Beijing Duck – On your first night in Beijing, you will go to Quanjude the famous Beijing Kaya (Peking Duck) restaurant. The place will be huge – four stories. You will be taken up to the third floor. The duck will be delicious – the best, most high-class meal of the trip. At this restaurant that has hosted world leader, your meal will cost less than $20 a head. Later, you will sneak down to the second floor – the one with the private banquet hall. You will look through the Hall of Heroes (or whatever its called). Heads of state have eaten in this restaurant. Mao was here. You imagine Nixon and Kissinger eating duck here – George Bush throwing up here…
Beijing is cold, but after the meal, you will go for a walk. You will see Mao’s picture overlooking Tiananmen Square. You will see the new music center, which looks like a glowing egg. There will be lasers. They will look cool when you take pictures of them. You will see several large, boxy, “communist” style building. Most of the buildings in Beijing look like giant boxes. They are big and imposing, but there are almost no skyscrapers. Instead, each giant box is practically a block unto itself. None of the boxes touch each other. The city is very spread out. Walking around is difficult. The subway does not reach all destinations. There are many cars. The city feels like it was designed by a central planning committee instead of being allowed to organically expand. This is most likely true.
Beijing Duck – On your first night in Beijing, you will go to Quanjude the famous Beijing Kaya (Peking Duck) restaurant. The place will be huge – four stories. You will be taken up to the third floor. The duck will be delicious – the best, most high-class meal of the trip. At this restaurant that has hosted world leader, your meal will cost less than $20 a head. Later, you will sneak down to the second floor – the one with the private banquet hall. You will look through the Hall of Heroes (or whatever its called). Heads of state have eaten in this restaurant. Mao was here. You imagine Nixon and Kissinger eating duck here – George Bush throwing up here…
Beijing is cold, but after the meal, you will go for a walk. You will see Mao’s picture overlooking Tiananmen Square. You will see the new music center, which looks like a glowing egg. There will be lasers. They will look cool when you take pictures of them. You will see several large, boxy, “communist” style building. Most of the buildings in Beijing look like giant boxes. They are big and imposing, but there are almost no skyscrapers. Instead, each giant box is practically a block unto itself. None of the boxes touch each other. The city is very spread out. Walking around is difficult. The subway does not reach all destinations. There are many cars. The city feels like it was designed by a central planning committee instead of being allowed to organically expand. This is most likely true.
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