A Hairy Situation

Nei ho!

This week the weather was (for the most part) absolutely and horrifically awful. Wednesday and Thursday was when the weather finally started to warm up, but it was also quite humid and muggy. My curly hair, which goes completely insane in humidity, was a total frizzy mess.

Although the weather finally cleared up on Friday and Saturday, and the sun was even shining, I know that there are plenty more hot, muggy summer days coming my way soon. Which means more bad hair days as well.

I complained to my Chinese roommate, Cindy, about my yucky hair. She told me that many Chinese girls, like herself, go to the hair salon for a permanent straighten treatment on their hair. I thought that Asian hair was naturally silky smooth, but Cindy denied it and let me in on their secret.

Personally, I have never wanted to permanently straighten my hair. For one, it can be very damaging and will dry your hair out quickly. Also, I’m a curly-haired person, and I think straight hair looks a little silly on me.

But after talking with Cindy about it, as well as my mom, I finally decided to go ahead and try it. I can’t possibly live with two more months of this crappy hair, so I thought I’d give the straightening treatment a shot. As my mom said, the worst thing that can happen is that you don’t like it, which is my attitude toward my frizzy hair, so what did I have to lose?

I made a call to Toni & Guy, where I went the last time I needed a trim in Macau in March. They speak English very well there, and it is a Western brand that I feel comfortable with. However, they quoted me 600-1400 MOP ($75-175 USD) for the treatment, depending on how long my hair is.

It was a very tough decision, but at last I decided to take my chances and cross the border to Zhuhai, where I could find a cheaper hair salon. Cindy had her hair done in the mall a few weeks ago and was satisfied, and so did my friend Catherine. Iris and I decided to both go in for a permanent straightening treatment on Saturday to the same location.

Before leaving, we had Cindy write down in Cantonese exactly what we wanted done to our hair on a piece of paper. For me, I wanted to permanently straighten it as well as trim my bangs.

When we finally got to the barber, Iris and I stood outside for a moment, very apprehensive. Our stylists would most likely not speak any English, and communication is essential whenever you go in for a hair cut!

One of the receptionists came out to greet us, and she spoke English alright. We sat down and went over prices first. She kept trying to sell us treatment packages, but we were adamant about what we came here to do, nothing more. At last we settled on a price of 300 Yuan ($45 USD), which included our permanent straighten treatment, a moisturizing treatment, and a bang trim.

Iris and I were seated at stations next to each other, which made us feel a little better. As our stylists grabbed their supplies, the other hairdressers kept coming by to touch our hair and discuss it with each other. At one point I had four hairdressers standing around me, discussing my hair. I began to wonder if they had seen hair like mine before. I mean, I don’t have fine, straight hair like Asians, but curly and thicker hair.

The entire process took nearly 3 ½ hours! They kept putting in chemicals, then washing it out, straightening it, and then doing it again! I’ve never had my hair straightened permanently before, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. I panicked a little when I saw that they were doing different things to Iris’s hair, and even more when they mixed up our papers that Cindy had written out for us.

It wasn’t that I didn’t trust their skill. I’m sure they were all very fine hairdressers. But I was afraid that what I wanted done to my hair wouldn’t be communicated and something bad would happen!

They moved me to a different chair at one point, and they moved Iris twice. Whenever we would go get our hair shampooed and washed, we would come back out to see that a new customer was in our chair, so we would be seated in a new one. It was very strange. We also switched out hairdressers, and I counted four different guys working on my hair throughout the process. Two even worked on me at one time, drying my hair in different sections. Good thing you don’t tip in China, since I’d be handing out tips to half the hairdressers in the salon!

In the end it actually worked out, and Iris and I both left happy. I’m still getting used to the straight hair, but it should start to look more natural in about a week, according to Cindy. She also said the permanent straighten could last up to two years, depending on how curly your hair is. For me, it will probably last a little less than one year.

