I have come to the conclusion that the subways in Beijing and the freeways in Southern California are not that dissimilar. Both have their rush hours of course, and both are incredibly busy and crowded at all freaking hours of the day. Sometimes when the freeways are clogged, I ask myself “where the hell did all these people come from and where are they going?” I sometimes find myself asking the same question here. Fortunately, there is no stop and go foot traffic down in the subway, but there are always massive crowds coming in to the station, going out, and transferring between lines. And like the freeways, there are always those people who weave in and out of the crowd, trying to shave a few seconds off their travel time.
Tonight, Drew and I ate veggie burgers at Hutong Pizza. Several online sources said that it served up the best veggie burger in Beijing, so we had to check it out. The burgers were good, they were homemade, and I was craving french fries. It was glorious. I guess we’re both getting a little tired of Chinese food- we eat it everyday, but we also have to eat more than once a day. After dinner, we ate McFlurrys from McDonald’s for dessert. Never in my life did I ever think that I would travel thousands of miles away from home and voluntarily go to a McDonald’s.
I probably take many things for granted at home, but one of them is food options. I didn’t realize this until I left the country. Beijing is bigger than any city in the United States, but it lacks the food diversity that exists practically anywhere in the U.S. Here, Drew and I have our pick of Chinese restaurants, but if we crave a different cuisine, our options are pretty limited. It’s easier to find Thai or Japanese food, but it’s more difficult to find American, Italian, and Mediterranean food, and we have completely given up on finding Mexican food.
At home, I’m sure there are more options in urban areas than in rural areas, but overall, our food options are quite diverse. We have a variety of restaurants to eat at, and a diverse array of foods to pick from in the grocery store. We have imported many different ethnic cuisines, and we can have our pick any day of the week, whether we eat out or stay in. Maybe we import other cuisines out of necessity. After all, all we’ve managed to export is McDonald’s, Starbucks, and Kentucky Fried Chicken. What does that say about us?
Chris with a 'K' 