Camel Hoof and Other Delicacies - Datong Restaurant and Hotel Reviews

I must clarify that I do like camels, especially the fluffy double-hump kind typically seen in Northern China. It's just that wherever I travel, my desire for exotic local fare takes over ...



Before I go on about the taste of camel hoofs, here's an overview of the food you can expect if you're visiting Datong. Northern Chinese cooking is described by many as "Nong You Chi Jiang," or heavy on the use of oil and sauces. Shanxi Province adds its own twist with the liberal use of Aged Vinegar to balance the oiliness, and its unparalleled varieties of rustic pasta. The City of Datong in northern Shanxi, almost bordering the open steppes of Inner Mongolia, takes the flavour further by using exotic ingredients with a nomadic influence.



Having limited time in Datong and wanting the best, authentic local cuisine, we consulted local opinion on Dianping.com (in Chinese) as usual and fixed our sight on three possible candidates: Lin Lao Lao, Yong He Mei Shi Cheng, and Lao Ye Miao. We ended up picking Lin Lao Lao as this was our taxi driver Pei Shifu's own recommendation as well.







Food Review: LIN LAO LAO (Datong, Shanxi)

Address: Dong Feng Hou Jie, Datong

Hours: 11:00 to 22:00?

Website/Map: From Dianping.com (Note review is for a different branch)

Directions: Walking out of the Train Station, walk along the main road (Wei Du Da Dao) for 10 minutes and turn right at Dong Feng Dong Jie. Dong Feng Hou Jie is a side street on the left. Or if in doubt, just ask the locals for Lin Lao Lao.







This restaurant turned out to be an excellent choice, as to this date my wife is still raving about the above Nan Shao Qie Zi, or Southern-style Sauteed Eggplants. Though not exclusively a Shanxi dish, these slightly fried eggplants were perfectly crisp on the skin, melt-in-the-mouth soft in the flesh, and coated with a thick, slightly sweet brown sauce. And the budget-friendly price -- RMB 16 (CAD$2.4) -- made it even better.







Next on the list was probably the most famous Shanxi dish of all -- Guo You Rou, or literally Oil-Rinsed Pork. Behind its somewhat unappealing name was actually a refreshing dish of perfectly tender, flash-fried pork seasoned with the province's characteristic secret ingredient, the prized Shanxi Aged Vinegar. Any residual oiliness in the pork was completely counterbalanced by the dark vinegar's sharp acidity and complexity, and did not taste heavy at all. Only RMB 18 (CAD$2.7) for such a well executed meat entree – and at one of Datong's best-known restaurants – this was certainly one of the best deals of our trip. But there's more.



The incredibly cheap pricing of every dish gave us the incentive to splurge, and my eyes became fixated on a certain exotic, authentically northern delicacy on the expensive end of the menu. This would become one of my favourite memories of Datong ...







Camel Hoof in a Red-Braised Sauce (Hong Shao Tuo Zhang). I apologize to any reader who may feel offended by my dietary choice, but I just couldn't resist as 1) it was an authentic local dish, 2) it's not an endangered species, 3) the locals must use the rest of the camel aside from munching on the hoof, and 4) I trust that it was butchered in the same manner as the locals carve their beef or lamb.



Each camel hoof is said to yield only one small piece of meat and tendon, and as a result there were only a few in this dish with the cheaper and more common beef tendons filling the rest of the plate. The camel hoofs were easily distinguishable – these were the tendons with an oval-shaped piece of soft, bulbous meat attached at the bottom of the hoof, hence the Chinese name of Tuo Zhang (camel's palm). The cooking style adhered to the Nong You Chi Jiang approach characteristic of the North, with a deliciously thick, heavy brown sauce smothering the soft and chewy hoofs and tendons.



It was a huge dish and I don't remember how I managed to finish it all (and this was after the eggplants and pork), so this must have tasted very good. I can't quite make out the decorative characters, though they kind of look like Si Bai Nian (400 years). The price was another absolute bargain -- in Beijing I can't imagine this dish selling for anything less than RMB 200-300, but here in Datong it was an unbelievable RMB 68 (CAD$10.3). How's that for splurging?







