Drum Tower and Houhai

Handmade Sugar Animals

 Walking around the Drum Tower area is fun, if a bit touristy. Most of the hutongs here sell interesting touristy stuff, and you’ve got the usual street vendors selling all kinds of interesting things to eat! J, my mandarin language exchange partner, knows this area very well, and we had a good time wandering around.

Lunch was Sichuan style hotpot. Everything I fished out from the pot was coated in a tongue searingly hot film of chilli oil. Fantastic. After lunch, J and I went over to the famous “双皮奶“ (Double skin milk) store in the drum tower hutong. I learnt that this type of custard comes from Guandong, and the milk and egg and boiled and steamed. Beijingers are crazy about this type of custard. The queue was incredible, and they sold out on everything except the “燕麦红豆双皮奶“ (Double skin milk with cereal and red beans). It was velvety smooth and absolutely delicious. Well worth the wait.

I think this blog could just as easily be called “Eating my way around Beijing”.