Ghost Street, Beijing
Over a kilometer in length, Ghost Street (鬼街 or 簋街) features hundreds of delicious restaurants and shops. It is lit by red kerosene lanterns, forming a spectacular nighttime sight. Close to nearby embassies, the street is annual source of millions of RMB in dining profits from local and foreigners alike! Many of the restaurants are 24/7 establishments.
The name of the street has an interesting derivation. In old Beijing, each of the city gates had a specific purpose. At Dongzhimen, the gate was used to transport the dead for burial outside of Beijing. In this area, the graveyard was visible from the city, as at the time, it was on the very border. There was a morning market nearby, with lanterns, and coffin-sellers. So, the street was named “Ghost Street” (鬼街). However, since this is a bad name for the restaurant business, as times changed, it was renamed to the homophone 簋街 (a food container used during a ritual ceremony or a feast).
We ate spicy frog legs, and other Beijing cuisine here. It was quite delicious:
You can find the famous via on Dongzhimen Wai Avenue in Chaoyang District (北京市朝阳区东直门外大街) between Dongzhimen Bridge (東直門) and Jiaodaokou Dongdajie. The best time to go is in the evening, to enjoy the sights and sounds. Check out the best restaurants on Ghost Street for some suggestions.
Shanghai Maid Cafe: M-Moe
Since Wendy had heard about it, we endeavored to at least stop by m-moe, a maid cafe in Shanghai. The small cafe offers some limited seating, a bigscreen TV for video games, and a few tables for nerdy board or card games. Maids will play with you, serve you snacks, or entertain. The website has an actual directory of their current maids, and a blog. Oh and cute maids, of course!
Maid cafe doorway
We didn’t stay too long because the friends we were meeting up were late, and the place was pretty packed when we got there. But, the environment was quite warm, and if your mix of patrons is nerds/maids you’ll love it!
One of the very friendly maids, “鱼子”
Here’s the address, in case you’re interested in checking it out for yourself:
Phone: 021-63517385
Address: 上海市浙江中路229号(百米香榭)204室
Shanghai has a few other maid cafe options:
- CATE La Maid (which stands for “Coffee, Animation, Tea, Entertainment” according to Smart Shanghai)
4th Floor, Buynow Shopping Mall
339 Caoxi Bei Lu (near Nandan Lu)曹溪北路339号
百脑汇电子商场4楼，
近南丹路 - @Niaohai (＠ニャオハイ, located here:
Shanghai Jin Jiang Tower 6F,
161 Chang Le Road, Shanghai - “Maid Jump” on Wenmiao road in Anime City / Halozone.
War in Space
An interesting photo from a Japanese Star-Wars clonesploitation:
From War in Space (1977) aka Great Planet War: THE WAR IN SPACE (惑星大戦争) Wakusei Daisenso: Za uo in Supesu. Do you like the Chewbacca the Wookie and Princess Leia lookalikes?
Flickr is a cutie
你好，FLICKR！
This is really only amusing after finishing a bottle of Whiskey, but pardon me.
China Visa Application Form (Q-2007: Fillable PDF)
Visiting China is quite simple, if you live in the United States. Simply print out a Q-2007 VISA application form and fill it out, get a passport picture taken, and bring your passport (plus proof of US residency/citizenship) to the embassy. You’ll pay a fee for the visa and be on your merry way. See the Consulate General of the People’s Republic of China in NYC: Passport & Visa for more information, or check out their hours of operation.
One annoyance about the form on the Consulate website is that it’s not fillable. You can’t type in the PDF fields and print it out. So, if you want a fillable Q-2007, you can download it here: China Visa Application Form: Q-2007.pdf.