I look forward to returning to MY hairdresser in the US. That will be my first stop when I get home. : )

To new adventures,
Kati

Gotta Fit Some Studyin' In There Somewhere

Nei ho, everyone! I hope you’ve all had a chance to catch up on my Beijing experiences, because here comes another blog entry! : )

I’ve been wanting to write a blog entry about my actual IFT (Institute for Tourism Studies) experience at school, since I technically came here to study after all. However, I felt I should wait until I settled into the swing of things, had a couple of midterms, and got to know my classmates some more before I did.

Before I came to Macau, I was actually really excited to learn at IFT. I liked the idea of a school for only tourism, since my university offers a wide variety of majors besides my own. All of my classes would be tourism-related, and I’d be surrounded by students that had the same goals as me.


I also like the design of the degree programs offered at IFT. There are different tourism degrees you can get, so you’re not just limited to “Hotel and Restaurant Management” like I am. Rather, you can pick a concentration in Hotel Management, Event Management, Heritage Management, Tourism Business, or Tourism Marketing. I really wish I could take more event management studies at my university, not just the one or two classes offered at NAU (Northern Arizona University). On the one hand, I can understand where a student starting college has trouble picking a major, let alone a concentration, so I can see some advantages to having just the general program as well.

I decided to take the minimum course load, five classes, for a number of reasons. One, they didn’t offer much else that transferred back to my university for credit. But the main reason was that I feared that I would be very busy with the cultural adjustment and whatnot to worry too much about my grades. I’ll just have to make up the easy course load when I get back home (I’m double majoring, doing the NAU Honors Program, and I’m soon adding on a third minor, so I’m used to a heavy workload anyway).

However, I wished that I did take some other classes, because I actually have a lot of free time on my hands. IFT’s classes are less assignment-based and more group project-based. I’m not working on individual assignments and essays for my classes everyday like I do back home, but rather I have a few group meetings a week.

Another reason I am not as busy as I would like to be is because not as much is expected of me as other local students. On top of their regular studies they have “Working Assignments” and practicums that are about applying concepts from the classroom in real-life situations. At IFT, the students work at the Educational Hotel and Restaurant, which are both fully-operational facilities where students work under professional supervision.

One similar thing to this back home is the Inn at NAU, which was torn down the summer before I started NAU. The students from the NAU School of Hotel and Restaurant Management ran the hotel and the lobby restaurant, and many of the professors worked there as well to teach the students hands-on. I’m still really bummed that they closed the Inn, but we got a grant to renovate the building for more classrooms and demonstration kitchens.

Anyhow, I think the main reason why I am not busy with my classes is that I have what I call my “academic advantage.” That is to say, my primary (and only) language is English, which is the medium of instruction at IFT. However, most of the IFT students speak Cantonese, and the exchange students speak their own native languages with English as a second, third, or fourth language. When I have to write a one-page paper, I can crank it out in no time at all, where sometimes it takes other students a bit longer. I can also cut down my study time for exams because I can just read over the PowerPoints and be fine. However, learning in a language that isn’t your own can be quite difficult, especially if you’re not completely fluent.

I’d also like to talk about the way IFT works. To start, the campus itself is absolutely beautiful, and it’s situated on Mong-Ha hill beside a pretty park. Even if hiking up the hill everyday is annoying, the facilities seem practically brand-new and well taken care of. It has a modern feel about it, like I’m getting a really good education that’s on the cutting edge of tourism management.


It’s not like a typical American university, though. In fact, I’ve often said that it has more of a high school feel. The classrooms seat up to 40 people, so you won’t find too many large lecture halls like in the US colleges where classes can be a few hundred people. Actually, IFT only has around 1,000 students, whereas NAU has 20,000, and it is considered a smaller-sized university. In fact, my high school had more students that IFT, so everyone knows each other.

First-year students have to wear the IFT uniform, but everyone else can wear their own clothes. There are a few classes that I have with first years, so sometimes I feel like I stick out when they’re all wearing their uniforms and I’m in jeans. However, there is a strict dress code policy at IFT, and you even get a grade for conduct and grooming.


