Short on cash and sick of instant noodles? Here are a few options that are all over town in various locations that are delicious, healthy (kind of), and best of all, cost less than RMB 50!

If you fancy yourself a noodle foodie then check out the Shaanxi-inspired He Qin Sheng (贺秦生陕面王)! Their noodles are all handmade – including a vegetable noodle made from spinach – and you can pick up a bowl of their famous biang biang mian for around RMB 20. It’s quite a steal when you consider the restaurant’s quality ingredients and taste.

Avocado Tree

Summer is synonymous with light meals like salads, noodles, yogurt, and fruit smoothies, and few places do it better than Avocado Tree. Their large salads cost around RMB 30 and are more than enough for one person. They also have chicken and vegetable burritos, cheese pies, and soups. What’s more, if you’re an avocado lover then this is the place for you (I mean, it’s right there in the name) since they have a wide variety of avocado-based dishes including smoothies, ice cream, and yogurt.

庆丰包子铺 Qing Feng, 香妃烤鸡 XiangFei, & 华天延吉冷面 Huatian Yanji

If you want to eat like a seasoned Beijinger, then these spots will do the trick. As someone who grew up in the capital, I can assure you they’re as authentic as it comes. First is Qing Feng (庆丰包子铺), a time-honored brand that serves up different sorts of baozi and congee, with a set of six baozi running a measly RMB 10. Likewise, at XiangFei (香妃烤鸡) you can score a whole roast chicken for around RMB 30 plus some shaobing (烧饼) Chinese baked pancakes on the side. Lastly, if cold noodles are your jam then check out Huatian Yanji (华天延吉冷面) from Jilin Province, which is also famous for its spicy beef. Pro tip: All of these restaurants are in the center of Beijing and relatively close to one another, so you can turn your visit into a local Beijing food tour!

和府捞面 Hefu Noodles

Noodle soup conneisseure? Look no further than Hefu. From pork belly noodles to tomato soup with sirloin noodles and chicken soup with bamboo shoot noodles, the restaurant uses fresh ingredients in a savory broth.

So, if you only had RMB 50 left in your wallet, which would you go for?

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Images: Rachel Bu

Last year, the Forbidden City celebrated its 600th anniversary. 24 emperors across two dynasties – the Ming and the Qing – called it home, and since the very first day of its construction, this iconic structure has stood as the central axis of Beijing. In fact, given that the grounds are symmetrical, from a birds-eye view, that central axis forms the Chinese character 中 zhōng – 中国的中 zhōng guó de zhōng.

It was long believed that there are 9,999.5 rooms in the Forbidden City, as there are 10,000 rooms in the celestial Palace of Heaven, meaning the number of rooms in the mortal world would be slightly less. However, after a team of experts actually undertook the task of counting all the dwellings, there turned out to be 9,371. Still not too shabby for one Emperor, don’t you think?

Staff spent seven years counting all the exhibits and artefacts, and in doing so, discovered that Emperor Qianlong alone wrote 45,000 poems.

Every palace (殿 diàn) has the clay creatures called 脊兽 jǐ shòu on top of its eaves, which signifies the importance of that structure. With each bearing between one and ten 脊兽 jǐ shòu, throughout the entirety of the Forbidden City, only one has ten – Taihe Palace (太和殿 tài hé diàn) – where various ceremonies took place over the years, albeit a select few.

If you’re Chinese, then you’re probably familiar with the popular documentary, 我在故宫修文物 (wǒ zài gù gōng xiū wén wù) Masters in Forbidden City, which details how staff – most of whom graduated from top art universities in China – restore many of the fixtures and features inside the palatial complex, from wooden articles and ceramics to timepieces, calligraphy, and textiles. At its heart, the documentary reveals just how much work and creativity are required to keep things looking as they did 600 years ago. For instance, restoring a knife requires three years, while a painting can take upwards of 18. Of the laborious processes, Mr. Wang, the foreman of timepiece restoration explains, “If you really can’t sit still [for these jobs], then you need to find a new one.”

