Eating And Shopping In Beijing

This blog has been loading too slowly lately. Must be the many photos I have been posting so far! I've done a little revamp to reduce the number of articles on the first page, and here's a quick summary since I got back from the trip:

Midpoint - 6 photos
Camels In the Desert - 11 photos
Beijing Intro First Day - 18 photos
IM Intro First Day - 20 photos, 1 audio file
A Soul Saved - 49 photos, 2 video clips
Taxis In Beijing - 24 photos
The Temple Of Heaven - 34 photos
A Blessed Sunday - 41 photos, 2 audio files

Oh my, over 200 pics so far!! Well, this unspiritual post (ahem, see the title) will have lots of words and only one photo. I don't have anything spiritual to report about our short time in Beijing because the 3 days were for the team to get over jet lag (especially for those who came from the States), soak in a little culture, get used to the food etc. However, we can still learn some good lessons from someone else's sightseeing, eating and shopping experiences, right?

After the Temple of Heaven tour, we returned for a short rest and then it was time to go out again, for dinner. First day: we've had Western dinner (Pizza Hut), and 2nd day: Western lunch (KFC) before the Tian Tan tour. Breakfast at the hotel was of course continental and very western. I followed the group and wondered what kind of fast food PP was looking for this time. MacDonalds? Starbucks? Outside the shopping mall at last, PP stopped and gathered the group around, and then he told everyone... those who want to eat Western, please go that way. The rest, please follow Uncle Robert. There was a moment of indecision for some folk, but I knew who I wanted to follow! Our wonderful, dear uncle took us to a fine restaurant around the corner, and there were ten of us, just the right number to fill a round table. Some Americans joined us, and we had a great time amusing them with the fish heads, chicken head and other assorted body parts. They love it!

The moral of the above eating story is - pamper the Americans at their favourite fast food restaurant on the first day. Give them a choice (point left or right, Eastern or Western) on the second day, and thereafter for the rest of the trip, let Uncle Robert take everyone to the best local restaurants and make them eat whatever's in front of them. They will, I promise.

Now for the shopping story. I didn't shop at all in Beijing (smart, you see, was waiting for cheaper goods in other cities), but this won't stop me from sharing about other people's shopping experiences, and so, here's the true story about "Vivien And The Four Peaches".

Dinner over, our American friends needed their Starbucks fix. We parted company again and went to look for dessert. (There's usually no dessert served in Chinese restaurants) Vivien knew what she would like for dessert - the healthy sort, i.e. fruits, and there were lots of fruit stalls in the nearby wet market. Her little brother, however, had quite different ideas, and when she wasn't looking, he had a quick word with me...Deb, tell my sis I'll be at the supermarket over there. And off he went, to buy chocolates. I stayed with Viv and watched as she picked out four huge, juicy looking peaches. The stall holder weighed the peaches and then named a price which we didn't quite catch, and she had to repeat, loudly, slowly. It was 40 or 41 RMB (I don't quite remember now). Vivien looked shocked... so expensive, she said, but I had no idea. Actually at that time, my mind was already several thousand miles away in Singapore after that very full dinner, and I wasn't thinking at all. Fruits. Hmm. Not interested.

We found PP after Vivien had paid for the peaches, Yup, he shared his chocolate with me, hehe! He also pointed to the bag of peaches his jie jie was carrying, and said, Very cheap, right? 20 cents each or something. Big Sister looked even more blur. No, she said, it was like... two dollars each. What??? PP looked most surprised, and after he figured it out, he laughed out loud and said she had been ripped off. It was daylight robbery. Well, actually it was nighttime 8pm but still, you know, tourists can be ripped off at any time. VG came along and after peering into the plastic bag, also said those were the most expensive peaches he had ever met.

On our way back to the hotel, we visited a bakery, and Uncle Robert (I don't remember him in the wet market at all) found the kind of dessert he liked, and bought some sweet snacks for a late night supper with his two roommates, PP and VG. Viv borrowed a knife from the hotel and shared the expensive peaches with me later in our room, but I was thinking more about the Dove chocolate instead. Can wait till we get to Baotou to get my supplies, I thought.

And the moral of this shopping story is... I'm sure you can come up with a few. Many, many lessons to learn.

Oh yes, I promised one photo, didn't I? Well, since we didn't shop very much in Beijing, and I was daydreaming during the peach-buying episode, I didn't have any shopping pictures. This one is at the Great Wall, with Joe at the far end of the stall looking at the souvenirs.
I was told that the souvenirs at the top of the wall were more expensive than the ones here. No, no, I think they're doing it wrong. They should sell expensive souvenirs at the bottom of the wall, and advertise that there were cheap ones at the top, so that lazy or fat people like me may find some incentive to climb the steep steps.