Beijing Sights, Forbidden City

I know some of these pics were already posted, or maybe it was on my FB, but anyways these are some of my favorite sights while we walked through the Forbidden City while in Beijing, the architectural beauty and attention to detail is just breath taking... I will have some more in a different post from other historical places! Enjoy!

Beijing, Blue Frog

One day after eating way too much chinese food, my sister and I decided to look for a good place to have some american style food, we ended up in Blue Frog, it is a cute, not really high end, but very nicely done american style bar, with a pool table in the second floor, and free wifi. They have several locations around the city and also in Shanghai. You should check them out, their drinks are well priced and their hamburgers are the bomb! many different topins to choose from!

They also have several pastas, wraps and salads to compliment their menu. The staff is very friendly and I am sure they have great happy hour specials!

Bulk Shopping

If you are looking for a safe place to get lots and lots of imitation brands and some local crafts as well, you need to stop by the Silk Street Market, completely remodeled for the Olympics, it is safe, clean and fun!

My favorite store there is:
Corul Jewelry
no 5118 - 5th floor Silk Street Market
Chao Yang District Beijing

they have all sorts of pearls and jade jewelry, the girls that work there are very nice, they will make custom stuff while you shop, and they are great for bargain, you never never want to pay full price on anything, unless you absolutely want it and you have 5 minutes to hail a cab during rush hour! lol

In here you can find "Polo" shirts, all sorts of golf accessories, Tommy Bahama's shirts, nicer quality leather goods and much much much more, come with lots of cash and lots of patience and time! I would advice you not to use your credit card in these places, you don't want to have your credit card "accidentally" double charge or cloned.... always be safe and carry cash for street shopping.


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On the way to the Great Wall

Our guide decided to stop by;
Beijing TangRenFuJiuDian
010 697 - 13776
010 897 - 15338

Local restaurant with giant selection of life fish in tanks that you can choose from and have cook any style! Also it has giant pictures of all their dishes so you can easily identify what would you have for lunch.

They also have a large selection of more exotic foods like frog, which you need to clarify NOT to be done in a soup, it is so spicy that it's uneatable. The same with the duck in that section.

But beside from that, their vegetable plates are amazing, surprisingly addicting is the eggplants comes in a grill with an amazing garlic and tomato sauce, we ordered seconds of this one! The flavors were so good and the portion gigantic!

Then we had a life fish steamed for us, and enjoyed a bunch of other local delicatessen, the service is very fast, but they scream a lot, like a lot lot! and definitely need to take a local speaker with you, if not it will be a lost cause!

But the food is spectacular, very local experience!

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Fine dining Beijing, Pick #3, Sadler Ristorante

My husband and I love to look online for different recommendations of places to stop by in an area we are exploring, we have read online several reviews about this restaurant that is located in the old American embassy, walking distance from the Forbidden City and lots of history between it's wall. So we stumbled into Sadler Ristorante.

No 23 Quan Men Dong Da Jie
Beijing 100006, China
010 - 6559 - 1399

The place was also Dalai Lama's residence for 7 years before his was exiled, and it was the same building were during Richard Nixon's presidency the first economic meeting were held between China and the USA.

The menu is extensive and pricy, but absolutely everything is amazing! They offer a menu option that come with a choice of appetizer, 2 entrees and dessert. It was too much food for me, but my sisters happily devour it, advice, stay away from the beef cheeks, also from the tuna on the fixed menu.

The bolognese is AMAZING! very very traditional italian and the halibut is excellent as well! And the pea soup are fabulous!

They will take their time and you need to be a little dressy to go there, avoid shorts and flip flops, Beijing is a very casual city, but there are a lot of nice restaurants as well.

Great place!

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Fine dining Beijing, Pick #1 Capital M

The most amazing food we tried in Beijing was at Capital M restaurant, it is located on No. 2 Qianmen St, Qianmen Pedestrian St, Floor 3. The plaza is still under construction, you might think it is not the right place, believe me, it is the right place! You will regret it if you miss it!

It is very elegant and not very touristy, trendy and chic locals hang out here, the food is superb and the views from their patio are extraordinary, we were there in an overacted night, and still seeing the illuminated Forbidden City roofs and Tianmen Square lights was amazing!

The menu is a combination of french fusion and modern European cousin I would say... the service is amazing, the atmosphere of the place transports you to a 1950's glamour hard to find these days. The food and drinks are pricy, but it is perfect for a special evening with loved ones! My favorite appetizer was the figs with pancetta and seared pears, oh my gosh, it was to die for!

Dress code: Dressy chic, guys are not required to wear a jacket but you see a lot of jeans with sports coats.

The presentation of the dishes is so pretty and elegant, our favorite entre was the Mushroom Risotto with Truffles, SUPERB! Also the veal paillard is great, the portions are not small, they are perfect!

As appetizers I think we will all agree in the figs with prosciutto, I gave it a solid 10!

Dessert wise, I would choose the Mille Feuille, it is so delicate and fresh you would think it was flown from La Duree, the orange soufflé is good, but nothing extraordinary.

I would go back to this restaurant in heart beat!!

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Beijing Quanjude Hepingmen Roast Duck Restaurant

Our first night in Beijing and we all wanted to have the traditional Peking Duck, my grandfather remembered this place that claims to be the originators of this amazing dish!

The place is called: "Quanjude Hepingmen Roast Duck Restaurant", it is located very close to the Forbidden City, not much traffic at night, the building is gigantic so you wont miss it.

The restaurant is very local, very casual and not very fancy, but the food is amazing, well priced and fast! And on top of that it gives you a certificate with the tag of the duck you have ordered! Very cute!

260 yuan for whole duck....

People are very humble and nice, just remember to get there at last an hour before 9 pm, it closes very early!!! they also have a full menu a la carte with typical cantonese dishes.

Enjoy!

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