Beijing with Eli

Bird Nest Stadium
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I arrived in Beijing and I don’t think I have ever felt as claustrophobic outdoors has I did that day. The air was so thick with smog, you couldn’t even see the end of the block. Thankfully the night before the big holiday celebration parade they apparently shot ions up into the sky to make it rain and clear the air, so it was nice and sunny for the rest of the week.

Eli and I went to the Great Wall. It was fun to walk it and look around, however due to the smog the view was not so great. You didn’t get the feeling of how big it is because of the lack of visibility into the distance. None the less, I can tick it off the list now. On the way back from the Great Wall we went to the Ming Tombs which were cool but without a tour guide explaining what they were all about a little boring. Of course the tour also included a few stops at a Jade factory and another shopping area. I think in hope to entice us to buy something at tourist prices (I’m pretty sure the tour guides get some kind of commission). Unfortunately for them my group saw it for what it was and just ‘window shopped’. After our wall adventure Eli and I ended the day with a foot massage. Well worth it!

Chinglish.
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The next day was China’s National holiday. Beijing put on a grand scale parade which unfortunately we couldn’t go see because the roads were blocked and apparently few people were selected to watch it, unless you had a hotel that overlooked the main street. Anyway we had a lazy day and checked out the Olympic Park Bird Nest and Ice Cube swimming pool etc.

Other places we checked out were Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. Because of the National holiday it was so crowded which definitely tested Eli and I’s patience. We got to see all the huge floats that were on display in the Square and got amongst the crowds in the Forbidden City.  You could definitely feel the pride and interest in China’s vast history among the Chinese people.

Eli and I @ China Doll.
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After battling the crowds we went to the HongQiao (Pearl) market, which is a multi level market that sells things from electronics, to clothing, scarves, fake handbags, jade and pearl jewellery. It was here I experienced my first hand at bargaining. And I’d have to say with a slight smirk that I drive a hard bargain, mwah ha ha ha! All you need to do is decide how much you’re willing to pay, bid well below it, seem unsure and disinterested, and barter in Mandarin with a smile. It also helps to walk away and let them come chase you. It seemed that the bargain price was about 5^th-6^th of what they were asking initially. I also quickly checked out the Temple of Heaven while Eli was shopping.

Tiananmen Square
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After our massive day we went to have dinner in Santilun. Which is a bar street particularly popular amongst travellers and expats. We had some awesome Shanghai style dumpling soup before heading out to the club China Doll (funky house feel). The club seemed awesome; however we got there way too early. We waited till about 11pm before deciding to move on to a busy more happening place. We went to Bar Blue, which was a sleezy RMB club with lots of foreigners where we got to shake our booties. While Eli got distracted by a friendly guy, I ended up making friends with a group of Scandinavians and chatting and drinking beer with them all night. P.S. I like Chinese beer TsingTao.  

Temple of Heaven
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The following day I went by myself to the Summer Palace. It’s an amazing huge place full of palaces and gardens around a large lake. It was a beautiful day so all the Chinese on holiday were out and about on family picnics. Even with the crowds, the place had a relaxing vibe. Strangely enough was also an attraction there. When I would ask to someone to take a pic for me they would get their friend to take pictures of me with their own camera often jumping in the photo with me, haha!

Sanlitun
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On the last night in Beijing, Eli and I went out for Dinner with BeiBei, who had kindly let us stay in her apartment. We went to this place and ate the biggest fish head I’ve ever since. Mmm mm. Even though we were so full we treated ourselves to Haagen-dazs macadamia ice cream while doing a drive by Tiananmen at night with myself pretending to be Jintao addressing the people from the sunroof while taking pics. It was funny at the time…guess you had to be there!