CHINA 16:

THE HILLMAN 2013 ASIAN ADVENTURE
100s of Photos Documenting a 6-week tour of
Malaysia ~ Singapore ~ Thailand ~ China
Section II: China
www.hillmanweb.com/china2013/china16.html
Photos by Bill and Sue-On
Captions by Sue-On (expanded from our FaceBook pages)
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Gallery 16:
PEKING DUCK . . . AND MORE


Everyone is looking forward to a cool dining room, hot food, and cold beer!	Can anyone guess what we will be having for lunch?

It's a huge restaurant with several levels.
There were already other tour groups seated.
Luckily, our tables are reserved.

Throughout the tour, we were seated at three tables,
and food was served in the traditional Chinese family style.

This meal, we sat with our friends Kerry and Shaheda
as we haven't had a chance to get acquainted
with our other fellow travellers as yet.
It didn't take long...

We were table 33, and each meal consisted of 9 or 11 dishes.

THIS was the specialty of the day: Peking (Beijing) Duck!
Every table had its own duck.
Each duck was carved to perfection by a server.

Thin slices of meat with crispy skin is eaten with thin crepes.
Other bits of meat are stir-fried with vegetables,
and the carcass is used to make a light soup.

The meat is rolled in a crepe, along with a spring onion and Hoisin sauce.

Yes...It was very satisfying, especially with big bottles of cool local brew.

I'm ready to tackle the afternoon now!

Maio corrals us all to the bus for our next destination!

After our Peking Duck lunch, we went to the Temple of Heaven Park:
Gallery 17 and Gallery 18

. . . and then a visit to the Jade Centre

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The restaurant for supper after the Jade Centre tour
was located in a park with a "canal".
The reserved tables were not quite ready
so we were able to walk and relax before the meal.

A quiet place to relax ... then ... we heard live music!

A couple of musicians were tuning up
while waiting for others of their group to arrive.

Bill was quite interested in the string instrument,
which sounded like a guitar.

Bill asked him to play. He did...and it was "Jingle Bells"!!!
Excerpt from the Hillman Biography: 50-Year Music Odyssey
Following the Muse Across Asia While taking a short break on a park bench, after strolling through a scenic lakeside park in Shanghai, a group of musicians appeared with cases containing unusual percussion, flute and string instruments. They set up next to us and started to tune up. I was fascinated by one of their guitar-like instruments and through body and sign language asked for a demonstration, indicating that I played guitar.
This led to the musician playing a song that was completely unexpected here in China on a hot 34 degree spring day: Jingle Bells. The frets were well raised above the fingerboard, allowing him to press down for string bends similar to that done on an Indian sitar. Added to this was a drone note -- all of which made for a most unusual -- but very captivating -- rendition of the old winter time/Christmas standard.
I couldn't resist and joined him by singing a few verses of Jingle Bells in English, to the delight of our party and others in the park.

Ref: Gig Notes Part VIII: Festivals and Special Events
www.hillmanweb.com/book/gigs/08.html
www.hillmanweb.com/book