Chinese new year is celebrated every year all over the world. For as long as there is Chinese people gather anywhere, they will celebrate Chinese new year (CNY for short) or lunar new year. No one can really back date when this tradition started but it is quite obvious as the history went back a long way, when the society then was very much agricultural base. And therefore, food is what it is all about. To celebrate the start of the new year after a very cold freezing cropless winter. A new hope, a new chapter to start to sow the first seed, to wish to have a great harvet at the end of the autumn.

Food therefore is something very significant and you can’t get away from when coming to celebrate CNY.

This year I was fortunate to have such ‘coincidence’ to happen to be in Taipei. Fortunate because I know Taipei is very much still keeping their tradtional even as she portrays herself as a cosmopolitan. There is this famous street called Dihua Street (迪化街） that about 1 month before the CNY, the whole street will be filling with streetside stalls that sell all kind of food just for celebrating CNY – treat your family and your visitors during CNY.

I am attaching some pictures here just to show you the varieties they are selling on the streetside: from dried food like dried octopus, mushrooms, to fancy candies like imported Jelly beans (the real stuff)!

Candies! candies!

Ah…barbecue pork..

It is still quite early in the day time to experience the crowd. Wait till you go there at night! I preferred to visit there during lunch time, not so congested yet.

Many of the street stall helpers are likely to be students working part time. As times are bad, many teenagers are willing to work part time to earn some wages.

Traditional candies, kind of like nougats, with many flavours too!

Hmm, yummy, all kind of flavoured dried squids. They are really delicious but watch out the calories and etc.. he he.

All kinds of dried seeds like melon seeds. You have to skillfully bite open the seed to eat the flesh inside. It comes with various flavours too!f

Traditional ‘biscuits’. Inside these have different kind of ingredients. Mostly are made from nuts or bean pastes.

This is probably my first post on writing about a few hotels that I frequently stay while travelling for business. I feel that I should share that so that some of you might find it helpful to understand the quality and services of the hotel.

This Hotel sounded like Hyatt when I first told by my supply partner. They clarified with me that it is actually Haiyatt. My first thought was, “wait a minute, do you mean they even copy the name to mislead people?”. By then they show me the Chinese name: 海悦饭店that I realised it was pronounced slightly different and the Chinese name didn’t suggest similarity of the famous Hyatt(凯悦）.

I have been to this hotel a couple of times over the years. When I travel to Dongguan, I like to pick this hotel because although it is a China local 5-star rated hotel, it is quite well run and managed comparing to other Chinal local hotels.

Let me explain why:

1. Non-smoking floor -

Not many local hotels in China bother to allocate non-smoking floor. As most local hotels in China entertain at least 70% local business or casual travellers (my observation during morning breakfast) and most Chinese in China smoke (yeap, I really don’t like it), most hotel don’t really commit to cater for non-smokers. Even if they have a local 5-star rating, you might want to find out more if you don’t want to ‘live among smokers’ especially when you are allergic to  the cigarettes. And I had also bad experience even in hotels run by international chain that they admit smokers in non-smoking rooms and fume the whole floor with their puffs and that really drive me mad to complain to the front desk.

Smokers said I had the freedom to smoke. But I said, I should have the freedom not to breath in what you breath out, go do it somewhere else!

I find Haiyatt having dedicated non-smoking floor and maintain it quite well without any cigarette smell. Of course, can’t gurantee when during peak season like the notorious Guangzhou Trade fair (twice a year).

2. International standard buffet breakfast-

Not many 5-star hotel in China really served the full international breakfast buffet. You can tell by looking at the choice of cheese they put on the platter. Some of the hotel just couldn’t afford to put more than 1 choice like the cheddar cheese. Not in Haiyatt. I love their varieties displayed on the platter. Their streaky beacon is really streaky too although a bit oily. Well, the ham was generously cut, not like some hotel that cut as thin like a piece of paper, fall short of seeing through when put under the light. And the ham is not the typical local made ham (can tell by the colour and the amount of fats on it). English tea serve with decent taste ( some hotel put 2 bags of Lipton tea and make a pot out of it, no taste at all!) Not to mention the varieties of salad, fruits and cereals. They really assure you a nice breakfast for a good start of the day.

3. A choice Chinese Dim-sum restaurant

Although I may not like the smokers smoking freely, I do have a choice to have breakfast in the Chinese restaurant. I tried once and it was remarkable. The Chinese tea served come with a selectable varieties: 铁观音、香片、普洱. They give you a piece of menu that you can pick your own choice of dim-sum. Once you pick them and give it to the waiter, they will steam them to your orders and serve it warm on the plate. I can only say that they have very good standard of Dim-sum and flavour too!

4. Nice and neat bedroom

Haiyatt Dongguan has 2 buildings combined together. I like the one right ontop of the main lobby. The rooms are nicely done up with Zen touch. It comes with LCD TV, no longer the typical Philips or Sharp CRT TV. It also comes with JVC mini-hifi that can play DVD. One thing I like is that they even provide a few music CD for relaxations.

5. Firm bed and selectable pillows

I am very particular about the bed and pillow each time I stay in a hotel. As I am going to spend 1/3 of my time lying on it, I cannot believe that some hotels really couldn’t invest or pay attention to such important details. I have seen hotels put one king size ontop of 2 singles support below. So, at right at the centre, you can see a hum. With prolong usage, you find that the bed is acutally like a moutain with the peak at the centre. Ouch! How to sleep on such a bed? I also find hotels don’t turn over the bed, you can find over time, it has formed a certain contour on it. Sags. Worst of all, a 5-star hotel only provide 1 choice of pillow! When i need a harder ones, I was told to use my own creativity – fix your own problem, sorry can’t help here.

Not in Haiyatt, for a local hotel like Haiyatt, I am glad that they do provide harder pillows. Their bed is firmed too. Nothing more important than a comfortable rest.

Lastly, my recent trip there was caught by a surprise. Their Italian restaurant was having a Truffle promotion and I was served free with a truffle appetizer. Here is a picture to share. I am telling you, with a buffet dinner at RMB 200+, I find it quite worth it. No qualms at all!

And here is the link to the hotel:

Haiyatt Hotel>