Following the local tradition we did order one pasta dish, a refreshing bowl of cold noodles named Qiao Shou Ban You Mian (Skilfully Hand-blended Hulless Oat Noodles). Once again the focal point of the flavours was -- what else -- Shanxi's famous Aged Vinegar. This was a good choice after all the thick sauces earlier in the meal.







We found Lin Lao Lao to be an excellent restaurant for its price -- the same meal in Beijing, with an order of camel hoof at the centre of the feast, would have easily cost RMB 300-400. Our meal of excellent and authentic Datong cuisine with large enough portions for 3 people, at a proper restaurant recommended by a local taxi driver, ended up costing only RMB 124 (CAD$18.9). Combined with the excellent hotel deal (see review at end of article) this made Datong an inexpensive and definitely worthwhile destination for us en route from Pingyao to Beijing.



Bill for Two Persons

Red-Braised Camel Hoof	RMB 68
Oil-Rinsed Pork	RMB 18
Southern-style Sauteed Eggplants	RMB 16
Skilfully Hand-Blended Hulless Oat Noodles	RMB 12
Draft Beer (Qingdao)	RMB 10
TOTAL	RMB 124 (CAD$18.8)

Food Review: HENG SHAN FAN DIAN (Hunyuan, Shanxi)

Address: Heng Shan Bei Lu, Hunyuan

Hours: 10:00-21:00?

Website/Map: Official Website (in Chinese)

Directions: You're probably going to the Hanging Temple by taxi if you need to refer to this review. Just ask your driver to go to Heng Shan Fan Dian for lunch -- it's one of the biggest hotel in the area.





Here's another restaurant recommendation by yet another local taxi driver. If you're visiting the spectacular but remote Hanging Temple, you'll likely need a lunch spot in the Hengshan area like we did. Recommended by our driver Yu Shifu, this is a reasonably-priced restaurant located inside one of the town's bigger hotels.



We treated Yu Shifu to lunch as per the Chinese custom when renting a taxi for a day, and asked him for his recommendation on local dishes. After my wife picked a meat entree of her choice, Yu Shifu completed the ordering with three outstanding dishes that we frankly had never heard of.



My wife picked the above Hu Pi Jiao Ji Kuai, or Tiger-skinned Peppers with Chicken Chunks, which I suspect is a Sichuan dish. This actually turned out surprisingly good even according to Yu Shifu, with a slight hint of chili on the deep fried chicken and some thunderously crunchy peppers. These large, meaty chunks of peppers were oil-fried to a crispiness akin to thick-cut potato chips, and did not last long on our table.







After that it was all Yu Shifu's choices of Shanxi peasant fare, starting with a large bowl of dark, mildly bitter vegetable aptly named Ku Cai, or Bitter Greens. I'm quite used to the bitter melon of Southern China which, as Yu Shifu explained, served the same purpose as Ku Cai does for the people of Shanxi. The bitterness is utilized to achieve the effect of Xia Huo, or "lowering the heat," in the Yin and Yang of the human body. Good for the prevention of acne, sore throat and intestinal problems, as Traditional Chinese Medicine theories say.







Next came a bowl of Wan Dou Mian, or Green-pea-flour Noodles. Prior to this trip I had been so ignorant of culinary traditions of the North and had no idea that green peas could be grounded into flour to make noodles. These noodles were smooth-textured and just slightly chewy, and were mildly flavoured with the local favourite Shanxi Aged Vinegar. This is just one more of Shanxi's famously extensive varieties of pasta -- we've tried to order a different kind everyday but still only managed to try eight or nine different shapes.







But Yu Shifu saved his absolute best recommendation for last -- another rustic Shanxi dish known as Zha You Gao, or Fried Doughnuts. These deep-fried balls of yellow millet flour came with two different fillings, one sweet with a red date paste, and one savory with cabbages and mixed veggies. Both were excellent -- I preferred the cabbage while my wife preferred the red date -- as the dough was crunchy but not too oily. We order the same dish twice in Wutaishan later but those was nowhere as good as this dish here.



Our meal for three people cost a reasonable RMB 67 (CAD$10.1), more than half of which (RMB 38) was due to the one dish that we picked. We probably should have just left all the ordering up to Yu Shifu.



