Quack Quack

World famous Peking Duck. It took awhile, but after a unique tour of a sewage processing facility and of a rural village on the outskirts of Beijing, we finally made it to Peking Duck. Our trip started at 8:30 am as a collection of students from Purdue, Emerson and Queensland University of Technology gathered at the lobby of our host university, CUC (Communication University of China). We were greeted by two massive busses as we arrived at the south gate of campus. Our enthusiastic tour guide, known to us as Henry, provided a constant stream of dialogue as we braved the Beijing rush hour traffic to our first stop, the sewage processing plant. An hour later we arrived to an unknown location where we were greeted by employees of the plant. Walking across metal grating over bubbling dark water definitely was a first for me, but I'm sure the experience was definitely new to quite of few of us. With the help of Henry's translation, we learned what the different processes occurred in order for the brown sludge to refine itself into clear usable water.

After touring the plant, we stopped at a restaurant for lunch, and then headed out for a rural village on the edges of Beijing. The village consisted of a temple and a retirement home. While I'm sure there were many other parts of the village, it seemed our tour was composed of mainly those two parts.

Peking Duck was our next stop, and the two and a half hour bus ride definitely built up the anticipation. The bus ride itself was a great bonding experience for all of us, as it allowed us to really get to know each other. One common point of discussion was the ridiculous driving and traffic that compromised nearly every single Beijing road. We came to the conclusion that for our trip, we spent more time sitting on a bus than any other activity.

The restaurant did not disappoint. We were ushered onto the third floor, where an entire ballroom was dedicated for us Olympic volunteers. There aren’t many words that can be used to describe the sensations one feels when warm roasted duck enters a mouth devoid of nutrition for nearly seven treacherous hours, but needless to say this was culinary perfection. The ducks were brought out onto carts located in between tables and we salivated as chefs masterfully sliced the duck into thin pieces that fit perfectly in our wraps and buns. Add some great side dishes and it made for one amazing dinner. While we were told our ducks might have been raised in some questionable ways, the end result was without a doubt one of the best meals of my life.