Students are also grouped interestingly. They’re divided up by their degree (marketing, event management, etc.), and from there are divided up into classes. Once you’re with your class, you attend the same classes together in the same classroom all day, and the teachers switch out during the breaks. It’s a little like how it was in elementary school, where you have one classroom and one set of classmates for the year. However, because exchange students take different classes in different programs and years, we go from class to class as needed, and often have long breaks in between, like at NAU.

Everyone at IFT has been very welcoming to the exchange students. The teachers are very patient with working with us, since we often have problems attending field trips or extra classes with our bizarre schedules. They usually have to schedule our midterms around our individual schedules, but they’ve been very patient about it. The students are also very nice, and even people I don’t know wave to me and say hello when they see me. A few times when I’ve answered questions in class, the other students were so impressed with my English that they applauded me. The other students have been really good about including me in group projects, and they’ve approached me and invited me to be in a group with them. I feel bad, since they normally speak Cantonese and have to translate for me, and the meetings sometimes take a little longer because of it. But I try to make up for it by proofreading the projects and doing more than my share of presenting to the class with my mad English skillz. : )

The only major problem I’ve noticed at IFT is a lack of engagement in the classrooms. In Western culture we have very participative classes with lots of discussion. In Eastern culture it is mostly lecture-style, although there are opportunities at specific points in class to earn participation points for your grade. The teacher asks a series of questions and you can raise your hand to give a usually simple answer.

However, I think this has led to a bit of “restlessness” in class. Students are always talking to one another while the teacher is speaking, and you find a lot of students even sleeping in the back. While I try not to be disruptive, I sometimes find the class itself so dull that I read a book. After all, it’s really easy for me and I can just read over the PowerPoint later to learn the material for the exam.

The only class that I think fits my “style” is my Club Management class. From the first day I hit it off really well with my teacher, Sandy, who actually studied and taught at University of Nevada, Las Vegas. She definitely has a Western-style of teaching, and her class is more participative. I’m always raising my hand to answer questions. She also assigns smaller individual assignments, not a large group project like my other classes. She always uses my assignments as examples, and always has me present my work to the class.

However, it has led to a bit of tension between her and the students. Besides, Cindy, who is Chinese, I’m the only exchange student in the class, and definitely the only native English speaker. She’s shown a blatant favoritism for me, and while I love being teacher’s pet, the other students don’t care for it. Cindy told me that in Chinese culture it is really bad for a teacher to show emotion toward their students. Even in Western culture we all get annoyed with the class pet, right?

Also, because the class is focused on country club management, the United States is often the subject of many articles and topics we read and discuss about. Country clubs are a relatively new concept in Asia, so it makes sense to study established clubs in the US. However, Cindy told me that in Chinese culture this is another no-no. It can be easily seen as disrespect for Sandy’s home country of China by favoring another country’s customs, almost like a traitor. So, I’m not sure how the students feel toward me, but I get along well with a few of the students in class, so I don’t think I’m completely in their bad graces…yet.

As for my other classes, I really like Tourism Destinations. It’s a very simple first-year class, but I think it’s the most interesting. I love my teacher, Connie, who’s this young, Chinese fashionista with a bit of an attitude. It’s great; I love it! The class basically is an overview of Asian countries, and each class we study the main tourist attractions of each place. I’ve used some of the information from class for my own trips, like my Beijing trip. I also took good notes about Thailand and Vietnam for when I make my trips there.

I also like Wine Studies, which has actually turned out to be my hardest class, surprisingly. Each week we have a quiz on wine theory and culture, and we have to know the specific grapes grown in specific areas of different countries. I actually haven’t been doing too well on the quizzes. But I’m hoping to make it up when we do our group presentations, which we must present twice throughout the semester. However, because a group is selected randomly each week, we have to prepare a presentation EVERY week. It’s not too bad, actually, but more work than I have to do for my other classes. Plus, we get to taste really good wine. But I also like this class because it’s the only class where I have a Westerner for a professor. She’s British, and her accent is so soothing and beautiful. It’s relaxing to listen too, especially when we’re tasting wines.

