Peking Duck

Just back from Shanghai. Away from the cold and back to the hot and humid weather. Now, you kind of miss the coldness when you are finally back to this hot and humid land!

For the first time, I saw snow flaks falling from the sky just as we left the bus and going into the aircraft at the tarmac at Pudung Airport. You can imagine how cold it was! We were told this kind of cold weather which was caused by cold wave from the north is a rare event. Many parts of China were in a standstill due to heavy snowfall and cold wave.

Last night, we had Peking Duck at the "Old Peking", an old restaurant established during the Qing Dynasty. We were told that it is still state-run. I was really impressed of such standard and quality that could still be maintained even operating as a state-own company. Every duck is still roasted by firewood. We were told that this restaurant is one the remnant outlets still permitted to use firewood by the authority. This is rare considering China is so depleted of green. The Peking Duck is really gooooood.

 

Before flying off this afternoon from Shanghai, we had lunch at the 5,000-seat capacity restaurant. Again, we tasted the tian sia di ik pau - the world no. 1 bun. We were also treated with the sturgeon. We were given to understand that this is recognised as a fossil fish, a kind of prehistoric fish. Literally, the whole fish is edible  because the bone is soft - cartilage-like soft bones.

Just to correct any misconception, it was not all eating alone in Shanghai. We did work as well.