Bill for Three Persons

Tiger-Skinned Peppers and Chicken Chunks	RMB 38
Bitter Greens	RMB 8
Green-Pea-Flour Noodles	RMB 12
Fried Doughnuts (Half Order)	RMB 9
TOTAL	RMB 67 (CAD$10)

Hotel Review: DATONG JIAHE EXPRESS HOTEL

Address: 1 Zhanqian Jie, Datong

Price: RMB 190 for double room with private shower/toilet, summer 2011

Website/Map: Booking page at CTrip.com

Directions: You can't miss it -- it's just right in front of Datong train station.





We booked this excellent new business hotel located at Datong's most convenient location -- straight in front of the train station. New clean laminate flooring. New IKEA-ish furniture. New modern shower room. Excellent sound-proofing with no noise from the trains. Decent breakfast buffet. Something of this quality would easily charge RMB 300 in most major cities (and perhaps RMB 400 in Beijing), but because this was backwater Datong, they charged only RMB 200. And walk-ins can probably get an even better deal too.







And it's not only conveniently located for public transportation, but it's also within walking distance to the Lin Lao Lao restaurant reviewed above. And the bathroom was by far the cleanest we've seen in China for hotels costing less than RMB 200. If I ever return to Datong by train, I know exactly where I would book.







And as a bonus, some of the funniest Chinglish translations can be found in the room service guide. If you can read Chinese, cover the above picture and let's see if you can come up with the original Chinese terms for:

- Was Set

- Power Word

- Wool Fabric

Datong - Three World-Class Sights in One Day

Halfway between Beijing and Pingyao on our route was the city of Datong, home to one of medieval China's greatest monuments, the 1,500-year-old Yungang Grottoes. While the city proper may be described as a highly polluted and uninteresting industrial metropolis, its surrounding region packs enough world-class sights to fill one to two day's itinerary.



The logistic problem though is that the three major sights are somewhat far away from the city, all in different directions. Hiring a taxi (RMB 260-420 as of summer 2011, depending on how many sights) is well worth the time saved to fit everything within one day, especially if you can speak a few phrases of Chinese to tap into the driver's best restaurant recommendations!







So we pre-booked our taxi through email with a reputable company. The team of Pei Ge, Pei Shifu and Yu Shifu (speaks Chinese only; Email: bt6209@yeah.net, Cell: 13503528230, QQ: 825754066) has excellent feedback from the online community of Chinese backpackers (see Q&A in Chinese), and charges reasonable, standard rates for day- and multiday-trips. As of summer 2011 a 10-hour day-trip from Datong to Yungang Grottoes, Hanging Temple, Yingxian Muta, and back to Datong cost about RMB 420. Seeing Yungang Grottoes and Hanging Temple, the region's two most popular sights, cost about RMB 350. Hanging Temple and Yingxian Muta, which are somewhat closer together, cost about 260. Our trip, which includes all three sights PLUS driving us through a treacherous mountain road to Wutaishan for the night, cost RMB 700. In these times of rising gasoline costs (RMB 8 / litre) this is a reasonable deal.









1. THE 1500-YEAR-OLD YUNGANG GROTTOES



We started our morning with the Yungang Grottoes, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a spectacular fusion of artistic styles between the Middle East, India and China back in the 5th Century. This isn't just a few statues in a cave, but a kilometre-long series of grottoes carved out of a cliff now containing 50,000 statues, some as tall as 5-storeys.







Official pamphlets won't allude to this, but the ancient artists behind these splendid grottoes were not precisely Chinese. The Xianbei people who carved out the grottoes were often described as "yellow haired" and "pale skinned" in medieval Chinese records, raising speculations that the largely Mongolic tribe contained at least some Caucasian ethnicity. It is no surprise that many of these early Buddhist sculptures hardly looked Chinese.



As many medieval Buddhist monks hailed from modern-day Afghanistan, some of the statues were given deep, Caucasian-like complexions that appear more Middle-Eastern than Chinese. The integration of Indian and even Hellenistic influences resulted in this rare relic at a time of rapid ethnic amalgamation in Northern China, about the same time as the fall of Rome in the Western world.







