Ahead of the 2019 Beijing Pizza Festival at Galaxy Soho on Oct 19-20, we are taking a deep dive into anything and everything that makes pizza one of the world’s most popular dishes.

Pizza is Italian. That much is clear to most people. But much of the pizza that the world eats is actually American-style pizza. Unless you prefer funkier base sauces, like alfredo or Thousand Island, then it might be Japanese or Korean. Or maybe, just possibly, if you look at what a pizza is – a large, baked crust with toppings – then could pizza have originated in China?

A classic, cheesy, American-style pizza

It would depend on the definition of pizza. While the constant argument about whether noodles were first created in China or Italy receives far more attention, there is also a case to be made for the possible Chinese origins of one of the world’s favorite dishes. Unleavened, pancake-like edibles made from flour, rolled thin, and then steamed, baked, or fried, are ubiquitous, having appeared in numerous Central Asian, Mediterranean, and Middle Eastern countries as far back as 5,000 years. Manna, which appears in the Book of Exodus, was described as a “fine, flake-like thing,” with unleavened bread popping up elsewhere in the same book.

Beijing Bing

Similarly, the various bing (饼) that are mainstays of the northern Chinese diet also have their origins thousands of years ago, most likely in China’s original cultural heart, the Yellow River valley, still a primary growing area for wheat.

If Marco Polo, always the figure placed at the center of the Sino-Italian struggle over the origin of noodles, was also the conduit for pizza, then he would have been quite late to the game.

Contact between China and the Roman Empire dates to about 100 CE/AD, although most of that was simple awareness of each other and indirect exchange of goods via the Middle East and Central Asia.

Roman Holiday

There is also the possibility that the fabled Lost Roman Legion may have delivered pizza to China. Supposedly, this group of Roman soldiers escaped east out of Iran in 53 BCE, following the capture and execution of their commander. They are believed by some Chinese and Western scholars to have reached and settled in western Gansu province about 15 years later and remained, employed as mercenary soldiers. DNA testing of local residents shows that there is Caucasian ancestry in the area, as does anecdotal and visual evidence of villagers with green eyes. However, no chain of Roman pizzerias survived to the present day.

A few factors cast doubt on the possibility of pizza originating in China. Although flour products and the aforementioned bing were early components of Chinese food, baking was not, and still is not, a common method of food preparation in Chinese cuisine.

Did Marco Polo come across pizza during the course of his travels in China?

Second, dairy products only became a regular component of the local diet – and even then it is somewhat limited to urban centers – in the last 20 years, with cheese lagging well behind the drinking of milk and yogurt. While dairies such as Meng Niu are now big companies known for sponsoring some of China’s most popular television shows, they’re making their money from the liquid product, not from selling cheese. Even now with the wide availability of dairy products in Beijing, one doesn’t see the average baozi stuffed with cheese. Your local jianbing guy may ask if you want hot sauce, but he never says, “Can I sprinkle a little mozzarella on there for ya?” (although we have tried that ourselves and it is very good). Pizza’s culinary conquest of China is really just a small victory won in the country’s larger dairy revolution.

Polo on Pizza

And what about the aforementioned Marco Polo? Well, if he encountered pizza for the first time during his legendary travels in China, he never mentions it once in his hundreds of pages of description of China. Polo was from Venice, although Naples is widely recognized as the birthplace of pizza in Italy. There certainly are a lot of pizza places named for him, though (Google it).

Lastly, China rarely if ever claims to have invented pizza. While a few stalwarts may insist on its Chinese origins, the idea just never gets the same play as having invented things like noodles, football, and fortune cookies.

Local restaurants have put their own spin on pizza, adding toppings like durian.

But in reality, none of this matters. Pizza’s popularity in Beijing is indisputable. According to restaurant review and coupon site Dianping.com, Beijing’s top 12 pizzerias operate more than 300 outlets between them. More 100 different pizza operators are named each year for the nomination round for the Pizza Cup (check out 2018’s top slices) and thousands of people turn out for the annual Pizza Fest.

