After picking up our tourmates Auntie & Uncle & tour guide Wang Jing, our Chinese Sifu drove us to the most famous Street in Beijing - Wangfujing Street.

Located  in the Dongcheng District of Beijing, Wangfujing is a 700-year-old Commercial Street, with an extention of 1150 metres, from Wangfujing Nankou to Dengshi Xikou.

The 700-year-old Wangfujing Street is named after the 10 Princes’ mansion & their sweet-water Well that was built in the Ming Dynasty. In those days, to dig Wells at random near the Imperial Palace was forbidden. According to the principles of Chinese Geomancy, the position of a Building or Tomb in relation to its natural Landscape affects the Fortune of its Occupants. Drilling into the Earth near the Emperor’s Home without allowances for Fengshui (Wind & Water) might bring ruin to the Imperial Family. Thus, this Well - the only Well in the Neighbourhood, was prized as a scarce commodity, & was closely monitored by the Resident Aristocracy.

We’re now walking to the opposite Side Street of Food Stalls at Wangfujing Street.

Here we are, at the Wangfujing Side Street Food Stalls - it was a real eye-opener for Dear & I cos we’d never seen anything like this!! The side street was lined up with all kinds of stalls selling all kinds of traditional, unique, special, out of the world, authentica cooked & RAW cuisines!!

And so funny, cos I received compliments for my Red hairstyle again - this time from an ederly Chinese seller from one of the Food Stalls here in Wangfujing, who told me in Mandarin that my RED hair was really beautiful, & asked if I’d colored it by myself or I went to a Hair Salon!!

Well, Dear & I were only given 1/2 hour by our tour guide Wang Jing to walk the food street, after which we would be having our dinner at the Sichuan Restaurant behind the food stalls.

Wasting no time at all, Dear & I started walking towards one end of the street, so excitedly like little kids venturing into a REAL treaure hunt!!

And of course, I immediately started snapping photos of each & every Food Stalls!!

From here onwards, I’ll try my very best to interpret & describe to you the food that were being sold, or are on display in the photos. However, I must apologise for my very poor Chinese as I’m not able to read & recognise many of the Chinese words written on the Stalls!

Luckily, a picture does paint a thousand words, so I shall let the below many photos help me as I go along! But BEWARE, cos some of the photos may appear uncomforting & displeasing to your eyes!

Satays Satays - Skewers of raw Squids, Sotongs, Meat, Chicken & Duck Kidneys, Crayfish etc :

“Lau Bei Jing Feng Wei” (meaning “Old Beijing Flavours”) with ”Guang Chang Jian Jiao” meaning some kind of Sausaged Intestines, & Fried Dimplings (or “Guo Tie” in Chinese). See the many rounded wooden Bamboo Containers (like Dim Sum) with pieces of food (mini Buns & Cakes) - these are actually some of the Chinese Imperial Court Kitchen Cuisines. 

See the the bottom left corner plate of Brown stuffs - those are the “animals” - Silkworm Cocoons!

Close-up view of the Imperial Court Kitchen Snacks (or “Gong Ting Xiao Ce” in Chinese), & the “Jian Jiao” - Fried Dumplings :

“Chao Meng Zhe” - some kind of fried Cuisines sitting inside the huge black Wok - with more Skewers of Meat, Squids, Prawns, Chicken Duck Kidneys & Silkworm Cocoons (2nd plate of Brown stuffs from right)!!!

Errrrr - I can feel my hair rising as I just typed the word “Silkworm” again! in fact I’m just looking down at my keyboard as I’m typing now - hahaha cos I hate the “animals” - in fact I hate any types or sizes of the “animals”.

Well, not that I hate but I am SCARED of them like HELL!! That would be my far more worst worst fear other than my height phobia!! My close friends & my family know that I’m totally hopeless when it comes to that “animals” - yea, I started calling them ”animals” years ago cos I can’t even bear hearing them!! And the sights of them will make me Scream & Run & Jump like NUTS high up onto the bed or sofa or anywhere that I can reach so that I’m furthest away from them!!

“Kao Man Yu” - meaning BBQ Eels - should be real yummy yummy but unfortunately, we didn’t get to taste them!

