Chinese Food!

Trying different foods was certainly a major highlight of the China trip, so I felt that "food" was worthy of its own blog post! I wasn't really sure what to expect with the food in China based on what I had heard from previous travelers' experiences. Our manager, who has traveled to China many times as a coach, recommended that we buy Travelan, which is taken before every meal in order to prevent stomach issues. We stuck to the routine of taking a pill before each meal, so perhaps that helped to keep us healthy.

Our typical breakfast, served in the basement of the Sports School, consisted of rice, hard boiled eggs, frittata-like pancakes, dumplings, bananas (if we were lucky), bok choy or some other green veggie, and yogurt (once we figured out how to ask for it!). There were other choices as well, but these were the main things we ate for breakfast. Lunch and dinner were typically done on our own, as we were out and about for most of those meals.

On our first full day in China, we were very eager to try some Peking Duck, which is supposed to be a Beijing specialty. Low and behold, there was a Peking Duck restaurant INSIDE the sports school, down a few levels underground and next to to boxing hall. We had asked our guide earlier in the day about where we could get some Peking Duck. He said that he would tell us about that later... needless to say we did not expect the restaurant to be underneath the track and tennis courts of the school!

Our duck being carved. It was delicious!!

Every duck comes with a certificate!

Our first experience with Peking Duck was outstanding, however, the boys thought that a lot of meat might be wasted when the duck gets sliced. Therefore, we decided to have a go at carving our own Peking Duck. Let's just say it was quite messy and there is a reason why the restaurant offers to carve it for you!

Not as easy as we thought...

Street food is served everywhere and one of the most popular items on the street in Shichahai seemed to be traditional Beijing yogurt (suannai in Chinese). Every stall had a stash of little clay pots sealed with thin white and blue paper tops.

One of the things that I loved about dining in China was the round table. Essentially you order several different dishes for your group and and everyone shares by spinning the table around like a big lazy Susan. This concept creates opportunities to taste many different dishes.

Our cheapest meal was at a place I read about in Lonely Planet, where we paid less than $4 each for what was essentially all you can eat dumplings, including drinks!

The most adventurous eating took place at the Donghuamen Night Market. The boys made much more dramatic choices than I did by eating scorpion, spiders (big ones!), sea urchins, and starfish (though I did, in the end, try the starfish). I chose to try snake, which was chewy and did not taste very good!

Seafood

Insects

Fruit! In case you were wondering if there was any "normal" food at the night market.

Scorpion!

One for each of them...

Cheers!

My first bite of snake!

I will let you use your imagination to figure out what these foods are!

The night after our interesting eats at the Night Market, we were really craving Westernized food, so a stop at Maccas (aka McDonald's for the American readers) was in order. That was our only "Western" meal during our time in China.

Cal is shorter than me, so you can see that places are not really built for tall people in China!

Not only did we get to enjoy some of China's finest food, but we also indulged in just a few of their beers. Alcohol was quite cheap compared to Australia, so we took advantage of that when we could. Footy finals were on while we were there, so we found an Aussie pub where we could watch the games. Professional development combined with team bonding made this trip an incredibly enjoyable one!