Birthday in BeiJing

I have finally taken one more step over the hill. Today I turned 70 and what better place for a fabulous birthday than Beijing.

We set out this morning for the Summer Palace. It is a long drive but it was worth it because the Palace grounds surround a very pretty little lake. There are antique galleries there with fabulous collections of ancient bronze, some very early jade, and many artefacts found on the Palace grounds.

There were a number of buildings including one to hold the telephone.

It was a long stroll and we were there for over three hours. We are walking much more these days but we used our canes because there were many up and down stairways. The lake is exquisite and was very tranquil. We had lunch in a little restaurant at the Palace.

A little girl stopped us and spoke to us in English. We had a short conversation which delighted not only her but her parents. They wanted a picture of us with her which was easy to do. She was very vivacious and a lovely little person.

Later we caught a cab back to the hotel. We are getting very comfortable riding around the city but we don’t have the confidence to take the city bus.

About 5:30 PM we went to Quan Ju De Roast Duck house for Peking Duck. I have always wanted to try that and what better time to do it. The cabbie dropped us off and directed us to walk down an alley. It was dark but there were lots of people there so there was no concern. At the other end of the alley we burst into an incredible pedestrian zone. It is stunningly beautiful and was just jammed. It was ablaze with lights and absolutely exquisite.

A policeman pointed out the restaurant for us and we went it. Fortunately we had reservations and were seated immediately. The place was mobbed and some people were waiting for seating.
We ordered a whole duck and it is a good thing because we ate most of it. It is different from anything we have ever had. The chef carves the crisp duck into many tiny pieces. It is served with crepes called pancakes here. You take some duck (several pieces) and then dip them in sauce and sprinkle on some scallions. Place the whole thing on the crepe and fold it as if it was a wrap. Then it is picked up and eaten.

It was different and very good.

We had a little trouble finding some cabs to come back to the hotel but a student stepped up and helped. This was his first time in Beijing as well and so we worked together.

All and all it was a wonderful birthday.