Beijing...Day 2

Breakfast was included in our hotel costs, so we headed down to the Top Bar. OMG! The Top Bar should be renamed the Bottom Bar because it was RAGGEDY! The food was set out in chafing dishes and looked SKETCHY. We each put some of the questionable cuisine on our plates and picked over it…perhaps in an effort not to seem too bourgie…I quickly made up my mind that bourgie is the way to be when it comes to what you’re willing to eat. I had bean sprouts, bok choy cabbage, peanuts, some clear soup, rice, and something pickled.

After breakfast, we headed back to the room to decide on our plan of action for the day. Then there was a knock on the door. IT WAS KISHA!!! We had been in contact but I still didn’t know for sure that she would be able to come to Beijing. I was so happy to see her…shaved head and all! All she had was my name when she arrived at the hotel. So, I guess the people at the front desk figured she’s Black, the people she’s looking for are Black, and they told her our room number. I was glad they did, but what if some lunatic came looking for us? The ease with which they gave up our info bothered me a bit.

After she got cleaned up (after a 10-hour train ride), we hopped into a taxi and headed to Tiananmen Square. Chinese folks were losing it! Taking pictures of us, staring, it was pretty annoying. So, I took a picture of a guy who was taking a picture of me on his camera phone. In Japan, folks do it on the sly but in China, people get all up in your face with it. After walking around, our bellies got to rumblin’ so we looked for somewhere to get some Peking duck. We had braised tofu, pork something or another, soup, and Peking duck. It was sooooo good! All the duck that I’ve eaten in the past tasted like a big bit of outdoors. This one was DELICIOUS!!! We walked around and checked out some shops. I bought some jade bracelets…that I later found out (at a Jade factory) were low quality jade, but they’re pretty so whatever. The price tag said $62 (480 Yuan) each, but I got 3 for about $32 (250 Yuan)...so, about $10 apiece…that was probably still a rip off but whatever. At that point, it was about what I was willing to spend.

Our next stop was the Worker’s Stadium…A bootleg heaven. This place was like 5 floors of nothing but knock-offs! Unfortunately, the quality was pretty crappy so I stayed away from the “name brand” stuff. I bought two “silk” scarves. After telling the sales lady, “I’m not stupid and that they’re not real silk” I got them for about $4…forget the Willing to Spend Theory. It’s all about how much things are worth and the price to manufacture them…which is really next to nothing. I also got two pairs of the same shoes in different colors for about $12. The salespeople were…um…proactive. I had to give a couple of ladies the “Oh no you didn’t just grab my arm” look/neck roll…upon which they promptly let go.

After the stadium, we walked down the street and stopped for some pineapple. We also stopped at a spa to check the prices for massages…CHEAP!!! Like $20 for an hour and a half full body massage. Kisha said that there were cheaper places that were just as good that the local folks frequent so we left. It started to rain a little so we caught a taxi to the Great Wall Sheraton (where we should have stayed) to check on tour packages for the Great Wall of China. They stopped at several places and we wanted a tour of just the Wall so we decided to check somewhere else. For dinner that night, we headed over to a restaurant across the street from our hotel. Kisha ordered wonton soup, that yummy pork something-or-another, fried rice, and some noodle stuff. Michelle didn’t eat b/c her stomach was doing its own thing…perhaps from the pineapple. We were all pretty apprehensive when it came to water so we stuck to drinking bottled water, and the pineapple was sliced then put in a jug of water to keep it fresh…I guess we forgot. I was a little bit worried after that because we had been eating all the same stuff. The noodles had these little thingies in them (seasoning) that numb your mouth. The taste wasn’t that great, but initially the numbing was kinda neat…then the numbing was unpleasant and the spicy stuff got spicier so I decided to leave those things alone.