“Dai Xien Yu Wan” - meaning some kind of “Fish Balls”, & some kind of Sichuan Drinks (white colored cups), & some kind of Natural brown colored Fruits Jelly Desserts with Red Fruits (in bowls with spoons) :

With the many Food Skewers are Written on the huge Stall’s yellow board ”Hei Feng Chai Mien” meaning “Fried Noodle”, & “Tie Ban You Yu” meaning Hotplate Sotong :

“Kao Yu Wang” the name of some kind of BBQ or Grilled Fish - Seoul’s Delicacy (or “Chao Xian Ming Te Feng Wei” in Chinese) :

Oil fried Ice Cream (or “Lau Bei Jing - You Chao Bing Zi Ling”) - Dear was just saying we didn’t actually see or know that there was Fried Ice Cream on sales then, or else we would have tried it, cos we both love ice creams!!!

On the bottom left corner are pieces of “Jiang Nan Feng Wei - Xiang Cui Nan Hwa Bin”, which are Jiang Nan Flavoured Fragrant Crispy Winter Melons :

“Huo Kao Yang Rou Chuan” meaning BBQ Lamb Skewers, & “Tie Ban You Yu” meaning Hotplate Sotong : 

More & more type of Skewers of Small big Squids, Chicken Wings, Meat, Prawns etc, & Fruits Skewers of Stawberries, Pineapples, Kiwis, Honey Melons etc :

“Xiang Kan Sa Niao Niu Rou Wan” meaning “Hong Kong Pee Pee Beef Balls” haha what a special name!! 

There’re aslo some kind of Porridge & Coconut Honey Melons Desserts.

And further towards the right are Mongolian BBQ Lamb Legs, Hairy Crabs & Grilled Corns :

Close-up view of the “Xiang Kan Sa Niao Niu Rou Wan” meaning “Hong Kong Pee Pee Beef Balls” :

“Meng Shi Kao Yang Tui” meaning “Mongolian Lamb Legs - & look at them below - they’re so BIG!!

Beautiful Fruits Skewers of Strawberries, Pineapples, Kiwis & Honey Melons - look at the so HUGE Strawberries!!

Authentic Xinjiang Lamb Skewers (or “Yang Rou Chuan” in Chinese), besides other Meat & animal organs Skewers.

See the above pieces of sealed Thick Round Big Breads (called ”Roti” or “Nan” in Xinjiang) - there’re usually very delicious when grilled a little cos I’ve eaten them in Xinjiang, Silk Road.

Written on the below Stall’s white board is “Lau Bei Jing Xian Bao Du” meaning some kind of “Old Beijing Flavoured” stomach stuffs, with Sweetened Fruits Skewers (such as ”Bing Tang Hu Lu“) with “Mai Yang Tang” or Malt Candy!

These Fruits Skewers & Bing Tang Hu Lu are sweetened with “Mai Ya Tang” (I used to eat & love Mai Yang Tang alot during my childhood!!) :

“Gou Bu Li Bao Zi” from Tianjin, China.

“Nai You Cha Gao” meaning “Butter Fried Cake” etc - all Old Beijing Flavours :

Skewers of Crayfish & Prawns with BIG Round don-know-what Balls with some kind of pan-fried Egg Burgers etc :

“Lau Bei Jing - Lu Zhu Huo Sao” - some kind of Old Beijing Flavoured stewed speciality :

“Xi An Feng Wei Rou Bao” - which is some kind of Xian Flavoured Meat Bun :

Steamed Hairy Crabs, hmmmm reminded Dear & I of the yummy delicious Hairy Crabs which we ate in Shanghai before!

Shanghainese Hairy Carb Roe Soup :

“Chou Dou Fu” which is Smelly Bean Curds, heehee reminded Dear & I of the already-stinky-from-afar Smelly Dou Fu which we ate while in Hong Kong - but I liked it cos it was very tasty!

“Huo Kao Yang Rou Chuan” which are BBQ Lamb Skewers, with Squid Skewers etc :

“Kao Sheng Hao” which are grilled Oysters - Dear & I love Oysters!

