Chinese Buffet – Part 5: Hou Hai by Boat

by Kelly Amabile on

Chinese Buffet is a month-long series that chronicles the travels of an American woman who visited China for the first time in July 2007.

After meeting with the Immersion Guides staff at their offices, a few of us headed off to Hou Hai for some evening fun. The True Run team was kind enough to offer to show me around town for a bit, but I wasn’t quite sure what they had planned. I was looking forward to kicking back for awhile, allowing someone else to lead and navigate for a few hours, so I could just take in the atmosphere of Beijing. Floating on the lake at Hou Hai was a great place to do that.

Some of the staff rode their bikes across town, while Mike Wester and I hopped in a taxi that then sat in traffic for over an hour — all part of the Beijing experience! Eventually we all met at the dock along the south side of Shichahai Lake and boarded wooden boats at River Romance:

Five of us hopped on the old-fashioned covered boat, along with our rower and a musician who began strumming on her pipa, a traditional Chinese lute:

Our evening dining excursion began with some munchies: boiled peanuts, “hairy” green beans and some sort of dried, salted cod:

Oh, and of course, a basket of beer. Gabe made sure we had a generous supply of Yanjing, the local Beijing brew:

As the boat headed north, Reid explained why the Hou Hai area developed so rapidly in recent years. The strip of bars and restaurants along Lotus Lane became very popular after the SARS outbreak in 2003, when the government encouraged city residents to spend as much time as possible in the open air. The cramped and enclosed quarters that many Chinese residents live in were likely to aid in spreading the disease, so folks started spending more time outdoors – in the parks and along the banks of rivers and lakes like this one.

After about 30 minutes, we docked near Kaorouji, a famous 100-year old lakeside restaurant, where our dinner was brought to the boat. While we waited, a woman selling lotus blossoms approached us. We bought two and Shelley showed me how to break open the blossom and eat the seeds inside. You can eat them raw, which we did (kinda tastes like bland nuts, with a nice crunch) but they are often ground into a paste and used to make congee, an Asian porridge.

The evening air was delightful and the beers were cold – what more could you ask for? This was my first authentic Chinese buffet, aboard a wooden boat in the heart of Beijing – it was fabulous, but of course, in all the excitement, I didn’t get a good shot of the food before we dug into it!

We shared plates of sliced Peking Duck, roasted lamb and scallions, mushrooms, snowpeas and a hummus-like dish that I skipped. (Still not sure what exactly it was?!) I nibbled on a duck foot also, but it was much too salty for me. Eating sliced duck in a bing (pancake) as the boat rocked and sauce dripped down my leg was the yummiest (and messiest) part of the meal for me:

Noise from the bars and restaurants along the shore began to escalate as night decended. The Lotus Lane “honkey tonk” as Mike Wester called it, was beginning to pick up. But from the water, the nightlife simply glowed – I liked being in the midst of it, yet distanced from the dizziness:

Heading back, we encountered a bottleneck of boats at the famous Yingding Bridge. Just more typical Beijing traffic, this time as we floated along. There were laughs, bumps and heckles from the other boaters as we made our way through.

Everyone was in a festive mood – it was one of those classic summer nights when everything just seems right. The last thing we did was light small candles and place them in mini paper dragon boats that we set sail on the lake.

The bright flames sparkled quickly, then disappeared into the water, merging with the neon reflections of the evening hoopla around Hou Hai.

One for the Road – China: Unofficial Guide to the Beijing Games

by Kelly Amabile on

As a sidebar to this month’s Chinese Buffet series, throughout August, One for the Road will highlight travel guides, reference books and other recommended reads related to life or travel in China.

This week we are highlighting several titles by the True Run Media team, a guidebook and magazine publisher based out of Beijing. In addition to a special 2008 version of their Insider’s Guide that they will update and publish shortly before the Olympics begin, the Immersion Guides team will also produce a separate book all about the Games:

The Unofficial Guide to the Beijing Games is a forthcoming title that will cover the Olympics from an insider’s perspective. In addition to schedules, maps and ticket info, the guide will list the best venues for enjoying the city during the Games. And since these guys will be on the ground in Beijing monitoring the very latest restaurant, club and bar openings up to the last possible minute, this guide will most definitely have the most updated information. It will be a must-have for anyone visiting Beijing during the Olympics. Check the Immersion Guides website to find out when this handy reference will be available — I’m sure they are hard at work on it as we speak!

