Beijing...Day 5

Our final full day in Beijing was devoted to S-H-O-P-P-I-N-G!!! In the morning, we went to the Temple of Heaven to complete our sightseeing. First, we had steamed buns, soup, and tea (that I didn’t drink because it looked to questionable for even me) for breakfast across from the Temple of Heaven. It’s another beautiful place that would have been much better had it not been for all the people/all the people trying their hardest to take a picture with you! I wish that I had asked Kisha how to say, “Did you come here to see me?” There’s a cool circular walled-in courtyard where you can yell at the wall way one side and the people on the other side can hear you clearly.

Next, we walked down the street to the Pearl Market. On the first floor, there were electronics (didn’t buy any b/c some things just should not be bootlegged), jewelry, material, and one wig booth that I spotted instantly. Michelle and I purchased some “weekend hair” for about $19 for both, after I told them that I’m a wig maker and I know how much they cost to produce and how much they buy them for from the manufacturer. The top two floors were all pearls. I got 5 pearl necklaces and 3 jade rings for about $48 altogether after I told them that I was a scuba instructor, I knew high quality pearls when I saw them and theirs were low quality, and showed them how round and nice the one that I wore around my neck was. I should be an actor! On the shoe/purse floor, I told one of the ladies that I was 29. I told a few more people that so that they would stop calling me “girl” when trying to get me to come look at their booths.

In the purse section, I found out that they don’t keep some brands in the market. After asking 3 ladies for a particular bag, and being told, “I don’t have it here but you can come to my warehouse that is 2 minutes away,” I decided to go with the third lady. I found Michelle and Maggie and we headed to the “warehouse” with “Lisa.” The hutongs are the narrow alleyways of old Beijing and they are MO’ SKETCHY THAN A LIL BIT!!! After winding and zigzagging through the back streets, all the while remembering exactly how we got there, we made it to the fifth floor of some nearly dilapidated looking building. We got to a door and just as “Lisa” turned the key, there was a voice from inside and the door opened. A girl inside turned on the light…WALL TO WALL knock off purses! The way they were all hidden away, you would have thought they were all the real thing. We were talking and she cut me off mid-sentence because she heard some voices in the hall. She put one finger to her mouth and said “Sssssh,” gently closed the door, and locked it. That’s when Michelle, Maggie, and I gave each other the “O UH UH” face!!! We left soon after. On the way back to the market, I asked “Lisa” why they couldn’t have certain things in the market and she said that if the real companies complained (a lot of whom have factories in China), the police would raid the market. She asked if we were going back to the market and I told her that we needed to eat lunch. She tried to invite herself on the sly but I made sure that she remembered how mean she said her boss was.

For lunch, we went to “The Largest McDonald’s in the World.” I looked it up and some sites say it’s in Vinita, Oklahoma on Route 66, while others say it’s in Beijing. I ended up moving because a girl was taking pictures of me and I wanted to eat in peace. Then we went back over to the same Olympic store where Kisha tripped the girl. After that, we went to Wangfujing’s night food street. In the evening, there’s a long stretch of food stalls that sell any and everything on a stick. I don’t know which is less appetizing…kids peeing on the sidewalk due to the convenience of the hole in the bottom of their pants or the various deep fried bugs. You be the judge. I will say though that you could find both of these things within a few feet of one another. We stopped at a hotel to find out about the times and rates for an acrobatics show, but we decided to go to the hotel then back to the Worker’s Stadium instead. I bought an earring/necklace set for myself, a pearl necklace for Kisha, a billfold for Justin, a purse for my mom, and a leather for my dad…and I’m sure I didn’t spend more than $100!!! For dinner, we went to a Japanese restaurant down the street from the hotel. I had Udon in a clay pot and it tasted pretty much like all the Udon that I’ve eaten in Japan. Maggie and Michelle had California rolls, which aren’t Japanese and for some reason there was banana in them…ummm?