Discovering Beijing through bicycling

Running through the haze becomes first Chinese lesson

I spent a wonderful couple of hours with them, chatting about our various lives and experiences. It served as a reminder that you can literally go anywhere in the world, and if you have the will, and even the basics of a shared language, you can communicate, and enjoy one another's company. As I left, the math teacher said: "Look we're here most nights of the week. If you're in Beijing with nothing to do, come and find us."

As it happens, I was busy every other night that first week I spent in Beijing, and when I went back to the area a couple of years later, the restaurant had closed. But I will never forget the good feeling I got that evening when three strangers invited a foreigner to their table.

I was back in that same area a couple of months ago, and I decided to check out the small temple remains at Yuetan Park. As I rounded the corner from that dining street of previous years, I was astonished to see a huge line, stretching many meters down the pavement from a steamed bun shop that was also packed inside. It didn't take me long to figure out that this must be the famous location where President Xi Jinping had dined one lunchtime a few weeks earlier.

I went back at different times on successive days, but there was always a huge line. But a few days ago, midweek at 3 pm, there were only about a dozen people in the line, so I persevered. In my (very) basic Chinese, I ordered the same meal as the president had, six buns, some soup and salad, and along with an iced tea. It came to precisely 21 yuan ($3.40).

So, thanks to a taste for wandering, I can now proudly say that I have had lunch fit for a president.

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