Located near the Summer palace (Yiheyuan), "Baihe" is one of Beijing's few vegtarian restaurants.  Both fish and meat have been superceeded by tofu, but their texture remains the same.  Let's take a look...

From the outside, Baihe doesn't look very prepossessing.  Snuggled up between a pearl market, and a Chinese hospital in a car park near the summer palace, Baihe isn't the easiest place to find.  As a result of its location in Western Beijing, the majority of the customers are Chinese, quite unlike the other branch on Guijie (the 24hour restaurant street), where most of the customers are foreign.  In either case, Baihe is just about one of the best places to go for a vegetarian meal in Beijing.

Once you've gone through the glass door, the simplicity of the décor is quite obvious.  At the entrance, there is a selection of Chinese Classics, in English and Chinese, all printed by a publishing house related to the restaurant, available for purchase from between 8 and 45 RMB.  There are boxes of rice and organic tea displaced on the beams, as well as portraits of previous diners (approximately 300 RMB).

In the main dining room, you can hear the subtle tune of Chinese stringed instruments.  The dominant tone in the restaurant is very natural; the walls are green and brown, and the curtains echo these colours.  Veils of soft green are suspended from the ceiling.  The only noticeable colours are the light yellow tablecloths, and the wooden chairs covered in pink cushions.

A Surprising Result

On the far side of the dining hall are some private rooms, separated using beautifully designed minimalist wood and metal doors.  There are beautiful views over a lotus covered pond from the dining room - perfect for summer evenings.  Once you are seated, a waiter will bring you a steaming cup of chrysanthemum tea, and bring you a beautifully decorated menu (English and Chinese).

At first sight, the menu might look similar to those of traditional restaurants.  There are starters, entrées, side dishes, and vegetables, but nothing on the menu contains any animal products.  There is no meat, seafood or animal products at all.  However, where meat has been lost, it has been very carefully substituted so the taste is almost the same.  Tofu and gluten, skillfully mixed, produces these most satisfying, meat free, results.

For the novice, it's pretty hard to tell the difference between the vegetarian versions of sweet and sour pork ribs (32 RMB), and the traditional meaty dish found throughout the rest of China.  The skin is still crusty on the outside, and the sauce is bittersweet and the flesh soft.  The only difference is that the bones are made out of crispy lotus.