Peking Duck

On Sunday night we went out for the most famous of Beijing fare, the Peking Duck. Tony directed us to a restaurant favored by locals and famous for duck. Peking Duck was the center of every meal, and just about everything else on the menu was duck as well - duck wings, duck heart dumplings, duck blood soup, etc.

We didn't want the set menu because it had on it so many things we were unlikely to eat. Ordering was a bit of a challenge, but Monica did a great job of combining charades with mandarin and our smiley waitress was a good sport. Our duck was brought out and carved near our table and our waitress demonstrated how to combine the duck, sauce, onions, and pancakes into small duck burritos.

Peking is the word the British gave to Beijing, and Beijingers never used it. At the time, Beijing was called 'Beiping', meaning 'northern peace'. The British must have heard this and translated it to 'Peking'. Later, the city's name was changed to 'Beijing' meaning 'northern capitol'.