As my study abroad time wraps up, I want to return to the one thing I’ve always looked forward to during my time in Beijing: food. Food is very important in Chinese culture and each region has its own flavor and specialty dishes. For the most part, I’ve had Chinese food here but I’ve also had Western style food, Korean, sushi, and others. During the week, for lunch we would go to the school cafeterias to eat, mainly Nongyuan and Xuewu (aka Hollywood Café). At the cafeterias, there were many stalls with a wide variety of dishes to choose from and many more options compared to the dining halls at Northwestern. It was also great how cheap the food was. Just 10 yuan, less than 2 US dollars, would be enough for a very filling lunch.
Noodles at the school cafeteria…so cheap!
For dinner and on the weekends, we would mostly go out to find something to eat. Just a couple bus stops away were areas with many restaurants and it was always an adventure deciding on where to eat. We would also often go in malls and check out the many restaurants inside. Some of the typical kinds of food you can find are noodles, baozi (steamed bun with filling), stir-fried dishes and hot pot. One of the best meals I had was at a restaurant that specialized in serving roasted fish. At the restaurant, you ordered by picking the kind of fish, the flavor to go with it, and vegetables that they cook with the fish. However, the first time I went, we didn’t understand the Chinese menu and tried to order by pointing at the pictures they had of the different flavors, which I’m sure amused our waiter. The fish is served on a huge platter with a flame underneath to keep in hot and the fish itself is tender and succulent.
fish
An example of baozi (this one’s filled with red bean paste)