Beijing Walkabout

By Sally Franz

My favorite time to stroll around Beijing is in the late afternoon. This is why I suggest you stay in a hotel in the immediate region of The Forbidden City. I was easily able to find the wide open street mall, Wangfujing, which is open only to foot traffic. (This runs north and south for about three city blocks). It seems to be the Rodeo Drive of Beijing. West from there you can find Jingshan Park, a lovely hill with gardens. If you have the energy for the stairs, the top will reward you with a large Pagoda and views of The Forbidden City. Gazing west you can see the Jade Islet in Beihai Lake with an equally tall hill crowned with The White Dagoba Temple looking very much like a Mongol helmet. No surprise this was built by Kublai Khan. On the back side of the Jade Islet you can take an inexpensive boat ride to the north shore of Beihai Lake. There you will find several galleries and sculpture gardens. Make sure you see the outdoor monument called the Nine Dragon Screen set back from the main walkway. Follow the gentle path southward along the weeping willows and you will exit onto the bridge at Di’anmen Xidajie (road). Take a left (east). You can use the underground walkway to cross over or wait for the traffic light. Continue east and you will soon be on the north side of The Forbidden City Canal promenade.

Our first night in Beijing we ended up at the northwest canal corner of The Forbidden City. The large watchtower was reflecting in the moat waters. There were over 100 photographers set with tri-pods. Since it was a mild evening in October we decided to wait and see what they were waiting for. At last we were rewarded with watching a full Harvest Moon rising over the Canal. It was lighting up the waters, the reflection, the watchtower and the walls.

After the moon watching, it was time to eat. There was only one place on my mind, the aptly named restaurant, “Peking Duck”. My daughter tells me this is quite well known. And since it was across the street from The Kapok Hotel where we were staying, it was an easy walk. This is a bright and modern place with video cameras in the kitchen so you can watch your meals being prepared on large screens. Peking Duck, which is a variety of duck with dark flavorful meat, takes three days to prepare. The key is the way the skin is prepared. The fat is rendered all but gone and the duck roasted vertically until the skin is crispy and crunchy. The skin is then cut into 3 inch by ½ inch strips and laid out on a platter. The skin arrives first and it is recommended that you dip the skin into sugar and eat it as finger food. The salty fat bacon-crisp strips coated in refined white sugar is, I am told, the chemical equivalent to crack. I can believe that.

Next the meat, boned and cut into strips, is presented with wafer thin colorful pancakes. (Think pastel tortillas). In these you wrap meat and all or some of the condiments. The julienned condiments include: cucumber, sweet peppers, cantaloupe, green onion, and strawberry aspic, and these are topped with sauces of reduction of soy, plum jam, and/or apricot. You load up your pancake with all items facing the same direction. Drizzle with sauce(s) and roll as you would a fajita. Then fold up the last two inches at the bottom end and proceed to eat. This last step was shown to me by a very friendly young waiter who had seen all the goodies slide out of the pancake on my first bite. He was so pleased to show me.

We got into a “conversation” with the wait staff as they looked at my husband’s photos of the Olympic Peninsula where we live. They loved the waterfalls and ocean. I assumed they knew more English than just taking orders from Westerners. At one point a lovely young woman spoke into her phone with a translation app. This is what it read: “We love your home. But we have no idea what you are saying.”

Beijing is spotless. They pay seniors to pick-up litter at night. What litter there is are wrappers that may have been accidently picked up by the wind. No one litters intentionally. The only clutter/litter I saw was outside of the city in construction areas. But that was rare. 

Beijing is safe. Most small shops, tea gardens, day tours and small museums only take local currency (wan/yen). Larger hotels and restaurants will take Master Card and Visa only. If you are staying more than a month, you can get a bank account and a Chinese pay card, like a debit card. Outside of the cities fewer people speak English so bring your translation app. I think you could stay in Beijing for two weeks just walking or taking the subway to parks, shrines and galleries and never repeat an adventure. Unless you are like me. I had Peking Duck twice in four days. Like I said, kind of addictive.

Sally Franz and her third husband live on the Olympic Peninsula. She has two daughters, a stepson, and three grandchildren. Sally is the author of several humor books including Scrambled Leggs: A Snarky Tale of Hospital Hooey and The Baby Boomer’s Guide to Menopause. She hosts a local radio humor segment, “Baby Boomer Humor with Sassy Sally”.