It’s Chinese National Day, so what better way to celebrate it than to eat the capital’s trademark dish? Oh man, I have been waiting for this day. I don’t care where you’re from, that above picture is quite possibly the world’s most perfect food. It is, of course, Peking Duck.

If you’ve never had it properly, or only the steroidified Taiwanese version, real Peking duck is served on a VERY thin crepe (not a thick steamed bun). The duck is roasted until the fat is almost completely rendered and the skin is wafer cripsy. All the skin is separated from the meat, which is underneath the skin in the above picture. A loin from the back of the duck is placed on top of the rest of the duck and is served to the eldest member at the table. To eat Peking duck, one places an equal combination of meat and skin on the crepe, along with tian mian jiang (not hoisin sauce) and the white part of scallions. Wrap and eat.

My family was concerned that Cindy wouldn’t be able to wrap her Peking Duck. I laughed and said if there’s anything Cindy can do, it’s wrap meat and vegetables inside a flat, bready thing.

Our spread

Cindy is happy

To top off the experience, we had our Peking duck at a famous federal restaurant. You heard that right, a government sponsored Peking Duck restaurant. It is quite literally a national institution where we dined on National Day. During our meal, my uncle’s first grandchild was also born (her daughter scheduled her C-section for Chinese National Day) and we toasted several times to celebrate the occasion. When we left, he was so busy looking at the same picture of his grandson that he didn’t even notice everyone else had gone. My grandma went back into the room and said, “So are you going to leave the restaurant or are you waiting for dinner?”

For our actual dinner, we made dumplings, which could probably be considered the national activity. Cindy and I had made dumplings several times in Hawaii, so she was well prepared. My family, however, was not prepared for Cindy’s unique dumpling making style. Years of empanada making had programmed her to form any kind of meat-filled dough into an empanda. When my aunt saw Cindy’s dumpanada, she laughed, pointed, and called everyone over to gawk. When my grandma saw it, she looked she had seen a moonrock.

Everyone is looking for Cindy’s dumpanada

At night, my uncle and aunt drove us around Tiananmen to look at the National Day lights. We made a pit stop at the Bird’s Nest and Water Cube to wrap up our fowl themed day. The Water Cube’s lights turned off right as we arrived, but the Bird’s Nest was lit and colorful.

Ignore my unlit wife