No matter where pizza came from, it’s here to stay in Beijing.

Tickets for the 2019 Beijing Pizza Fest, Oct 19-20, are on sale now!

Images: the Beijinger, Mafengwo, Wikimedia, Shutterstock, Mafengwo

Fancy kicking off the spring with a nice run followed by healthy nourishment? Do it Sunday (Mar 13) with Juice By Melissa‘s latest "ambassador" and Beijing celebrity chef Rob Cunningham, who will be leading an 8k run followed by a lunch special at the brand’s Xinzhong Jie shop.

Cunningham, Executive Chef of East Hotel, is fresh off victories in the Beijinger’s 2016 Reader Restaurant Awards where he won Outstanding Chef accolades from readers and the Best Chef award from a jury of his peers. He’s currently on a 21-day juice diet designed by the juice bar and will be leading the run along with founder Melissa McKenna at 10am.

The event starts from the Dongzhimen store, heads to Chaoyang Park and ends back at Juice by Melissa for lunch, with a 15% off discount for runners.

Meanwhile, Shunyi residents feeling their pants getting tighter in the wake of Dunkin Donutsopening at the end of February will be relieved to hear that Juice By Melissa will open its second shop and first in Shunyi on March 19 at Pinnacle Plaza.

The Shunyi store’s offerings will be essentially the same to those available in town. That means cold-pressed juices and nut milks, with a menu chock full of delicious yet healthful blends that make the most of hero ingredients like fresh turmeric and raw cacao. Classic cleanses start at RMB 360 per day and they have a range of packages available to fit all requirements.

For those who enjoy a bit of a tipple, Juice By Melissa also offers organic wine and a selection of cocktails made with those signature juices. The Shunyi location will also be offering their gluten-free and vegan food menu.

Opening festivities begin Saturday, March 19 at 9am, with free samples and prizes available throughout the day until closing time at 9pm. On Mar 29, the shop will host a an entirely vegan meal designed by Cunningham. 

Juice By Melissa, Shunyi
702 Pinnacle Plaza, Tianzhu, Shunyi District, Beijing
顺义区天竺开发区裕翔路99号荣祥广场702

– Robynne Tindall contributed to this report.

This post first appeared on thebeijinger.com on March 11, 2016.

 Photos: Courtesy of Juice by Melissa and Uni You

Black smoke filled the sky from a construction site near British School of Beijing‘s Shunyi campus Tuesday afternoon.

Although indicated by one witness that it appeared to be in the area of the Lane Bridge villa complex, a photo showed an area closer to BSB.

The fire is believed to be in a new retail site currently being built. The Beijinger could not independently confirm the location of the fire.

Parents, students, and others approaching the area for school pick-ups and after-school activities should use caution, both due to the fire and the likelihood of firefighting vehicles en route at speed.

This post first appeared on thebeijinger.com on February 23, 2016.

Foreigners working legally in Beijing may now buy property with an immediate effect, the Beijing Municipal Commission of Housing and Urban-Rural Development announced, in a move anticipated since the summer of 2015.

Previously, non-Chinese citizens were required to be resident in Beijing for a year in order to become eligible to purchase real estate. Now, a legal work permit (and a fair bit of money) is enough to buy the Beijing home of your dreams – or the rental property you’ve always been eyeing.

Beijing’s real estate market was not long ago considered overheating, but has certainly cooled to the point that local officials are keen to encourage buying.

However, foreigners are not usually eligible for the same financing options available to Chinese citizens, which may continue to limit foreign enthusiasm for local property, even among long-term expatriates.

This post first appeared on thebeijinger on February 17, 2016.

Photo: thebeijinger.com

New traffic restrictions will be introduced this Saturday (Jan 30) in and around Sanlitun in an attempt to end the perpetual traffic jam at the intersection of Gongti Beilu and Sanlitun Lu, directly in front of Taikoo Li.

