The old hutongs [alleys] near Drum Tower are lined with nameless snack shops selling what I call Chinese fast food. One staple is shui jiao, which are boiled dumplings typically filled with pork and fennel. You dip them in vinegar and soy sauce with chili oil mixed in to your taste. —Fuchsia Dunlop Photo by See-ming Lee/Flickr. This appeared in the May 2013 issue.
From October 13 to 24, food writer Fuchsia Dunlop will lead guests through cooking classes, insiders’ restaurant visits, and a farm stop on a culinary tour from Beijing to Shanghai. From $5,990. Photo by Keren Su/Corbis. This appeared in the October 2012 issue.
Ningxia is a region that borders Inner Mongolia. The food reflects the desert and grassland terrain. Go to the restaurant at the Ningxia Hotel for fantastic steamed mutton with wild herbs. Instead of the rice you’d find in southern China, here you eat pasta. —Fuchsia Dunlop This appeared in the May 2013 issue.
You can’t leave Beijing without having Peking duck at Da Dong. I eat the crisp skin first, dipped in sugar. Then I pile the skin, meat, leek, cucumber, and sweet, fermented sauce onto pancakes. I finish by drinking the broth from the carcass. —Fuchsia Dunlop Photo by Natalie Behring/Getty Images. This appeared in the May 2013 issue.
Beside the architectural beauty of the Forbidden City, I just love the color palette of the entire palace. The lavish gold, red and green mixture created such contrast yet cohesive look.
Like millions of other people, the first time I saw Bird’s Nest Stadium (officially known as Beijing National Stadium), was during the opening ceremonies of the 2008 Summer Olympics. Designed by a Swiss architect in collaboration with a Chinese artist, it is a very unconventional yet strikingly beautiful building. Standing up close and looking at Bird’s Nest Stadium, it appears that structural beams go every which way but straight, the building slants at an odd angle and the roof curves at very soft angles. You wonder where the sports stadium part is but if you glimpse inside the glass covered portions, you see all the elements of a stadium – it’s just the exterior that is so different. To complete the look, the ground lights that light up the sidewalks around the stadium all have gray metal lampshades in the form of a bird’s nest. The equally unconventional looking and famed Water Cube, where Michael Phelps swam to eight gold medals, is located a short walk across an open plaza. You can take the subway to Olympic Park though the stop is about a 20-minute walk away from Bird’s Nest Stadium. By taxi, it took us around 30 minutes to get there from Tiananmen Square. If you want a break from touring the historic landmarks in Beijing or if you have a sports fan in your travel group, consider going to Olympic Park!
Explore the back streets near Andingmen Station for a glimpse into everyday life in the hutongs of Beijing. While in the area, stop for a drink at the unexpectedly hip Siif Cafe. As the sign out front says, they have "F****** Good Coffee" along with cocktails, Belgian beers and live music or DJs on the weekends.
“Our umbrellas are a part of our culture that is disappearing,” says Cheng Dehu, the owner of Beijing’s Ruo Shui Tang Oil Paper Umbrella Workshop. As China has modernized at a breakneck pace, most traditional oil paper umbrellas have been left behind. But Ruo Shui Tang artisans still turn them out using a century-old technique: they boil bamboo, carve the wood into collapsible frames and handles, and glue on translucent paper. Artists then paint landscapes or portraits on the paper, and waterproof it with tung tree oil. The whole process, which relies on the work of 30 people, produces umbrellas that can withstand being opened more than 2,000 times. Visit the studio to peruse or purchase umbrellas. From $30. 144 Gulou Dong Dajie, Dongcheng District, 86/(0) 10-6406-4496. This appeared in the May/June 2012 issue. Photo courtesy of Ruo Shui Tang Oil Paper Umbrella Workshop.
There are way too many doors inside of the forbidden city. Sometimes, take a peek at the closed door and you might see the path leads to another door. Also, a good tour guide might tell you more stories associated with them.
There is a saying that the walkway between the tall walls are "the road of the Yin and Yang" - because no matter what time of the day, there is always one side bright and one side in dark shadow. *and don't ask about what happen during the night time, you don't want to know...
As a tourist in Beijing a must see for me on the itinerary was the Forbidden City. Construction began in 1406 and lasted for 15 years with more than a million workers. The palace complex is 178 acres. Wear really good walking shoes when visiting! I was surprised to see the water canals throughout, I was unaware of this feature.
Hai Wan Ju is a cheap spot to taste Beijing folk cooking. They make very good noodles—handmade, of course. The zha jiang mian—noodles with fried bean sauce and vegetables—is a classic Beijing noodle dish. Here, they also add pork. —Fuchsia Dunlop 21 Zengguang Lu, Haidian District, 86/ (0) 10-8207-0488. Photo by Gary Soup/Flickr. This appeared in the May 2013 issue.
After an aimless walk through the calm Hutongs in the centre of Beijing we suddenly came to a crowded night market. It was only one row of food stalls, but this row was a few hundred metres long! You can even buy grilled seahorse or scorpion.. Enjoy :) ---
Yunteng Binguan specializes in the cooking of the Yunnan province. The restaurant is hard to find, but their cheese is worth the hunt. It’s like a milk cake of fresh curd topped with fried Szechuan peppercorn. —Fuchsia Dunlop Photo by chrisjstanley/Flickr. Bldg. 7, Dong Hua Shi Bei Li, Dongcheng Qu, 86/(0) 10-6711- 3322. This appeared in the May 2013 issue.
