non-smoking restaurants in Beijing?

[Guest Fionas_Fiance]

Hi,

 

I'm going to be staying with my fiance in Beijing for almost a month

in October. I'm delighted to be staying with her, but less delighted to

be living in Beijing, instead of the Paradise (San Diego, CA) that I'm

used to. Hopefully I won't get the shakes from beach volleyball-withdrawl.

 

As a wild and crazy Californian, I'm also used to some other things that

I have found rare in China in the past:

 

1. Non-smoking restaurants

2. All-you-can-eat Soup and Salad bars

3. Veggie burgers

4. Smoothies

5. etc

 

Does anyone happen to know of any good places to go for stuff like

this? Generally speaking, it was impossible to find havens from the

smoke in Shenzhen or LiJiang while I was there. At most of the places

I was pretty miserable but pretending to be happy for the sake of my

fiance. My fiance is quite used to the smoke but I almost never have

to experience it where I live, so I think I'm much more sensitive than

the average bear.

 

We did find one place in Guilin that had a separate non-smoking section

in a separate room: I thought I had died and gone to heaven. The

existence of this one shining example makes me think there may be

pockets of clean air in Beijing. Anyone know of any nice little spots?

 

I thank you and my eyes, nose and pink little lungs thank you,

 

Ben

[frank1538]

"You can get anything you want at Alice's restaurant."

[tonymasiello]

I have not seen anyplace, in my time in Guangxi Province, that served salad. I always assumed that had to do with the drinkability of the water. Soup, on the other hand, is served almost everyplace, and is usually served in very generous quantities. Perhaps some high end hotels that cater to westerners would have some of the things you are looking for, but probably at a high cost.

[oregonknl]

Ben, if you are offered a green salad with uncooked veggies anywhere in China (INCLUDING the very best restaurants...) my advice: don't eat it!

 

But why go back for seconds of one dish when you can have a brand new dish that is just as wonderful --- but in a totally different way? ---and all of its cheap! (damn, now I miss it!)

 

Beijing seems to me, worse for smoking than the south even --- maybe because in the winter its more contained ... Don't know of any non-smoking places.. My suggestion is to just try to find places with good air circulation, and high ceilings...

[corvette]

  As a wild and crazy Californian, I'm also used to some other things that

I have found rare in China in the past:

 

1. Non-smoking restaurants

2. All-you-can-eat Soup and Salad bars

3. Veggie burgers

4. Smoothies

5. etc

 

1. Mcdonal's is a non-smoking.

 

2. BJ is never famous for its catering. If you want to have something nice to eat, especially soup, GZ is definately the best place in China. I had soup in BJ, but it was just simply "undrinkable". I bet they just poured water into the pot without cleaning it. So the soup was with the previous served dish flavor. Unforgettable!

 

3. You can ask the burger maker not to put any meat in, just leave the vegies. But I'm afraid you have to pay the same price. Wonder if you have tried any vegetarian cuisine in China. It's just amazingly delicious, and they look like the real meat.

 

4. I suppose so. It all depends on what you mean by "Smoothies".

 

Guess you can go to the Starbucks in BJ.

[jkobman]

Smoking is on the increase in China -

"Rates of smoking are extremely high among Asian men-60 percent in Japan and China, for examples, and a whopping 73 percent in Vietnam (Pollack, 1997)."

( taken from - http://www.globaled.org/globalLiteracy/han...Handout11B.html )

 

I think you will need to take a respirator - the type auto body workers wear here and people wear in China during cold/flu season.

 

Take a lot of Imodium A-D and start drinking the Pepto now if you are going to eat greens - I ate them in Sarah's home, but I knew the level of cleanliness in her home.

 

Food on the street? Keep several books in the bathroom for additional reading. And China has a good "mix the powder" Kaopectate-like OTC medication in the "Pill Stores" - the meds work better than the old "little yellow pills" (looked like One A Day w/ Iron vitamins) they use to dispense.

[Guest Fionas_Fiance]

Wow, good point about the water! Forget what I said about salads!

I can wait!

 

I ate lots of good veggies when I was in Shenzhen, LiJiang,

and Guilin. Fiona's mom is a great cook and Fiona claims to

be even better. Sometimes though, you just feel like eating

something that you really enjoy from back home. Not every

meal, maybe only once out of every 10 or 20 meals! I really

missed having salads. But I guess you're right, it's not a

very good idea over there, considering the water problems.

Doh!

 

OK, So let me narrow my question to non-smoking restaurants.

Nothing? I tried a McDonald's in Shenzhen, but it was pretty smoky.

Plus there was the slight problem that I was looking to consume some "food." ;-)

 

There was a great place in Guilin. It seems like there has to be

a similar place somewhere in Beijing... unless Guilin caters to

westerners more.

[beijingjenny]

Let me speak in defense of BJ as someone who has lived here three years. I haven't had any probs here from the food (I even know a NZ guy who drinks the water unboiled - it's just got too much calcium is the main problem). Some people get beijing belly at first but many do not. It's not third world in the city, just use common sense.

 

Well washed veg should be no prob, but Chinese do not have this idea at all and my husband used to think my eating raw veg was very strange. At the restaurant at the hotel where we live, we eat salad all the time, no prob, but it is hard to find someplace that will offer.

 

As for smoking, yeah, you're pretty much screwed No doubt fancy and foreign restaurants (and there are plenty in BJ) will have non-smoking sections if you want to pay that much every meal.

