Pancakes with duck, pants for a buck, skyfull of muck

MAO
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We spent 5 nights in Beijing, the longest stay of any of our destinations. So we had read up about the place a bit. We had read about peoples' tendency to crowd personal space, and form what we now call "non-linear queues" (ie, cut in line). We had read about the traffic jams, and the inability to get a taxi in the rain. We had read about the widespread construction projects in preparation for the Olympics, which make all but the most recent maps useless in some areas. (Sorry, Yaron, but the entire block where First Floor Restaurant should have been was a pile of rubble.) We had read about vendors at the Great Wall, aggressively trying to get you to buy Tshirts or water. We were prepared for all that. But nothing prepared us for the smog.

Street lights Beijing style
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Unfortunately the smog is what I'll remember most about Beijing. It was noticeable from the moment we stepped off the plane (after a 9h flight following a 6h layover in Qatar). Nostril-searing at times, at other times more insidious, making us wonder if it was just always cloudy, a thick, sickly white blanket hung over both the city and surrounding countryside the entire time we were there. After gently asking several people about it the first few days, we concluded that people either don't notice it anymore, or are in complete denial.

Unfortunately the smog is what I'll remember most about Beijing.

Fine dining-scorpions on skewers anyone?
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Despite being congested, Beijing has some lovely public spaces where people can get away from the traffic, if not the hustle and bustle. There are several lakes - one we visited at night is called Houhai and its shores are lined with restaurants and bars. People swim, fish, and paddle boat there. My favorite green space was the Temple of Heaven - it was once used on only 2 days a year, when the emperor would go there to pray for good harvest or to his ancestors. Now locals can pay a yearly fee and go there regularly - we saw young people playing badminton and old folks ballroom dancing.

Needs no caption...
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Because of our illiteracy, we took a few guided tours to see the sites - the Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven, Summer Palace, and the hutongs (or alleys) where many people live in tiny apartments surrounding a courtyard. One of our guides introduced herself to us as Sweety Li! Her enormous, bug-like Christian Dior knockoff sunglasses were the identifying mark we searched for that day.

We got around mostly by cab, which was very cheap (most rides about $2), but sometimes impractical. We had several cabbies look at the piece of paper where our destination was written in Chinese, then shake their heads and say simply, "No."

ON SALE QUICKLY BUY ONE TWO GIFTS!?
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We hired a car to the Great Wall at Mutianyu, one of the nearby but less overcrowded sections. (Pictures of Bill Clinton riding the cable car up to the top were proudly displayed.) No cable car for us - we climbed the steep stairway up and reached the Wall, encased in fog? smog? clouds? More stairs, uneven and cruelly steep at times. Huge dragonflies everywhere. Embarrassing Americans complaining to their guides: "We're not really going to walk up there, are we?!?"

We stayed at a nice hotel where the service was excellent - at times annoyingly so. A woman would direct you into a particular stall in the ladies' room, waiting to hand you a towel afterwards. The waitstaff at breakfast (included in our package) would lurk behind our chairs, ready to pounce and clear our plates the moment our forks left our hands, making a bizarre sport of efficiency.

Yes, you can look at the sun directly in the middle of the day...good thing the smog filters out all the radiation
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Beijing has a number of huge markets with a great tradition of haggling. We experienced one of these with a mix of horror, pity, shame, resentment, and glee. Boris figured out pretty quickly that every pashmina, underpant, bauble, and trinket was marked up to at least 400x what the merchant would accept, and used his savvy to acquire some swimming goggles and a compass, passing on a Speedo swimsuit after careful deliberation. I tried to haggle but ended up making friends with vendors instead. Some of the tactics were really forceful and rude - a 10yo girl in the handbag area (where the loudest and most aggressive women in China work, I believe) grabbed my arm and held on until I literally shook her free. But mostly they were harmless - "Hello, lady," "Cheaper for you!"

She's smaller than her prey...
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If you know us at all, by now you're wondering, what about the FOOD?!?" Excellent and cheap. Our first day, we sampled food from a street market - unidentifiable meat on sticks, tofu smothered in spicy sauce, fruits skewered then dipped in a vat of boiling syrup, which hardens so that it shatters in lovely sweetness when you bite it.

That night we had duck at a local chain, Quan Jude. They have this business down to a science - we were shuttled up to the 4th floor, quickly received our lovely duck and were wordlessly taught to assemble pancakes of duck with sauce, cucumber, and scallion. It was delicious.

Those dumplings sure are HOT!
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Last night we had quite a different duck encounter at Li Qun, a tiny, grimy spot located on a narrow alley (you have to walk in, as cars can't fit on the street). The place has gained popularity over the years, as evidenced by the arrows scrawled on buildings, probably after neighbors got tired of visitors looking for the restaurant. Earnings have not been used for upkeep - one couple had to move to a different table because it was raining on theirs! The duck was preceded by a plateful of lovely steamed broccoli and cold duck liver, then a wait which seemed interminable but was eased by local beer. When it arrived, it was transcendent - crispy skin, licked by flames and with a little fat adherent, juicy meat, a bit of heaven.

HAND SHREDDED ASS MEAT...MMMM, DELICIOUS!!!
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Also had some commendable handmade noodles and dumplings and will gladly furnish recommendations for anyone going. Have been reading a great book called Oracle Bones by Peter Hessler, a journalist who lived in China for years and describes life there through stories about everyday people.

Today we saw blue sky for the first time, on the way to the airport to Hong Kong. For once, the faint outline of an actual cloud appeared against a suggestion of pale blue.

Please check out pics...HK blog will follow!