An Abiding Flower of Prosperity

What is gesangmedo? It is a flower of prosperity in the Tibetan language and also the flower most closely associated with Sakyamuni in Buddhism.

What is Gesangmedo? It is a Tibetan retreat in a hustling, bustling Beijing, a Tibetan-style restaurant/retreat located just south of the Canadian Embassy.

But Gesangmedo is more. The 220-square-metre restaurant is decorated with prints from wood blocks of Tibetan sutras and The Kangyur-the Tibetan Buddhist canon-which cannot be found elsewhere in Beijing. The owner Deng Jun, a 33-year-old of the Han nationality, is a thangka (Tibetan Buddhist religious paintings) designer and collector. Because of his profession he has visited Tibet more than 20 times and has a rich collection of Tibetan artworks. The restaurant has an extensive display of Deng's collection. In addition to the sutras, there are also more than 20 different kinds of lamps, butter-tea bowls, Tibetan bows and arrows, boots, thangka, other paintings, pictures and even the works of some lamas.

Deng sometimes organizes exhibitions of Tibetan artworks, offering a communications platform for enthusiastic lovers of the Tibetan culture. At night, the restaurant invites Tibetans or those from other nationalities to perform, with an emphasis on their beautiful voices and touching dances.

A perfect environment is not the only advantage of Gesangmedo. The restaurant's fare is worth more than a look. Deng said the dishes served in other popular Tibetan restaurants within the embassy district are mainly Nepal-style western food. With his experience of travelling in Tibet, he thinks Tibetan food can barely form a unique cuisine.

"Even in Lhasa, the most popular dishes are Sichuan-style ones," he said. "In the most prominent Tibetan restaurants, there are only about ten real 'Tibetan' dishes."

What's more, the original flavour of Tibetan butter fried dishes, butter tea and dried yak meat have a taste and smell that are difficult for people from other cultures to accept.

Therefore, Deng designed a menu at his restaurant that focuses on three different kinds of dishes. There is a Tibetan chef who cooks Tibetan food with Tibetan butter, favoured by people from Tibet. Deng has invited a Cantonese chef to cook with Tibetan materials in a way that most people would find palatable. The third chef is a specialist Muslim chef who prepares Tibetan Muslim dishes, especially those made from beef or mutton.

The last element making this a perfect restaurant is its service. For instance, after testing hundreds of kinds of cloth, Deng decided to use cloth imported from Nepal on sofas at Gesangmedo, because it is more comfortable to the touch. The restaurant hopes this will give diners a better dining experience.

 

Address: Second Floor, Commercial Building, Xingfu Ercun, Chaoyang District

东直门外大街新东路与东直门外大街交口，加拿大大使馆南面

Tel: +86 10 6417 9269

WWW: www.gesangmedo.com