As for Tourism Marketing and Principles of Management, those two classes I read the whole time. They’re pretty boring, but it’s not like I’m super-interested in the subject matter, either.

Anyway, I have only five weeks left of school! I can hardly believe it! But beginning June 1 we have finals through June 15, so I still have a bit more time left in Macau. But the Registry has already organized our exchange student farewell luncheon for May 5, and I even have my Club Management final that week too, since the class ends early.

I just realized today how little time I have left here. I’ve made my Macau wish list of places I need to visit and things I need to do before I leave. Macau is small, so I can fit it in easily, but I still feel like I haven’t had enough time in Asia to do all the things I wanted.

Sure, my original intention was to come to study. But over the semester I’ve realized that’s not one of my top priorities. Of course, I’m always concerned about getting good grades, but I don’t think I need to worry too much about that here. Rather, I’ve come to realize that my study abroad semester is more about the overall experience and not so much what I learn from the books. I really doubt I’ll remember the Decision-Making Formula or the Marketing Mix’s Four P’s when I look back on my China experience. I’m never going to get another chance like this in my life, so I need to do all I want to do and see all I want to see before I go, since those are the memories I’ll be taking home with me.

Until next time,
Kati

Message in a Bottle

Nei ho, everyone!

If you recall back to my "Beijing: Day Five" post, you might remember that Iris and I had written a message in a bottle at the Summer Palace. We dropped in in the lake, not really expecting too much.

However, we received a reply almost immediately after returning to Macau! Here is the e-mail:

Hello!

I am a Chinese student and I picked your paper up in Summer Palace.

I am a junior student at Zhejiang University of Media and Communications now. My major is Piano.

Welcome to China and hope you have a nice time. I wish we can become friends each other.

Have a nice day!
Shawn Wong

I thought I would share this nice little piece of news. It certainly made my day!

To new friendships,
Kati

Beijing: Day Seven

Ni hao!

Iris and I woke up bright and early and quickly got dressed. After stopping at the ATM for cash and the pharmacy for some cold medicine (Iris started feeling a cold coming on the night before), we took the subway back the local market…our third stop of the trip.

We had our breakfast at Starbucks, and we were delighted by the empty shop and the fantastic, smiling service of the baristas. This Starbucks location was very interesting, and although it was small on the first floor, it had two higher floors of nothing but tables and wide lounge areas. I ordered my favorite drink, a Vanilla Bean Frappuccino, and tried their Black Forest Muffin. It was delicious! I wish my local Starbucks locations had the yummy treats they had here.

We bought our silk dresses and shirts, but we had to get an XXL for each of us! I’m still trying to figure out the sizing system in China, but I don’t think it’s consistent because some places I’m a medium, and at others I’m getting into the X’s. Yeah, I know I’m not a tiny Asian girl, but still, I’m NOT an XXL.

We returned to our hostel, where we quickly packed up our suitcases and checked out of the hostel. Since we had such a bitter attitude toward taxis at this point, we decided to take the subway’s Airport Express Line. We paid our normal 2 Yuan fare for the single-way ticket (USD $0.30) and were delighted at the money we’d saved.

It was a pain to walk our suitcases down the long street to the station, but Iris and I didn’t mind. Iris had brought only a small duffel bag, whereas my suitcase was on wheels. Margarida wasn’t so lucky, so she improvised and paid a local boy to give her a lift on his bike’s small trailer!

However, once we got to the Airport Express Line station, we had to pay another 25 Yuan just for this line. In the end, the price of our tickets combined would have been the total fare for a taxi, but it was too late. The subway for the airport was very, very nice and clean, and I figured it was built to make a good impression on tourists. Think back to the Beijing 2008 Olympics, and how much China did to make a good impression on the world (even if they did go too far at times).

