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Our time in Beijing is coming to a close, so the 9 people in the Gannett group that have worked together in Beijing were treated to a roast duck dinner by our on-site manager Tim Dietz.  Of course roast duck is a must have while in Beijing.  There are lots of places that serve it, but Tim did a little research and found the most amazing restaurant.

Li Qun Roast Duck Restaurant is located in a hutongs near Tiananmen Square; it’s pretty hard to see from the main street.  Fortunately our Chinese drivers knew just where it was.  We arrived early and walked around the neighborhood before our reservation time.  Narrow alleys run off the main street with the doors to people’s homes along the alley.  The neighborhood is very old and rundown.  There were public toilets every block or so, a number of homes were growing squash up the wall and overhead, chickens and ducks sat in small cages waiting for dinner time (to be dinner not get it). I would assume it’s very poor, but occasionally we would find a nice car parked next to the door.

In the middle of all of this is Mr. Qun Li’s restaurant.  It fits right in with the neighborhood and is just as old and run down looking as everything else.  As you enter the door you see dinner cooking in a brick oven over an open fire using what I am told is fruit wood.  The restaurant is very small and doesn’t look like it has more that about 30 tables.  It is not air-conditioned for the most part but we were given a small banquet room at the rear that was air-conditioned.  Tim ordered 3 ducks and a bunch of side dishes.  The dishes are all put on a large lazy Susan in the middle of the table.  There were chopped egg rolls, mushrooms and greens, duck gizzards & bamboo shoots, duck livers, duck feet, broccoli, a beef and mixed vegetable dish and a host of other sides.  A chef would bring the freshly roasted duck into the room, head and all, and cut it into thin slices right in front of us.

Our drivers, Mr. Li (one) and Mr. Li (two) that have been helping us throughout our time here joined us in our feast, as they should have, and it was a good thing because Mr. Li 2 showed us how to put the duck slices on lotus leaf pancakes, along with spring onions, cucumber slices and sweet plum sauce – roll it all into kind of a taco and enjoy.  It was so good!  It was the most delicious meal I can remember having in a while.  While the restaurant itself was pretty crude, the food just made it a wonderful experience.

As we left, we thanked Mr. Qun Li and his wife for a delicious meal.  It is definitely an unforgettable meal and a terrific way to cap off this amazing month!