Ringawera in Beijing

Nihau, i haere maua ko tōku hoa rangatira ki Beijing i te marama o Pipiri.

My wife was presenting at a conference in Beijing during June and so we decided to take the opportunity to have a bit of a Chinese food experience and see a few of the sights of Beijing.

Aue, he tino miharo tēnei wāhi.

What an incredible city. The sights, sounds and oh yes the smells..... But if you are looking for an easy break, only 13 hours direct flight though the night with Air NZ, we were in our hotel room within 1 hour of stepping off the plane, and it was so totally relaxing and warm (30 deg C most days).

Highlights of the trip included a half day cooking class at the local Technical Institute, I have to say I found using a meat cleaver for everything a bit challenging but great to try out a few traditional favourites. Not sure that Sweet and Sour Chicken and Lavash is a go, but hey I'll try anything.

We walked 10.5 km on the Great Wall from Jinshanling to Simatai, about 5 hours, mind boggling, we only encountered about 10 other tourists on that walk. We took a local guide which was a really smart thing to do, toll booths to negotiate and of course good to have someone to talk about the history.

When in Beijing try to get to the Summer Palace for a traditional meal with traditional entertainment, absolutely stunning. A float around the lake on a dragon boat before dinner is just a treat.

Taxis are fantastic, extremely good value I think within the city area we paid at most $10, it is based solely on distance, thankfully as it can take quite a long time to get thru the local traffic. Oh, and on that issue, remember as a pedestrian you have no right of way at all, even when the little green man says go, watch left and right and behind for vehicles of all shapes, sizes and vintages.

We stayed in a fabulous hotel called The Opposite House, (see Australian Gourmet Traveller review). Very modern with a fantastic restaurant. I have no doubt we will go back, it was such a lovely experience, and the locals are very friendly.

I am a complete convert to pork buns now, and although I didn't have the courage to try the sidewalk evening meals, it was fascinating to watch skewered meats being cooked in little wall charcoal grills, with blowdriers fanning the flames.