Silk market was a nightmare ! Whereever you go someone's yelling at you to buy cheap bad-looking "Luis Vuitton" and "Gucci" Handbags in that very special chinese-english accent.
Still, I managed to stay calm, ignore them, go to the tailors level and pass several orders at several stores (two costumes for Honey, one for me plus a dress).
Instead of a taxi I took the underground back. Two changes to go near the Olympic Area where our hotel is. Certainly not faster than a cab but with 2 Yuan (about 30 cents) unbelivably cheap. Learned: underground probably is as safe as an airport with bags being scanned before boarding. I wonder how that works durin
g rush hours ?
And, Chinese don't give a damn on the fact that people might want to get off the train before they get in, nope, don't care at all. I am the first one in the row, nose clashed to the glass walls. Good luck if you're the one getting down!
A colleague of mine invited me to join her and another colleague who lived in China for 10 years, 2 of which in Beijing. First stop: manucure and pedicure. 20 Euros alltogether and is was men doing it :-)
Then handbags (again, I thought): apparently a good spot you could never find if you're not an insider (go up the first level, turn, knoxk on doors...) but they've been closed as they've had a police razzia some days ago.
Then back to the embassy area, cats refuge themselves into the embassies - apparently they are that badly treated by Chinese that they group in the embassies.
Had chinese dinner (NO rice!! Rice is only at the end of a meal if ever you're still hungry. We were not), shrimps, tofu, vegetables, beef...very, very good !! Great food, great ambiance, cheap as hell !!
And to end a good day a 90min foot massage. Heaven !! While your feet relax in a Yasmine (or whatever flower) bath, half an hour massage of the back, than the feet. It sometimes hurts a bit but is just better afterwards.
Driving back to the hotel: Beijing is nicer during the night than during the day for the simple reason that you don't see how polluted it is.
And, Chinese don't give a damn on the fact that people might want to get off the train before they get in, nope, don't care at all. I am the first one in the row, nose clashed to the glass walls. Good luck if you're the one getting down!
A colleague of mine invited me to join her and another colleague who lived in China for 10 years, 2 of which in Beijing. First stop: manucure and pedicure. 20 Euros alltogether and is was men doing it :-)
Then handbags (again, I thought): apparently a good spot you could never find if you're not an insider (go up the first level, turn, knoxk on doors...) but they've been closed as they've had a police razzia some days ago.
Then back to the embassy area, cats refuge themselves into the embassies - apparently they are that badly treated by Chinese that they group in the embassies.Had chinese dinner (NO rice!! Rice is only at the end of a meal if ever you're still hungry. We were not), shrimps, tofu, vegetables, beef...very, very good !! Great food, great ambiance, cheap as hell !!
And to end a good day a 90min foot massage. Heaven !! While your feet relax in a Yasmine (or whatever flower) bath, half an hour massage of the back, than the feet. It sometimes hurts a bit but is just better afterwards.
Driving back to the hotel: Beijing is nicer during the night than during the day for the simple reason that you don't see how polluted it is.
Next: kids still have a hole in their pants. I remember the pediatric I went to as a child had a picture of a chinese boy (well I was sure it was a boy though I never had the chance to verify) with his buts uncovered. It is said that some "male problems" Chinese seem to have quite regularly are due to wearing these pants as a child. For me that was a kind of "old-communist-rural-China" tradition. No Sir, that one still exists and we've seen it yesterday while visiting the Bird's nest and the Water Cube. Being the only Westerners in the area AND the only people wondering about the half-naked boy, I assume this finally not so ancient tradition still goes on.
