Ptravel: You needn’t be bashful about calling me out (be name) on my PF Chang’s preference. It’s a position, in which I feel no shame upholding. In fact, many friends, both inside and outside of the FT community have attacked me on the point before and I’ve always felt that I’ve been able to mount a solid defense.

You see, I’ve been in China off and on since I was 19 years old. In the early days, I ate lots of Chinese food because that’s all I could afford. While it kept my tummy full, I never felt like it was up to the standards of the Tiki Port in Hyannis, MA where I grew up (2 NW drink certs to anyone else who’s dined there).

In any case, I have logged an awful lot of meals at Chinese restaurants over the years, to the point where I can proclaim to have tried almost everything, even <gasp... and apologies to Bitta, Tiffany, and Annabelle> dog. And, I’ve come to realize over time that I was raised with an American palette, which is going to stick with me throughout my life. Incidentally, and off topic, my attitude towards Japanese food is completely different; those guys (including my wonderful girlfriend) make some pretty neat stuff.

Having gotten all that negativity out of the way, I would be happy to accompany you or anyone else here on a “duck run” next time you are in Beijing. In fact, I can even arrange to get our expenses covered by one of the English magazines in town in exchange for writing an article, which could be pretty interesting, given our divergent tastes.

It looks like I’ll be in Beijing for the majority of this year, save August, so please contact me in advance of your trips and we’ll do this place right.