- Mandarin Immersion (Part 1)
- Mandarin Immersion (Part 2)
- Mandarin Immersion (Part 3)
- Mandarin Immersion (Part 4)
- Mandarin Immersion (Part 5)
- Mandarin Immersion (Part 6)
- Mandarin Immersion (Part 7)
- Mandarin Immersion (Part 8)
- Mandarin Immersion (Part 9)
- Mandarin Immersion (Part 10)
- Mandarin Immersion (Part 11)
- Mandarin Immersion (Part 12)
- Mandarin Immersion (Part 13)
- Mandarin Immersion (Part 14)
- Mandarin Immersion (Part 15)
- Mandarin Immersion (Part 16)
- Mandarin Immersion (Part 17)
- Mandarin Immersion (Part 18)
- Mandarin Immersion (Part 19)
- Mandarin Immersion (Part 20)
- Mandarin Immersion (Part 21)
- Mandarin Immersion (Part 22)
- Mandarin Immersion (Part 23)
- Mandarin Immersion (Part 24)
- Mandarin Immersion (Part 25)
- Mandarin Immersion (Part 26)
- Mandarin Immersion (Part 27)
- Mandarin Immersion (Part 28)
- Mandarin Immersion (Part 29)
- Mandarin Immersion (Part 30)
- Mandarin Immersion (Part 31)
- Mandarin Immersion (Part 32)
- Mandarin Immersion (Part 33)
- Mandarin Immersion (Part 34)
- Mandarin Immersion (Part 35)
- Mandarin Immersion (Part 36)
- Mandarin Immersion (Part 37)
- Mandarin Immersion (Part 38)
- Mandarin Immersion (Part 39)
June 21, 2023
Mandarin Immersion (Part 38)
By Simon J. Lau
I arrived in Beijing in the evening, and it was blistering hot, nearly 100°F (36°C). When I left the metro, I worried that I’d melt away. 🫠 Fortunately, I got it together and visited Ghost Street for what would be my last dinner in China (at least for now).
During the Qing dynasty, many merchants and vendors would set up their stalls here around midnight and wrap up before sunrise. It was said that the dim lights from their oil lamps would look ghostly at night. That’s where the original name, 鬼街 (literally, “Ghost Street”), was derived. Beginning in the late 1980s, when China began to modernize, many new storefronts and restaurants opened here. It became a small but widely known food Mecca in Beijing
At the same time, Chinese people are very superstitious. To move away from the ghost reference, the city adopted a new name, 簋街 (which has the same pronunciation as the original name). A 簋 is a bronze vessel used to hold food offerings. There’s even a giant bronze vessel at the street’s main entrance. Despite the official name change, the original name remains. 👻👻👻
Since arriving in China, I’ve (surprisingly) really gotten into eating Muslim food. In this case, I ate at a Uyghur restaurant. I appreciated the ultra-large beer bottles (620 ml vs 500) and their lamb and rice dish. The yogurt, which I took to go, was also pretty good.
Next time, I’d love to explore the more sparsely populated western regions of China, including Xinjiang (where many Uyghurs live). I’ve had a number of Chinese people tell me how amazing that area is and how worthwhile it is to visit. I’d love to see it for myself someday!
Finally, I still have one morning left in China before I leave for home. I guess I’ll need to really relish that final breakfast and coffee. 😅 In the meantime, here’s a selfie of me in front of Beijing’s much-loved Liangma River.
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