21 July 2009

We drove out into the suburbs to take a look at what was left of some local hutongs and so Song and Peichen could get us to try donkey meat. We finally found a restaurant and what was left of the hutongs that used to surround it. There was a low brick building in the middle of a demolition zone. Aside from that the building was just a rectangle with a semi partitioned off area out the back where the kitchen was housed and the people that owned the restaurant were some of the nicest people we had met in Beijing. Song later said that the owners were probably country folk who had moved to the city to seek their fortune.

Donkey meat, mmm delicious

Modernization zone

People would came in from the demolition zone walk straight out into the kitchen say G’day to the owners and grab themselves something to eat (kinda like, grab yourself something and leave the money on the fridge). We were treated to an early morning banquet with a stack of different dishes. The donkey meat was delicious and tasted a bit like silverside. While we were eating the owners kept trying to sneakily take photos from the kitchen until eventually Tiff let them know we would be happy to pose for some shots. After that it was on, everyone turned out for photos and we were busy lining up beside various people while others took the photos. Apparently these guys had never had westerners in their restaurant before.

Friendly Beijing restaurant owners

When we finally managed to get away, we made our way up to the temple of heaven. There were not as many people at the temple of heaven and we were able to get photos with most of the attractions. One interesting structure was a bunch of buildings surrounded by a round wall, the round wall itself was the perfect shape to reflect the sound from one side to the other. Apparently if you whisper on one side, a person standing on the other side should be able to hear you clearly even though the diameter from one side of the circle to the other would have been 75 – 100m. Unfortunately there were too many people at the temple to test the theory.

Basking in the humidity at the temple

The mighty temple of heaven

We grabbed some ice creams and left the temple to go to some more markets so we could grab a couple of bits and pieces. While we were there Song’s wallet was stolen. The thief was extremely talented he had managed to remove songs wallet from a bag that was only a little bigger than the wallet itself. Even stopping to zip the bag back up before they left. The security people where most helpful, they took us through the building to see which cameras we had passed and then allowed us to review the various video footage and when that came up unsuccessful. The police turned up to escort us to the police station so Song could file a report. Song and Peichen were surprised by all the fuss, as they have never had that before even though Song makes a regular habit of loosing her wallet.

With all of the afternoon’s antics we didn’t have time to change before having to meet Songs Aunty, who had booked a table for everyone at a Beijing opera restaurant. We arrived just as everything was kicking off. Songs Aunty and Mum where already there. The dinner was superb and the show was spectacular, with everything from magicians, acrobats, dancing and singing to the Beijing Mask performance. I would strongly recommend checking it out if you ever have the opportunity. It was good to have the whole mask thing finally cleared up, I had asked Song and Peichen about it a couple of years previously but the answer was somewhat lost in translation.

Tiff with Song’s Mum and Aunty

Dinner and a show

It was good to have a yarn with Song’s Mum and Aunty in a more relaxed environment. After dinner we made our way to a massage place for a traditional Chinese massage, the masers were as intrigued by us as we were by them, they had not had the opportunity to practice on westerners previously. Peichen promptly fell asleep, Song and Tiff chatted with each other and the masers while I was happy to kick back and enjoy the experience.