Peking Duck

Good morning from Beijing! Apologies for the delay in posting but I was officially wiped out after a three-hour walking tour of the Temple of Heaven. So now it's a new day and I've had a nice long rest and sitting in the Executive Lounge enjoying a ham and cheese omlette and anxiously awaiting my firend Zhongcheng to pick me up for our tour of the Great Wall! Since it's already Saturday I'm treating today like a regular game day and I've got my burnt orange polo on. I don't believe anyone here will mind (or notice)! It shouldn't be any problem to watch the Texas game on the internet here.

A couple of days ago, I tested out the Georgia Tech/Miami game and it was coming through in near-HD quality so I don't think it will be an issue to get the Tech game.

Let me catch you up on what's been happening over the last 24 hours. On Friday morning, after a nice workout and tasty breakfast, Zhongcheng scooped me up from my hotel and we drove a short distance to his new office and to meet the members of his new IP law firm. I'm so excited for him and this new adventure in his career. We wish him great luck and success in the future and look forward to collaborating on many projects together. Driving in Beijing I feel more like a dog than a human. If I could stick my head out the window to get closer to all the sights and sounds, I think I would. My eyes are constantly moving in every direction as we drive down the busy streets and take in all the wonderful modern architecture. We worked in the morning at the new office and departed after taking a few snapshots in front of the new lobby sign. Off we went to partake in Beijing's famous Peking Duck!

The restaurant was phenomenal. I knew I was in for a treat upon entering. Many celebrities had left signed pictures after dining and several awards were displayed throughout the lobby, including "2009 - Best Dining Experience," "Best Peking Duck," and "2009 - Top 50 Restaurant in Beijing." You could also see the cooks preparing the ducks through the kitchen windows. The hostess escorted us to a private room where Zhongcheng, myself, and two of his partners all sat at a round table. We ordered red wine made by the Great Wall winery, which is one of the best known in china. It was a full bodied red, but not too heavy. The grapes were grown in the north of China. (This obviously all for Tom Gutting.)

We had appetizers of Fois Gras and BBQ eel, which was surprisingly very yummy, especially considering I don't like a lot of "fishy" dishes. Then they brought the duck. More accurately, they brought in slices of the duck. I never saw a bill or feet in case you were wondering. The server showed me all the ways to enjoy the duck. The first way is by taking a piece of thinly slice duck meat, which has been roasted for about an hour and twenty minutes, and then dip it into pure ground sugar. The best way to enjoy this technique is with the skin. Next, you can take slices of the meat and put them into a flour tortilla. It looks like it is actually made of rice based on the color and texture. You add sliced onions, cucumber and a special sauce to this Chinese soft taco and enjoy! Finally, you can eat the Peking Duck using the same ingredients as the tortilla but instead of the tortilla you put everything into something called Ping bread. It is like a hollow biscuit-shaped flat bread. The highlight was the dessert. It was a speciality of the restaurant and not a common dish to the area. It was yellow corn ice cream. As the frozen treat hit my pallet, flashbacks of the Texas state fair exploded in my mouth. It was like eating cold sweet corn with a spoon. OK, enough details about the lunch. As you can imagine, I really enjoyed the meal. We were then off to the Temple of Heaven.

Zhongcheng's partner, Mr. Wu accompanied me to the Temple of Heaven which was erected in the 1400s, over 600 years ago. Here is a link if you're interested in seeing more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_of_Heaven. This place is enormous and we spent several hours walking to the main buildings, which including the Hall of Fasting and the Hall of Prayer. We were also able to see a building that housed old musical instruments during the celebrations at the Temple. After plenty of walking, I was ready to go back to the hotel and have a rest. Zhongcheng informed me it would be a good idea to lay low since the government was closing down the streets in preparing for the Oct. 1st celebration. Last night was the city's last walk-through dress rehearsal for the parade to be held that day. From the Executive Lounge I had a pretty good view of the drill and could see dozens of tanks traveling down the main thorough fare.

OK, I'm signing off for now to experience, what I think will be the highlight of the trip, the Great Wall! It's a little overcast now and is supposed to shower later today, so hopefully we won't get too wet. Tomorrow morning I will wake up and watch the Horns BTHO of Tech and then rest up for busy work week on Monday.