Whenever we travel to a new country and we see any reference to Pakistan, it naturally catches our attention. Recently this ATP ka numaainda (representative) was in China. I saw following subtle references to Pakistan in Beijing.
(1) 
Whether we liked her or not; whether we agreed with her or not; the fact remains that she is the single most known person outside Pakistan. I was browsing in the book store of Guanghua School of Management at the Peking University when I found this Chinese edition of ‘Daughter of the East’. Price RMB 28. This was the only book related to Pakistan that I was able to find in that book store.
(2) While in China, do as Chinese do. I did that for 6 days. On seventh day the craving for Pakistani food became so strong that I went looking for a Pakistani restaurant in Beijing. A quick internet search revealed there was only one Pakistani restaurant in Beijing and of all the names in this world, it was called ‘The Mughal Beijing’. Following is its signboard.
The Mughal Beijing is located on Sunlitan Street . They serve ‘halal’ food (written twice on the signboard above to remove any lingering doubts) along with ‘Live Performance every Evening’. No details given on the signboard about the every evening live performances.
Well all my hardwork and hefty taxi fare that I paid to get there, came to a naught when I saw this notice board infront of the restaurant. I was so heartbroken that I called the number given on this board and talked to the owner. I was hoping the owner would invite me to his home for Pakistani food (Nihari and Bihari kabab) and I will reluctanty accept it but alas that didn’t happen. The owner told me they are reopening in one month from now in the same building and I should definitely come to taste their food. All I could say from my end was:
hum bhi muNh meiN zubaaN rakhtay haiN
kaash poocho ke zaaiqa kia hai
Next day we ate at the Ganges Indian restaurant which has 3 branches in Beijing. Good food and I recommend them if you are looking for desi food in Beijing.
(3) 
The hotel we stayed in was showing this World Clock at their front desk. It just melted my heart right there. Now how many World clocks have you seen outside Pakistan which show PST on top. There are 8 other countries in the World which share the same time zone as Pakistan but the manufacturers of this World Clock chose to select Pakistan at the representative. Bravo. For this one gesture of friendship, I will recommend Red Wall Hotel to our readers if they visit Beijing. It is also conveniently located at a walking distance from the famous Forbidden City and Beihai Park.
(4) And of course Pakistan International Airlines is one of the many airlines that fly to Beijing. On March 26, 2008 Beijing has inaugurated a World Class Airport terminal (#3) for the Olympics. PIA however flies to the old terminal which is terminal 2 of Beijing Capital Airport.
is there a community of Pakistanis in China ?
I might be going for a Software Developer job to Beijing but I’m not very comfortable with the idea of life in china ?
what kind of issues are faced etc. I guess those who are working there in IT can tell the best. If anyone would like to share his experience in China please contact me.
Dear Qasim Bhai,
Try and get info about any US or Europe company that is outsourcing work from India (there are hundreds). If you can get thru any of these companies in their home country (you can get in touch with them thru internet and your interview will be conducted thru Video Confrence, so no need to visit them) and they can place you in India.
There is already a shortfall of approx 1,16,000 software engineers in India and the figure is growing on a daily basis.
I have heard of many foreigners working in India for these companies. You can try your luck too.
(Apologies for commenting off-track).
Qasim, Microsoft and many companies hire engineers from Pakistan for their china offices, you must try :P
Ahh… I wish I can go china .. can any one tell me a good resources to find a software engineer job in china? :( a poor question? :S
Thanks PC for a little background on manchurian chicken, I did know it was a desi invention, because none of my chinese friends have ever heard or tasted it. I live in New Jersey, and am well aware of the Indo Pak food because of plethora of desi restaurants here. Infact this “desi-chinese” joint just opened up in one of the south asian locales, its called Nan King! I took my chinese friends there, they loved the food but refused to accept that it was anything even remotley chinese :)
Dear Owais Bhai,
Manchurian Chicken cannot be found in China because it is “invented” by an Indian (whose ansestors came from China). This gentleman is owner of some Chinese resturants in Calcutta (I saw his interview on a Food programme on NDTV) and he “accidently invented” Manchurian Chicken while trying to Indianise some of the Chinese cuisines. No wonder Chinese don’t know about it.
Dear Okha,
Chinese food always taste good except in China (only for the subcontinent people) because we have added our own spices and chillies to it in order to suit our taste buds. The food back there in China is very bland (almost raw as we can call it). The funniest thing that I came across is that Chinse don’t differenciate between Veg and Non-veg food. And it can get quite hard for veg people when traveling to China.
Dear Allah Wasaya,
Your comment reminded me of my last visit to Frankfurt. They conduct a Home Textile show by the name of “Heimtextil” in which exhibitors from around the world take place, and Indians and Pakistanis are given the same floor to display their merchandise.
On my recent visit I could hear two Pakistani guys talking:
1’st : Bhai khane ka kya programme hai ?
2′nd : Isi floor pe ek restaurant hai “The jewel of India” wahan pe chalte hain.
1’st : Kya bahi in Hindustanio ka khana khilaoge ?
2′nd : Ye to tum socho, in angrezon ki bread khani hai ya Hindustanio ke roti aur mutton curry.
When I entered the restaurant after about 15 minutes. I couldn’t stop myself grinning when I saw both the gentlemen fully engrossed in their mutton curry (actually lamb curry) and rotis.
During my stay in Beijing while working at Techlogix, I remember we could find only one Pakistani restaurant also but I am not sure if it was the same as mentioned by you here. The picture looks different to me and that was inside a plaza adjacent to a skating rink. The thing is you can find halal food quite easily there as most of the Chinese restaurants are run by Chinese Muslims.
I agree that you cant like Chinese food if you have tasted Lahori Chinese food earlier :) and probably like us you cant eat anything for first few days in a chinese restaurant due to strange smell :S
The love for Pakistanis (Bajistaan Chungwa Phanyo - Pakistan and China are friends) are easy to find. Go to any shop, meet anyone and bargain at any shop and just tell you are Pakistani, you will know Pak-China friendship exists in the hearts.
Turkey is the other country which I think close to such friendship with Pakistan. I hope Owais or someone else will write about that in future.
Just to add some more connections, you will find a guy from Gujranwala selling our traditional BBQ in Sanlitun street, a few of our Software Engineers are working at great software companies like Microsoft and SUN Microsystems in Beijing, and you can find Beijing Techlogix a sister concern of Pakistan-based software organization right along with all the world organizations in the software park. You need more then there is always the Friday prayers, you just need more than 6 days :) I guess.