杨梅竹路 北京

[By Teo Cheng Huat in Beijing] Last week, we have our company lunch in one of the many
interesting restaurant in Dashilar area in downtown Beijing. There are many
alleys and hutongs here and many are built during the beginning of the Yuan
Dynasty.

The restaurant we went is called The Southern Fish specialized
in Yunnan Dishes in YangMeiZhuXieJie (YangMeiZhu west street) 杨梅竹斜. Because
it is a small restaurant converted from a small part of an old courtyard house,
the chef only start to cook when all the guest have arrived. From the window,
we can still see many old courtyard house in its original state and thousands
of electrical wires , phone lines and cables crisscrossed all over the roof
top. Most of the street are really narrow and cars are not allow to enter these
small street so many of the residents travel around either on bicycle or
electrical bike.