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March 5, 2008
Hello everyone!
Let's see now...At some point this week, I visited the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square, neither of which were particularly fun. There are so many solicitors that bother you (especially if you're white) that it really ruins the entire experience, and anything besides walking into and standing in the middle of the Forbidden City costs extra money. Not sure if I feel like paying that just yet. After visiting the Forbidden City, we crossed the street to Tiananmen Square and Mao's Mausoleum. Considering that the Mausoleum was closed, we had to find something else to do with out day. So, we sat down in Tiananmen Square and pulled out our map to try and figure out where we wanted to go. While we sat there, a group of five or six elderly Chinese men who looked as if they might be from the countryside wandered over to us and stopped directly in front of us. We raised our heads to find them standing there and blatantly staring at us as if we were some exotic creatures behind glass. After we all exchanged a few nervous chuckles, they meandered off, waving, and taking great care to look back at us as much as possible. Apparently white people are delicacies in Tiananmen Square (?!?!?)..
On Wednesday, two friends and I walked a 40-minute walk to the Beijing Zoo and spent most of the day there. It cost us 15 yuan - slightly over 2 dollars - and we spent about three hours there and didn't finish getting through the entire thing. It was quite beautiful, despite the fact that the grass was brown and the trees barren. The habitats were not small beyond belief despite the common theory - they were roomy, for the most part. I plan to go back and see the aquarium, which promises to be amazing (or so I'm told).
At the bird exhibit, an older man with a huge, telephoto lens camera who was taking pictures of some of the exotic suddenly turned as we walked by..
*CLICK.. CLICK.. CLICKCLICKCLICKCLICKCLICKCLICKCLICKCLICK*
Yeah.. He had turned his camera on us for at least twenty pictures, and followed us with his obnoxiously enormous lens as we walked by. The fact that my buddy had pale-as-ever skin and curly, blonde hair didn't help - It was a strangely flattering and unnerving experience all at the same time.
On Thursday, my friends and I visited a Korean hot pot restaurant. It was amazing. We sat down at a large table (there were 9 of us) and there were two large copper buckets set down inside the table. The waitress put two bowls of hot coals in each bucket, and put a cast iron lid over the coals. Then she brought out a plate of raw beef and cooked it all for us right at the table, dropping it into little bowls of some AMAZING sauce. Along with the meal was some sort of vegetable and rice dish which comes in a cast-iron skillet, sizzling at the table, with an over-hard egg on top (I later came to find out from some Korean friends that this is called Bi Bim Bop, and I give it TWO THUMBS UP!! *wiggles thumbs enthusiastically*). The waitress mixed it all in front of us and served it with a delicious, red, spicy and sweet sauce. Last, we had a fantastic, spicy soup with mixed vegetables and meat. And the meat, get this - heart of dog. Actually delicious, though I'm not one for heart meat in general. Okay, to be fair, I didn't eat much, just a few pieces to satiate the interest factor. But overall, not bad. That was the day we took a novelty trip to the Beijing Wal Mart: the largest in the world. Wow. Not only did I get lost FINDING IT (how, exactly, does one get lost trying to find the world's largest Wal Mart? I still don't really know..) but got lost inside it as well..
On Friday, we did nothing of great importance, and wandered around a huge shopping mall (more like a building for haggling) and Wangfujing Avenue, the most popular tourist street in Beijing. Haggling, street vendors, and fraudulent items abound all at terribly inflated prices. A few of my friends tried spit-roasted chicken hearts, starfish, and scorpion. Needless to say, I wasn't feeling that adventurous (my friend later came down incredibly ill for about two days). Then we jumped on a bus trying to find goodness knows what else, and ended up being the only signs of life left on the bus, which drove into a shady part of town we adequately named the Kidney Removal District. Then we got off at a subway stop. No kidney loss, so I guess we can call that a successful day.
Today I spent most of the day at the Silk Road, which is actually a huge building filled with 5 floors of incredible shopping and a 6th floor dedicated to pizza, and Beijing duck. The sellers in each shop resort to silly sayings as you pass by, including, "Pretty lady, you come in, I give special discount!" And my all-time favorite, "Look-a, look-a!" This particular phrase is used by even those who speak almost fluent English. Among other tactics, they'll grab you and sometimes pull you into their shop as you pass buy. Haggling, in short, is great sport. One could easily spend all of his savings money buying things for the mere fun of haggling. Some vendors, however, will simply shut you down and say, "bye bye" if you quote them a price that's too low. I was surprised the first time this happened to me, and then realized it was most likely another trick to make you raise your price. However, I don't appreciate someone ripping merchandise out of my hands and throwing it back on a shelf when they ask me what my best price is, so I decided to simply leave the shop. Either way, it was great fun.
Tomorrow I find out what classes I will have, and they shall begin Monday at 8:00 a.m. Unfortunately, the university seems to be very harsh on and particular about attendance, class participation, and grades so I won't be able to goof off and take weekend trips as much as I'd like to, but all in all I'm sure I'll like my classes and it won't be so bad.
That's all for now!
再见 !
- Liz
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