Today was long. I woke up early and decided to go for a run around the forbidden city. I was turned around twice by the police as I tried to get anywhere close. The second one told me “you’re not good at running around here”. I laughed. He was right. So, I turned around and kept it short. Running at 4am in -12°C was warranting an excuse to turn around anyway. 

I got hungry fast, so I went walking for an hour to find jianbing (an egg crepe wrap) for breakfast. The place recommended was closed, so I walked around for a little while longer before finally finding some. I could eat that every day. In fact, I may have to figure out how to make it at home and swap out some ingredients to make it healthier. I got a warm soy drink with it, and that was great too. Little did I know that there were several places that sold jianbing within a block of my hotel…

Next door was a busy food place so I popped in there and had some bao and “tofu noodle”, which wasn’t a noodle at all, but after trying it I could see why it was busy. My Mandarin was failing hard in both of these places. No one knew a word of English, and I was really struggling understanding what anyone was saying. 

Continuing my morning food tour, I found a shop selling a drinkable yogurt I saw was popular online. After figuring out how to properly open it, I have to say that Beijing continues to surprise me in their yogurt superiority. 

My tour for Tianenmen Square and the Forbidden City started at 10am. We were told when entering the square not to ask questions about “the 1989 incident” because there are many police around and the guide wouldn’t answer them. At one point, some security guards asked if they could take pictures with the tour group. The tour guide allowed it and we all gathered for a picture with them. Later he explained that they were from a smaller town and had never seen foreigners before except on TV. He told us that now they could go home and tell people they made friends with all these foreigners. 

The Forbidden City was just that. A city. It’s really giant and every time we went through a massive gate, I expected to finally reach the inner-most section. The entire tour lasted 4 hours. I broke my daily walking distance record before dinner. 

Starving again, I bought a sausage on a stick for 5rmb ($0.99CAD) and I went on a limb and bought a stick with some unknown berry on it covered in sugar. I had seen it was really popular, so I went with that and bought it. Delicious. My new rule of trying what I see others buying has been paying off. Later, I looked it up and saw it was a hawthorn berry.

It was finally time to try Peking duck. Even though the restaurant was in the building next to my hotel, it took me about a half hour to find it. My limited Mandarin wasn’t helping as I kept wandering down hallways that I wasn’t supposed to go down. Finally, I discovered an elevator that took me right to the restaurant. Da Dong Duck Restaurant. 

I could write a whole post just on this restaurant. To start, I’m actually not a big fan of duck. I find it a little fatty and leaves me feeling like my mouth is oily. But when in Peking… you get the Peking Duck. Da Dong had been described as the “Master of Duck”. That title did not overhype it. I sat for a while as the chef carved the duck so methodically it was mesmerizing. Plating each thin slice so perfectly. I had never tried caviar before this either, but I had heard it was good on Peking duck, so I opted for that too. The waitress recommended a pinot noir to pair with the duck. To start, I went for the caviar on duck. I’m unhappy that I love caviar now. What an expensive thing to love. Then, you take the duck skin and dip it in some sugar. It was both perfectly crispy and perfectly soft. It wasn’t overwhelmingly oily like I had found other duck. Instead, it was fatty enough to taste indulgent but not fatty enough to leave your mouth feeling gross. Typically, Peking duck is eaten in a thin “pancake” with sweet bean sauce, cucumber, and shallots. I couldn’t have been happier. They even gave me the brain to eat (definitely not something I’ve tried before), and they made a soup from the bones. I’m now second guessing whether I’ll even go to other duck restaurants because this experience was so good. To finish, I got a chocolate “surprise”. White chocolates with various flavours inside. Some were fruity, some nutty or tasting of coffee, and some were definitely filled with horseradish. It was fun, but not something I’d get again. The duck though…

After changing rooms because of a heating issue, I took off to ghost street which was apparently a fun bustling street with lots of food options. I wasn’t even hungry, but when in Beijing… eat? I was pretty disappointed in ghost street, but walked into a bar and used Google Translate to talk to the bartender. One of the things I want to do during this trip is find unique local cocktails from each country and learn how to make it at home. I asked him if he knew of a good Chinese cocktail, and I could see the light above his head light up. He showed me a baijiu and then proceeded to make a jasmine cocktail called “Perfect Jasmine”. He gave me the recipe, and now I have 1 of 3 cocktail recipes collected. Delicious, by the way. He even gave me a shot glass of the baijiu so I could try it separately. I want to say that it tasted like whiskey without the peat. My kind of drink. I hate peat. But shoutout to the incredibly friendly bartender at Cloud Bar and Grill. 

After those drinks, I managed to make my way to the subway where I made my way to the Wangfujing market. I guess I have a thing for street food. Also duck, but that wasn’t here. I just can’t forget that duck. I found some mini pork buns that were unsurprisingly tasty. I finished off the night with another creamy “milk skin yogurt”. 

Today was really full of changing expectations. I couldn’t run around the forbidden city, but that was fine. Yesterday I couldn’t get into the Peking duck place I wanted to visit, but today I was blown away by Da Dong. I couldn’t find jianbing, but I was given the opportunity to walk through various alleyways and then I found somewhere that was delicious. I didn’t care for ghost street, but I found a great bar with a friendly bartender, and a cocktail recipe to take home. I had to adjust various plans at various points. Not everything went according to plan, but that was all part of the adventure.