On my first trip to China, while in Beijing I stayed in a hostel nestled in a traditional hutong. It was a highlight even then. I loved stepping out the door and heading off into the maze of narrow alleys and unique architecture. There are so many taxis in Beijing, I felt comfortable getting lost as long as I had with me the hostel’s name and address written in Chinese characters. The home in this photo was directly across the street from my hostel. I returned to the same hostel the following year. In the ramp-up to the Beijing Olympics, the government had razed the traditional buildings and replaced them with 2-story square boxes. This sweet home no longer exists. Having had the last-minute opportunity to experience a real hutong has become not just a highlight of my first trip to China, but of all of my trips around the world.
One of my favorite moments in Beijing was sitting around the cozy circular bar at Noodle Bar for front-row action of the chef pulling our noodles by hand. The menu is simple and straightforward: all noodle soup with your choice of brisket, tendon or tripe beef (or the vegetarian version), which you check off from a paper menu attached to a clipboard. Laughably inexpensive, the meal was just the hearty fix we needed to once again brave the biting Beijing cold. Noodle Bar is a bit difficult to locate and taxis won't be much help. The 1949 Hidden City complex in which it is located sits directly behind the Pacific Century Place Mall. Once you've crossed the mall, you'll see an entrance to 1949. Once there, you must walk through an art gallery space to reach the courtyard and past Duck de Chine (also a must-try restaurant) to get to the bar. Well worth the trek!
This photo was taken in the late afternoon of my trip to the Mutianyu section of the great wall. The sun was about to set, and my friends and I had a few more hours of Great Wall hiking before we reached our final destination, a guard tower where we would set up camp and sleep the night. Yes, it's illegal ... and yes, I would definitely recommend a sleepover on the Great Wall to any adventurous traveler.
After visiting the Yonghe (Lama) Temple in Beijing, stop and enjoy fresh made dumplings. This gem is located at Beixinqiao 1st alley, which is near the Beixinqiao northeast station exit. You will love the variety they offer and the price. If I were to go back, I would definitely have some for take out.
Snaking through lush mountains, the Great Wall is rich with history and continues with a seemingly endless reach. When visiting, try to go early in the morning and to an entrance point away from the big tourist crowds. This was in a place called MuTianYu, about 40 minutes outside of Beijing and a short hike to the top. There are a few "forbidden trails" but carry on quietly, and with caution.
I used to be a docile tourist: get a map and brochure at the entrance, follow the route or beeline to points of my interest. One day impatience taught me the rollicking fun of ignorance and discovery. I didn’t feel like waiting in line at the Forbidden City in Beijing to pick up a guide. I stumbled in unprepared for the enormity of the place. I spent the entire day until closing wandering corridors with no clue what I would find around the next corner. I think anyone with a map could not appreciate the labyrinthine nature of the city the way I did, crisscrossing the place several times trying to ensure I didn’t miss anything. I anticipated nothing, so even the largest temples and expansive courtyards were astounding surprises to me, and I found my way into nooks and crannies where no one with a map would have bothered to go. It was truly one of the most fun days of my life.
There's a reason this is one of the wonders of the world. No, it cannot be seen from outer space, but it is truly magnificent. When visiting China, avoid the super touristy hotspots. We visited a spot that locals preferred called MuTianYu, about 40 minutes outside of Beijing and a short hike to the entrance. There are a few "forbidden trails" but carry on with caution. Bring water and a packed lunch to have a picnic on the Great Wall!
Dining at Made in China at the Grand Hyatt is expensive, but the staff creates an excellent experience. Open kitchens allow you to catch a glimpse of the Peking ducks roasting in ovens over fruitwood-fueled fires. I always order the dumplings. —Fuchsia Dunlop Photo courtesy of the hotel. This appeared in the May 2013 issue.
I loved wandering through Beijing's hutongs and exchanging smiles with the locals.
This adorable old woman reminded me of my grandmother despite the fact that they look nothing alike. I saw her outside Mr. Shi's Dumplings (74 Bao Cao Hutong) which was written up by Time Out Beijing and consequently was filled with white tourists like myself. It's a cute place with free wifi and they make the little doughy parcels to order but I preferred the fare at Xian Lao Man (252 Andingmen Nei Dajie Street) which the New York Times described rightly as "home to the city's best dumplings".
The interesting fact about the title hanging inside this hall is that, the sun casts a light on the wording specifically at noon time. The four-letter wording (wrote by emperor Qian Long) means that emperor should handle all the matters with fair. There are a lot of detail works inside the architecture design of the Forbidden City. It's better to visit with a guide. Although some will choose a guided tour, an audio guide is an easiest way to tour the palace by yourself.
I first went to this restaurant, hidden deep in a crumbling hutong (alleyway) neighborhood, by myself in a rickshaw one foggy November evening. It’s one of those unique, authentic finds that have remained intact for decades. The roast duck is beyond good. —Alessia Antinori 11 Beifengxiang Hutong, Dongcheng District, 86/(0) 10-6702-5681. Photo by Eric Gregory Powell. This appeared in the May 2013 issue. Read more about wine entrepreneur Alessia Antinori.
My favorite photos are of doors, alley ways, small streets. They are calling you "walk this way.." Who knows what you will find when you walk through...
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