Beijing Day 6 (Hutongs & Snack Street)

Okay...I have to say, this was one of my favorite moments in China, if not the favorite. Not surprisingly, it revolved around food...a lot of which I ate, a lot of which I didn't...which you will understand later.

Our first half of the day was exploring the most famous hutong in Beijing (near the Drum & Bell Towers). What I'd expected was a quiet day wandering the old neighborhoods peeking at homes through courtyard gates hundreds of years old, but what we found was streets packed with people. The hutong main thoroughfare has morphed into a historic shopping & dining district, and on the day we were there- was filled with 95% Chinese visitors. We found some beautiful paper products from a stationer, and an amazing handicraft store, but what we mostly found...was FOOD. Tons of it. All day. Our strategy was to basically stand in whatever long line we ran into and order one of whatever everyone else was getting.

My dad kicked it off by getting what can only be described as a large, scalding hot pita bread covered in spicy curry powder. Over the course of the day, we inhaled multiple cream puffs, warm fresh custard, chocolate covered churros (like the ones we had in Madrid!), etc. Honestly, I lost count. I think there were at least a half dozen places we bought food from.

Some of the shops were amazing. It reminded me very  much of Kyoto's Nishiki district...filled with shops offering handicrafts and foods from the past.

My favorite store, hands down...though I generally do not appreciate handicrafts (I see them as knick knacks that collect dust...gosh, what a lovely person I am), I was astounded by these vibrant, polymer clay figurines made by a collaborative group of women, and sold by Chinese university students. If I could have afforded it, I think I would have bought a half dozen. Each tiny figurine was about $40-55 US. Well worth it, in my opinion. My favorites were the dancing dragons...

Outside courtyard gates that are quite possibly a few hundred years old.

Because we just didn't have enough to eat from stall to stall... we had more. I forget the name of this popular Beijing noodle dish, but it's thick wheat noodles (a lot like udon), that you mix up with 3-4 types of vegetables and a thick salty soybean paste. Insanely good.  

Cruising with my boy through a side street of the hutong

Okay...prepare yourselves. Because here's the part of our day that we were surrounded by food, but chose not to eat most of it. Especially the ones still wiggling. I present to you...Wangfujing Snack Street!

Wangfujing Snack Street is admittedly a bit of a tourist trap, purportedly selling 'Chinese snacks,' yet most Chinese would never dream of eating there. I'm betting a good fourth of the 'snacks' sold there are sold more for shock value than for taste. Most of the people there (Chinese visitors) seemed as appalled by it as we were. We did see a few people eating a few gross things, but they were usually young males, possibly egged on by their peers.  

Entering the market

Have a hankering for a locust? No? Then how about a starfish? A lizard, maybe? Look! He's all splayed out ready for bone-free chewing.

Many of the scorpions were still wiggling...pretty unnerving.

Starfish stick, anyone?

Who doesn't love a good locust? Or better yet- it's veal equivalent...a larvae!

Definitely safe (albeit expensive) to eat- candied (glazed) strawberries! De-lish!

Not so scary on the left- squid kebabs. But I think those were some kind of intestinal part on the right.

There is one street selling souvenirs, and our little boy bargained for the first time there to get a ring.

Char grilled giant scorpions, anyone?

Or maybe you're more into grasshopper kebabs? They look nice and crispy, like KFC.

Not everything was gross...there were lots of delicious desserts we bought, beef kebabs for my dad and Rich, vegetable spring rolls, strawberry and kiwi fruit sticks, sesame crackers, pastries filled with bean paste (all of which we bought in spades).

We were buying pastries here, but you can tell that the smell of the market was getting to Ryan...

With some of his souvenirs...a bamboo and silk fan, a Chinese flag, his shuttlecock hackey sack, mini umbrella, ring, some currency, and a rhythmic ribbon. (Camera shy: his Great Wall t-shirt and a bracelet.)