My Hostel and Food

Last night I caught a late  train to Beijing.  The trip was fast comfortable and uneventful until I arrived.  The taxi queue time blew out to half an hour but there were no brawls like last time. 

These are 2 of the carriages from the train.  I am returning on the train equivalent of a motor tricycle as it will take nearly twice the time.

The taxi driver let me off on the main road near the hostel and then I had to walk down a pedestrian street for about 5 minutes to reach my hostel.  The street was still well lit with some open shops and even a few people with bicycle stalls trying to sell food and fruit after midnight.   I hadn’t been to this hostel before but had patronised the first of what now seems a chain, and it is in the same pedestrian street.  They are ideally located for visitors wanting to visit any number of tourist locations.

 

The ground floor or as it is known in China, the 1st floor.

Another view of the ground floor.

I chose this hostel because it is unusual being a 240 year old guesthouse said to have been frequented by an 18th century emperor and other nobles.  It is also notable for its 2 storey construction around an internal courtyard.  Large 3rd storey windows let in light making photography difficult as the ground floor is in the gloom.  The courtyard area is decorated with antiques and furniture from previous times.

My bedroom is small and basic and includes a TV and air conditioner.  It has its own unique charm with material on the walls and paper over the glass wall facing the courtyard.  It is close to the bathrooms.  In common with what seems to be all but top notch establishments in China the new bathrooms are fading around the edges and the older modifications tell their own story. 

Check back in a few days and see if I have taken and added some photos of the entrance and the nearby street.

 

My bed and chair

My plans for this weekend were disrupted so I had to replan my itinerary.  Today’s atmosphere was seriously compromised but I went to Behai Park and will post some photos another time.

These photos show the food I bought today.

These mutton kebabs were cooked over a charcoal fire and dusted with herbs and spices.  They were delicious.

I thought I was ordering cooked vegetables but they wern’t.  They tasted as if they had been pickled a bit and basically I have no idea how they were prepared.  I did eat some but was uncertain about their safety so left most of it.

I was still peckish so further on I encountered these fried tofu in some sort of sauce.  Again I ate a couple and not being rapt in them nor convinced of their safety ditched them in a bin.

The base of this is corn with sesame and orange added as I bought two kinds.  They are made on a revolving drum about 5 foot wide.  A goop of orange stuff is tipped on and it is smoothed out with a stick with a flat attachment like a piece of wood in a T shape.  Sometimes ingredients are added such as sugar, sweetened condensed milk.  After it has revolved and been flatened many times it is lifted off, folded and cut.  I was going to take some photos but the female cook gave me a dirty look.  The orange one tastes pretty good while the other is lacking in flaovour..

That is the only photo I could get of a dog out in its winter woolies.