One other lunch in Morel’s Restaurant on 9 May. Normally it is on the first Friday of the month but because of the May 1^st holidays, one week later.

While our mailing list is now a bit over 100 registered “members”, our Old China Hands are rather a bunch of busy people, stuck in meetings, travelling abroad or within China. Our attendance rate is thus always unpredictable but somewhere between 20 and 30%: a pretty good number allowing much interaction.
Our next lunch is 6 June.
I have also created a new group on LinkedIn: the “Beijing Monthly Old China Hands Lunch”: http://lnkd.in/bnzH-Z4
Welcome to join if you are an expat with at least 10 years of China!

On Sunday evening 13 April I went to my usual “pit stop” at The Den, thinking it would be quiet on a Sunday night. It was full house and I was wondering what was going on with all the Chinese having a red T-shirt.

Then the soccer match started between Liverpool and Manchester City, at the Anfield stadium. I did not know the Chinese were big supporters of Liverpool, cheering and jumping up as Liverpool scored two goals in the first half. They finally won by 3-2.
There was also a minute of silence at the start of the game, to mark the 25th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster in which 96 of their fans died during an FA Cup semi-final, one of the darkest days in the history of English soccer. The supporters lost their lives in a crush at the Leppings Lane End of Sheffield Wednesday’s Hillsborough ground at the start of the match between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest on April 15, 1989.
The Den is probably the oldest and best known sports bar and restaurant in Beijing, frequented by a mixed crowd of Chinese, expats (most being pretty close to retirement), the occasional girls of the night looking for business, and tourists. Families with kids are also regulars. It is

This time, we were just about twenty, as a number of friends got sick with the capricious weather or stuck in meetings or on a business trip.

Nevertheless, all had a good time and a lively chat in our familiar Morel’s restaurant.
Next lunch is 9 May, as the first Friday is in the May 1 holiday period.

On 13 March I finally made it to discover these two interesting Beijing spots.

China Oriental Zen Tea:
Discover a small, cute and hidden tea house, in Nanluoguxiang, Shajing Hutong No. 13 (walk north from the main avenue on Nanluoguxiang and look for Shajing Hutong down on your left. The tea house is a little further in the hutong, on your right side with a big sign.
Run by Kristin (American), more on http://www.damotea.com/
From there you can walk to Grandma Creative Kitchen going more west but it is a bit tricky if it’s your first time. See the maps for Shajing and Fangzhuanchang Hutongs.

Grandma’s Creative Kitchen:
No. 6 Fangzhuanchang Hutong, Di’anmen Wai Main Street
Directions:
Subway Line 6: Nanluoguxiang Exit A, enter Nanluoguxiang, walk to Heizhima Hutong and follow it down all the way, take a left and walk five meters and take a right onto Fangzhuanchang Hutong, walk 20 meters and Grandma’s Creative Kitchen is on your left.
Or call 189 1137 3718
Great home food, prepared with love and care and friendly service, all in an antique setting.
Good to surprise your loved one for a date.
Thanks Kristin for the warm reception and the guided tour!

For many foreigners the dish might be strange, the least to say. But it is as a matter of fact not that un-European, see the Marseille bouillabaisse (France), where also fish head can be added.
Actually I learned to eat the dish in China. It comes generally speaking in two varieties: the hot and spicy one (e.g. Hunan) or the one here, in a sticky brown sauce.
Normally noodles or pieces of pancakes are added to take up the sauce. The meat of the (large) fish heads is delicious and the bones are rather large, so less tricky to eat than normal Chinese fish, a challenging experience with the millions of annoying bones – not my favorite.

See here the fish head from the restaurant Wang Shun Ge in Fortune Plaza 3^rd floor in CBD. This one is the “brown sauce type”. There was also a special soup that takes hours to boil.
Problem is, I always eat too much… Too tempting…