CHINA 2016: DAY 3 & 4

16 OCT

Since we were still in Beijing and we were to have breakfast before picking up Miss Wang, we opted for Yonghe King. I recalled that there was one branch right behind Scitech Hotel (where we stayed in some number of years ago), but apparently it had moved to about a couple of blocks away.

Yonghe King is a fast-food chain restaurant, but one which has soy milk and Chinese doughnuts as their main selling item. They occasionally also have rice dishes on their menu.

After breakfast and picking up Miss Wang, we headed to the Great Wall. Now, the Great Wall is broken up to several smaller "segments" that are distributed across an area. The one we went to this time was the nearest to the city, thus not as high up and less cold than the one we went to a few years ago (higher up and more popular, called Badaling).

Miss Wang and my mother stopped at one of the plateaus, where there was coffee and food. They chatted and shared snacks while my sisters and I proceeded to climb up from the nearest tower to the next.


Being a clumsy person, i.e. someone who is able to lose balance and trip on flat ground, the climb was anxiety inducing. Some steps were knee-height high, but was only about a few inches wide. One particular lady climbed the entire thing without handrail support and in stilettos; a few elderly individuals took this as an opportunity for exercise, and steadily climbed and descended, while everyone else panted away.

Our next destination was the Summer Palace. It was essentially a place of relaxation and luxury, with a vast lake and hills surrounding the area. The last time we were here, it was in the dead of winter - the lotus plants in the water had rotted into oblivion and the smell permeated the place. But we were in the midst of fall this time, and the lotus and lily pads were still fairly decent. The weather was also cool enough to walk around and thoroughly enjoy the scenery.

Dinner was once again at a hotpot restaurant, but in a very secluded corner with pre-ordered Chinese dishes served with rice. Meanwhile, the smell of lamb hotpot wafted in around us.




17 OCT

The next morning involved a flight to Shenyang, where salted peanuts and a measly red bean bun constituted as an inflight meal.

After checking in to our hotel, my father's ex-colleagues brought us out for lunch at a place called 新洪记 that specializes in dumplings. They also have an interesting order system, where you pick out what you want to eat from a menu displayed over an area, and pick your fresh seafood from a tank.

The highlight - roasted lamb on burdock root skewers.

Deep fried tofu

Pan-fried dumplings. The filling here is called 肉三鲜

Steamed dumplings, same filling.

We were sent back to the hotel after some errands and reassuring them that we would be able to handle dinner for ourselves... which we did by raiding a convenience mart right outside our hotel. We picked one instant noodle cup each and loaded up the beer.