{Beijing Adventures} Donghuamen Night Market (✿‿ ✿)

Thanks Blogger, I really appreciate you saving the post that I spent so much time on and when I hit Publish, you decide to crash. 

With that said, let's try this again. After we rested from our whole day at the Ming Tomb, Great Wall, and the whole tour guide fiasco, we had two options for our last night in Beijing. 1.) Enjoy what Beijing is most famous for-- the Peking duck. 2.) Dinner at the Donghuamen Night Market! It is a night market located near Wangfujing with 5-6 blocks of unusual food stalls. Amar's goal was to try something he would never try and this was the perfect place for that. There are stalls with deep fried crickets, centipedes, worms, scorpions, lizards, snakes. You name it, they probably got it. I actually really wanted to do both but too bad my stomach can't handle that much food..  so a difficult decision had to be made. Amar doesn't like duck much anyways so Donghuamen it is! This was easily the highlight of my trip. I love food! So when we arrived, 

All my favorite foods (and more) on the same street. I was in heaven. #isthisreallife 

This stall (above) had all the raw foods on a skewer ready to be grilled or deep fried, however you prefer. I was watching her grill the centipedes and then squish them flat so it's easier to eat. So strange!

My favorite! 

This is also the stall where Amar decided to go for it and try grilled spicy snake. I hate snakes and all reptiles. I had to pass but apparently it tastes like chicken with a lot of bones. Shivers.

@______@

Crab soup dumplings!! So delicious.  

Quail eggs. O.O

Stinky tofu!! So good.

TARANTULAS ON A STICK!

 As if one picture's not bad enough. Here's a close up!

Hot and sour clear glass noodles. Perfect for a cold winter night!

We probably spent around RMB$60-70 on a range of different foods from dumplings to different skewers to desserts! The fried caramelized banana mochi (above) was one of the best desserts everrrr. It was so good and so cheap! At the very end, we discovered a mall with all the American stores like Apple, Gap, AE, Sephora, etc. It was like we're back home! 

The night can't end without trying out a new tapioca place! This was located inside the mall and Amar enjoyed their fresh banana milk with tapioca. Super fresh and not powdery at all.

Before we left, I just had to go back and get my favorite candied fruit on a stick! This time, I got the strawberry and kiwi combo which was good but not as good as the RMB$2 one from the guy on the bike! I wish they had these in Hong Kong.. But then I'd be 500 pounds.

I'll squeeze in our last day in Beijing here as well. Our flight was at 2PM the following day and we were able to sleep in and grab lunch nearby the hotel before leaving! We picked Flying Noodles because it had the most people inside and the name was quite catchy. 

It's quite interesting how these little modern restaurants work. The waitresses sit you, take your order, gives you the check, and you have to pay before you eat. I guess it prevents a lot of dine and dash-ers. But it's quite an interesting concept. Much more efficient.

I had a wonderful time in Beijing (like I do all the other places I've been). Spending New Years here was definitely an experience to remember, especially being able to say I visited the Great Wall on New Years Eve right before the spectacular fireworks! It was also nice to spend time with Amar after being apart for 2 1/2 months and being able to see the beautiful historical sights. Despite almost being unintentionally spit on on several occasions and watching people sneeze and cough without covering their mouth, Beijing will always have a special place in my heart. The good food, great people, and spectacular views. Until next time, 再见!

xoxoxoxo