The next day I transfer to my last hotel in Dongcheng North near the
Lama Temple. This is a small courtyard hotel called 161 Lama Temple
and I've stayed here before as it's very cosy. I've arranged to meet
Phantom that evening so I have lunch at a small restaurant in the
hutong called Stuff'd, which has bangers and mash on the menu! It's
very good if a bit dear. The weather is bright and sunny but
extremely cold unlike the springtime temperatures I experienced in
the South, which were unseasonal even for that area apparently! The
owner introduces himself to me and we talk for a while: he is a Swede
and has been here for about 10 years. We talk about the bars in the
area and there is a strong trend in Beijing at the moment for craft
beer bars and brewhouses. We also chat about Houhai, the area I first
visited when I came to Beijing last year. He agrees it has gone
downhill in the last year and he tends to frequent different areas
now. The area I'm in is currently much better for bars and is like
Houhai was last year, only more quiet. He mentions he has a small tap
room like a pub next to the restaurant which is open in the evening
so I make a note of this. I drop into Great Leap for a quick beer
before going back to the hotel.
Fish shop near the hotel.
The showers here are very nice with a rustic design to them.,
although there isn't much power in the water. Still it's hot and I
have a shower before going to meet Phantom later that evening.
We visit our regular bars and I have a light supper. This is a lovely
bar which is however occasionally frequented by Americans picking up
Chinese girls. Afterwards she leaves at about 9 or 9.30 and I walk
back towards my hotel and find this little bar which has medieval
costumes and fixtures! Apparently they do jousting and duelling
outside in summer. I have a cup of home-made mead which is very
tasty!
I get lost on my way back and have to take the subway! So I drop into
the tap room at Stuff'd after I get to Lama Temple station, which is
sadly very quiet. I finally walk back to the hotel and look around
some of the local bars. A couple of Chinese guys invite me in and I
sit talking and drinking with them, so I have an unintended late
session! I have to watch myself however as Phantom and I are spending
the day together tomorrow.
The next day Phantom and I have planned to go out for roast duck at
lunchtime so we have arranged to meet at the subway station ant 11am:
however when I go out of the hotel the entire Lama Temple area is
choked with visitors and police cordons which is what happened last
year during New Year. I hadn't expected it for the Lantern Festival
and I have a hard time finding Phantom at the station, however we
mange to meet up and set off on the subway for the restaurant, but at
the other end she is unable to find it and suspects that the
information given online was wrong. So she manages to find another
one nearby, but here there is an inordinate wait for a table, so we
finally abandon the idea and go to a Yunan restaurant not far away.
This turns out very well: we have a very pleasant table by the window
in the sunshine, the food is excellent and very new for me, a
different style to my previous experience and we have a very good
time together. I have tea with the meal as we are visiting some bars
later.
So we walk around Houhai and it's actually quite warm this afternoon.
We find a bar where I have some raspberry beer which is deliciously
refreshing, and this is followed by a visit to one of Phantom's
favourite “craft beer” bars: she seems to have taken to this kind
of bar after I introduced her to Great Leap.
We drop into 4 Corners, the expat bar I wanted to visit last time I
was in Beijing, as it's more like a pub and I'm delighted it's open
this time! We plan to take the subway to the Lama temple area but
this proves impossible as due to the Lantern Festival it is crowded
beyond its capacity. So we end up walking as fast as we can as she
has to leave before 8pm, and we finish the evening in our favoured
place near the Temple. I can also have a light snack.
After Phantom goes home I stop by a small bar near the hotel where I
get talking to a very pleasant young Chinese guy. Outside, fireworks
are going off everywhere and I remember the last Lantern festival,
when I was also in Beijing. A huge firecracker just outside the bar
nearly deafens me and I think someone walks by and kicks one of the
firecrackers on the floor where they are set off. My Chinese
companion goes outside and shouts “What the F**k are you doing?”
It turns out that a foreign visitor who is drunk has kicked over one
of the fireworks provoking considerable offence among the Chinese.
Oddly, I don't feel drunk myself at all, this kind of beer seems to
agree with me. So after a marvellous day I go online for a while at
the hotel and fall into bed at about 2 am.
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