We met up with Nanja at the gate, and we caught up and shared stories of our experiences in Beijing. All of us agreed that it was definitely worth the trip, even if there was an obvious negative attitude toward Westerners here.

The flight went well, and our trip from the Zhuhai airport, through the Border Gate, and back to our apartment was smooth. It felt great to finally be back in Macau, where I now feel a sense of familiarity. Beijing made me appreciate what I had in Macau, and I was glad to return to the comforts of my (temporary) home.

I have some great memories of Beijing, along with some not-so-great ones. But overall, it was definitely worth the trip. How could I say I studied abroad in China without visiting the capital, or climbing the Great Wall? I couldn’t have picked a better place to spend my Easter Holiday, and school seemed to start only too soon after our return. And now to get back into the weekly routine of classes and homework (plus cramming for my Management midterm the very next day)!

Bye-bye, Beijing! Nei ho, Macau!

Kati

Beijing: Day Six

Ni hao!

For our last day in Beijing we decided to spend the day exploring some of Beijing’s temples. We slept in a little bit, had a relaxing, quiet breakfast, and then took the subway to the Yonghegong Lama Temple.


Although crowded with tourists, we were able to pay for our tickets and then enter the temple. I’m not sure how I feel about charging an entrance fee for a temple, but that’s the way it is in Beijing. If you want to see it, you gotta pay for it.

The Lama Temple was an interesting place, since it is still an active place of worship for practicing monks of Tibetan Buddhism. Many Chinese people were praying with incense, while others were mere onlookers.


However, it was very crowded, and the smell of incense was a bit overwhelming at times. And one thing I noticed at the Lama Temple was a complete disregard for the rules. For example, it is a common practice to throw money at Buddhist statues in prayer, but often you will find signs requesting that people don’t do that. Lama Temple was no different, and even though there was a posted sign saying “Do Not Throw Incenses or Coins,” (in both Mandarin and English, mind you), a huge crowd was gathered around the statue as people aimed to get their coins in the hole at the top of the statue.



There were also many signs requesting no photos be taken. They were very clear at the entrances of the small museum halls, which display precious Buddhist relics. A camera with a circular red “no” symbol was posted at the entrance, but people paid it no mind.

When I went into the main hall, I noticed a sign outside that read “No Film.” I took that to mean that filming with video cameras was not allowed, but that pictures were still okay. I was stunned to see the stunning statue of Maitreya Buddha, which towers over visitors and barely fits in the large hall. In fact, the statue made it into the Guinness Book of World Records since it is made from a single piece of sandalwood and is almost sixty feet tall!


I was lucky to get in a couple of photos, but one of the monks came over and put his palm in front of my camera lens to stop my photography. Apparently, they mean “No Photography,” not “No Film.” Unfortunately, you will often find that sometimes the English on the signs for the tourist spots are unclear or not properly translated.

After the Lama Temple we made our way across the street for the Temple of Confucius. On the way we stopped at a little shop where a man was selling “Beijing Yogurt.” Margarida bought some, and it was quite tasty. The man that ran the shop asked where we were from, and we told him, “Portutal, USA, and Finland.”


Usually people get a little excited when they hear I’m from the legendary United States of America, but this guy didn’t really care. Rather, he was excited to hear that Iris was from Finland, and began reciting numbers in Finnish to her. Of all the languages you’d expect a Chinese man to know, Finnish is definitely not one of them. Finnish in general is a rather obscure language to expect a foreigner to Finland to know anyway, but this man somehow had learned numbers in increments of ten, ten through fifty.

The man was also a little strange, for he had a collection of birds on display outside his shop. There was a green and blue one sitting on a perch right next to the table outside, and he seemed perfectly content despite all the people around.


We finally arrived at the Temple of Confucius, which was originally built in 1302! It was very exciting to be at such an old landmark, even though I was sure it had undergone much renovation over the past 700 years.

I decided I liked the Temple of Confucius much better than the Lama Temple. This temple was dedicated to teaching students of Confucianism back in the day, and I could imagine this place as a great “thinking” spot.


