Day 3 in Beijing (3/4)
So in September 2024 I went to China to attend a conference. Before going to Changchun, where the conference took place, I spent four days in Beijing. This is my account of those four days, divided into four parts. This post is day 3 of my way too short trip to Beijing. You can find day 1 here and day 2 here.
Drinking Tea
So I started the third day with a walk around Beijing. The first place I visited was the Temple of the Fire God in Shichahai. A beautifully decorated temple where you can ask for blessings to keep your house from catching fire. The atmosphere was very relaxing. I then continued my walk around Qianhai Lake. It was still early in the morning so it was pretty empty and although it was a bit rainy, it was very beautiful. Then I saw a traditional tea house and was hooked. I had to try it.
Inside, I found a very nice table by the window and opted for a green tea. They had lots of green teas, but being a tea novice, I just pointed to one and waited. I thought I was going to get a nice cup of tea, but so many things happened at once. Firstly, my table was no ordinary table, it also had a kettle and a pot. The kettle was turned on and filled with fresh water, so I had warm water whenever I wanted (quite common in China, by the way). The tea came with some pistachios and I could sit, relax, look out the window and enjoy my tea. It was wonderful. Thanks to the hot water, I was able to refill my cup several times (as was intended) and ended up spending almost two hours there!
The Lord of Beijing: The Two Towers
But I also wanted to do some more tourist stuff. So I visited the Drum Tower of Beijing. A massive tower in the city that was built in the 15th century. At the top I could see massive drums that were actually used to tell the time in the past. Besides the impressive drums, I could also see the city from above with a spectacular view. The stairs to the top were a bit adventurous, but manageable.
Next to the drum tower is the bell tower, which has a really big bell that also tells the time and works in conjunction with the drum tower. While I was there, there was also a school class visiting who seemed more interested in me than the bell they were visiting. They were all so nice and polite! I ended my little tour at a restaurant called “Mr Shi’s Dumplings”, which was actually recommended by a Mastodon connection. It was superb!
A Food Tour
I had been thinking about doing a food tour in Beijing for a while. I finally did it and that evening we all met at a subway station. We had a wonderful guide called Joyce who introduced us to Chinese food culture and especially Beijing food culture. We started on a rooftop where we got a traditional Beijing hotpot. This is basically like a scented fondue where you put raw meat in boiling water and then eat it with a special sauce. It was really great and a great start. We then went to the Hutongs, traditional houses in the centre of Beijing. We were invited into the courtyard of a 92-year-old woman who made us noodles with vegetables and soy sauce. Very tasty. She also offered fermented tofu, which smelled and looked really ugly, but actually tasted not bad.
Then we went to a snack bar where we got something like a meatball in a pastry shell. I’ve seen this everywhere in Beijing, but I can’t remember the name. It was exceptionally tasty and a perfect snack. If I had known earlier, I would have eaten it more often. We finished our food tour in another restaurant where we tried a kind of Chinese burrito. We could fill it ourselves and had Kung Pao Chicken and various vegetarian options. At the end we even got some presents from our guide. This was one of my better decisions as I would never have found these places on my own and never tried the food that was presented. I would highly recommend the Lost Plate tours.
