NO. 2: BEIJING APRIL 2012

After totally collapsing for a few hours in our hotel room, we geared up and headed out to find a restaurant we went to the last time we were here.

The restaurants are either totally formal with tablecloths and a waiter/waitress for each table, or plastic/vinyl booths in sketchy sticky noisy places.  We prefer the latter.  To some extent you have to just take your food on faith...you won't get poisoned and die or wish you were dead.  I was thinking about those fruit sticks we ate earlier.  Bare hands had to push the fruit onto the stick before it was dipped in that crackly sugar stuff.  God knows where those hands had been..I don't want to think about it.  (more at the bottom)

OTHER THAN THE SHEEP PENIS, THIS WAS THE WORST…THOSE WERE STILL MOVING!

THESE WERE THE SUGAR DIPPED FRUIT…DELICIOUS!

HE ALWAYS BOUGHT MYSTERY FRUIT

I JUST THREW ALL THOSE LITTLE PURCHASES (LITTLE PURSES ETC) OUT WHEN I MOVED

I SNAGGED THESE PICS FROM EMAILS….SOME DIDN'T TRANSFER SO WELL

AS USUAL, MANY MANY MANY REQUESTS FOR PICTURES TAKEN WITH US

We found the little hole in the wall and this is what we ended up getting...all portions were huge and for the first time in a long time we could not eat it all or even half:  snow peas with bits of mystery meat, beef in black pepper gravy and what they call Kale (fresh and still a bit crunchy and delicious), same kale with prawns (that were cooked to perfection), a weird hot plate deep dish of green beans and onions and rib bones surrounded by twisted soft cooked dough, cabbage with tree ears (type of mushroom) with tripe and onions in a bacon flavoured sauce, pork belly cooked until gooey served over dark fried gooey chopped green onions and all served with little doughy pancake things to fill  (unbelievably delicious but so rich you couldn't eat much of it).  All of this, including a bottomless pot of dragon well tea came to 27 dollars.

The dragon well tea is served in a tall clear glass skinnyish tea pot.  When it comes all the largish ripped tea leaves are floating. As it seeps the leaves swell and gradually float to the bottom of the pot, and as they slowly float down they look just like hand drawn dragons.  When all the dragons are at the bottom of the well, you pour and drink.  Didn't taste that great but was fun to watch.  As per usual we were continuously stared at, pointed at, older couples come up to us and smile and bob and say hello and touch us.  Many people stood outside the big window (it was dark out) and took our pictures as we ate.  I feel like a gong show.

Now its three in the morning, slept from nine but now I am wide awake.  Today we transfer to the hotel we meet the cruise group in. Tomorrow we do the great wall and forbidden palace and tianamen square.  The trip is ONNNNN!!!!  Hope the peeps aren't too old!   TTYL