While in Beijing several years ago, my more adventurous friends convinced me to embark on a little adventure: we were going to bike to the Great Wall of China.   Although I had purchased a $5 dollar bicycle upon arriving in Beijing, I knew that this little endeavor might require a bike with a well-greased chain and rims that weren’t bent.  After visiting a bike shop in town to remedy this problem, we took off on mountain bikes to Mu Tian Yu, a part of what was then the “Wild Wall” (unreconstructed parts of the Great Wall).  Needless to say this was a memorable trip, capped off with a metal toboggan ride  down from the wall on a winding metal track.

Of course, my conniving friends conveniently forgot to mention that the wall was about 75Km outside Beijing, and uphill too.  Several hours into the ride, I was famished and requested that we stop to eat.  First, I recommend that you NEVER stop in the middle of the countryside to eat.  Using California’s A to F restaurant cleanliness scale I’m pretty sure we were about a X.  And X always stands for danger.

But if you’re already on an adventure, why not try some local food?  The classic Eggs and Tomatoes dish I had was simply sublime.  I haven’t been able to recreate this dish exactly as I remember it.  Then again, I haven’t biked for 4 hours before sitting down to eat this dish, famished and covered in mud.

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