Mr. Bourdain was not invited to the "wonderful" restaurants I visited. Absolutely stomach-curdling food.
General recommendation for Beijing visitors: Eat at your hotel. Don't drink anything but bottled water (also use the bottled water when you brush your teeth too). Keep a stash of energy bars and/or meal-replacement shakes to keep from losing too much weight.
whew, i hope you are kidding. i've been to beijing and shanghai and the worst crap you could eat is at your hotel or at 'tourist' style restaurants where the tourists show up in buses. i ate from street vendors, small shops and just about anywhere my local friend advised eating and we had some of the most amazing and tasty and safe food I've eaten anywhere in the world.
bottled water is a good idea anywhere that stores its piss in 50 gal containers on the street (beijing). especially anywhere that has turkish style (ceramic hole in the ground) toilets all over the place where you put your T.P. in a bucket instead of flushing.
we are going back for the olympics and I cannot wait, its one of the most fascinating countries I've been to, and very modern, some places well beyond anything in the states while still having chickens in the basement.
and its VERY safe there, more so than any US city. You'd have worse luck in Atlanta or LA.
whew, i hope you are kidding. i've been to beijing and shanghai and the worst crap you could eat is at your hotel or at 'tourist' style restaurants where the tourists show up in buses. i ate from street vendors, small shops and just about anywhere my local friend advised eating and we had some of the most amazing and tasty and safe food I've eaten anywhere in the world.
bottled water is a good idea anywhere that stores its piss in 50 gal containers on the street (beijing). especially anywhere that has turkish style (ceramic hole in the ground) toilets all over the place where you put your T.P. in a bucket instead of flushing.
we are going back for the olympics and I cannot wait, its one of the most fascinating countries I've been to, and very modern, some places well beyond anything in the states while still having chickens in the basement.
and its VERY safe there, more so than any US city. You'd have worse luck in Atlanta or LA.
I wasn't kidding. The "friendship" stores and restaurants are to be avoided at all costs (you seem to know what I'm talking about)... I assume you got your shots before eating from street carts?
I still would like to return there soon, especially for the Olympics, but I may not make it for several years.
I wasn't kidding. The "friendship" stores and restaurants are to be avoided at all costs (you seem to know what I'm talking about)... I assume you got your shots before eating from street carts?
I still would like to return there soon, especially for the Olympics, but I may not make it for several years.
I'm not a doctor, but how would shots prevent food borne illness? I didn't think that you could get a shot that would prevent bacterial infections. I have eaten out of street carts in a number of 3rd world places (including China), and no problems. The only real problem I ever had was from mixing antacids and unprocessed cheese (and that was in the US), and from antibiotics gone wrong (also in the US).
I'm not a doctor, but how would shots prevent food borne illness? I didn't think that you could get a shot that would prevent bacterial infections. I have eaten out of street carts in a number of 3rd world places (including China), and no problems. The only real problem I ever had was from mixing antacids and unprocessed cheese (and that was in the US), and from antibiotics gone wrong (also in the US).
I'm not a doctor either, but my doctor recommended (and I got) hepatitis A and B shots before going. Here is some info:
Comments
Mr. Bourdain was not invited to the "wonderful" restaurants I visited. Absolutely stomach-curdling food.
General recommendation for Beijing visitors: Eat at your hotel. Don't drink anything but bottled water (also use the bottled water when you brush your teeth too). Keep a stash of energy bars and/or meal-replacement shakes to keep from losing too much weight.
whew, i hope you are kidding. i've been to beijing and shanghai and the worst crap you could eat is at your hotel or at 'tourist' style restaurants where the tourists show up in buses. i ate from street vendors, small shops and just about anywhere my local friend advised eating and we had some of the most amazing and tasty and safe food I've eaten anywhere in the world.
bottled water is a good idea anywhere that stores its piss in 50 gal containers on the street (beijing). especially anywhere that has turkish style (ceramic hole in the ground) toilets all over the place where you put your T.P. in a bucket instead of flushing.
we are going back for the olympics and I cannot wait, its one of the most fascinating countries I've been to, and very modern, some places well beyond anything in the states while still having chickens in the basement.
and its VERY safe there, more so than any US city. You'd have worse luck in Atlanta or LA.
whew, i hope you are kidding. i've been to beijing and shanghai and the worst crap you could eat is at your hotel or at 'tourist' style restaurants where the tourists show up in buses. i ate from street vendors, small shops and just about anywhere my local friend advised eating and we had some of the most amazing and tasty and safe food I've eaten anywhere in the world.
bottled water is a good idea anywhere that stores its piss in 50 gal containers on the street (beijing). especially anywhere that has turkish style (ceramic hole in the ground) toilets all over the place where you put your T.P. in a bucket instead of flushing.
we are going back for the olympics and I cannot wait, its one of the most fascinating countries I've been to, and very modern, some places well beyond anything in the states while still having chickens in the basement.
and its VERY safe there, more so than any US city. You'd have worse luck in Atlanta or LA.
I wasn't kidding. The "friendship" stores and restaurants are to be avoided at all costs (you seem to know what I'm talking about)... I assume you got your shots before eating from street carts?
I still would like to return there soon, especially for the Olympics, but I may not make it for several years.
I wasn't kidding. The "friendship" stores and restaurants are to be avoided at all costs (you seem to know what I'm talking about)... I assume you got your shots before eating from street carts?
I still would like to return there soon, especially for the Olympics, but I may not make it for several years.
I'm not a doctor, but how would shots prevent food borne illness? I didn't think that you could get a shot that would prevent bacterial infections. I have eaten out of street carts in a number of 3rd world places (including China), and no problems. The only real problem I ever had was from mixing antacids and unprocessed cheese (and that was in the US), and from antibiotics gone wrong (also in the US).
I'm not a doctor, but how would shots prevent food borne illness? I didn't think that you could get a shot that would prevent bacterial infections. I have eaten out of street carts in a number of 3rd world places (including China), and no problems. The only real problem I ever had was from mixing antacids and unprocessed cheese (and that was in the US), and from antibiotics gone wrong (also in the US).
I'm not a doctor either, but my doctor recommended (and I got) hepatitis A and B shots before going. Here is some info:
Hepatitis A
Hepatitis B