CHINA WONDER

Photograph Courtesy of Diego Frios
It's not every day that you have the opportunity to see one of the Seven Wonders of (Medieval) World. So, when I was invited to be a guest speaker in China, I joined my hosts in visiting the Great Wall of China. It is an imposing man-made structure that sits like a majestic stone dragon on the top of a seemingly endless mountain ridge. It gives one the illusion that it could probably be seen from as far away as the moon. In fact, in 1932, one of Ripley's Believe It or Not! cartoons claimed that the Great Wall of China was the only work of man that was visible to the human eye from the moon. It turns out that Ripley's helped perpetuate an ongoing urban myth. American astronaut Neil Armstrong debunked the myth when he came back to earth, so did Yan Liwei, China's first astronaut who said, "The scenery was very beautiful. But, I did not see the Great Wall."

Photograph by Juan FRIAS VELATTI

During my visit to China, I toured several places in Beijing including The Forbidden City - the center of ancient Peking, the 2008 Olympic stadiums, Tiananmen Square and the contemporary part of the city. This section of Beijing is definitely much more modern and cosmopolitan than I imagined. Of course, along with the urbanization of China, I also saw a heavy blanket of smog and a sea of people everywhere. This might be explained by the population of 22,000,000 that is estimated to live in the capital city.

Photograph by Ana Reg
One of the more well-known markets in Beijing is the Hongquiao Market, sometimes called the "Pearl Market". Over 1,000,000 visitors come to the Hongquiao Market to buy pearls that have been imported from all over the world. In addition to the famous pearls, the market also boasts a 5-story shopping paradise for anyone looking for electronics, clothing, souvenirs, silk and seafood.

Photograph by Istolethetv

The seafood market is located in the basement of the Hongquiao building. Here, there are hundreds of fish and shellfish including snails, turtles, conchs, crabs (20 varieties), mantis shrimp, frogs and basically anything that lives in both fresh and salt water - all of them sold exclusively live. I would imagine that some of the street vendors shop here as well since you can find fried sea cucumbers, starfish, sea horses and a multitude of other exotic fare out on the street. Even landlubbers who have an aversion to seafood can get their own unusual tastes satisfied with a variety of tidbits including lizards, snakes, grasshoppers, donkey meat and camel paw.

Photograph Chowtimes.com
Street food in Beijing is obviously strangely curious, but definitely reserved for the adventurous. When my hosts took me to a restaurant called "Gou Bu Li Bao Zi", which is translated as "Even the dogs ignore", I did not know what to expect. It turns out that Gou Bu Li Bao Zi is one of the best bazoi (steamed buns) establishments in Beijing. The founder of the shop named his son Gou Zi (Doggy). Many stories have been circulated about the chef. The official version reads taht when young Gou Zi started his own bazoi shop, he worked so hard that people started saying that "when Gou Zi is at work he ignores everyone." Hence, the interesting restaurant bill, "Even the dogs ignore."