Give the Gift of a Food Tour!
Shirley Lum's Chinese New Year and Beijing China Food Tours.
The ideal gift for ANY occasion, Shirley Lum of A Taste of the World Tours offers a host of amazing experiences all throughout winter, giving participants an insider’s look at one of many winter festivals including Diwali, Chanukah, Christmas, Kwanzaa or the Winter Solstice. This writer took one of Shirley’s tours a summer or two ago and was delighted by the special touches Shirley throws into the mix- read about that experience here.
Banquet Fit for a King
If you want to keep things local and Toronto-based, look no further than Shirley’s First Annual Chinese New Year 8 Course Banquet Dinner- slated to happen on January 30, 2008. Attendees will dine at Taste of China restaurant on Spadina where you’ll hear stories about traditional Chinese New Year multi-course banquets and where you’ll participate in your own.
Shirley says, “It used to be that tradition dictated that only immediate family members were allowed to attend these banquets, and usually it took place at home. As more women are working outside of the family home, more families tend to have their New Year‘s Eve and/or Day’s dinners at their favourite restaurants. So a new tradition is now born.”
Shirley will follow suit with this trend by hosting an 8-course banquet for guests to remember for a long time. And apparently, this is resonating with locals and visitors to Toronto- Shirley may have to book another date for this mouth-watering banquet. The cost is $50/per person (includes all food and non-alcoholic drinks) and the festivities get under way from 7pm-9:30pm on Jan. 30, 2008.
China Bound Culinary Experience
If you’d like to go further afield, you can join Shirley and other intrepid food enthusiasts on her Culinary and Cooking Trip of China from February 1-15, 2008. Shirley says, “From the Welcome Dinner in one of Beijing’s hottest fusion restaurants, to the late dinner in Hangzhou dubbed as the ‘Venice of the East”, until the early Dim Sum in one of atmospheric Hong Kong’s teahouses that might still be frequented by old men on a stroll with their caged birds, guests know they’ll be savouring festive and local specialties with all of their senses.”
Passionate foodies will love the two unique cooking school experiences chosen by Shirley, within the urban setting of Beijing. There participants can learn to cook several dishes and then rub shoulders with locals at a vegetable market and one of the oldest grocery stores from Qing period to experience the Lunar New Year frenzy and the area’s delectable dumplings. In contrast to this experience, participants will also cook several dishes in the rural setting of Yangshuo Cooking School, a rustic farmhouse with a breath-taking mountain backdrop!
Savour local snacks while rubbing shoulders with locals along “Gui Jie”, a happening night market just before New Year. You can also follow the yellow brick wall of China to Beijing on the eve of Chinese New Year, then meet face-to-face with the Terracotta Soldiers at Xi’an on New Year’s Day, and explore the area renown for its famous Dragon Well Tea, tea plantations and pottery centre. The final evening will see the group gearing up for the Lantern Festival celebrations at Temple Street Market, Hong Kong’s best night market.
For more details contact Shirley Lum by Dec. 31st, 2007 at (416) 923-6813 or e-mail: info@TorontoWalksBikes.com
To check out more of her upcoming events, visit the A Taste of the World wesbite and under heading of HOT TIPS, click GIFT CERTIFICATE and then print out the Order Form. Happy trails! If any of you attend any of these lovely events- do let me know! I'd love to hear all about it!
