Beijing Attractions

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Beijing Roast Duck

Peking Duck has the reputation of being the most delicious food Beijing has to offer. Some find it a bit too greasy, but others get hooked after one taste. In any case, a Peking Duck dinner is usually a fixed item on any Beijing tour itinerary. Eating Peking Duck is also one of the two things you are absolutely supposed to do while in Beijing. The other one is climbing the Great Wall.

The place that offers the best Peking Duck is the Quan Ju De Restaurant, which has outlets at Qianmen, Hepingmen and Wangfujing. It was established 130 years ago and, if you count from the time when founder Yang Renquan began his duck business, it is 160 years old.

At Quan Ju De,ducks are immersed in condiments unique to the restaurant and are roasted directly over flames stoked by fruittree wood. The best roasted duck is date-red, shining with oil, but with a crisp skin and tender meat.

The chef then cuts the meat into thin slices, each having a piece of skin. Then the meat is served with very thin pancakes, Chinese onions and special sauce. The way to eat it is to coat the thin pancake with sauce, slap on a few pieces of meat and roll up the pancake. Chopsticks are optional: it is much easier just to grab the thing with your bare hands.

Another famous restaurant offering Peking duck is the Bian Yi Fang (Cheap Restaurant), which opened in 1855, nine years earlier than Quan Ju De. At Bian Yi Fang, roasting is done in an enclosed container fueled with crop stalks. There are now hundreds of restaurants serving Peking Duck all over the city. Most of these restaurants offer ducks for 38 yuan a piece,cheaper that at the larger places.