Hutong and Dumplings

These past two days I have made up for all the lounging around my apartment. I decide to be adventurous and explore Beijing a bit.

On Tuesday I went to the park that is north of the Olympic Stadium. Its a nice little park with walking path and it claims to be eco friendly and leading the way for Beijing to green. (I like to see that happen...) It was very cute. There was actual wildlife- birds, ducks, flowers, trees and fish. In the actual city I see very little birds. I almost never seen flowers. It was nice for a change! After going to the Olympic park I traveled south to the hutongs.

At the hutongs I walked around and explored with some friends. Hutongs are areas that people live in. Back in the day people would live in houses called Hutongs. So imagine walking down a busy highway street in modern Beijing. Then you turn right and bam there is a tiny alleyway. You are transported back to Old Beijing. The hutongs are ancient residence that people use to live in. People continue to live in them to this day. The outside of the buildings are lined with shops, restaurants and little snacks. All along are little doorways. Each doorway leads to a different section. Each section has a courtyard and then little livings areas surrounding the hutong. Several families live in each courtyard. They will share bathroom and kitchen areas.

 This is a doorway. Walk inside the door way is an entry way. There are a bunch of names listed in Chinese with numbers. Further back is a little walkway you go down and there are a bunch of small living areas. Laundry is hanging up, bowls and brooms are scattered about.

 Inside a tiny walkway. The area is very narrow. You can see there are several doors as well as areas on the second floor.

Outside of the residences are people selling goods. These people are selling vegetables. Further down were little shops where people were serving steamed dumplings, meat on a stick (char), and cigarettes .







Inside one of the courtyards, this one contains a large table to eat at. Each courtyard is walled into its own section. This particular hutong courtyard is owned by one person. Typically many people live in one courtyard.

The next day I explored Beijing a bit. I found a Texas BBQ place and walked all over the place. I found a Russian district, where signs were written in Russian and Chinese. I went to a beautiful park that I could have sat there for hours just taking in the beauty. Then at the end of the afternoon I went and learned how to make dumplings!

Making dumplings is not an easy task. There are very precise directions on how to do it. After doing it once I am confident I can do it again! The outside of the dumpling is very simple it just made from flour and water. But the process of getting that dough ready is very tricky. After the dough is made, then the filling is made. One of the most important things to remember is that the filling needs to be finely chopped. That is the key to a successful dumpling. In addition the meat is cooked inside the dumpling. You don't want to cook the meat first because the dumpling will not be juicy inside. Another important aspect to dumpling make is the folding. There are several ways to fold the dumpling. Once the dumplings are ready we learned how to either boil them or pan fry them. Each process is not simple! I never realized how much work and effort needs to go into making dumpling. It was a lot of fun learning to make dumplings and I will be making them in the future!

I had an amazing past two days in Beijing! Now that the weather is warmer except more adventures!

Pass me the...

Food, a necessity of life. Before I moved here eight months ago,  I was a bit fearful about what I would be eating in China. Would I be able to have my precious toast and cereal, would I be able to eat fries, donuts, chips, chez its. I was also concerned I would only find Chinese food at every place, in little hole in the wall places. No more salads, no more fresh fruit. I would have to eat canned everything. Those were my thoughts..

Now let's step into reality. Fact I have lost about ten pounds since living here. Thats not to say that my precious food that I loved back home is not here, it is. Its just overpriced and honestly not that good. I can buy six pieces of bread and it costs roughly 1.25. Not to mention, the bread doesn't taste like home made delicious bread. It just is blah. There are no chez its here or donuts really. (They have fake donuts but they aren't dunkin donuts). There are plenty of chips here but odd flavors. Cheesy lobster, chicken wing, tomato, cucumber, seaweed, and hot fish soup.

I do not eat the same as I ate home. I have had to change my eating habits. Instead of eating cereal for breakfast (a normal sized box of cereal cost about  7 dollars) I eat oatmeal. I only buy toast for myself as a treat. I find myself cooking at home frequently just so I can eat home cooked American food. There are plenty of restaurants here that offer Western food. But I still haven't found a decent burger, fries are a bit sketchy cause they don't change the oil here. They will use the same oil for days and let it sit out over night. (Really gross).  Pizza is ok, but not great. I also have had some decent pancakes but aside from that it just isn't great. I rather cook western food at home.


The international food such as Korean, Thai and Japanese food is really good. I also enjoy eating dumplings. I am not a huge fan of rice (which is bad considering I live here) so I don't enjoy eating rice dishes. I've had some decent eggplant and chinese vegetables. I also enjoy duck. The beef and pork dishes have limited amounts of meat it them. I find if I get a dish it has a few shreds of beef or pork in it. They love garlic and put it in everything!

Korean food, very delicious!

 Bowsa, steamed buns filled with pork and some kind of liquid.

Dumplings are one of my favorite foods!                                                   
















Now I still eat fresh vegetables and fruit here.  I wash everything carefully and then dry it. And honestly the little bit of water used to  clean it doesn't bother me. I do buy the vegetables that are grown organically not the ones that are piled into heaps in bins at the store. I refuse to buy dirt covered potatoes.

Eating here is quite an adventure. I have had to adapt but I certainly have not gone to bed hungry!