Apart from the majestic and grandiose buildings, there’s also a delightful community of cats at the Forbidden City, who have prowled its corners and rooftops since the beginning. People believe these cats are the descendants of royal cats kept by the nobility who once called the palace home, and who are charged with protecting the fragile wooden furniture and other exhibits from mischievous mice.  Every day, cat lovers from all over China donate food, so they never go hungry. What’s more, these cats also have names like 鳌拜 Áo bài, 乌拉那拉. 二花 Wū lā nà lā èr huā. Keep an eye out for these “Forbidden” felines on your next visit!

Lastly, there’s a gigantic water vat in front of the palace that was meant to prevent fires. An interesting but regrettable story is that when the Eight-Nation Alliance invaded the Forbidden City, they intended to carry the Taiping water vat with them, however, because it was too heavy to move, they used knives to scratch out the gold covering its surface. As such, today, the Taiping water vat is scratched and scarred with the memories of this unfortunate period in history.

I once read an article that seems to grow truer and truer the older I get. It said that there have always been two Forbidden Cities, one political and one historical. The latter belongs to the Chinese people and, for all intents and purposes, it’s their Forbidden City. It’s a city that possesses Chinese values. It’s more than a symbolic scenic spot, it’s the continuation and inheritance of Chinese culture.

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Images: Rachel Bu, Pexels

When I think of the Summer Palace, I always picture palatial royal gardens, magnificent palaces, and watching the sunset at the Seventeen-Arch Bridge (十七孔桥 shí qī kǒng qiáo). But an online search taught me that the Summer Palace had suffered the same fate as Yuan Ming Yuan (圆明园 yuán míng yuán)- it has been burned down by the British and French armies, then by the eight-power Allied forces (八路军 bā lù jūn), and again by the Nationalists.

Origins and Fu Lu Shou

It had been built for Empress CiXi in her twilight years as an “old people’s house,” as she promised Emperor GuangXu he could be in charge of the government and that she would no longer interfere. Given this genesis, it’s not difficult to see that the symbolism of “Fu Lu Shou” (fortune, prosperity, and longevity) crops up everywhere in the design: The palace is full of pine trees, a symbol of authority and long life; there’s a big stone called 寿星石 shòu xīng shí because it has the vague shape of the god of longevity; behind the throne at the RenShou Palace (仁寿殿 rén shòu diàn) is a mirror-screen that’s full of the character 寿 shòu. And allegedly, an aerial view reveals that the Summer Palace looks like a giant longevity-peach (寿桃 shòu táo), another symbol of long-life.In ancient China, dragons represented males and patriarchy whereas phoenixes represented females and matriarchy. An interesting fact is that since Empress CiXi wanted to demonstrate her power and control, she deliberately switched the position of the dragon and phoenix statues at the palace so that the phoenix sits at the center and the dragon by its side.

Peking Opera

A US painter named Katherine Cole once came to the Summer Palace to paint a portrait of Empress CiXi, staying at the residence for a month which was an unprecedented honour. Cole wrote in her diary about how prosperous and luxurious it was that the rich were being carried in 轿子 jiào zi from one place to another within the Summer Palace. The Empress also invited her to watch Peking Opera at DeHe Garden. At that time, they already had the advanced technology to hoist actors up into the air to perform. And Empress CiXi’s passion for Peking Opera largely spurred its popularity across the country.

The Long Corridor

The Summer Palace is also famous for The Long Corridor, one of the longest in all the Chinese royal gardens. The corridor plays an important role in connecting the whole scenic area. The distance of each pavilion in the corridor is 300 steps, which is believed to be an ideal walking distance for people. I went to the Summer Palace on a Saturday afternoon and tried it myself, I used 203 steps. There are around 14,000 beautiful paintings at the sides of the corridor known as Su-style painting (苏式彩画 sū shì cǎi huà), which includes Chinese idioms, landscapes, and images from classical Chinese literature.

QingYanfang

What I find most attractive amongst all the unique architecture is a giant wooden boat called QingYanfang, built in 1755. Emperor Qianlong had it constructed because it reminded him of the famous Qing Dynasty quote, “水能载舟，亦能覆舟 (shuǐ néng zǎi zhōu ， yì néng fù zhōu) water can carry a boat, but it can also overturn it.” This reminds descendants that the Qing Dynasty is as solid as a rock and can’t be overthrown. However, another interpretation I found is that Qianlong built this as a reminder to stay loyal to his people and not be corrupt since the citizens are the “water” that could determine his fate as ruler.

