Staircases outside of apartment buildings always remind me of the US. In fact, I have not seen them anywhere else. I love them, as well as the many old buildings that I see in San Francisco. Our rented unit in San Francisco is in an street where there are many old buildings. This is a building across the road.
The origami crane reminds me of my Mom. When I was little (maybe about 5 years old), she taught me how to turn a flat piece of paper into a lovely 3 dimensional bird.
I am missing the variety of mouth-watering food in Beijing. Here are more food photos….
Yummy Muslim food – grilled skewered meat. This stall belongs to a restaurant close-by, which we have been to a few times.
Breakfast snacks.
Tea-smoked duck, eaten wrapped in a thin pancake (like Peking Duck). I love the smokiness of this version.
Shao Mai – flavoured glutinous rice in bite size parcels
Dumplings for breakfast, lunch or dinner
A different type of dumplings… also good for breakfast, lunch or dinner
Kung Pau chicken
Cumin fried rice
Spicy fish and rice
Are you hungry? I am.
It was very hot in Beijing. We didn’t want to miss out on visiting the Old Summer Palace (Yuan Ming Yuan) so we arrived here at about 9 am. It was already getting hot then.
The lakes were covered by beautiful lotus plants, with red, pink and white blooms.
Some ruins from of the buildings
It was a very photogenic place (pardon my photos, all taken with my iPhone). There were many photographers snapping away with impressive looking equipment…
Father and daughter enjoying their time at Yuan Ming Yuan.
We spent 2 hours exploring the garden. It was great having seen this lovely place, before we left Beijing. I had a great time in Beijing, and hope that you have enjoyed my photos.
Stalls at the Great Wall offer lots of colourful souvenirs
It’s lovely to look but be prepared to bargain if you see something you like.
A colourful stall selling fresh and dried fruits at the Ming Tombs.
Colourful and pretty umbrellas.
Reflection on the mirrored ceiling.
Reflection on a pillar on the left.
Visit Weekend Reflections for more.
One of my favourite places to sit and relax.
Connecting to Sunday Bridges and Weekend Reflections.
Hi everyone. Here I am on the top floor of one of my favourite places to go to chill out, and get away from the millions of people in Beijing.
Comfy sofas, internet connection, cappuccinos, milkshakes, black forest cake…. it doesn’t feel like I am in China.
Sometimes I find a spot under the trees. The grass is long, so it’s not comfortable to sit on, but there are lots of stone seats like the ones you see in the above photo
Relax by the water
There were lots of peonies a month ago. Click to see my photos of peonies in Beijing
Roses are blooming at the moment. Click to see my photos of roses in Beijing
If the weather is good, I take a walk and enjoy the beautiful blooms.
I was on the way to lunch when I saw this lady arrive on her bicycle, with lots of balloons for sale. I love balloons; they seem like happy objects to me.
Well, looks like I am not the only one who loves balloons. I took this photo after lunch. I guess business was good.
I never thought Chinese food could be so hot.
When I was living in Malaysia, Chinese food seemed to be quite mild, as most Chinese food in Malaysia are variations of Cantonese cuisine.
The above photo shows one of the dishes we had when we first arrived in Beijing. This is a Sichuan dish. There is probably as much chilli in there as chicken.
In Beijing, there are varieties of cuisine from all over the country. I love Sichuan food, but they are often very hot. In this 2nd photo (above), the prawn dish on the right seemed quite harmless, doesn't it? Actually, there are lots of bits of chilli scattered all over. These dishes are eaten with steamed rice.
Skewers of vegetables, meatballs, tofu, mushrooms…. I have not eaten this. Sure looks hot! I am not sure if this is Sichuan food…
The best capsicum I have ever tasted, but it was extremely hot.
If you are alone, ordering food from a menu can sometimes be a challenge as most dishes are for 2 or more people. But some menus offer the lone diner a portion of a dish over rice… So here’s hot spicy chicken over rice…
And hot spicy pork strips with vegetables over rice
Hot dumplings are yummy but it felt like I was torturing myself. Yet, I could not stop eating…
And another hot chicken dish… Now, where are the tissues? And where is the cold drink I ordered?
Quite a presentation… hot chook.
Finally, one last hot dish…
Sichuan peppercorns are widely used in these dishes. It has a very distinctive flavour and sensation (numbing effect) in the mouth… Here’s a link if you are interested to read more about Sichuan food.
I spotted these tricycles with their heavy loads recently…
I sure hope these tricycles run on batteries.
Lots of them… if one falls, they all fall – imagine dominoes.
A funky yellow one. Most bicycles are old compared to this.
Most, but not this brightly coloured electric bicycle…
A tricycle at home having a break
A roadside bicycle repair shop, with chairs for customers. (It was early, so the repairman wasn’t at work yet).
