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+-- Thread: Beijing Trip (/showthread.php?tid=135462)
Beijing Trip - piano226 - 05-11-2012
Hi,
My partner and I just came back from Beijing this week. We had a business/ pleasure trip. Really helped having natives take us everywhere. Last night we were there they took us to apparently a very famous restaurant that has a Peking Duck as their specialty. We drive into the parking of a Hotel. Looks like a modern big hotel, 6 stories etc etc.
I ask our host...oh the restaurant is in the hotel and he says...umm no. I said..ok...well its inside this huge building right...he says well yes THIS IS A RESTAURANT..THE WHOLE THING. Sits some 6000 people. I have never been to a restaurant as big as the 4th floor we were on. But that thing has another 6 levels. It was amazing. The food was great too. They bring the duck to your table whole, and than carve it right in front of you. The duck also comes with a post card that describes how many hours it was sitting in the oven and it is numbered.
I
Re: Beijing Trip - cjs - 05-11-2012
Oh my Lord, Marina, what a wonderful experience you must have had! When you relax and get back in the swim of things I hope you'll tell us more about your trip. Welcome home!
Re: Beijing Trip - Trixxee - 05-11-2012
Wow - sounds very impressive. Can you imagine how many people they must employ?
Re: Beijing Trip - labradors - 05-11-2012
Quote:
Wow - sounds very impressive. Can you imagine how many people they must employ?
...or how many ducks? YUM! Sounds like a wonderful place and a wonderful trip.
Re: Beijing Trip - Gourmet_Mom - 05-11-2012
What an awesome experience! I can't wait to hear more!
Re: Beijing Trip - BarbaraS - 05-11-2012
Awesome!! I would love to do a Peking Duck. I think our smoker would be tall enough to hang the duck. Woohoo!
Barbara
Re: Beijing Trip - cjs - 05-11-2012
I've done it Barbara and I think Denise did also - they are fun to do and oh so delicious!!!
Re: Beijing Trip - piano226 - 05-11-2012
Well here is a little Wiki info on that restaurant
There is a seven story restaurant on Hepingmen Ave., was a location that hand-picked by former Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai. Serving up to 5,000 meals a day, this restaurant covers a floor area of 15,000 square meters with over forty private dining rooms and can simultaneously seat 2,000 guests.
Having established a history and affiliation with the Chinese government at the municipal and central state level, Quanjude has often been used to hold state banquets and to receive celebrities, dignitaries, and important government figures from over 200 countries as distinguished VIP guests.
Try Googling the Imagees of that restaurant. It is impressive.
Re: Beijing Trip - Mare749 - 05-11-2012
Fascinating information, Marina! Did you take any pictures that you could share with us? What a wonderful trip that must have been. What else did you do while you were there?
Re: Beijing Trip - piano226 - 05-11-2012
I took a few pictures but not many. We went to Great Wall..just wow...I just cannot understand how these people were able to built a 5000 mile wall with no heavy equipment and incredibly steep terrain.
Went to Forbidden city....As impressive in size it was...and it is just freaking unbelievably huge...with hundreds and hundreds of buildings and little couryards...they are all the same. Once you seen 5 buildings and 5 courtyards...you kinda seen it all. It would be like going to a famous European palace where every single room would have the same paint, same trim, same pictures on the wall.
Our hotel was 2 blocks away (5 min walk) to Night Market. Night Market is basically street food. That was a really cool experience. Many types of dumplings and meats and Fish including Silkworms, scorpions, snakes, centerpieds, black spiders, sheep [censored] etc etc etc. I did try snake. Kinda gamey and not really good. On the other hand I love squid and that was really delicious as all the dumplings and other typical food.
Shopping...ALL I CAN SAY IS WOW....the counterfeit industry is just amazing in that country. Some 10 story building called Silk Market inside of which you can putchase ANYTHING...fake...from chanell purses, norththace, dior, armani...to freaking Iphone that i held in my hands and just could not believe that it was not produced by Apple. Oh and did i mention that this was one of probably 6 markets the Beijing has.
Beijing downtown is super clean, extremely modern full of lights and life. Now drive 30 min and you will see the sceneray worthy of National Geographic. Filthy disgusting ditches, totally rundown villages, barefoot children that I assume have never seen shoes in their lives, poverty . Big contrast to amazing 5 star hotels and shopping malls that never ever stop. I have never seen a country with that many shopping malls. I 5 block radius I counted 4 and i am not talking about little strip malls...a full blown multi level huge malls. I am not sure how they are supporting themselves unless of course the government supports it all.
This is a Picasa link. I think I opened the photos to anybody with the link but let me know if you have problems.
https://picasaweb.google.com/11148346690...feat=directlink