Beijing Arrival

Our fast, smooth, and comfortable ride on the high speed Shanghai-to-Bejing ended at the South Beijing station, where we were met by our Beijing guide, Tony, and our diver, the mysterious 'Mr. I'. Tony is a young and energetic native Beijinger with a great knowledge of the Beijing history, people, and culture. Looks like we got lucky again.

Tony told us to 'chilax' (really) in our hotel and then to head a short way down Jin Yu Hu Tong to the 'snack carts'. Here we found a long line of stands selling everything you can imagine eating on a stick, and much you can't. Pictured above are several kinds of scorpions, silk worm larvae, and other unidentifiable insects. We also saw kabobs made from whole baby pigeons (three to a stick,) massive black spiders, snakes, and all kinds of whole squid. Despite my big talk back in the hotel room, none of us tried anything exotic. We stuck to fried beef and lobster wontons and roasted corn. I'm pretty sure Ben is not going to eat anything but Cliff Bars for a few days after seeing these various impaled creatures and in particular smelling the boiled crab.