This place had a few display rooms where a number of traditional Chinese musical instruments were on display. One was just a small room, where the other one was a great hall with winding pathways. I saw some displays of Chinese flutes and at last learned the names of them. My hope is to find one and bring it back with me to the US before I return home.


After wandering around the Temple of Confucius, we walked to the Academy next door. This used to be where the students of Confucianism took their exams and attended lectures of great thinkers. This place was a little more crowded, but still a beautiful place to come and sit in the beautiful courtyard.


After spending the day relaxing and wandering around in these amazing temples, we decided to head to the Silk Market. We took the subway to that area, which is in the heart of Beijing, and ate a quick lunch at McDonald’s before we started our exhausting day of shopping.

Before entering the Silk Market there is a sign that says, “Welcome to the Silk Market: The most visited market by foreign tourists!” A tourist would probably think that was pretty convenient and tourist-friendly, and that a lot of the items in there would be marketed specifically for tourists. Perhaps they’d feel even welcome here. But Margarida, Iris, and I knew better, especially after our experience at the Pearl Market. In fact, we groaned when we saw the sign. Prepared to bargain down to the teeth, we entered.

We spent a few hours there shopping. They had some very interesting items, and I found a lot of great souvenirs to send back home. Margarida had to go withdraw some money at the ATM, which just happened to be next to a small, open nail salon. We were handed business cards with the prices on them. When Iris saw the incredibly low price for eyelash extensions, she jumped at the chance, while I rushed in for a USD $6.00 manicure. Margarida said she would meet up with us later and continued her shopping (nail salons aren’t her thing, I guess). : )

We weren’t hungry for dinner, but instead of returning to our hostel to crash for the night we returned to the local market from the night before. Margarida had some more things she wanted to go back for, so we took the subway back and shopped some more. Iris and I saw beautiful Chinese-style dress and shirts for cheap, but we didn’t have any more money left. We decided to return the next morning after stopping at the ATM after breakfast. The plan was to get up early so we could make it to the market before checking out of our hostel.

There was a boy about our age that worked at the shop with the silk dresses, and the four of us got to talking. He was really eager to talk about our countries with us, and he was a really nice guy that I enjoyed talking to. However, the older woman that ran the shop kept interrupting us by throwing new items in our faces, which was irritating! I felt bad for the poor guy, because he really wasn’t too interested in selling us stuff anymore, not after we’d already bought plenty. It was nice to be reminded that there are actually some good people in Beijing that aren’t trying to take advantage of Westerners for their money.

After shopping we took the subway back to our hostel. Because I was tired of our hostel’s freezing shower, I decided to wait until after my flight the next day, when I was back in the familiarity of my own apartment.

Coming up next, the last installment of my Beijing journey, “Beijing: Day Seven.”

Kati

A Life Wasted

On Tuesday, April 13, 2010 I witnessed a suicide that occurred next door to my apartment building. Although I did not see the man actually throw himself from the window, I saw the body immediately after the incident occurred.

The decision to write a blog entry about this particular experience wasn’t an easy one. In a way, it felt inappropriate and insensitive to be announcing something as awful as this all over the internet. It was a very horrifying experience, one that I will never forget, and after it first happened I could barely even speak about it. I still have problems describing the experience out loud. If I can hardly bring myself to speak about it, how could I even consider writing about it?

But as my father reminded me, this blog is all about my experiences here in Asia. Even though this incident could have happened anywhere in the world at any time, not just in China, it is a very defining moment of my study abroad experience. I feel I owe it to my friends and family, and perhaps also to myself, to share this experience with all of you. There is a valuable lesson that can be taken away from this experience. Even though this man tossed away his own life, his death should not be in vain and should serve as a reminder to the rest of us about living our lives to their fullest potential.

