Yu Yuan actually means Contentment according to one travel site I saw.

Yu Yuan Garden is a “five-acre garden consists of six sections separated by boundary walls: Grand Rockery, Ten Thousand-Flower Pavilion, Hall of Heralding Spring, Hall of Jade Magnificence, Inner Garden and Lotus Poo located in Shanghai.”

The place has a magnificent colorful architecture. The vibrance of red makes you feel “China”. But amidst its beauty, the place really attracts a LOT of tourist/people! It was literally full and I was finding my way to places I need to meet my friends.

There was a lot of shops, food inside the Garden. This is where I got to try the HUGE Xiao Long Pao. I was literally shocked that I had to sip the soup inside the big pao. It was really hot! I wondered why the straw didn’t melt. The xiao long paowas actually cheap (around 5rmb). We ate at some famous restaurant inside garden, we saw pictures of Clinton and other famous personalities inside the restaurant. But the food…I wasn’t impressed and it’s really expensive! Our cafeteria restaurant in BLCU was even better. Their jiao zi (dumpling) was sticky and starchy. Din tai fung’s xiao long pao is way better!
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Tea is more popular drink in China rather than coffee. They have too many kinds of tea leaves I never get to memorize. The famous ones are Jasmine, Oolong Tea, Green Tea.

I’m not really a tea addict, we usually order those free ones (house tea) in Chinese Restaurants. I prefer coffee’s caffiene! Anyway, I saw an interesting act while I was in China. When we were in Shanghai, we went to a facinating restaurant called 1212 which is very hard to find. From the outside, it looks like an ordinary building but when you get in, you’ll be amazed how ironic the setting is.

For the first time, I was able to watch some guy waiter doing some Kung Fu Tea (Gong fu) Serving. When I saw him, I thought he would be showing some moves, but it was just pouring. I heard in Beijing, there’s this place, a traditional tea house where they showcase this famous Gongfu Pouring. I should have watched one! I would have been much more amazed.

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If you really like spicy food, and you think that you haven’t tried anything that can make you give up eating that…you must try SI CHUAN cuisines. This is one of the spiciest food I’ve eaten and it really made my stomach growl in disagreement. We didn’t just order in some restaurant in Beijing, we got to try it where it orginated..Chengdu.

Since we were adventurous enough to try something local when we had this free time on our tour in Jui Zai Gou, we went to the nearest restaurant we found.

Trying our luck with the best local food, we asked the waitress to suggest what are their best sellers. The menu was full of food pictures so it was easy to choose even if it’s all in Chinese. Because Si Chuan cuisine is famous for their spicy entree, we had to try it for ourselves.
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Delicieux!

I have this facination with speaking French, I really want to learn the language. It all sounds so sophisticated and elegant. I wanted to taste the famous crepes and other French cuisines so that I can feel a bit closer to French culture. So we managed to search for one of the well-known French Restaurant in Beijing.

La Mansarde was once featured in That’s Beijing so we ought to try it before we went back home. Best known for crepes, the restaurant offers variety of French cuisine.

I am really not a fan of kebabs types of food. I think I ordered wrong because the ones I tasted was just so-so. I was not impressed by the entrees. We tried the lunch set (which is a value for money because there’s an appetizer or dessert, entree for around 40rmb if I remembered correctly). I guess there are only few good choices for the lunch sets.

The ambience was nice, pleasing and home-y. The service was not so spectacular but ok for a classy restaurant.

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Do you still plan to volunteer for the Olympics 2008 in Beijing China?

You can still apply!

Check out this site Volunteer Information. That’s free pass to the event your helping! Plus you can also rub elbows with some of the best athletes! Coolness! However, you need to be very fluent in English and also fluent in Mandarin is a major plus.

If you’re already in Beijing, you can go try applying. It’s a whole lot different experience!