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Chinese Buffet – Part 4: Beijing’s 365-Day Countdown Begins

by Kelly Amabile on

Chinese Buffet is a month-long series that chronicles the travels of an American woman who visited China for the first time in July 2007.

(Olympic neon glows from a hutong shop window.)

In a few hours, the city of Beijing will kick off it’s official one-year till the Games countdown celebration. The big 08-08-08 is just 365 days away, and the media buzz surrounding whether or not Beijing is ready will continue to escalate. There is constant chatter about public health and security concerns, human rights violations, and civility initiatives. Here are just eight examples of topics currently on the table:

1) Yesterday the city began its two week ban of one million cars from the city streets. The ban, which will affect one third of Beijing’s vehicles, is a pre-Olympic test to temporarily decrease pollution and traffic. (Several city residents told me that when they did this last summer, there was a noticeable difference in the sky and on the streets.)

2) But the IOC President said today that athletic events could be postponed if the air quality is not good.

3) Sixty new parks will be built between now and when the Games begin, but many still wonder, will Beijing be green enough? (I was impressed with the number of tree lined streets and blossoming parks, but is it just for show? Hopefully these new parks will be preserved beyond the duration of the Games.)

4) Over 1.25 million people have already been forcibly displaced from their homes as a direct result of preparations for the Olympic Games.

(A model of the “bird’s nest” Olympic Stadium)

5) Taxi drivers (among others) must follow new regulations that meet the standard of the city image Beijing is striving to show to the world. (I rode with several drivers who were quite happy to share their English language skills.)

6) Water closet will be flushed for toilet: All “WC” signs will be replaced with “Toilet” signs before the end of the year. (I don’t recall seeing even one WC sign in Beijing, so they are making progress on this one.)

7) The first of three new subway lines is set to open in September.

8) The Made in China manufacturing craze ensures that Olympic merchandise will be over the top. (Do do you really need an Olympic pinky ring?)

The That’s Beijing blog has a good roundup of major pre-Olympic initiatives underway and a blog about public relations in China has a handy summary of the various protests taking place. Olympic excitement and anticipation is addicting, especially if you are a fan of sport…but debate and discussion about the challenges Beijing faces is just as fascinating to follow.

(A model of the bubbly Olympic swimming venue.)

Being aware of these Olympic-size issues will be helpful for travelers heading to Beijing in the next year. But let’s get back to basics for a moment with some general sightseeing travel tips from the Immersion Guides team. Here are five “insider” tips they shared with me during our visit:

1) Most people come to Beijing and spend too much time worrying about bargaining. But who cares about getting ripped off every once in awhile? Expect to get ripped off – it’s part of the experience! And remember that you are probably still getting something for a very cheap price.

2) Skip the student art exhibit scams and steer clear of the tea scams as well. (Bill Bowles is a traveler with a website full of awesome videos about his visits to China and elsewhere; watch his team scam story for the scoop.)

3) History buffs who want to learn all the details and background of a particular site should always find an official guide or audio tour.

4) If you are short on time in Beijing, it’s best to choose between the Summer Palace and the Forbidden City. They look very similar — one just has lots more green landscape around it! With limited time, only visit one.

5) If you do choose the Forbidden City, be sure to seek out the West Palace. Lots of people whiz through the FC, wondering what the big deal is, because everything looks the same. But the West Palace is unique and does not look like anything else. (Hopefully it won’t be under restoration. But regardless of when you visit, some section of the palace will surely be closed.)

Chinese Buffet – Part 3: Truly Immersed in Beijing

by Kelly Amabile on

Chinese Buffet is a month-long series that chronicles the travels of an American woman who visited China for the first time in July 2007.

(Immersion Guides Staff, L to R: Reid Barrett, Gabriel Monroe, Shelley Jiang, Jackie Yu and summer interns from Stanford – Amy Xue and Catherine Lee.)

In the Housing and Hotels section of the Insider’s Guide to Beijing, Editor Reid Barrett suggests that residents of the city should “…set the trial and tribulations of your time here to a laugh track rather than a weepy violin.” He’s got the right attitude for navigating this awesome and overwhelming city — and so does the entire Immersion Guides team that I had the opportunity to meet with while in Beijing.

No matter how polluted the air may be, the True Run Media team lives and breaths Beijing. In addition to the Immersion Guides crew, which produces all print guidebooks and maps, the company publishes several magazines, including the flagship city guide That’s Beijing and niche offshoots: TBJ Home and TBJ Kids.