 

But in all these things if you are marrying a Chinese you just have to make some adjustments. Imagine how much adjusting your fiancee is going to have to do in your "Paradise" and that's going to be to live, not just visit.

[sylinchinastill]

Guilin definitely caters to westerners more- Yangshuo is like a little paradise to me- my husband said he felt like he was in a colony- Many of the hotels will not allow smoking- the more western ones- if you are a vegetarian there are tons of noodles and great stuff like that in Beijing- I am personally a bit addicted to Beijing Duck- I totally see what you mean about needing to eat your own food. In Shenzhen I lost 20 pounds (and I'm not big) because there wasn't much vegetarian food (I have since fell off the wagon). But in Shanghai there was tons of western food and I had to have cheese sometimes. In Xi'an- I had eaten Chinese food every meal for a week or so before I broke down and cried and had to be taken to a hotel- and that was after 2 years in China- it happens.

[johns]

Fionas

 

This is China is not the USA. I used to live in SF for 3 years before here and all I can say is GOOD LUCK!!! with your list.

 

Really..its only a month you can't have your salad and volleyball.

 

Yangshuo---- 1 square KM surrounded by reality.

 

shui niu (john)

[tonado]

Let me speak in defense of BJ as someone who has lived here three years. I haven't had any probs here from the food (I even know a NZ guy who drinks the water unboiled - it's just got too much calcium is the main problem). Some people get beijing belly at first but many do not. It's not third world in the city, just use common sense.

 

Well washed veg should be no prob, but Chinese do not have this idea at all and my husband used to think my eating raw veg was very strange. At the restaurant at the hotel where we live, we eat salad all the time, no prob, but it is hard to find someplace that will offer.

 

I wouldn't recommend visitors to drink unboiled water or eat salad (or raw veggies) there. If you live there for awhile, you built immunity to the water. For a visitor, you will get sick. I would recommend people get hepatitis A shots prior to going to China.

[tonado]

Ben,

 

You seem to be a health conscious person. How about a tofu burger? If you go to GZ, you might lose your appetite (they serve everything that has legs and wings except a chair or an airplane). I don't know about BJ.

[Jeikun]

I ate and drank the water in Beijing. I even ate food from the "Street Vendor's" carts. Never got sick once (unless you count serious heartburn from eating too many spicy shrimp once). Of course I got Hep A and B immunizations while I was in the Military...

[beijingjenny]

I actually have a harder time going back to the rich food of the US - that's where I get my stomachaches!

 

I don't make recommendations - people who are worried should exercise caution - I'm not that worried about it, but I still drink boiled water and wouldn't eat raw veg just anywhere (not a problem since it's offered almost nowhere, and boiled water is everywhere!).

 

I'm with Johns though - you're just going to have to get over these things during your trip. This is your future wife's country, and food - learn to love it if you love her. Get out of the foreigner zones, and remember everything she will have to give up for you.

[Guest Fionas_Fiance]

Hmmmm.... two people now have recommended getting Hep A & B

shots. I've heard this is pretty prevalent there too. Maybe I should

do this. :-| Thanks!

 

Regarding losing one's appetite, we did go to one restaurant in Shenzhen

with Fiona's parents that was supposed to be a special treat I think, but...

well, let's just say I tried to be as polite as possible but there were just

some foods that I would never dream of eating in a million years!! And I'm

not just talking about chicken feet or animals that look at you when you

are eating them. I'm used to seeing that. I'm talking about stuff that...

well, never mind!

 

I'm "mostly vegetarian" anyway (I do eat fish once or twice a week),

so I had a good excuse most of the time to stay away from some of the

really creepy crawly things. Fiona's mom cooked me lots of green

vegetables that I really liked, and we found one restaurant in LiJiang

that was vegetarian! I think they actually had veggie burgers there,

though I forget what I ordered. There were a couple of restaurants in

LiJiang that had terrific vegetables that we went to a couple of times.

 

For me, the biggest problem was not being able to get away from the

smoke. At most places eating inside would be out of the question, I

would have been nauseous and probably thrown up. Even outside,

along the river, there were constantly people walking by puffing on

you. It seems like almost ALL the men smoked in LiJiang, hardly any

of the women.

 

I tried to put up with it as best as I could and be a good sport about

it and hide it from my fiance that it even bothered me. But there was

one night she wanted to go for a romantic dinner and I had just had

my fill of it and I had to say "honey, I'm afraid I'm past my limit on

being able to handle this." So we got the food to go and ate at the

hotel. She was very understanding about it but I felt bad that I

couldn't take her someplace nice like I could if we were here. That's

the main reason I would like to find a place in Beijing before I go

out there. Most of the time we will eat at home, but I want to be

able to share a romantic dinner at a restaurant with her, too. But

it's hard to feel romantic when your eyes are watering and you are

feeling nauseous and can't breathe!

 

I don't know if my problem is that I'm actually allergic to cigarette

smoke or if I'm just really sensitive because where I come from,

smoking is very rare. Here I can go for days at a time without even

seeing anyone smoke, let alone smelling it. Smoking is not allowed

in any public building, including bars and nightclubs, and in my

community probably less than 10% of people smoke anyway. In the

last week, I would say that I can only remember smelling one brief

puff of smoke at the beach while I was playing volleyball. Other than

that I can't remember being exposed to it at all in the last seven days.

 

China was very different.