Amazing (ly Expensive) Noodles: Xiaolumian at Mutianyu

Most noodles in Beijing run from 6-15 kuai in the small mian dians. If you want to go fancier and hand over a few more kuai, you can get specialty noodles made from unusual ingredients, or double or trip up on the meat. To go even more exotic, a bowl of Japanese ramen would  bring you to 20-50 kuai. But one of the most enjoyable, and indubitably the most pricey bowl of zhajiang mian I’ve had in China was at Xiaolumian up in Beigou village by the Mutianyu Great Wall. It’s an adorable old Chinese village house, with a little outdoor terrace where you can see the Great Wall in the distance and smell the lavender growing in their gardens (lavendar! in China! wonderful).

The noodles are freshly made after you order, and you can choose from noodle type as well as from their assortment of sauces. The sauces are all simple Chinese home-style sauces, zhajiang, peanut, chicken and ginger, and the list goes on (about 10 in total). Now, a bowl of zhajiang mian, even a GREAT one, in the city should cost no more than 12 kuai. But out here, I’d have to say that my 68 kuai was well worth it.

The freshly-made spinach knife-cut noodles had a great chew and texture … not to mention being a lovely pea green. They provide little plates of condiments including fried garlic, chili oil, sesame oil and salt, scallions and julienne ginger, as well as lovely large plates of sliced tomatoes, cucumber, and blanched cabbage. And a beautiful little pot of tea.

The fixin’s are all there for you to play with and enjoy, and with my two little bowls of sauces (I got zhajiang and sesame paste), I ate myself silly. It was all fresh and lively tasting, and there is nothing I enjoy more than playing around with a little table buffet of sauces and bits, making myself a different type of noodle with each bite. Best thing? Aside from the lovely views and quaint settings, after a carb-fest like this, there were hills and orchards to hike around and make digesting just a wee easier.