Beijing

If you're looking to sample real-deal local culture in Beijing, Ji De Hua Tian is your spot. -- " Beijingers seem to pop into Ji De Hua Tian a bit like a Londoner would pop into a café for afternoon tea, " according to the FT. "The restaurant’s speciality is a dish of finely chopped slices of lamb mixed simply with parsley, spring onion and sliced cucumber, which is stuffed into a sesame-sprinkled flatbread bun to become a Beijing version of an almost bite-sized brown hamburger."   Ji De Hua Tian is located "around Houhai Lake, which heaves on a weekend afternoon with locals and tourists shoving into and out of lakeside bars, restaurants, coffee parlours and trendy bric-a-brac shops." Good value.  [Financial Times]   Read more in the attached, August 2009 review of Ji De Hua Tian by David Dodwell for the Financial Times.