From the height of its glory as the dynasty's premier religious centre, Yungang Grottoes' significance diminished gradually over the next millennium towards its final abandonment and utter disrepair. Considering all the anti-religious movements, archaeological theft, vandalism and annual sandstorms endured for over a thousand years, the current state of preservation is rather fortunate. This could have easily gone the way of Bamiyan during the Cultural Revolution.







Some of the interior colours are so vivacious, even after 1,500 years of erosion by dust storms, that it's quite easy to imagine yourself inside one of India or Southeast Asia's rock-hewn temples, 5,000 km away to the south. For modern visitors it's difficult to visualize an ancient cultural cross-road to India right here in Northern China, in the middle of the traditional birthplace of Chinese civilization.







As sun-baked and erosion-prone as the semi-exposed caves may now seem, this was once the crown-sponsored temple of the Northern Wei Dynasty when Datong was the capital. Statues inside were originally protected under a series of roof extensions built into the cliff-face, though most of the wooden structures and even part of the earthen roofs have collapsed over the centuries. Now all that remains of the roof extension is a 4-level Qing Dynasty structure protecting grottoes No.5 and 6.







The provincial government currently has plans to extend the protective structure over a few more of the grottoes as a barrier against the annual springtime sandstorms bearing down from the Gobi Desert. Hopefully the governing body will get it right and avoid spoiling the authenticity of the scenery, though I'm not entirely optimistic considering how the government managed to screw up Wutaishan. And with the cost of entrance tickets rising almost every year, visit sooner rather than later if you can.







Yungang Grottoes are located about 30 minute's taxi ride northwest of Datong's city centre, though the stretch within city boundary seemed to be prone to traffic jams. Our taxi driver Yu Shifu picked us up at 08:00 and arrived at Yungang around 08:45, right around its official opening time. Though the actual grottoes took less than an hour for us, the rambling, brand new complex of souvenir shops and restaurants added at least another 30 minutes to navigate. Plan for a 2 hour visit to be on the safe side.









2. THE HANGING TEMPLE OF HENGSHAN



Advertised by Time Magazine as one of the world's Top 10 Most Precarious Buildings, the Hanging Temple (Xuan Kong Si) is another one of Datong's 1,500-year-old treasures and one of the most photographed sights of Northern China. This is an absolutely breathtaking spectacle that every visitor to Datong should see, though perhaps not everyone could summon the courage to enter.







Constructed at roughly the same time as the Yungang Grottoes, the Hanging Temple is a brilliant piece of medieval engineering from the 5th Century. To the awed observer underneath, the temple seems to be supported dangerously by a few lanky wooden poles jabbed vertically into the already near-vertical cliff side. If you still can't imagine, think of an apple pie fastened to the side of your fridge by a few toothpicks underneath.







Except the toothpick-thin support was a rather late addition only 600 years ago, and could be removed entirely without throwing the temple and its army of tourists down the treacherous cliff. Ancient engineers ingeniously reinforced the structure through a system of crossbeams inserted right into the rock face, safely securing it against earthquakes and cliff erosion for the past millennium and a half. Even Li Bai, China's most famous poet, gave his approval over a thousand years ago with an oversized work of calligraphy that is now engraved at the bottom of the cliff.







For entrance fees as steep as the drop under foot (RMB 130 for a crowded 20-minute walk!), visitors get the chance to confront their own worst feelings of vertigo inside the small wooden temple with the vertical rock face on one side and a heart-stopping plunge to the valley floor on the other. I've been to another so-called Top 10 Most Precarious Building at Meteora, Greece, and this one was definitely scarier.



It's actually not as intimidating as it sounds -- you just have to turn off your intellect and stop questioning China's safety standards on the wooden planks and railings, and at the same time hope that the lady at the entrance doesn't let too many zealous tourists enter the structure at once. There is no turning back once you enter, as the route is marked out in a one-way loop of the multi-level temple. Backtracking would be even more dangerous as you would need to squeeze past the oncoming queue along the precariously low railings.