Suzhou Street

Suzhou street (苏州街 sū zhōu jiē) was built because Emperor Qianlong fancied the busy streets of Suzhou, thus they copied them into the Summer Palace. Whenever the emperor was there, his eunuchs and servants would pretend to be buyers and sellers as if Qianlong was at Suzhou. There are also other beautiful spots in the Summer Palace that have a rich history behind them.

Since it’s summertime, I strongly recommend you pay a visit to the Summer Palace!

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Images: Rachel Bu

Neighboring countries and regions have a tendency to share their cultures, especially when it comes to food. But what about two countries on different continents, with multiple oceans and mountains between them? Will we still be able to spot any doppelgangers? With this question in mind, I asked a few Beijing expats about their hometown foods and the closest Chinese versions.

USOne Beijing resident I spoke to believes that hamburgers are similar to roujiamo (肉夹馍) – a signature dish of Shaanxi province and dubbed the Chinese hamburger – since they are both two layers of bread with meat and a bit of vegetable inside. Roujiamo is covered with two layers of flatbread called baijimo (白吉馍), and usually stuffed with chopped pork and green peppers. Similarly, hamburgers, or any burgers really, are basically meat and lettuce between two buns.

South AfricaBiltong is a famous South African snack and is basically dried meat ranging from beef to ostrich and beyond. They are cut into pieces and seasoned with salt, black pepper, and vinegar. In China, Xinjiang dried meat is quite similar: Salt and special ingredients – which vary from household to household – are cured, resulting in dried meat that’s nutrient-rich and easy to carry. Fun fact: It was invented to help Xinjiang’s minorities stay nourished during the long winter season, and is also believed to be one of the “secret weapons” that gave Genghis Khan’s army its fearsome reputation!

KazakhstanA fellow foodie I interviewed thinks baursak from her country resembles a famous Beijing snack called NaiYouZhaGao (奶油炸糕), NaiYouZhaGao is made from flour and eggs, with optional vanilla powder added. One important thing to remember while eating this delicious treat is to top it off with a bit of powdered sugar! Baursak both tastes and looks quite similar, as it’s a puffy bread that contains similar ingredients. However, the difference is that baursak is reserved for important occasions like weddings, whereas NaiYouZhaGao is consumed on a daily basis without fanfare.

KoreaAs Korea and China are geographic neighbors, they share some similar food traditions, not least of which is dumplings. Although China is famous for its dumplings, aka jiaozi, Korea also has a version called mandu. Mandu is larger in size, with typical fillings including shrimp, kimchi, tofu, and vegetables. As for jiaozi, its classic variations would be chives and eggs or ground pork and cabbage.

BrazilWhen y it comes to Brazilian cuisine it’s hard to overlook the country’s signature barbecue dish, known as churrasco, which is coated with coarse salt and paired with different types of peppers. It’s similar to Xinjiang mutton shashlik (羊肉串), though the chunks are smaller than the Brazilian fare with cumin powder giving the meat its distinctive taste.

United Arab Emirates, DubaiMachboos is famous in Dubai and many other Middle Eastern countries. It’s a rice dish with chicken and a couple of special ingredients such as the spice baharat and boiled limes. If the picture looks familiar, that might be because it’s practically the spitting image of Yangzhou fried rice, which instead uses shrimp, eggs, and peas as its main ingredients.

UKA full British breakfast wouldn’t be complete without some British baked beans, usually made by boiling white beans for a long period of time and then stewing them in sauce, which is made from tomatoes, salt, and vinegar, or sometimes, simple Heinz tomato sauce for convenience. Canned baked beans are common in British supermarkets too. Likewise, in China, a dessert called 红豆沙 hóng dòu shā is also made from beans, albeit red beans. The red beans have been cooked in water with rock sugar, and the dish is sometimes served with small, sticky rice balls and dried tangerine for a richer taste.

Wherever you go and no matter how far you stray from your hometown, food is always one of the best ways to connect. It acts as a bridge between the locals and your culture. So whenever you find yourself with a craving, go out and find a local restaurant to sate it – you just might find a familiar taste.

Are there any Chinese food doppelgangers from your hometown? Let us know in the comments!

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Images: Rachel Bu