Sanlitun Bar Street will remain open to two-way traffic, but with numerous restrictions on turns onto it and at nearby Changhong Qiao.

Bear with us as we try to explain in words:

The easiest of the changes to explain is the new u-turn restriction at the Third Ring: vehicles traveling east on Gongti Beilu (towards the Third Ring) will now be prohibited from making u-turns at the Changhong Qiao Third Ring Road intersection.

Now for the intersection in front of Taikoo Li:

• First, automobiles traveling east on Gongti Beilu (towards the Third Ring) will be prohibited from making left turns onto Bar Street.
• Second, cars traveling west on Gongti Beilu (away from the Third Ring) will not be allowed to turn left onto Sanlitun Nanlu, which runs south from that intersection past The Bookworm and Courtyard Four towards Chaoyang Hospital and Chaoyang Beilu.
• Third, vehicles traveling north on Sanlitun Nanlu (past The Bookworm and towards Taikoo Li) will not be permitted to go straight onto Sanlitun Bar Street, nor may they turn left. Vehicles at that intersection may only turn right.
• Fourth, vehicles traveling south on Sanlitun Bar Street (past Taikoo Li and towards The Bookworm) will not be permitted to go straight onto Sanlitun Nanlu, nor may they turn left. Vehicles at that intersection may only turn right.

In brief, that means that the only way to reach Sanlitun Bar Street and head north on it by car is to approach from the Third Ring Road, then turn right onto it.

This is all being done to relieve congestion on the already maddening intersection, but one thing’s for sure: it’ll be a nightmare this weekend as everyone and their gege attempts to navigate the intersection the old way, only to find her or himself routed in a direction they care not to go. We shudder to think what all the over-privileged tuhao in their magenta Lamborghinis will do when sad sack traffic cops attempt to tell them they can no longer go that way.

Longer term, we’re wondering if these changes will fix the problem. First of all, it means that there will be a lot of taxi and passenger alighting on the south side of Gongti Beilu, especially on the southeast corner of the intersection. It forces cars wishing to park at either Taikoo Li South, Taikoo Li North, or Yashow to approach from the east, namely the Third Ring Road. And it diverts all embassy and other traffic north towards the Agricultural Exhibition Center for anyone exiting Sanlitun by car.

Bear in mind that an earlier effort to divert all traffic on Sanlitun Bar Street to the north from 6pm to midnight was scrapped after people began ignoring the signs and heading south, even though there’s a police substation right at the northwest corner of the intersection that could have enforced it. We support all efforts to reduce traffic congestion in Beijing, but we’ll remain skeptical until we see this one work.

Bicycle and foot traffic are not affected by the new regulations.

This post first appeared on thebeijinger.com on January 28, 2016

Photo: thebeijinger.com

Actress Zhang Ziyi gave birth to her and singer husband Wang Feng‘s first child, a daughter, on December 27 in the United States, in what may prove a contentious move for the occasionally controversial star.

"December 27, 2015, you, me, her, she was born a little life, let us have our own home. All safe and well, infinitely grateful!" Zhang posted on her Weibo account, along with a photo of her daughter’s hand in hers and Wang’s.

The child is Zhang’s first and Wang’s third. The former 43 Baojia Jie frontman has two other daughters from previous relationships, including a girl with model Ge Huijie.

The baby’s birth in the United States could draw criticism, as she will be eligible for US citizenship. Both China and the US have attempted to crack down on so-called birth tourism or maternity tourism, as the practice not only grants citizenship to the newborn child, but also makes the parents eligible for citizenship. The practice has also given rise to the pejorative term "anchor baby."

Zhang has had residency in Hong Kong since 2008.

After starring in the Zhang Yimou film Not One Less, Zhang ecame an international star when she appeared in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and then in Rush Hour 2. However, she has since been eclipsed by Fan Bingbing and others.

Zhang, 36, and Wang, 44, became engaged in February, during Spring Festival.

