was so-so as I'm not a big fan of animal insides. |
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| Sweet and sour pork, can't go wrong with this |
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| Shrimp... um.... cakey things. |
Fried rice made with octopus ink, shaped like old-school coal
briquette. The most interesting part is the show they present, setting
it ablaze like that before eating. The taste is basically salty rice and
didn't stand out much.
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| Most roast duck!! This time I learned that the skin is supposed to be dipped in white sugar, which was again something I had never tasted before and was indescribably good. |
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| 兔爷 Tuye is some rabbit grandfather character from old Chinese folk stories or something, and here he is, made of delicious mashed potatoe. Once you're done taking pictures the waiters take it away and leave the remains of his body to eat. |
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| Desserts made with beans, in the shape of Chinese checkers pieces! |
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| Some bread thing with avocado on top |
Dinner on this day was definitely one of my more interesting experiences. Filled to the brim with food, our last destination was the campus of Tsinghua University, one of the two top prestigious schools in all of China, the other being Peking University. James' office is quite nearby, so he takes daily walks around campus and knows the way rather well (which was quite contrary to his abysmal sense of direction, lol). It was a perfect option as I needed to walk off all the food I'd just consumed; plus, the campus turned out to be beautiful even at night.
So Tsinghua University has a big modern campus, in which the old campus is still preserved, the entrance of which is in the photo below (there were lots of people taking pictures of this, so I'm assuming the old campus is famous). The new campus is impressive and sophisticated, while the old campus has more of a cozy vibe where you can almost feel the history with every step walked within. Apparently couples like to shoot their wedding photos here; that's how pretty the place is.
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| They call this 'Facebook' |
Inside the campus is a beautiful lake that's mentioned in some essay that's in Chinese high school literature/reading comprehension textbooks, so basically most Chinese people have learned about this lake as a teenager. We took a long walk just for this lake, but it was way too dark to see much, and I wasn't seeing anything on my camera either. And then I tried twiddling with the shutter speed and aperture and all that camera related stuff, and was left with this stunning view of the lake that I couldn't see with my naked eyes. I was super pleased with the great results I got from my camera, especially considering that I know next to nothing about photography!
After a quick view of the lake (we wouldn't do much there because it was too dark), we started our walk back and came across a cafe, where we decided to stop for a cup of coffee.
I was way too full to even finish that cup of coffee, but the time spent at this cafe was my favorite part of the day. I feel this way nearly every time I travel, and once more I've come to realize this simple, simple truth: the best part about traveling is the connections you make with human beings. Sightseeing, trying out new cultures and foods - all of that is great. But I feel true happiness when I'm just sitting and talking and laughing and relaxing with new friends, learning about each other's lives and experiences, comparing cultures, offering to teach something or offer a new perspective. The bonds I made with people during my travels are quite precious to me; and although for most of the those I've met I have a rare chance of meeting again in my lifetime, the memories made still hold a special place in my heart that cannot be replaced. And when I got back to Fangyin's room that night, I felt especially grateful for the friends who made my short trip so unforgettable - who have shown nothing but warmth and hospitality for my first visit to Beijing. It was also then that I decided that studying here would be worth it, since I know I'll have friends to support and help me until the end.
Oh, and by the way, the evening sky was astonishingly clear this night. I even saw the Big Dipper. In Beijing, of all places. Is that a miracle or what?
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