Ping Gu District

My Chinese friend Sarah that I tutor every week wanted to take me on a little trip to the suburbs of Beijing to go sightseeing. It is where her mother grew up so she spends a lot of time out there. This particular district of Beijing is famous for its peaches. Every year there is a big festival when the peach trees blossom. We were a little late for that, but we still enjoyed a nice day out of the city.

We started with a HUGE meal. There was probably 30 dishes for 8 people. They wanted me to try everything! Most of the family was done eating before they had even finished bringing the last dishes out. They all just relaxed and watched me eat and prompted me to eat more. I was stuffed. They even told me that I eat a lot for such a small person, I couldn't help but eat a lot though with everyone watching me so closely.

We had so many different kinds of food. They started with lamb. There were a lot of fresh vegetable dishes, because as they kept telling me the vegetables are so much fresher than in the city. We had a few different fish dishes, some eggs, some bread, and tofu. Most of it was pretty good, and Sarah was really understanding about the things I didn't care for. I only had to try it once and then she would stop forcing it on me. I also learned that when I don't like something, but don't want to tell them that directly I just say it was "so-so." I swear every Chinese person knows this phrase and they use it a lot. Its a less direct way of letting them know you don't want anymore.

After lunch we walked down the street to a little market and park. Since we went on a Friday there weren't many people around so it was nice and quiet. We rode the water ride and shopped at the market for some fresh fruit. I got some delicious apricots.


On our drive back to Beijing from the park we stopped at every fruit stand along the way. Sarah was so excited for me to try everything. One place we stopped even let us pick our own cherries. The woman there walked around telling us where each tree was from. I decided my favorite cherries were the Italian ones. The Japanese ones were also pretty good. They are the yellow ones.

In addition to the cherries and apricots, I also came home with a bag of peaches, some grapes, melons, and some kind of nuts Sarah really likes so she insisted that I have them. It was a really fun day. The drive out there was beautiful and the air was so clean. I can't wait to go back.