All full-time staff and contributing writers for both the magazines and guidebooks live and work in the city, churing out monthly copy for the city guides as well as impressive annual rewrites of the print guidebooks and mid-year updates of neighborhood maps. We all know how quickly things are changing throughout China, so it’s great to see a media company that is willing to invest in people and pages to stay one step ahead of things…

This is the main room where the That’s Beijing magazine staff works — several other smaller rooms packed with hard working writers make up the headquarters of True Run Media, located south east of the city center. The company began with the magazine lanuch in 2001, and has grown tremendously in the past six years. Now, with the Olympics only one year away, the True Run operation is well positioned to serve a variety of existing and new audiences. In addition to the magazines and Insider’s Guide, they publish a Mandarin phrasebook, a Beijing Excursions guide, restaurant ordering books and a guide to Lhasa, their first title outside of Beijing proper.

Immersion Guides Managing Editor Adam Pilsbury was out of town when I visited, but I was able to sit down and chat with Editor Reid Barrett and Michael Wester, the General Manager of True Run Media, to talk about how their company is managing to cover Beijing from every angle.

Since their writer network in so extensive (with over 40 “insider” contributors), the guidebooks pop with a “panorama of voices” as Reid Barrett explained. “How could one person write an entire guidebook and hope to do it justice? We find people who are experts in their area — someone who does the club scene often writes about nightlife; another writer with a professional background in art dealing covers that scene for us.”

As Mike Wester explained to me (shown here with the very first issue of the That’s Beijing magazine), True Run is willing to make an investment in staff to ensure that their products are the most comprehensive. “There are a lot of city mags in Beijing, but ours is the thickest and has the largest directory coverage. We also invest more in gathering data. For example, we are the only magazine to hire a full-time restaurants editor, and mentally, I think that makes a huge difference, to have someone focused on that topic all the time. Hopefully that is reflected in the quality of our product’s content.”

Mike and Reid both wound up in this business because of their interest in print media and because they had studied Mandarin in college. “People who bother to learn the language usually wind up making it part of their career,” says Mike, who worked as an editor in Taiwan before moving to Beijing to launch the magazine. He now makes his home here with his wife and baby daughter, and is both professionally and personally invested in promoting the city.

“People have had for a long time very negative perceptions of Beijing. If you ask people what they think about the city, now, it’s about pollution. Five years ago all anyone would say was Tian’an Men Square. I’m concerned with the future of the city being a good one. I live here now with my family and I want our products to – not hide the negatives – but also communicate that there is a lot more than pollution and crowds here. We want to share information about how it can be a good place to live and how we can make it better.”

Throughout the week I’ll be sharing more insight and travel tips from the Immersion Guides team at True Run Media.

See you tomorrow — the 365 day Olympic countdown begins!

One for the Road – China: Insider’s Guide to Beijing

by Kelly Amabile on

As a sidebar to this month’s Chinese Buffet series, throughout August, One for the Road will highlight travel guides, reference books and other recommended reads related to life or travel in China.

I know most travelers don’t want to be weighed down with heavy books while on the road, but if you’re ever going to be based in Beijing for at least a week or so, I’ve got to recommend the hefty Insider’s Guide to Beijing, produced by the Immersion Guides team at True Run Media.

It’s a tome,” says True Run General Manager Michael Wester. But he sees that as one of the primary characteristics that distinguishes this guidebook from the rest. “We don’t skimp.” Just lift the 750+ page soft cover book and you’ll see — it’s hard to believe they’ve left anything out! This “Bible to Beijing”, written entirely by folks living in the city, is primarily produced for the English speaking population residing in Beijing. But travelers will surely find this glossy color guide to be a valuable reference as well.

Although it does cover sightseeing, nightlife and the arts scene in detail, the real value lies in all the other “daily life” data it provides: information on renting a home, finding a summer camp for your kid, navigating the health care system and buying the perfect Chinese furniture. If you’re heading to Beijing for an extended period of time — to teach, study abroad or work during the Olympics — definitely consider this comprehensive super-guide to the city.

The fourth edition — the 2008 version — will be available in September of this year. And there are plans to do another update prior to the Olympics, that should be available (only in Beijing) about two months before the Games begin. Right now, the easiest place to purchase the 2007 edition (outside of China) is on Amazon, or directly from True Run Media. The company hopes to have international distribution of the book within the year.

I’ve got more from the Immersion Guides team coming up later today and throughout the week.