A hot day in Beijing, in San Li Tun, I had Green Tea Frappuccino for the first time! And began an obsession which lasted for the rest of my stay with having at least one per day if I could get my hands on any! It tasted so refreshing with just the right balance of sweetness and rich taste of green tea. Wherever I was going seeing a Starbucks sign had become an invitation impossible to reject! But after returning to UK sadly this didn’t exist in Starbucks menu!

After few months, a few weeks back we finally decided to try making one! Getting hold of the recipe wasn’t too difficult as this seemed to be a highly popular drink and people writing about it all over the world! Here is what we used in ours:
1- Green Tea Powder
2- Starbucks Vanilla Syrup
3- Cream
4- Ice
5- Milk
The process of making this is really easy and as you can see in the video below it’s really a matter of few minutes! And then you are hooked!

Qian Men street was one of the most interesting places I visited in Beijing. With more than 500 years of history and located in the south of Tiananmen Square, it is home to most of Beijing’s top brands from clothing to food. There are many international brands such as Zara and UniQlo there too, but the majority remains domestic. There’s such a nice atmosphere there, with of lot of little alley roads leading to smaller shops and looks even nicer in the night with all the lights specially neon lights changing the face of the street to a more surreal place. There’s an old fashioned tram running on the street which I took a ride with.

I had the best dumplings I’ve ever had there too, still can’t believe how good it tasted! First time I tried it I could literally feel an explosion inside my mouth! Du Yi Chu is one of the oldest restaurants in Beijing and the name was given by Emperor Qianlong. The speciality and main dish is Shao Mai which is a kind of steamed dumpling with the dough gathered at the top. It’s very unique and nothing like you’ve ever tried before!

When I was in Beijing I decided to do a photo diary every day and post in on my weblog. I knew I’m never going to have enough time once I return to do this and it was a good way of remembering what I did too. Me being me! I shot a lot of videos as well which I didn’t get around to upload and it has taken me two month to slowly start reviewing them. First I was gonna edit them all together in a 5-6 minutes clips but after looking at a few I realized that may need another month or two! So I decided to start uploading shorter clips and write a little about them.

If I had to choose my favourite way to commute it would be tube without a doubt! I just love the environment! It’s like a little underground society and the platforms and cartridges always fascinate me. London and Paris are best examples I’ve seen so far as they’ve keep the old look and when you are there you feel as if you have travelled a couple of decades in time!

Paris

London

Beijing’s subway as they call it, was very polished and modern and very similar to Tehran. It has its own unique features of course like the animations on the wall when the train was is the move (displayed on monitors) and the online supermarkets with items displaced on the walls or pillars. To get them you needed to download an app and scan the QR code and it will be delivered.

Here is a short clip showing a few of Beijing’s Subway stations with a peek inside the tube!