Travel without food is a terrible thought! Meals allow me to have shared experiences, try new foods, spend time with friends, and interact with local people. My first vocabulary words in Mandarin were food based. I learned water (a must in this heat!) and baozi, meaning dumplings.
I am especially grateful to friends from the Carlson School and the friends of friends who made time in their lives to treat me to special meals and enthusiastically welcome me to this city.
Here are some food highlights from this week.
Ordered via pointing. Beef soup and dumplings for breakfast near Tiananmen Square.
A Carlson MBA student connected me to his friend, Amy, who treated me to lunch and invited her co-worker, Fey Fey too! I tried the famous Beijing Peking Duck.
Stir fry with garlic, ginger, peppers and chicken. I used a translation app. on my phone to say chicken and then at a price I liked on a a picture-less, Mandarin menu. This dish arrived!
Steamed Baozi bought on the street. Hot, fresh, and yummy.
Carlson MBA graduate Nino dedicated an entire day to showing me his city. We ate a custard/yogurt/cream treat in the morning (main photo), a Thai meal for lunch, and enjoyed small nibbles with afternoon tea.
Another decadent, multi dish meal! Through a family friend I met Snow, who brought her roommate Miss Young to our dinner together. Chairman Mao’s favorite braised pork with fish is on the left.
The Year of Sarah Joy 
Everything looks very tasty. I like the updated headline photo for the blog (if that’s what it’s called;). Anyways, it’s a good one! Keep enjoying, hon!
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Thanks! There are a few new homepage photos. They rotate randomly when you refresh the homepage.
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Yum! You are so right, travel without the integral component of regional food is not a good thing! Everything looks so tasty; I want Asian for lunch (and maybe dinner, too)! Love that you’re connecting with so many wonderful folks. Keep your posts coming and happy eats!
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Good thing you have your pick of options on West Bank! Thanks for reading and commenting.
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Sounds delicious! So great that you can meet up with people you know. Love the updates!
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I am amazed at how welcoming all the people I know are. So generous! Cultural values here seem different from the U.S. in that regard.
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GREAT TIMES FOR YOU !!!!!
ENJOY ALL THOSE WONDERFUL FOODS AND TIMES !!!!
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Thanks GL!
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Now that’s what I’m talking about! Food-enjoy!!
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Thanks! Can’t wait to see what you all taste and try. T – only a few weeks and it’ll be grand!
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