We all know what the larger Fuzimiao area is like in the lantern season. Much as we are proud of it, we often have to avoid that area due to the crowd. It would be nice if there is a quieter corner, or in Xin Qiji’s (辛弃疾; 1140-1207) words, “Somewhere the lantern lights are sparse”, somewhere we can enjoy a bowl of yuanxiao at ease. That is why I am writing this with mixed feelings; not yet known to many, there is indeed such a place right inside the Laomendong...

“No duck leaves Nanjing alive.”  Statistics show that the City of Nanjing consumes over 100 million ducks each year. Everyone has heard of Nanjing ducks, but they are too often misunderstood. Visitors and tourists to Confucius Temple feel obliged to order salted duck from the restaurants nearby. They would find the duck unpleasantly salty and no more authentic than what they have already had in their home cities. Nevertheless, they would bring back some vacuum-packed duck as souvenir gifts because they find nothing else worth buying in the vicinity.  That, of...

Have you ever thought of visiting the Confucius Temple (Fuzimiao; 夫子庙) area and sampling some local cuisine there? If so, you might have already been warned off by your Nanjing friends.  It is puzzling because the area indeed had a reputation for delicious food. These days, however, too many restaurants and shops in that area offer nothing but overpriced, poor-quality food, with the knowledge that most of their customers are tourists who will not come back anyway. One may even argue that the locals will not eat anything in the...

Nanjing’s long-standing food vendors and eateries in downtown neighbourhoods offer a real taste of city and local life. I go back to those places when I can, preferably later in the afternoon to bring something home for a simple supper, and, like many other Nanjingers (or the older ones perhaps), I always get a bag of “shaobing” (烧饼). You must try them if you haven’t, but it is even better to appreciate these humble pastries in some cultural context. “Bing” apart from being a search engine which you’d use only...