I was merely on my way to grab lunch from the bakery next door to my apartment before class. After weaving my way through the small crowd that was forming on the corner, I stumbled upon the body. I won’t go into the graphic details of the scene, but I will tell you that the image was horrifying and is permanently stuck in my mind. I was standing only feet away from the body, so the image is very clear and very detailed.

I also saw one of his family members come around the corner and find the body. She’d seemed completely unaware that this was going to happen, and upon discovery of her loved one she broke into hysterics. The cries of her shocked grief were the most awful sounds I’d ever heard.

My mind was completely in a state of shock, and I floated on a cloud of surrealism until I got back home. I’d taken the long way around the back, since I couldn’t bring myself to step any closer to the body. When I rounded the corner for the street to my apartment, I saw ambulances on the main road rushing away toward the city center. I finally arrived at the turn for my apartment, terrified of what I was going to see when I turned the corner.

But the body had been taken away, even though the crowd was still gathered. Emergency vehicles still remained, along with policemen on their radios. After standing on the steps of my apartment entrance for a few moments, where I had another clear view of the scene, I turned and made my way through the gate and up the elevator to my hostel, all the while in a state of complete shock.

My hand was shaking so bad that I could barely get my keys in the door. As soon I was inside, I rushed to my bedroom so I wouldn’t have to see any of my roommates. I threw my backpack to the floor and sat down at my computer. Even though it was late at night back in Arizona, I called home.

My dad picked up, and all I could manage to say before breaking down into tears was, “Dad, I saw a really terrible thing today.” I tried to explain what I’d seen, but I just couldn’t go into detail. He stayed on the phone with me for a while, calming me down, and finally I told him I would go and lay down for a while. He asked if I needed to see a counselor, but I considering that I was still in shock since it’d just happened I figured that wasn’t something to think about at the moment. He asked me to call him back in a few hours, even if it was the middle of the night.

I decided to skip my afternoon classes, admitting to myself that I was in no state for that environment at that moment. I crawled into bed with a box of tissues and wept until I fell asleep for the rest of the afternoon.

All I could think about was who the man was, and what could have brought himself to do such a thing. As my dad reminded me, “Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem.” I wondered why he hadn’t sought out help.

And the image of the woman crying for him made me upset. Why couldn’t he have considered his family before doing such a thing? And what about all the people that had gathered at the scene? What about the families at Kun Iam Temple, some of whom were making their first trip to Macau? What about the woman that had so bravely acted quickly to try to resuscitate him? And what about the people standing so close to the body, like me? Were they reacting as emotionally as I was?

My motto in life is to live to my fullest potential and be the best person I can possibly be. That’s why I’m here in Macau right now, trying to see the world and grow as a person in the short time I have on this earth. I can’t imagine throwing it all away, especially when I feel like there’s so much more left for me to discover.

Sure, times may seem tough, but there is always a way to get through it. If you’re in a state of mind where you feel like you can’t live like this anymore, seek help; don’t try to handle it on your own. Each person has something to offer the world, so don’t deny others the gift you have to give them. Think of your friends your family; suicide is selfish, and it only hurts others that care about you.

I believe every person is put on earth for a reason. To end one’s life prematurely is a waste of the precious gift God has given you.

Beijing: Day Five

Ni hao, all!

Iris and I slept in a little this morning, while Margarida got up bright and early to do her 10-kilometer all-day hike along the Great Wall. We wished her luck, but it definitely was not a trip for us.

After breakfast Iris and I took the subway to the Summer Palace, which was built in the late 1800s. Empress Dowager Cixi used funds originally intended for military use to build this Summer Palace, where the royal family could escape the heat of central Peking (Beijing) for the summer.


Just a side note: For those of you who didn’t know, Peking was the original name for Beijing, but now it is known as Beijing. In Mandarin it means “Northern City.”

The Summer Palace was a nice, relaxing daytrip, especially since we were still exhausted from the Great Wall the day before. When we first got there, we paid for our entrance ticket and walked around some of the beautiful buildings. However, we quickly got bored, since this architecture looked the same as what we saw in the Forbidden City and the Temple of Heaven.