The Hanging Temple and the surrounding Hengshan area are currently included on China's tentative list for incorporation into Mount Taishan's UNESCO World Heritage Site, and you can expect the number of visitors to skyrocket ... and the entrance fee to further increase ... if it becomes accepted. Shanxi Province now has three UNESCO sites and five on the tentative list -- this just shows the incredible richness of cultural heritage at this often overlooked corner of Northern China.



A tour of the Hanging Temple took us roughly an hour, with enough time to wander around the cliff bottom (but not too close!) to find the best photo spots. It did take a long taxi ride to get to the Hengshan area though – taking about 2 hours from Yungang Grottoes (or 1.5 hours from Datong's city centre) in mid-day traffic. Our taxi driver recommended a good and inexpensive lunch spot near the temple, which I'll try to review in the next article.









3. THE LEANING TOWER OF ... CHINA?



Another hour-long taxi ride from the Hanging Temple took us to the least well-known of Datong's incredible works of medieval engineering -- the Yingxian Muta (literally Wooden Pagoda of Ying County). Officially named Pagoda of Fogong Temple, this place is so amazingly underrated that most Chinese citizens outside of Shanxi Province have never heard of it. Even less people know that it is not only the world's tallest fully-wooden structure at 67m (220 feet), but also one of the world's oldest wooden structures at nearly 1,000 years old.







Like the Leaning Tower of Pisa, it is also tilting perilously to the point that visitors are now restricted to only the first two levels. Compared to the world-famous Italian landmark, the Wooden Pagoda is actually 10m taller, more than 100 years older and, unfortunately, currently leans further at a rumoured 6.5 degrees. It should have already achieved international fame, except for its remote location on the Loess Plateau, 70km south of the closest major city of Datong.







Travelers venturing this far are rewarded with a close view of the astonishing craftsmanship of the oft-vilified Liao Dynasty, whose architects designed the massive structure entirely out of wood joinery without any metal nails or fasteners. Unfortunately the pagoda has been showing symptoms of major structural distress for decades, and despite heated discussions for the past two decades, experts still cannot agree on a single plan to save this 1,000-year-old relic from imminent collapse.



At the time of writing there seems to be a serious bid by the provincial government to fast-track the Wooden Pagoda as a UNESCO World Heritage Site candidate. Visitors can only hope that this will result in quicker action to start saving the pagoda for future generations.



It was 16:00 in the afternoon by the time we left Yingxian, en route to our stop for the night at yet another UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Buddhist mountain community of Wutaishan.

Traditional Cave Houses of Northern China

When passing through the popular destinations of Pingyao and Datong, one very unique but often missed spectacle is the distinctive landscape of cave dwellings of the rural peasants. In this desolate land devoid of wood and other suitable building materials, local residents have perfected the art of carving underground housing out of their silty yellow earth over thousands of years.







Known in Chinese as Yaodong, these extraordinary cave houses typically consist of several semi-circular, interconnected chambers excavated out of vertical cliffs on the hillside. Along this 1000-kilometer stretch of the Loess Plateau from Gansu to Shanxi, an estimated 40 million people still live inside these traditional dwellings.







This rustic and symbolically Northern Chinese tradition has recently become a popular attraction in the domestic Chinese tourism market, which mainly focuses on the remote city of Yan'an where Chairman Mao's band of Communist rebels based itself out of a Yaodong community back in the 1930's. But unless you're particular interested in this so-called Red Tourism, spending a couple days just to travel to Yan'an and back hardly fits most itineraries.



But there is an easy and quick way to see an authentic Yaodong village in its original, unspoiled state -- simply head to Wang's Family Compound, which I assume is in your plan already if you're visiting Pingyao.







This rustic Yaodong village is ironically situated right next to the majestic Wang's Family Compound. Simply climb to the very top of the Compound and look downward towards the back, and you'll get this bird-eye-view of a Yaodong village in action. These may be common scenes in rural China, but note the simplistic three-chamber cave houses on the hillside forming this Siheyuan courtyard. This is one peculiar local custom you won't see anywhere outside of the Loess Plateau.







The more affluent may carve out an entire hillside of tens of Yaodong caves for a whole clan of extended family members. For instance Chairman Mao and his comrades lived in a 37-chamber group of Yaodong while leading their guerilla war against the Nationalists and the Japanese. If you want to find richest family in the village, simply look for neat, brick-lined facades and count the number of chambers.







