14 November 2011
Really lost
Before I got really lost, I headed to the university district of Wudaokou in search of dinner.
This was an interesting place, lots of shops at street level with apartment buildings on top and a huge amount of people enjoying themselves.
Lots of places were hole in the wall food stalls with big lines, I lined up at one without knowing what the food was, see below for details.
In this area is the interesection where you are most likely to get run over in Beijing, its only 2 lanes and theres a train track and a huge amount of people who just ignore the traffic and walk across it all times. It was fairly ridiculous, I employed an extensive human shield when crossing.
After my dinner, I thought I would walk along the subway track (which is elevated so not a subway at all here) to the next station. I recall seeing out the window of the train on the way that there were lots of restaurants and shops and bright lights etc.
I set off and thought it didnt look like I remembered, but persevered. It was about 30 minutes or so when I realised I had gone north instead of south. Not to worry, the next subway station in this direction must be nearby, I am still walking alongside the track and trains are going past, strange theres no cars on this wide new looking street though.
Another 30 minutes past, and the only cars going past were dump trucks. Pretty soon I got to the end of the road alltogether, in front of me was just a vast plain of emptyness with glowing lights off in the distance.
So now I had at least an hour walk to get back, or alternatively a 20 minute jog. I must have looked silly jogging in jeans, my new fluffy grey top, and clutching my camera, at least in the 0 degree weather I didnt get hot and sweaty.
As a result, not many photos tonight, its hard to take photos whilst jogging.
Dinner part 1. I lined up and was rewarded with this beef pie. It was fantastic. The pastry was cruncy on the outside but flaky in the middle. The meat was cumin flavoured, with lots of onion and chilli. I want to go back for another one tomorrow! Oh yeah, it was 50 cents.
The street level scene at Wudaokou, those big buildings are more like technology schools belonging to corporations, one of them was EMC. Most of the shops and restaurants are at ground level, apart from the plethora of KTV's which are operating on the upper floors.
Apparently theres a lot of foreign students in Beijing, so theres quite a few foreign style restaurants, this place had an authentic diner menu as best I could tell. Chilli dogs, all kinds of burgers, pancakes etc.
I skipped the diner when I found avocado tree mexican grill (with beef noodle soup also available). They had real tabasco sauce and a decent assortment of burritos on offer, also a big sign saying all beef is imported from the USA.
It was pretty good, I think they made the tortillas on site, and the corn chips from those tortillas. My burrito had black beans and good steak in it etc. A relatively expensive meal at about $5.