I brought back a few teas from my trip to Beijing. This one is definitely my favorite. The leaves were bunched up really tight compared to most of the oolongs that I normally drink. This tea is beautiful to look at and also very fragrant with a strong, almost buttery aroma. It is very refreshing once the leaves fully open up and I especially enjoyed it after the second and third steeping. I really wish that I brought back more of this tea. I guess I will have to go back to China just for the tea!
Archives for category: Food
This is some seriously potent stuff. Chou doufu or stinky tofu, is a traditional chinese food that can be found on pretty much any street corner of Beijing. I don’t know why, but they love the stuff. Let me tell you that the name doesn’t lie. When you are close up the smell is not actually that bad, but this is the kind of smell that goes the distance. This stank dish does its damage from about 300 meters away when it initially infiltrates your nostrils… and I guarantee it, this stuff is seriously rank. I was hoping to try some during my trip, but every time I considered eating it, the smell just put me off my appetite.
Anyways, nevermind the fact that people here are just lining up to eat a food that is made to look like it has mold on it. I’ll stick to some baozi and call it a day.
Here we are at the Beijing snack street!!! Get ready foodies….
snack street entrance
meat on a stick… pretty standard yummy stuff
Baozi is a standard snack that you will find literally everywhere from restaurants to 7/11. I LOVE THEM ❤
tiny duck
not sure what this was, but it looked good
kinda like a burger with gyro style rotisserie meat. They also serve them wrapped burrito style
more baozi… drool
grubbin for grubs? blech
super yummy nut cake things
scorpions on a skewer
seahorse and starfish
had to try it….
Here I go…. http://youtu.be/DYbIV6gtcME
About 15 million people currently reside in China’s fourth largest city. Tianjin, which hosted the water events of the 2008 Olympics Games, encompasses rapid growth on a massive scale. This city is massive, and jam-packed with a similar style build that I saw previously in China. But this city is very different from Beijing and Shanghai because it is not an ‘international city’. Whereas the capital is home to many government consulates and foreign businesses, in Tianjin seeing a foreigner is a very rare sight. My time spent in Tianjin was extra special, because I got to spend time with Jakes chinese family.
When we arrived, we were picked up at the train station by our hosts and their family friends (who conveniently had a large minivan). We proceeded to get lunch! I was nervous because this would be the first time I got a full dose of eating a meal at a restaurant with China natives. Going to a restaurant in China is incredibly different than in the US. Main differences: 1. No services with a smile b/s 2. You pay before you eat 3. Lack of cleanliness/everybody just throws their trash on the ground (which means you are sitting in a room filled with food, trash and cig. butts). I was nervous at first, but once the food came I settled in. The families didn’t know a word of english, so Jake had to translate everything for me. All of the dishes ordered were really good (except the fish) and I was pressured into eating massive amounts of food by the families… which i’m pretty sure is a cultural courtesy in China. Afterwords I enjoyed a moment of zen when I was told that I had exceptional chopstick skills for an American 😀
Our next stop was the Tianjin cultural street!
They told us to wear our bags on our front to prevent theft.
We also ate these Tianjin special treats that were kinda like honey cake but with carmel. REALLY, REALLY YUMMY!
Another unique thing we saw was this guy blowing sculpture animals out of caramel, which I was told was a traditional/ lost art in the region…. you wouldn’t want to eat it though… because the guy had his dirty hands all over the recycled caramel. This girl thought it was pretty cool… I thought it was kinda gross.
We went into a mall to take some pictures. Homeboy on the right was really prepared with a camera tripod and timer set on the camera (standard chinese tradition :P)
They took us to see the newly constructed historical museums. This whole segment of town was built within just one year (5 massive buildings and a lake).
and we took more pictures infront of this crazy color-changing building.
Before going to dinner we saw this crazy wedding cake shop that had super-luxury cakes. China is filled with lots of luxury goods, so why not have super luxury wedding cakes? …amirite? 
Thats about 1/2 mil USD
Eventually we went to dinner where we again consumed massive amounts of food and then headed back to the train station. From there I got my last glimpse of this amazing city. This is a view of their ‘little italy’, a section of town that was developed under imperial ruling of Italy. 
Tianjin is an amazing place to see. Its doesn’t quite fit into the same categories as Beijing or Shanghai because it not a touristy kind of place, but its packed full of huge city and industrial development. Also, I would advise against eating the fish… it kinda tastes like polluted water.
Chicken, string mushroom, bacon, potato, lotus root, tofu skin, cilantro with a sichuan style sauce.
It is standard to plastic wrap freshly cleaned utensils and plate in restaurants.
So spicy, so good
Enter the NOOSPHERE 