When I was still studying in Beijing, we had this rule that we will eat cheap during weekdays and splurge on the weekends. As far as I am concerned, it didn’t bother me because eating cheap wasn’t that bad in our school restaurants.

Inside BLCU campus, there’s a Chinese restaurant at 2nd floor of the cafeteria, which is our favorite value-for-money treat. . Interestingly, we were never left dissatisfied with our orders. At around 10 RMB per person, we get to order 7-8 dishes for 10 people already!

Our favorites were the sweet crispy chicken and the fried mantou with condensed milk .

There is a standard taste to all entrees…for standard, i mean the entrees don’t just look the same, they sometimes taste the same too! Also take note that during lunch time, BLCU students flock to this area to eat. Service is bad (the fuyuan or waitresses are sometimes so nasty, you’d wish you can just get things by yourself.) (more…)

Li Qun is one of oldest restaurant that served the popular Peking Duck in Beijing. Located at the heart of a Hutong, you might feel ancient dining here.
The place reminded me of an old Chinese house. We almost got lost looking for this but you can ask taxi driver to drop you directly near the restaurant-house.
Made of bricks, the house- turned-restaurant maybe your trip down Chinese history. Upon entering, you would see a lot of pictures of the owner with celebrities from all around the globe.

Using old-school roasting style, you can see the duck being roasted right before your eyes. You can also ask that the waiter could slice the skin of the duck at your table side. (more…)

Upon news of snowfall for the winter season 2007 in Beijing, I began reminiscing my first snowfall in Beijing.

Snowfalls are incredibly rare in spite of common misconception of winter season for Beijing. Since the atmosphere is dry, the rain/snow are probably less than the usual compared to other countries. During my stay, I recall only around two times when it snowed hard. But the temperature would drop around -10 so suddenly. Yahoo widgets was my best friend during those times.

I can’t help but reminisce. Firsts are really memorable, the year 2006, Nov 25 was one of the best moments in my life. My first touch of the snow ever! It was surreal because I was awaken in the middle of my sleep. My friends were all yelling that I should wake up and see the first snowfall! As far as I remember, I was slacking because of the ungodly hour when that happened (3am).

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You might be shocked upon seeing heavy dusts around the city of Beijing..so be forewarned. I think the government is now having plans to correct this problem before the Olympics starts.

If it’s windy, for sure…these pesky dust come charging into unprotected eyes, heck I would often rub my eyes for this. Don’t wonder too if your house is already close, then when you come back, ‘dustballs’ would still pop out of nowhere. You better have a good set of vacuum for that.
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This seems to be a very weird post regarding Beijing but I swear, this one is my favorite cheap treat when I was still in Beijing! I’ve been eating Mcdonald’s sundae back in the Philippines for as long as I remember. I even planned to join the Junior Mcdo crew when I was still young so somehow I am very familiar with the taste.

So far, when I compared it to the sundae ice cream of Mcdonald’s Beijing China…it was different! The one in Beijing is much creamier and smooth. I wonder where did they get their ingredients or from whom they get the supply. For about 2.50 kuai, I would indulge with this dessert even in chilly winter season in China!

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Usually top must-haves of a tourist are a map, handy bag/wallet, cellphone, passport etc. When I first arrived in Beijing, I got the map but I couldn’t quite understand the roads. Beijing is a really big area to navigate through. The free map will only tell you the usual so you can skip that.

When you get to Beijing, go to a restaurant in Chaoyang and for sure they have free copies of That’s Beijing magazine. This never ceases to amaze me of all the things you can actually go, do, explore in Beijing. For typical English speaking tourists, this is a very helpful piece to bring around if you want to try something new. That’s Beijing Magazine has a long list of restaurants of different cuisines, places you can visit plus the telephone number for you to ask for a reservation.
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