FOLLOW OUR STORIES → WHAT WE ATE Our flight out of Beijing wasn’t until midnight. That gave Dad & Elaine almost another full day in the city. But by lunchtime, we didn’t feel like hunting for another famous Beijing restaurant. We didn’t need to. We simply walked outside our hotel. And this is one reason Dad came to appreciate where we were staying. 🏨 What Was Outside Our Budget Hotel? We were...
FOLLOW OUR STORIES · WHERE WE STAYED Some hotels become part of a journey because they’re extraordinary. A beautiful view. A historic building. A rooftop swimming pool. A five-star breakfast. Our Motel 168 near Lishuiqiao (立水桥, Lìshuǐqiáo) wasn’t any of those things. 😂 It was simply a clean, inexpensive hotel outside central Beijing where Dad & Elaine could sleep, wash our clothes, eat breakfast and catch the Metro into the city. But...
Our Shandong journey was coming to an end. Dad & Elaine had reached Dezhou (德州, Dézhōu), and that evening we were heading back to Beijing. The journey sounded straightforward: DiDi → Dezhou East Railway Station → high-speed train → Beijing South → Beijing Metro → hotel. By this stage of our China travels, that combination was beginning to feel almost normal. What Dad didn’t know was that Elaine had plans for the...
Some restaurants charge extra for the view. Dad & Elaine found another version in China. Our table was tiny. Our chairs couldn’t be moved. Lunch came in a plastic box. And Dad remembers paying: more than RMB 50. 😬 Expensive for a simple meal in China? Yes. But our restaurant had one rather unusual feature. It was traveling across China at almost: 200 km/h. 😂 ☕ Our Meal at a Glance Where:...
FOLLOW OUR STORIES → WHAT WE ATE When people ask what to eat in Beijing (北京, Běijīng), the famous answers usually come first. 北京烤鸭 (Běijīng kǎoyā) — Peking duck. 炸酱面 (zhájiàngmiàn) — noodles with fried soybean and meat sauce. 饺子 (jiǎozi) — dumplings. And perhaps, for the brave, 豆汁 (dòuzhī) — Beijing’s famously challenging fermented mung-bean drink. 😂 But one of Dad & Elaine’s favorite places to eat during our Beijing travels...
FOLLOW OUR STORIES · WHAT WE ATE Sometimes our China food stories begin with a famous dish. This one began with Dad looking at a sign and thinking: RMB 9.60? In Beijing? 😳 We had found a casual Shaanxi noodle shop. Yes: Shaanxi noodles — in Beijing. 😂 And because Dad & Elaine have traveled around Shaanxi Province (陕西省, Shǎnxī Shěng) ourselves, we weren’t going to walk past without trying a bowl....
This wasn’t one of Beijing’s famous restaurants. And that was partly why Dad & Elaine went in. It was dinner time, and inside were local families, a young child and workers still wearing their orange work uniforms. In other words: people were simply having dinner. For Dad & Elaine, that’s often a good enough recommendation. A Bowl of Beef Noodles Elaine ordered a steaming bowl of beef noodles (牛肉面, niúròu miàn). Beef,...
Sometimes Dad creates his own problems. We were staying at our little hutong hotel in Beijing (北京, Běijīng). One morning, instead of eating the hotel breakfast, Dad deliberately walked into a small neighborhood breakfast shop nearby. The request was simple: “What do Beijing locals eat for breakfast? Give me something local.” The answer arrived. And Dad began to reconsider the question. 😂 Meet Dòuzhīr (豆汁儿) The greyish bowl is dòuzhīr (豆汁儿, dòuzhīr)...
Some of the most memorable people Dad & Elaine meet in China aren’t people we planned to meet at all. This one began inside a museum in Tianjin (天津, Tiānjīn). Our First Meeting — Wudadao Museum Dad & Elaine were visiting Wudadao Museum (五大道博物馆, Wǔdàdào Bówùguǎn). As usual, Dad was taking photographs and videos while Elaine wandered through the exhibits, stopping whenever something caught her curiosity. That was when we met one...
Not every meal Dad & Elaine eat in China has a story behind it. Sometimes we’re simply hungry. 😂 We were exploring the area around Xi’an’s Giant Wild Goose Pagoda (大雁塔, Dàyàn Tǎ) when lunchtime arrived. Instead of searching for a famous Xi’an restaurant, we stopped here. It was the kind of casual place travelers pass every day without thinking much about it. And this was lunch. Rice. Cucumber and tofu strips....
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