Beijing 2015: Chaoyang Theater & Wangfujing Road

We left Beijing Zoo in a hurry to make it to Chaoyang Theater for their evening Flying Acrobatic Show…

Chaoyang Theater’s in-house performers are the Sichuan Suining China Acrobatic Troupe. Since its inception 20 years ago, they have performed all across the globe. 

We must have watched on a slow night since only three rows of the theater were occupied.  These daily performances strictly prohibit photo or video taking. So..we took a photo of ourselves. Haha.

Although I was entertained, it really paled in comparison to City of Dreams Macau’s House of Dancing Water. Nevertheless, it was nice to be able to tick off “watch an authentic Chinese acrobatic show” on my Beijing list.

After our evening entertainment, we headed to Wangfujing Snack Street, popular for serving up some exotic food such as starfishes, snakes, seahorses..

…and our choice for that night: scorpions. Eating one was not as horrific as I thought it would be.

They were so salty and crunchy that they’ve become devoid of their actual being. Grabbing a fresh coconut was a pretty sweet decision. Literally and figuratively.

After crossing off scorpions, we went to explore the stalls to see what the “snack street” had to offer. And boy, did they have a lot.  I was surprised to find kebabs which were apparently influenced by the Chinese Muslims.

I also had no idea about turkey legs being common in Beijing.

There were some carby goodness in the form of the familiar potato twists and grilled corn cobs. 

Classic items such as hotpot with lobster and mushroom balls

and  Chinese dumplings were present too.

But after that, everything else was pretty exotic (imo) that I don’t even know how to call them. Best I can do is to describe them like these slimy fresh sea food.

Will you be interested in some crab with flour, egg and other dubious stuff mixed in?

How about some very oily looking seafood cakes? Or colorful jelly-ace for dessert?

If  you weren’t satisfied with the slimy seafood, here are more creatures. Take your pick: on a pie or on a stick.

Even the pineapple rice was pretty funky. They were sticky and brown. 

 Definitely no regrets on not eating anything after the scorpion. I was able to witness how they “kept” the unsold items for the next day. They poured them in plastic trash bags and tied them up. That’s it. No wonder some look really greasy and tough….

Besides being a food destination, Wangfujing is also visited for the shopping. Just right before closing time, I bought myself a cap. It was coincidentally strategic as haggling was very easy. My guess is that they just wanted to close as much sales as they could before the end of the day.

By about 10 pm, the streets were pretty deserted already. This forced us to cut-off our shopping. 

With very dead legs and feet, we headed out to Wangfujing Road for an authentic Beijing foot massage before we called it a day.

PS. You can find Chaoyang Theater at…

• Address: No.36, North East Third Ring Road Chaoyang District, Beijing
• How to get there via Subway: Line 10, Hujialou Station exit C1
• Website: http://www.chaoyangacrobaticshow.com/

The Beijing 2015 Adventure

Come join me as I track back on the cultural and gastronomical adventure we had in the following blog posts…

• Beijing 2015: The Adventure & ArtBnB
• Nanluoguxiang Hutong Village and the search for the The Drum & Bell Tower
• Jingshan Park: The Hilly Park
• Da Dong: Peking Duck Goodness
• Tiananmen Square: The Square of Democracy
• Temple of Heaven: China’s Religious Complex
• Din Tai Fung: Dumpling Goodness
• Beijing Zoo: The Giant Panda Viewing
• Beijing Chaoyang Theatre‎ & Wangfujing Road: Chinese Acrobats & Exotic Food Fare
• The Great Wall of China: The Endless Journey
• Ming Tombs: The Mausoleum of the Ming Dynasty Emperors
• Hong Qiao Market & Dada Bar
• Hai Di Lao Hotpot: Sichuan’s Popular Hotpot Chain
• Summer Palace: The Most Beautiful Park in Beijing

Tags: Asia, Beijing, Chaoyang Theater, China, Food, travel, Wangfujing Road