Lazy Sunday

Sunday 2nd September
After a lazy brekky we wandered off, some to the markets and others to explore the city, this wonderful city of Beijing. Some great bargains were won at the weekend markets creating many happy smiles. David wins the prize as the toughest hard bargainer.

At 1pm we met at the hotel where Frank took us on a tour of the Houtongs, the traditional backstreets of Beijing which are now World Heritage listed. We travelled by pedal-powered rickshaw and ate at a traditional noodle house where a hearty dish of noodles and beef cost just AU$2 and a large bottle of beer cost 50 cents.

That was by no means the end of the day! In the evening, we grabbed a fleet of taxis and headed back to the Houtongs to find a traditional Beijing Duck Restaurant for a feast of a lifetime. Now this method of cooking duck, know around the world as Peking Duck, is as old as time itself, but nowhere else can you find a place that does it as well as here at the origin of the dish.

The taxi ride cost us about AU$2 per cab for a ride of about 15 minutes. WE found the restaurant tucked away in a little backstreet and as we entered the front door, we were greeted by the sight of an open fire with several ducks hanging beside it after having being cooked. A process that takes about 17 hours, I am told.

What a feast! The chef slices up the duck and it is served with a plate of small pancakes and a side dish of soy sauce and shallots. There were dishes of veges and meat aplenty and the beer and wine flowed all evening. In the end it cost about AU$20 per head including drinks.

Afterwards, we walked back to the hotel via Tienanmen Square, a spectacle like no other, lit up in the night. There were kite flyers and street vendors. People en-mass wandered around enjoying the cool night air and the carnival atmosphere.

What a night!