Inside the caves the thickness of the walls provide excellent insulation against the region's scorching summers and snowy winters. Interiors characteristically consist of plastered walls and beddings placed on top of an earthen or brick hearth known as Kang, which provides a more comfortable sleep in a similar function to the Japanese Kotatsu.







The Yaodong tradition was so ingrained in the local culture that even the wealthiest Qing Dynasty bankers in Pingyao embellished their luxurious residences with Yaodong-shaped facades. Don't miss this unique architectural style if you're visiting Pingyao -- appreciate the false Yaodong in the bankers' courtyards, but head to Wang's Family Compound to see the real thing.

Ancient City of Pingyao - Part 5: Favorite Photo Locales

I must first clarify that I am not a photographer. Whenever anyone asks about my pictures I always maintain that I'm a traveler first, a food enthusiast second, and a photographer last. But I must admit that I do enjoy photography as a medium for capturing the essence of my trips, for my eyes and for my tastebuds.



Since returning from Northern China I have added the ancient city of Pingyao to my list of favorite destinations -- it's just impossible to leave without a few good pictures for the desktop. This article is a collection of some of my favorite scenery within Pingyao's Ming Dynasty city walls. If these pictures appeal to your taste for vacation destinations, there are plenty of similar locales in my trips to Northern China and West-Central Japan.

The Ming Dynasty city wall at dusk. Picture was taken on a dark afternoon just after one of Northern China's infamous springtime dust storms.

View towards the City Tower from the City Wall's South Gate. The 6 kilometre long perimeter of the City Wall is by far the best location for panoramic views.

Pingyao's two-storey skyline. Note the tall walls with inward-sloping roofs designed to keep dust storms out of the family courtyard.

One of the most picturesque Siheyuan courtyards I've ever come across. This was the inner-most courtyard at Weihoutai, one of Qing Dynasty China's most successful draft banks.

While the majority of tourists flock to the Draft Bank Museum at Rishengchang two doors down the street, the tranquil and ornately manicured Weihoutai awaits the few visitors venturing in. This is one of Pingyao's most underrated gems IMHO.

Peeking out the Xiulou (upper-floor) balcony of another Qing Dynasty draft bank, Baichuantong. Traditionally this was the invisible prison for the master's unmarried daughters, who would practice their embroidery by the balustrade until they were married off.

The highly symmetric roofline of Tianchengheng, yet another Qing Dynasty draft bank. By now you can see how Pingyao established itself as the proverbial Wall Street of Imperial China with its dozens of major draft banks, some of which opened branches as far as Moscow, Calcutta and Kobe.

A view from City God Temple's main performance stage, which curiously faced inward rather than streetside towards the public. Operas performed here were mainly for the eyes of the patron gods of Pingyao, and not for men.

The main hall of Confucius Temple and its collection of well-wishing amulets, laden with prayers to the Teacher of Ten Thousand Generations, for RMB 10 each, to ensure success in upcoming exams.

The 300-year-old City Tower overlooking the main thoroughfare of Nandajie. Despite its dubious reputation as an over-commercialized tourist zone, the main street is still utilized daily by residents as their path to the world outside of the walled city.

Some of the most authentic scenes of Pingyao are often sadly missed by tourists staying outside of the city. Locals come out at dawn to carry out their usual routines inside their ancestral hometown, before disappearing back into their Siheyuan courtyards before the daily onslaught of visitors.

An ornate sculpture of a Qilin motive at Confucius Temple. Like many other prominent historical figures, Confucius had his birth prophesied through the appearance of this mythical beast.

Intricate relief sculpture and stone plaque above a passageway. The Confucian teaching of Du Jing (trustworthiness and respectfulness) is centered above the Three Friends of Winter (pine, bamboo and plum), which in turn sits on top of the Three Stars of Good Fortune, Prosperity and Longevity.

One of the common sights in Pingyao is the locally popular roof charms in the shape of dragons. This would be a rare sight for visitors from nearby Beijing, who traditionally shied away from the usage of animal-shaped roof charms to avoid conflicting with the designs of the Emperor's own architects.