Beijing 2009 - The Opposite House Boutique Hotel

The Opposite House Boutique Hotel was one of the most beautiful projects we saw on this trip. It was designed by renown Japanese Architect Kengo Kuma. 

The Opposite House is located in the Sanlitun District, an up-and-coming commercial district towards the North-Eastern side of the Forbidden City. It is a part of the huge Sanlitun Village commercial development.

From the outside, the building looks quite ordinary - a glass box clad in shades of green glass panels arranged in a random pattern. It doesn't prepare you for what happens inside.

The minute you enter the hotel, you know you are going into something very different. A 5-storey atrium creates a very dramatic and stunning entrance statement. 

The reception lobby is off to one side, and the reception counter is impossible to find - it is actually a low bench decorated with lots of white candles. The reception staff are dressed in very trendy uniform, looking like fashion models. The wall behind the reception counter is made up of hundreds of small drawers - very much like old Chinese medicine cabinets.

Though we did not make any appointments, the hotel staff were very kind to show us around the property. They even let us into one of the rooms. The room layout is unconventional - one side of it is fully taken up by the bathroom which is separated from the room with a full clear glass partition. This open arrangement makes the room feel really spacious. The floor is finished entirely in untreated timber. The concept probably broke all the conventional rules of hotel design, but the result is stunning !

The corridor design is very minimalist - the only distinguishing feature for the rooms is a recessed light and small metal numbers. 

The rest of the hotel are equally beautiful. This is the restaurant at the basement level.

The Japanese Restaurant. 

The swimming pool is at one of the lower basements, and is topped with a very unusual light installation. Hundreds of fibre-optic lights hanging from the ceiling created a hypnotic infinity effect with mirror walls on the side.

If you happen to be in Beijing, don't miss this true architectural gem. It will leave you breathless !

Beijing 2009 - Ma La Restaurant at Gui Jie

After wondering around Gui Jie for about an hour and feeling really hungry, we finally settled on this ma la restaurant. It was also very popular and we had to wait about 20 minutes for a table. Not quite knowing what to order, we basically ordered what looked good on the other tables. 

"Ma La" basically means "numbing spiciness". The heat comes from dried chili, and the numbing sensation comes from Sichuan pepper - and they use tons of it here ! Sichuan pepper is different from ordinary pepper - it is not as sharp and spicy. However after a while you feel a numbness on you tongue and lips which you either like or dislike. I quite like the sensation, but my friends hated it.

This is the "Ma La Stew with Frogs". Look at the amount of dried chili used ! I am not a big fan of frogs, having been put off it during a trip to Indonesia where it was served on every meal. Here the frogs were quite big -  the meat tender, but besides the spiciness there wasn't much other taste.

Simple stirfried french beans.

A fish soup. The soup is flavoured with bean paste and ginger, and quite good. The fish is a bit bland, like most freshwater fish. 

This is my favourite dish - deepfried prawns with cucumber and dried chili. It is kind of like a spicy salad.

Beijing 2009 - Gui Jie (Ghost Street)

Gui Jie (Ghost Street) is the most popular food street in Beijing. The name refers to the throngs of people who frequent the street for food at all hours - commonly referred to by the Chinese as "Er Gui" or "Hungry Ghosts". The street is located at the North-Eastern side of the Forbidden City - in the Dongzhimen area. About 100 restaurants line both sides of this 1 km stretch of street, and it is distinguished by the hundreds of red lanterns hanging over the street. 

Though there are so many restaurants in this area, most of them seem to be serving the same type of food - barbeque skewers, spicy hot pot, or traditional Beijing cuisine. Spicy hot pot (Ma La Huo Guo) seems to the specialty here, as there is one outlet at every corner.

One of the most popular restaurants in Gui Jie is Huajia Yiyuan - a restaurant specializing in traditional Beijing cuisine with a mix of cooking from other regions. The design is based on a traditional courtard house, and the relatively large couryard is the main dining area. There are also smaller courtyards providing more intimate dining spots. It was so popular that even after waiting for half an hour, we couldn't get a table. Sadly we had to try another place.

Beijing 2009 - Quan Ju De Peking Duck Restaurant

The most famous culinary specialty in Beijing is Peking Duck, and the most famous restaurant serving this dish is Quan Ju De Peking Duck Restaurant. They have eight outlets in Beijing, most are usually packed with tourists and locals alike. The one we went to at He Ping Men Avenue is one of the biggest, with 7 floors and 15,000 sq. m. It can serve up to 2,000 guests at any one time.

The Peking Duck at Quan Ju De is quite pricey. It cost around RMB 180.00 per duck, which is around RM 90.00. This is double the price of a roast duck in Malaysia. A roast duck in other restaurants around Beijing is around RMB 50.

It comes with some spring onion, sauce and pancake which you use to wrap the meat. The duck is carved at table side. The taste of the Peking duck is just okay, I think we have much better roast duck in Malaysia. 

Besides the Peking Duck, the restaurant also has an extensive menu. We settled on some of the appetizers, as the roast duck itself would be quite sufficient for a few persons. The waitress kept saying that one duck would only feed around 4 to 5 persons, it's more like 8 persons. Perhaps Beijingers are big eaters. For an additional service charge of RMB 30, they will deepfry the duck carcass for you. You must go for it as this is even more delicious then the meat. They have seasoned the carcass with a spiced salt, making it crispy and really tasty.

Jellyfish in Chinese vinegar. This was not so good. The jellyfish was tough and without flavour, and the vinegar not of the best quality.

Cold pork slices. Quite good with the soya-vinegar dipping sauce.

White-cooked chicken. Nothing to write home about.

Spicy beef. Ditto.

Chinese red dates - always a good side dish.

Braised tofu - this was really good, the sauce light and savoury, the tofu perfectly cooked.

Stirfried, or deepfried bamboo shoots and long beans. These were way overcooked.

The technique of the chefs here seem to be more deepfrying then stirfrying. This kills the freshness of most of the ingredients. I would say eating at Quan Ju De is more for the experience then the taste.

Beijing 2009 - Hotel Kapok

Hotel Kapok is a modern boutique hotel located at Donghuameng Street, a main commercial street towards the Eastern side of the Forbidden City. It is one of the new generation of Beijing hotels which are design-focused, offering something different from the typical 4 or 5 star hotels.

Designed by Beijing architect Studio Pei-Zhu, the external facade of the building is inspired by the Chinese lantern. It is a screen which covers the entire facade of the building, made of fibre-glass. Translucent and jade-like in colour, the screen catches the sun and produce a shimmering effect when viewed at different angles.

Inside the hotel the design is very modern and contemporary, with a bamboo courtyard providing lighting to the centre of the building. There is a "staircase library" where guests can read and relax. 

The hotel exterior.

The lobby and courtyard.

The reading corner.

The "staircase library".