Xiang
Yang Tun (Sun-flower Village)
This restaurant wins the red star for nostalgia. Others
eateries may hearken back to Revolutionary China with
wall posters of framed Mao photographs, but Xiang Yang
Tun (Sunflower Village) revives the Cultural Revolution
theme in every aspect at the dining room.
The
restaurant located just south of the Summer Palace.
The glowing red lanterns marking the driveway and the
tall gate at the entrance provided a warm welcome. The
slogans on the gateposts: "You work for fame; you
work for money. In your busy life, find some time to
have a meal" and "Work is hard for your spirit
and for your body. In this hard life, find happiness
in drink."
Inside,
the restaurant is set up like a courtyard during the
1960s: cement floor, shiny red square tables with benches,
a few scraggly plants and bright red papercuts tacked
on the walls. The menu: fried grasshoppers, fried cicadas,
fried birds, xiang chun ban dofu, ant soup, zhurou dun
fentiao (pork stewed with vermicelli) and bai cai (cabbage)
flavoured with vinegar...
The
customer can order some dishes during Cultural Revolution
or the meal of northeastern country.
Corn
was a major staple of many communes in the northern
part of China during the Cultural Revolution. It offers
cornmeal in a myriad of forms: as porridge (or zhou);
cai tuanzi, cornmeal cakes filled with a grass mixture;
and wo tou, 'hollow head', another type of cornmeal
cake.
All
in all, it is a surprisingly satisfying culinary experience
and definitely the most unique meal in Beijing.
Edited by www.travel-silkroad.com
March 2001
BACK
|
