Eating at "Ghost Street"
Updated: 2007-05-11 13:38
Ten reasons for loving it
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What Guijie presents is beyond the normal dining experience. It has become the microcosm of the nightlife and food culture in the capital of Beijing. Beijingers are obsessed with Guijie for ten reasons:
The charm of the character gui. Three or five years ago, the character gui wasn't understood by many educated people because it was rarely used in daily life. However, nowadays many people not only known how to read it but also know what it means. The pronunciation of gui in Chinese is the same as the word for ghost, adding a touch of suspense and mystery to the street's atmosphere.
The temptation of "spicy little thing". Guijie's speciality dish 'spicy little thing' is what first comes to many people's mind when they think of Ghost Street. "Spicy little things", short for "spicy peppery little lobster", is a dish of lobsters fried with a lot peppers and chilies. The lobster is called "bug-thorn cricket" or "pincers shrimp", is not liked much by southerners, but greatly enjoyed by Beijingers.
Many dishes deeply loved by local people originated in Guijie Street. Besides "spicy little things", spicy crabs, scorpions and stewed red mutton are all specialties first invented and popularized in Guijie Street.
Nice waiters. Besides "spicy little things", the name Guijie Street conjures up images of great service by well trained handsome waiters and waitresses in floral clothes. Stepping out of your car, you will immediately be warmly welcomed and led to a restaurant by several boys, and as soon as you enter several sweet-voiced girls will ask what they can do for you.
Favorable prices. People who work or live in Beijing often go to restaurants with friends or business partners but high standard restaurants are neither relaxed nor economical. But a meal in Guijie with several friends, including a dozen of beers and scores of lobsters will only set you back about 100 yuan.
Entertainment. On the night that Beijing won the right to host the 2008
Olympics, all Beijing's shops were closed except those in Guijie St. The whole
street was illuminated by 100 stores working busily all night. About 5,000
people descended on the stree singing, drinking, hugging and crying for
happiness. About 5,000 kg of "spicy peppery little lobster" were scoffed that
night.
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