True Xinjiang Specialities - Meat, Seafood, Organs Skewers :

All sorts of Snacks such as “Lian Hua Su Bing” etc :

True Sichuan Specialities - “Dan Dan Mien“ - a kind of Spicy Flour Noodles with Hot Pepper Powder, & ”Ma La Tang” Spicy Soup :

“Mong Ku Da Chao Yuen - Huo Kao Yang Rou Chuan” meaning “Mongolian grassland - BBQ Lamb Skewers” :

Fried Noodles with all kinds of Skewer delicacies - sliced Lotus Roots, Seaweeds, Fish Balls, Mushrooms, Vegetables, Meat Balls etc etc :

Sweet Corns & “Suan Mei Tang” (meaning “Sour Plum Soup”) - but I think it’s more like Sour Plum drinks that were sold instead of the “Sour Plum Soup” as written on the below Stall :

“Bolo Fan” which means Pineapple Rice on sales below :

Close-up view of the Pineapple Rice - steamed Rice contained inside Pineapple Cups, topped with Green & Red Cherries & Black Sesame Seeds - so Unique & Beautiful!! Besides the Pineapple Rice are Yangzhou “Xiang Chao Rou” meaning “Fragrant Grass Meat” :

“Ya Xue Tang” which is Duck Blood Soup :

More Mongolian Lamb, Meat & other delicacy Skewers :

Dear & I stopped for Freshly grilled Oysters (or “Kao Sheng Hao” in Chinese) :

Our 2 large Oysters (topped with minced Garlics, Chilies & Spring Onions) being grilled :

Me holing our 2 really big just-grilled Oysters - so HAPPY :

Me about to eat my grilled Oyster :

Mmm…..it’s yummy!! Steaming hot & really good!! I ate one & Dear ate one too :))

Our 2 Huge empty Oyster Shells, with the leftover minced Garlics, Chilies & Spring Onions :

“Zhang Yu Xiao Wan Zhi” meaning Sotong Balls - they’re actually Flour Balls with Sotong pieces inside :

“Hangzhou Yi Jue - Xiang La Mei Rong Xie” which means “Hangzhou No I - Fragrant Spicy Beauty Crabs” - which are actually some kind of fried Crabs on Skewers - a Hangzhou Delicacy :

“Chao Gan Lee” which is actually fried minced Mutton with Chinese Parsley, wrapped in round or long rectangular Buns (or Roti or Naan) :

Dear ordered a Long rectangular wrapped with Mutton Bun which is called “Shao Bin Jia Rou” which cost 10 Yuans, as written on the below board :

Hangzhou delicacies consisting of Skewers of Fried Prawns, Sweet Corns, Silkworm Cocoons (on the bottom right) etc :

Beautiful Fresh Fruits Skewers :

Skewers of RAW RAW Delicacies : Silkworm Cocoons, Scorpions etc etc!! Dear took these below photos while I stood far away - & as I’m typing now, I try not look at them cos they give me the creeps & goose pimples all over!!! But I’m bearing with them cos I wana bring you the Best & the most Unusual!!! But Yucks!! Yucks!! Yucks!!! I shall scroll down fast fast from here after this!!!

Sea Urchins :

Dear biting into the Long Bun (Naan) wrapped with minced Muttons with Chinese Parsely :

It was pretty delicious & Dear really enjoyed it - tasted just like Kebabs he said!

Skewers of Fruits with “Mai Ya Tang” or Malt Candy, & fresh Coconuts juices :

Meat & Sotong & Silkworm Cocoons Skewers :

Oh dear, here they come again - more Skewers of RAW specialities : Centipedes, Starfish etc : 

I think the Starfish are really beautiful!

“Hunan Feng Wei - Chou Dou Fu” which is Smelly Bean Curds from Hunan, China.

Cream Fried Cake & Deep Fried Ice Cream :

Noodle Stall selling “Dan Dan Mien“, “Liang Fen” & “Liang Mien” (which means Cold Noodles) in Hotpot (or Steamboat) “Ma La Tang” (which is Spicy Soup) with Food Skewers such as Meat, Balls, Vegetables etc :

Taiwanese Delicacies such as “Sui Jing Tai Yang Hua” which is translated as ”Water Crystal Sun Flowers” - what a lovely name?! 

Close-up view of the “Sui Jing Tai Yang Hua” (or ”Water Crystal Sun Flowers) - different kinds of Taiwanese Cakes - so colorful & pretty!!

