We started off with a food tour by Hias Gourmet, a company only a few years old but has been featured in Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern . The owner, Adlyn, walked us around the hutongs near Houhai lake which was populated with swan boats and local Chinese men taking their daily swim. We tasted foods from roasted chestnut, chrysanthemum tea with rock sugar, 3 cup duck, beef wrapped in lotus leaf, perch, golden sand mushrooms, bing tang hu lu (aka candied fruit), delicious yogurt, and of course green tea while being told the history of hutongs and the modernization of Beijing. Here's us munching down on these colorful treats: 
Beijing, also known as Peking, is famous for Peking Duck. If you've had this before in the states, it has a totally different flavor and leaness when prepared in its own country. We shared this dining experience with a another couple from Yokota, Sean and Ashley, at a New York Times 5 star rated restaurant called Da Dong. Lucky for us, Da Dong himself was sitting at the next table. We watched as various dishes of sushi shaded by a lone cherry blossom branch, chocolate bomb that literally exploded to reveal little sachets of even more chocolate, and tall sticks with cotton candy covered fruit paraded past us. It was definitely a memorable evening.
Our last delectable delight came late one night at a vegetarian restaurant called Pure Lotus. It was recommended by Adlyn and rated 5 stars by the New York Times. With my Adventist background, I thought I knew what good vegetarian food was like. However, this food was simply amazing. There was so many delicious flavors that I really must say it was better than meat. It was that good! The decor of the restaurant and presentation of the food also left you in a dream like state.
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