Doubling back after the overwhelmingly spacious and symmetrical Forbidden City, I took a circuitous route back to Wangfujing, to see more of the city. Along the way, I spotted this “must-try” drink, questionable hygiene and safety aside:
Yup, milk milk product from China, from some open stall on an anonymous street corner, held in an unrefrigerated box… perhaps the clay container keeps it cool? I’m not sure what I was thinking, but I regretted it after the first sip. Consistency of yoghurt, but with a strange bitter taste that had no place in any kind of milk product… Curse my upbringing (or lack of intelligence), but I drank half of it before it occurred to me that perhaps I didn’t have to finish the entire thing before returning the jar. I chose to view the subsequent queasiness in my stomach as a sign of my wisdom in leaving the drink behind, instead of evidence of my folly in purchasing it in the first place. 
In Wangfujing, Intime Lotte impresed me in three ways: lots of space, lots of staff, and lots digits in the prices. I saw a watch of some unknown-to-me brand that went for ¥100,000 (about $10,000 USD)! Fortunately, the Beard Papa in their basement had normal prices for my kind of luxurious good.
The Wangfujing strip wasn’t that interesting, nor particularly crowded in the early afternoon when I took this picture. The crowds picked up a bit by later in the afternoon.
While exploring, I noticed that my guidebook glowingly described the Quanjude Restaurant just off the strip, so I stopped by to have my first roast duck in Beijing.
Unfortunately, I did not enjoy the meal. The positives:
- The mushroom soup was delicious. I originally ordered another soup from the menu, but I was counseled against it and redirected to this fine broth. I don’t really know what was in it, other than several kinds of mushrooms, but it was beautifully complex, especially for a vegetarian(?) dish.
And the negatives:
- The duck meat was too lean for my tastes. This leanness is noted as a positive point in the menu literature, however.
- The meat is dipped into sugar, then sliced cucumbers and a savory sauce (duck meat juices?) are added. Probably because it’s familiar, but I prefer a sweet sauce (e.g. Hoisin sauce).
- The pancakes were too thick; I like them much thinner.
Disappointing, and I later discovered (from a native) that a restaurant’s name can’t be trusted. Some restaurants have no affiliation, except that they bought the rights to use the name for their own restaurant. I also learned that there were several “styles” of Peking Duck available in Beijing. A situation where being guided by a native really would have helped…
Tired and full – if not entirely happy – I returned to my hotel. I made arrangements with the local travel agent for the next day, booking a private guide and driver for the Great Wall and Summer Palace. My incremental agenda set for the next 24 hours at least, I headed to my room with the intent to briefly rest and get cleaned up. The maids had visited, though, and left the bed in such a lovely state that I could not resist: in the middle of my first afternoon in Beijing, I was found blissfully sleeping on my firm-yet-comfortable bed.
The day didn’t quite end there, though. Awakening shortly after sundown, I ventured to the shopping district just south of my hotel, an impressive collection of department stores along the street. The product quality and prices were fairly reasonable from a westerner’s perspective; I bought a small satchel for the next day, as my luggage was still unexpectedly absent. The stores also had several interesting features typically not found in North America: a skating rink and Rolls Royce come to mind. The stores did close at a surprisingly conservative hour of 10pm, however, so I was soon forced to retreat to a sushi restaurant for a mediocre dinner, and then to the hotel to end the day.
