This past weekend a group of us went to visit Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. For those who do not know, Tiananmen Square was the location for the world famous 1989 student protests against the Chinese government, and the Forbidden City was home to Chinese royalty for over 500 years.
The Forbidden City was probably the most amazing palace I’ve ever seen. In Europe last year I visited the Schonburnn Palace in Vienna, Austria, but this was far more amazing. We were told in order to complete a tour of the entire palace you would need at least 5 hours because of the size. Unfortunately we only toured for about 2 hours before it started to rain. The cool thing about walking around the palace was the reactions we received as foreigners to the Chinese people. People would stop and stare at us (which is not considered rude in China) and even ask us to take pictures with them. I find it strange, however, since the amount of foreigners in Beijing as more than doubled since the 2008 Olympics. We didn’t mind though, we felt like celebrities.
The next day was beautiful. Beijing has a problem with pollution and on a normal day the city is covered in smog so visibility is low. But when it rains the pollution is drawn to the ground so the next few days are clear skies. We went over to a major tourist attraction called the Hongqiao Market, or the Pearl Market as English speaking people call it. The market was located in a large five story building which housed hundreds of vendors selling everything from electronics and clothing, to jewelry and hand bags. Whether of not everything is real depends on how good of an eye you have. Before we went shopping we decided to get some food. The basement of the market had this restaurant that’s served food in a style know as a “hot pot”. Essentially, you order flavored “soup” which boils in a pot on the table. Then you order different kinds of meats and seafood and vegetables and cook the food yourself in the boiling soup. It was a completely new experience and was very delicious. We ordered potatoes, cabbage, cow meat, shrimp, tofu, noodles, fish balls, and ox blood (which is like tofu were it takes the flavor of what it’s cooked in). Unfortunately, I removed a piece of meat before it was cooked and I got a pretty bad case of food poisoning.
After lunch we continued to the market to start buying stuff. The trick with this market is to bargain! The vendors tell you a high price at first which they say is a good deal, and sometimes they get lucky and some poor foreigner pays the full amount; ignorance is bliss, right? Well it turns out I discovered a hidden talent for bargaining because I was a natural. My first purchase was 4 ties, in which the lady wanted 300 yuan for one (about 60 USD) and I got her down to 75 yuan for four (15 USD). My next purchase took about 30 minutes of bargaining and it was a “Rolex” watch (emphasis on the quotations). At first the lady wanted 680 yuan (110 USD) and I got it down to 150 yuan (30 USD) and free fitting. The watch looks so real no one will be able to tell, except of course for those of you reading this. After the market the food poisoning started to hit me pretty bad so I went back to my apartment and slept the rest of the night, even had to miss my first day of work today. Day one starts tomorrow!
The next day was beautiful. Beijing has a problem with pollution and on a normal day the city is covered in smog so visibility is low. But when it rains the pollution is drawn to the ground so the next few days are clear skies. We went over to a major tourist attraction called the Hongqiao Market, or the Pearl Market as English speaking people call it. The market was located in a large five story building which housed hundreds of vendors selling everything from electronics and clothing, to jewelry and hand bags. Whether of not everything is real depends on how good of an eye you have. Before we went shopping we decided to get some food. The basement of the market had this restaurant that’s served food in a style know as a “hot pot”. Essentially, you order flavored “soup” which boils in a pot on the table. Then you order different kinds of meats and seafood and vegetables and cook the food yourself in the boiling soup. It was a completely new experience and was very delicious. We ordered potatoes, cabbage, cow meat, shrimp, tofu, noodles, fish balls, and ox blood (which is like tofu were it takes the flavor of what it’s cooked in). Unfortunately, I removed a piece of meat before it was cooked and I got a pretty bad case of food poisoning.
After lunch we continued to the market to start buying stuff. The trick with this market is to bargain! The vendors tell you a high price at first which they say is a good deal, and sometimes they get lucky and some poor foreigner pays the full amount; ignorance is bliss, right? Well it turns out I discovered a hidden talent for bargaining because I was a natural. My first purchase was 4 ties, in which the lady wanted 300 yuan for one (about 60 USD) and I got her down to 75 yuan for four (15 USD). My next purchase took about 30 minutes of bargaining and it was a “Rolex” watch (emphasis on the quotations). At first the lady wanted 680 yuan (110 USD) and I got it down to 150 yuan (30 USD) and free fitting. The watch looks so real no one will be able to tell, except of course for those of you reading this. After the market the food poisoning started to hit me pretty bad so I went back to my apartment and slept the rest of the night, even had to miss my first day of work today. Day one starts tomorrow!
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