Wednesday Shopping in BEIJING

Catching some lunch before shopping

16 October, Morning (well, it is here anyway),
Thursday in Beijing, and we are leaving tomorrow. Been here over a week, and have had a marvelous time! Yesterday went back to the Silk Market, where they sell all the knock-offs and clothes and anything you can imagine. We had all written out what we were going to get - Caleb needed a jacket for Tibet, Lianna still wanted sandals!!! She's been looking since... May? Artemis, another Juicy bag, and I wanted some Mao T-shirts and T-shirts with the communist star in the middle. So off we went, but upon arrival realized we were all hungry.

So we walked around a bit. There was a Kenny Rogers Roasters restaurant, serving up woodfire roasted chicken and playing Kenny Rogers music. We passed on that, moving around, but finding ourselves at a corner, looking around with no restaurants in site. A woman across the street motioned to me that we were looking for food. I said yes, and she pointed to a doorway in the middle of a building. Looked like... nothing. So I took the bait and went over the looked in: a small room with some tables, clean, with many middle class Chinese.

I noticed in the middle of the table there was a hot plate, and realized it was the type of restaurant that serves a boiling soup base, and you order stuff to put in it and cook it right there. So I called over the troops, and we went in. The waitress didn't speak any English, but was very good at using sign-language, pointing to the menu, and communicating using Chinese at the same time. Luckily all the menus in Beijing have photos, which makes ordering much much easier. So we ordered a bunch of things, including some kind of meat, and another type which looked like... chicken. It all came and it was all great, and we had a great lunch, enjoyed by all, and all for 15 bucks.


One glimpse of shopping area

We then went to shop, which we did. We bargained like pros, and got right down to the bone. L & C got themselves 3-in-1 jackets, with fleece linings and wind/water resist outers, for 22 bucks. Artemis got herself another Juicy bag, for a hundred!!! Yuen, which is like 16 bucks. But way too high. She has to go back to bargaining school. She also got a T-shirt (fancy one with sequins and a large image, by some hip designer) for 50!!! Yuen, and our target price was 10. Hmmmmm. She loves them anyway. Dad got T-shirts! Mao, another revolutionary hero (not that Mao is: he is hated by some, and loved by others), and the communist star: 7 for 140, which is 22 bucks. L finally got her sandals. A Chinese brand, not a knock-off. They're made in the US. Just kidding.

C also got a great zip-up sweatshirt, which he did great on, getting it for 40 Y, and two T's for 45, which is great. All the girls in the market commented on his bargaining ability, and on how cute he is! There are mostly girls working in the market, and many are quite young, like early teens. One yesterday was 14. Oh yeah, we also got 12 DVDs for viewing on the trip, for 1.50 each (CDN). Then back to the hotel, freshened up, and off to the Chinese Acrobat show.

Bloody Cabbie took us for a ride, but we got there. The show was charming and delightful. The theatre was run-down, there were many Chinese tourists, as well as some Westerners. We all had a great time. Was like being at a village festival.

Famished after the show we looked for a restaurant, and happened upon a Korean bbq type place, with a place in the middle of the table for hot coals and a grate. There was a chimney above it. We looked through the menu, avoiding the dog, and sticking to beef, lamb and chicken, and of those just the parts we're used to, not the brains, genitalia, etc. It was great fun, and great food. We all partook in some beer, except for Artemis, who stuck to Sprite. Full and content, we went home and all passed out. Beijing's been great.



Checking out new stuff in hotel room


The next part of our journey begins Friday, when we take a night train to Xi'an. We arrive in the morning, drop our bags at our hotel, and then head off to see the Terra Cotta Warriors. Spend the night, then embark the train to Lhasa Tibet. We will spend all day, that night, and the next day on the train, and arrive in Lhasa that evening around 8, where we will be met by our guide, taken to our 5-star hotel, and begin our 4 day tour of Tibet. After that our guide and private jeep will take us to Nepal, where it turns out Lianna's cousin (whom we saw at the wedding, Nicholas, around 20) will be as well! So we'll meet up with him. Stay tuned.
Love Mark