Another Taiwanese delicacy :

Another Lamb Skewers Stall :

Desserts, grilled Sweet Corns, fried “Chou Dou Fu” (or Smelly Bean Curds) :

Hotpot (or Steamboat) Ma La Tang with all kinds of ingredients (in Skewers) to go with :

Hong Kong Delicacy Stall selling Bird Nest Soup & “Buddha Jump Over Wall” Soup :

Close-up view of “Buddha Jump Over Wall” (or “Fo Tiao Qiang” in Chinese) :

More “Lau Bei Jing Feng Wei” (Old Beijing Delicacies) :

Dear eating Xinjiang Lamb Skewer :

I’ve eaten Xinjiang Lamb Skewers while travelling on the Silk Road, but it was Dear’s very first time tasting Chinese (as from China) Lamb Skewer, & he pretty much liked it!

More Skewered delicacies such as Chicken Chops, Organs, Meat, Prawns, Sotongs etc :

Me enjoying the Xinjiang Lamb Skewer!

Haha, some pieces of the Lamb were pretty tough!

Out of fun & originality, I took some photos of my Xinjiang Lamb Skewer in the background of Wangfujing Food Street :

The Lamb pieces look kind juicy & yummy here :

I really like these crazy photos!!

And I find them pretty Cool!!

Dear puchasing my Strawberry Skewer!!! YES YES I finally got to eat the so HUGE BIG FAT Strawberries!!!

Me holding the plate of Skewered Strawberries topped with some kind of sugar - I chose the BIGGEST FATTEST REDDIEST Strawberries!!!

Famous Old Beijing Snacks with interesting names such as the brown “Lu Ta Kun” & white “Ai Wo Wo” :

“Long Xu Shu” meaning ”Dragon Bead” Snacks :

More “Long Xu Shu” & “Da Ma Hua” (or big fried ”Dough Twists”) on sales :

One last photo of Dear standing in the Wangfujing Food Street before we headed towards our dining Restaurant for the evening :

Below is the Sichuan Restaurant (or “Si Chuan Fan Dian” in Chinese) which was located just beside (in the middle of) the Wangfujing Food Stalls.

We stopped to tuck into our Strawberries before entering the Sichuan Restaurant :

The Strawberries were so Huge, so Fresh, & so so Juciy & Sweet!! The white sugary stuffs topping the Strawberries were really good too -not too sweet but really special & light!!

They were the BEST Strawberries we’ve had for a long time!! They tasted so GOOD it was really unbelievable!!

Look at the below Juicy RED Huge Strawberries - they were really so YUMMY we’d wanted to go get more if not for our soon-to-have Sichuan Dinner!!

Too bad we had only half an hour to explore the Wangfujing Food Stalls, & cos we were going to have our dinner after that, Dear & I could not really have the chance to sample more of the so many Delicacies that we saw, as much as we would love to!! But of course I don mean the “animal” or RAW RAW cuisines okie - never in the world would I eat those!!! My goodness!!! Though I know they’re really nutritious!! If only you dare!!?!

Inside the Sichuan Restaurant :

We ordered Coke - really very COLD Coke heehee! Notice the Beijing 2008 Olympics Bird Nest picture on the Coke :

Our tourmate Singaporean Uncle ordered a bottle of Cold Beer - as usual, his Thai wife made some noises trying to stop Uncle from buying the Beer & she said that Uncle would snore very loudly when sleeping that night if he drank the Beer, & that she would be disturbed & not able to sleep that whole night!! Dear & I really had a good laugh but we were really surprised that Auntie gave in to Uncle when he insisted on buying the Beer!

While seated in the big crowded Restaurant waiting for our dinner to be served, our tourmate Thai Auntie showed us her Fake Chinese 20 Yuan note which she happened to be given during a sales transaction in Beijing - she was conned!!! 

See the FAKE note below - would you know it’s a Fake if you come across it?!

 Now see the following REAL Chinese 20 Yuan note :

The 2 REAL & FAKE 20 Yuan notes side by side - do you know which is the FAKE one & which is the REAL one?

The bottom note is the FAKE one cos the color is fainter as compared to the top REAL note :

Now see the other sides of the 2 REAL & FAKE Chinese 20 Yuan notes  - see their differences?! Again, the color & pictures on the top REAL note is darker, as compared to the faint color & pictures of the bottom FAKE note!

