"Food Street"

When we first arrived, Chris and I would go back to the hotel to eat. We asked where the team ate and we were told that "it might not be what we were used to." Fortunately, we convinced the gang that that was exactly what we wanted and from that point on we ate our lunches and dinners with them. Most of the places we ate at were on a narrow street said to be one of the oldest in Beijing. Everyone just called it "Food Street" since it had so many places to eat. Every place we ate was excellent much less expensive than the hotel.

Here's a view of food street

Here's Han Jiang stepping into our choice for the day

Another view. It's amazing how you can flag down a taxi cab almost anywhere in Beijing. I had to call a cab once in Hillsboro and it took 2 hours because the cab company's one cab was in Forest Grove.

Fresh fruit being delivered.

Here's the gang having lunch (Chris and I are missing because we're taking pictures) This meal was unusual in that the food was served raw and you cooked it in the bowels that are sunk into the table tops. That's Robert Yung facing the camera on the right. Some of the others at the table are Jia Ying, Edward Zhang, Liu Jian , Yan Yonghong, Lin Zhiwei, Han Jiang and Baosheng Yuan. The drink everyone is enjoying is guo cha (fruit tea).

Same gang (This time with Chris and me in the picture on the right.)

I had noticed that the street and sidewalk were always wet even though it never rained and one day I found out why:

Apparently the street is so old that some of the restaurants were lacking in indoor dish washing facilities. That's got to hurt your knees after awhile! (Note the restaurateur's amusement over my interest in his dish washing system.)