Chinese market, hutongs, Houhai Lake, and a sad farewell to Beijing

Day 13

Slept really badly, finished my book, started another, and still couldn't sleep - so it was a weary Jen that walked out for a final day of exploration. The hotel all set up for a wedding, double happiness signs everywhere (I want one for D&M!), and just down the road a group of gaily clad guys were tuning their instruments and preparing a bright red-draped sedan chair and a dragon costume, presumably to transport the bride.

Single stop on the metro, to Andingmen, and walked to the Temple of the Earth. As before, plenty of activity in the park, and the definitely not-so-impromptu band playing again. Sang, as last time!

The market had extended massively, and was positively enormous. Paintings, embroideries, lots of good/bad junk, kitchen/home-wares, clothes of all sorts (brand new HH and North Face goretex jackets for around £40). I invested heavily in chopsticks and gourd seeds, total spend approx £5 (that's a whole lot of chopsticks!). Glad I didn't miss the food area, vast piles of many assorted types of seaweed, noodle, dried fruit, mushroom, nuts, dried fish, and much more, all offered for tasting.

Lunch was nibbles, stone pot yoghurts, skewers, Zhou and fruit, all taken on the hoof.

Marched back from Ditan Park through a new hutong area (well, new to me), and eventually to the Silver Ingot Bridge at Houhai, where I all but fell asleep over a pot of tea.

Back to pack, tried to negotiate a double happiness sign from the hotel, and now really looking forward to a last Sichuan supper!!

Drew heavily on Tim's recommendations here; chicken with nuts/chillis/shallots/ginger/ma, sour gourd, bean curd sponge, and kidneys cut spectacularly to match the cut stalk of a vegetable that was part of the dish; tasty, spicy, not too hot. Plus tea, glass after glass served in a wine goblet.

All delicious and lovely; then enjoyed a touch of Fawlty Towers with someone else's elegant fish dish. Girl coming away from table and incoming fish dish with burners beneath collided; slippage and some spillage. Back to kitchen. Girl tried next, some spillage. Back to kitchen. Fish entrusted to strongest young man who delivered safely. Comes away in obvious pain, has burned his fingers in the process, but smiles at the comedy of it all!

Tip not accepted, but pleased that I enjoyed the meal - so pleased that the manager wrote a long message in my book for Tim to translate at some point. She indicated that it was good, but for all I know could have been saying something along the lines of 'you greedy pig, you ordered far more than you could eat'!

I'll find out in due course.

Packing now all done, but not ready or willing to leave after this extraordinary adventure.

Hard to believe I'll be in King Edward Street on Monday.....

But I'll be back.