Nanchang Fandian - Jiangxi Provincial Hotel

Another day off, another provincial hotel. This time I decided to try out Nanchang Fandian, the ride there in rain ended at what looked like something between a run down apartment building and a military compound. After I checked the address from the photo I'd taken off my computer screen earlier, I was able to verify that the Chinese characters on the compound matched the ones on the address, I was there.

Inside the compound I discovered a small room with 6 tables, which could probably double as a holding tank for offenders against the communist party. I got myself the local Jianxi Beer, some sort of hot plate of eel, and a pile of pork and veggies. I found the crunchy texture of the eel quite nice, however from what I was eating I couldn't have recognized that this was pieces of eel, for all I know this might have been a mistaken translation in the menu. The sauce at the bottom of the bowl reminded me of squid ink except with a spicy edge, I enjoyed this enough I drank several spoon fulls straight. The pork and veggie dish had quite a lot of meat however was a bit bland, to help spice it up a bit I employed yet more of my favorite eel liquid. Unfornuatly by the time I finished the eel liquid had caught up with me and I ended up leaving a pile of snot filled clean-ex on the table.

Eel

WW2 Victory Parade

With the day off from work I decided what better then to go work while nobody can bother me. At my office gate I was stopped by a security officer and forced to sign a sign-in sheet which I couldn't understand before passing through the gate.

While I tried to get my day going I heard the distracting sound of aircraft from outside, after a couple minutes of this I decided to go upstairs and investigate. I found 15 other people on the roof pointing with their phones toward the south west. The planes, which it turned out were actually jets and helicopters, had laid colorful trails in the sky ending over Tianmen Square. I decided to walk away from them as close to the edge of the roof as possible.

As I stood on the roof, a security officer took interest in me, and after some belligerent hand motions and Chinese I couldn't understand, I realized this dude didn't want me on the roof. I acknowledged his request to get out, and started going toward the stairway, but near the door I encountered a couple of the people I'd seen minutes before. I figured, if there is a whole group of people who are sitting here watching this and not being bothered, maybe if I just stop and stand with them this guy will give up. After a couple more bouts belligerent hand waving toward the only foreigner in the group, through which I kept my eyes firmly on the new jets flying past, he gave up.

"Parade Blue Sky"

Hainan Provincial Hotel Restaurant

The Hainan Provincial Hotel Restaurant is located a stones throw north of Wudoaying Hutong, like most of the provincial restaurants in Beijing this one had a slightly bland setup, when I entered I discovered one large empty room with three extravagant 1950s looking chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, and Elton John musak playing in the background.

Outside the Hainan Provincial Hotel

Inside the Restaurant

Pho Laboratory

I noticed the sign for Pho Laboratory just north of Workers Stadium a couple weeks back, however not till today did I get a chance to check it out. From the outside you might expect a typical dodgy place for locals of the surrounding hutong, but inside it's freshly remodeled to make any westerner feel at home. The meal selection consists only of pho, rolls and sandwiches, but they also have a selection of sweets and offer Vietnamese beer and coffee. I ordered up some pho dac biet, cha lua pork rolls and a hot coffee.

The feeling inside here was truly reminiscent of places I ate during my last visit to Vietnam. The soup contained tender sirloin, tripe, tendon and flank steak in an extremely addictive broth, lucky after slurping down all the broth I was given an extra serving to go along with my remaining noodles. The humidity caused by the boiling broth in the kitchen combined with the heat from the illuminated sun roof formed a micro climate in the restaurant,which left me sweating as I finished up my delicious Vietnamese coffee. If you happen to be hungry next time you're in the area, check it out, this place is far more unique then your average Gongti eatery.

Pho Laboratory from the street

Tienanmen Square Photos

Here's some pictures I took at Tienanmen Square a couple months ago:

Qomolangma Hotel Restaurant (Tibetan Food)

Looking to try something more interesting this weekend I decided to track down the Qomolangma Hotel. This is a Tibetan provincial government hotel just north east of Lake Huhai, located in its basement is an authentic Tibetan restaurant. 

After arriving via taxi, I was guided downstairs by a hotel worker to a large and completely empty dining room. As I looked through the menu I wondered if something I didn't know had scared all the locals away from the place. It didn't take me long to decide on my main coarse, as soon as I saw the dish titled "Lucky Sauteed Sheep head", I knew I would be full of regret if I didn't try it. I also ordered some yak dumplings and deep fried ginseng to try and sample a broader range of Tibetan food

Qomolangma Hotel

Pyongyang North Korean

After weeks of persistence, I convinced someone to go with me to one of the most interesting restaurants in Beijing. Located north east of the Agricultural Exhibition Center on the first floor of a the Huakang Hotel is Pyongyang, an authentic Korean Restaurant run by the North Korean government. There are 3 or 4 of these in Beijing, and in many more in cities around the world, however the US seams to be missing one.

outside Pyongyang Restaurant