In China, we’ve to be very careful especially in money transactions during shopping or dinning, so that we won’t be conned into receiving FAKE notes. I hope by showing you these REAL & FAKE Chinese Yuan notes, you’d better see the differences between the FAKE & the REAL notes, & that you’d be extra careful the next time you’re travelling or transacting in China :))

Now came our first dish of the night : stir-fry Spring Onions with Cuttle fish :

Stir-fry Winter Melons with sliced Mushroons :

Sweet & Sour Pork :

Sichuan “Ma La Tang” (Hot Spicy Soup) with sliced Pork, Cabbages & whole fatty fresh Chilies :

The “Ma La Tang” was nice - though it was a little spicy to Dear & our tourmates Auntie & Uncle - but NOT at all to me since I love real HOT SPICY food!!

See the fat round fresh Chilies in the Soup!!

Unfortunately, the Soup is a little too oily - but that’s usually common in Sichuan styled “Ma La Tang”.

To cool us off, we were served a huge bowl of plain Cabbage Soup!

After our Sichuan Dinner, our tour guide Wang Jing led us walking to the nearby Wangfujing shopping area - a Pedestrian Shopping Mall where there were huge Shopping Malls in the long wide Street which was off-limits to all vehicles.

We were all really excited cos it was our very first night Shopping in Beijing!!! Maintaining its position as the No 1 choice for Shoppers since the mide 1980s, Wangfujing Shopping Street was really clean, with Shopping Malls & Shops in both sides. There was even the largest outdoor TV Screen in Beijing, situated in the Wangfujing Shopping Street!

Dear & I entered the first Chinese Medical Hall as my Dad has requested me to help buy some Chinese medicines called “Yunnan Baiyao Powder” which is hardly available in Singapore nowadays cos the Chinese government has reduced its exportations of the medicines cos of the more abundant usage & benefits of the medicines for its own Chinese people instead.

This “Yunnan Baiyao Powder” is very good & useful & it can be applied as well as eaten to cure internal injuries. Dad & Mom had even helped saved many lives since many tens of years ago with this medicine when they gave them away free-of-charge to friends & relatives.

Once recently about 1 year or 2 ago, Dad & Mom were on a Malaysian Muar trip when a stranger tourmate old Uncle accidentally fell into a big drain while stepping down from the tour coach. This Old Uncle was badly injured & was bleeding terribly & everybody was panicky as nothing could stop Uncle from bleeding so much while they were waiting for a long time for the Malaysian Ambulance to arrive. Luckily Dad & Mom brought along their “Yunnan Baiyao Powder” (as they’ve always brought medicines in their travelling), Dad quickily applied some of the Powder on Uncle’s bleeding body & immediately Uncle’s bleeding stopped!! By the time the Ambulance arrived, Uncle seemed alright cos he has already stopped bleeding.

And I was really glad that I found Dad’s “Yunnan Baiyao Powder” at the Wangfujing Shopping Street! Next Dear & I shopped at this Big 6-storey Shopping Mall called Sun Dong An Shopping Mall (or “Xin Dong An” in Chinese). And we were really surprised & happy when we found the first storey full of the Beijing 2008 Olympics Mechandise & Souvenirs! There were even more varities than the earlier Olympics Souvenirs Store which our tour guide Wang Jing brought us this morning!!

Below Slideshow contains photos I took of Wangfujing Shopping Street, as well as the Sun Dong An Shopping Mall where we bought more of our Beijing 2008 Olympics Merchandises & Souvenirs.

While waiting for our tour mates Auntie & Uncle, & our tour guide Wang Jing, near the Wangfujing Clock Tower - Dear’s Dad called him from Singapore cos he was worried for us due to the Sichuan Earthquake.

The following Slideshow contains photos of Dear (standing in Wangfujing Shopping Street) talking to Dad on his mobile phone : 

Dear & I had a pretty wonderful time shopping in Wangfujing, except that it would be even much better if we’d arrived earlier & had much more time cos we only managed to shop inside the first storey of Sun Dong An Shopping Mall, & walked around the Shopping Street for a while, before we had to leave the place! Besides the much to eat & sample of many different cuisines in Wangfujing Street, there’re also much to look at & much to shop for in Wangfujng - so if you have the chance to visit Wangfujing in Beijing, do remember to give yourself more more hours in there!

I shall leave you now with the following Slideshow containing photos of all the Souvenirs (Olympics Fuwa Jingjing Pouch, Olympics Souvenir Magnets, Dear’s Temple of Heaven Olympics T-shirt & Olympics Fuwa Umbrealls) we bought at the Sun Dong An Shopping Mall in Wangfujing Shopping Street :