Photo: Weibo/People’s Daily

Embassies of the United States, including the US Embassy in Beijing will discontinue adding pages to American passports as of December 31, 2015, with holders required to apply for new documents after that point, the US Embassy informed the Beijinger by email.

"For cost and security reasons, the U.S. Department of State has begun phasing out the option of additional visa pages for US passports. Beginning October 1, 2014, all Embassies/Consulates worldwide will issue only 52-page passport books for full-validity passports. The thinner 28-page book option is no longer available. Requests for additional visa pages will be accepted for existing passports only through December 31, 2015. Starting January 1, 2016, applicants who need extra pages will need to apply to renew their passports and be issued the standard 52-page book," the US Embassy posted.

For US passport holders, this sucks. Whereas adding pages to an existing passport is currently a 20-minute errand at the US Citizen Services offices, it’s now about to become the same hassle that citizens of other countries including the UK must accept. Fifty-two pages provides quite a bit of room for entry and exit stamps and visas, but for frequent travelers, it means applying for a new passport much sooner than the 10-year validity permits.

Travelers, especially Beijing-based, frequent, international travelers will now have to plan for their annual 10 business-day visa renewal, plus the occasional passport renewal. Holders of a 10-year China visa may find themselves not one, but two passports beyond the original that holds the visa itself. Don’t forget to take off your belt and shoes.

A version of this article appeared on theBeijinger.com on September 3, 2015.

This article is first appeared on theBeijinger.com on December 2, 2015.

Urgent action is needed to change the way both doctors and consumers use antibiotics, to avoid a post-antibiotics era where these drugs no longer work at all, the World Health Organization (WHO) in China announced during the first ever World Antibiotic Awareness Week, from now through November 22.

“Antibiotics are a crucial part of modern medicine, but they have become victims of their own success. As a result of over-use and misuse of antibiotics by both doctors and patients, antibiotic resistance is a now a gravely serious global health problem – including here in China,” said Dr. Bernhard Schwartländer, WHO representative in China.

“Antibiotic resistance affects us all. It means infections which were once easily cured are becoming harder to treat, and common surgical procedures such as caesarian sections and appendix removals could become life-threatening due to the risk of untreatable infections,” Dr. Schwartländer explained.

Beyond the health system, the economic costs of antibiotic resistance are formidable – in China, one prediction estimates the loss of up to a million lives a year by 2050 – and if left unchecked, antibiotic resistance could wipe out up to 3.5 percent of global GDP by 2050.

In China, use of antibiotics is very high: over the past decade, more than half of outpatients in China have been prescribed antibiotics – far above the level recommended by WHO (less than 30 percent).

A new survey commissioned by the WHO for World Antibiotic Awareness Week also shows that public awareness in China about antibiotics and their use is low:

• 61 percent of survey respondents in China thought antibiotics were effective against colds and flu, despite the fact that antibiotics have no impact on viruses;
• 53 percent of survey respondents in China  thought it was okay to stop once taking antibiotics once they felt better, rather than completing the prescribed course of treatment; and
• 35 percent of survey respondents in China thought antibiotics were effective against headaches, which is not the case.

China has taken important steps over the last few years to address antibiotic resistance: for instance, in 2011, the Chinese government launched a nationwide campaign to improve the use of antibiotics by health workers and institutions, which has led to significant reductions in rates of antibiotic prescriptions.  

However, more needs to be done – both by health care professionals and patients.

“The WHO’s message for patients is this: don’t demand antibiotics from your doctor when you may not need them. Only take antibiotics when they are prescribed for you by a certified health professional. Always take the full course, even if you are feeling better. Never use leftover antibiotics, and never share your antibiotics with others,” said Dr Schwartländer.

“The magnitude of the problem of antibiotic resistance is enormous, and all of us have a role to play in addressing it. If everyone plays their part, we can ensure that these crucial drugs are still able to save lives in the years to come,” Dr Schwartländer concluded.

This post first appeared on thebeijinger.com on November 18, 2015.