Appetite for China Videos

Video: Monkeys in a Monastery

dianakuan — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 19:01:27 +0000

Today, we braved rain and wind and trekked out to Sha Tin in the New Territories. We visited the Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery, a peaceful retreat with bamboo groves, pagodas, and pavilions to which people bring food for their ancestors to enjoy in the afterlife.

Walking around the compound, I saw that many of the offerings that been ransacked, with plates and half-eaten food all over the ground. Vagabonds? Bandits? How disrepectful, I thought.

The answer came face to face with me once I turned a corner. A wild monkey was sitting outside one of the pavilions, munching on a pink bun. We stared at each other for a few minutes, me in awe and him stuffing his face. Then his friend appeared, as if telling him, Psst...let's wait 'till these humans are gone, then come back. The two disppeared over the roof of the pavilion.

Sure enough, once we pretended to walk away, the monkeys came back and took some more food before retreating back onto the roof.

I recounted the story to my relatives over dinner. "Oh yeah, Monkey Mountain is just behind the Monastery," my aunt said matter-of-factly. "They're probably stealing food because it's too cold to forage."

Well, I guess monkeys need to eat too.

And apparently wild monkeys sightings in Hong Kong are quite commonplace, like in this photo (scroll about 1/3 down).

Video: Thanksgiving in Beijing with Peking Duck

dianakuan — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 19:36:15 +0000

Talk about fusion. Since we couldn't get turkey in Beijing, we celebrated Thanksgiving with another bird that's easier to find here.

We ate at Bianyifang in Chongwen District and ordered a roast duck that came with different condiments than usual. Instead of the usual pancakes we got carrot and celery flavored ones. Instead of scallions and cucumber we got sprouts and radish leaves. Maybe they should have renamed it California-style duck. At least the hoisin sauce was the same.

Bianyifang Roast Duck Restaurant
2A Chongwenmenwai Dajie
Chongwen District, Beijing

Jian Bing in Beijing

dianakuan — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 06:49:29 +0000

On our way to buy subway passes yesterday, Jacob and I passed a woman making jiān bǐng, one of Beijing's many common snacks sold on the street. Not hungry but unable to resist the aroma, we stopped and bought one for 2.50 yuan (35 cents US).

Jiān bǐng is a crepe-like snack typically found only in the north. The jiān-bǐng-maker first pours small amount of batter onto a hot griddle, and smoothes it out with a metal spatula. She then adds egg and scallions, flips it over, brushes on hoisin sauce and chili paste, and folds it up. Most vendors, like the one we bought from yesterday, will also add a large piece of fried dough in the middle. Crispy, savory, and warm - all good qualities for a cold weather road-side snack.

Video: Eating Fried Balloons

dianakuan — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 11:43:25 +0000

As promised, the video of the big fried balloon-like puffs at Zhongshan's Shiqi Lao. Bonus: a fish flopping out of a bucket.

Video: Shanghai Street Food at Yuyuan Bazaar

dianakuan — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 22:36:32 +0000

Shanghai's Yuyuan Bazaar is best known as a marketplace for all the
souvenirs and tsotchkes you could want. It is also a haven for street
food: soup dumplings, sweets, even birds-on-a-stick. Weekends are
especially crowded, when even neighborhood grannies and little kids
jostle with tourists to be next in line.

Video: Beijing Noodles

dianakuan — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 02:22:16 +0000

Beijing's hutongs are disappearing at a rapid rate, but for now, they're still great places to go for an inexpensive and filling meal. We stop at a noodle shop where the chef was ouside shaving knife-cut noodles, or dao xiao mian.

Video: Hong Kong Open-Air Market

dianakuan — Mon, 12 Mar 2007 04:08:53 +0000

Hong Kong's Central district has a large open-air market that stretches for blocks and blocks. We head towards the egg stand and try the "Thousand-Year-Old Egg," a duck egg that has been preserved in clay, ash, salt, lime, and tea.

Oh, and the name is a bit of an exaggeration.

Video: Tai O - Houses on Stilts in Hong Kong

dianakuan — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 05:24:09 +0000

Think Hong Kong is all skyscrapers and crowded streets? On the southwestern coast of Lantau, one of Hong Kong's outlying islands, is a fishing village called Tai O. It's one of the last remaining fishing villages with stilt houses built hundreds of years ago.

We take a boat ride around these houses built on water, get lost on the "boardwalk", and eat spicy prawns with an off-color Chinese name.

Video: Street food in Macau

dianakuan — Sat, 27 Jan 2007 10:22:07 +0000

The "Las Vegas of Asia"? That's not the Macau we found. Before casino developers raze the entire peninsula, we wander the back roads in search of authentic Macanese street food.