When we emerged from a series of buildings we saw a beautiful lake! It was enormous, and apparently the grounds of the Summer Palace are majority water. The buildings and temples are built around this lake, with an island in the middle which has more Chinese architecture on it.


Iris and I decided to rent a paddle boat and go out on the lake. We figured we could paddle around the perimeter of the lake and give ourselves a nice overview tour of the Summer Palace. The line took forever, but it was worth it in the end. The weather on the lake was sunny and warm, and a nice breeze made the entire experience absolutely perfect.


At one point, we saw an empty water bottle floating in the lake. At first I was a little disappointed to see trash in such a beautiful place, but Iris said it would be cool if there was a message inside.

And that’s when we had an idea! Iris took out a piece of paper from her purse, and I finished the water from my bottle. She wrote a note explaining who we were and where we were from. We told them we were exchange students in Macau, and that we would love to hear from whoever found the message. Iris put down her e-mail address, and with that we closed the bottle and sent it out to sea!


We paddled only across one of the sides of the lake, and by the time we paddled back we were twenty minutes over our time limit. Quickly, we went to stand in line to return our ticket and get our deposit back, but the line took forever. Then, when we were finally close to the end of the line, a man behind us told us we didn’t have to wait to collect our deposit. Thanks, sir, for telling us this NOW and making us waste our precious time here in a stupid line we didn’t even have to be in to begin with.

After collecting our deposit back, we grabbed some ice cream and sat in the sunshine. It was really enjoyable, but I was irritated with all the people staring at us. I should be used to it by now, since it’s completely normal in Macau, but here people stared unabashedly at us and didn’t even try to hide it (especially when we were taking jumping pictures, since they would laugh and mock us). At the Summer Palace we had about two groups ask to take pictures with us, but we noticed many more sneaking photos of us from a distance, including one of the employees at the paddle boat ticket booth! It’s really amusing to be stared at like a celebrity, but after two and a half months you get tired of it. For once, I just wanted to blend in and be another tourist.



(This guy wants a picture of me? Well, I’ll take his picture too!)

Iris and I went inside and paid 10 Yuan (USD $1.46) each to dress up like Empress Cixi and take pictures of each other. It was really fun, but it didn’t help at all with the staring from the tourists, Asian and Western alike.


Afterward we went to the Tower of Buddhist Incense, the main temple and the largest structure at the Summer Palace. It was quite a climb to get up there, but it offered a spectacular view of the lake. At that point I realized that China isn’t very handicap-friendly, since there are no elevators or ramps to get to most of these tourist spots in Beijing. I have a joke with my dad that the Asians need to be introduced to the Americans with Disabilities Act (1990).


Before leaving the palace we stopped by the Grand Stage to watch some martial arts performance. It’s an old style of performance, just like what we saw at the Peking Opera a few nights prior. The actors are locked in a battle, for whatever reason outlined in the plot, and they clash using choreographed martial arts stunts.

We left the Summer Palace and went back to the subway station to go back to our hostel. Now that we had the subway system figured out pretty well, it was a cheaper (and much less frustrating) way to get around Beijing. Forget taxis, the best way to get around Beijing is by subway! You can even take the Airport Express Line to and from the airport, which we did when we left on Tuesday.

Back at our hostel, we met Margarida and had dinner in the lobby. Margarida was exhausted from her hike, which lasted the entire day, and we were pretty wiped as well. She called it an early night, but Iris and I still had just enough energy to go hunt down a local market Margarida had found the day before (while Iris and I were at the Great Wall).

It was amazing! They had the lowest prices possibly imaginable, so bargaining wasn’t really necessary. I found so much for so little money, and I found lots of souvenirs for all my friends and family back home. And trust me, it feels good to have that part of my entire experience here in China out of the way. I was so worried about finding a large number of souvenirs at low prices to take back home with me, but that’s all taken care of. So don’t worry, all, I’m not coming back empty-handed! : )


One man, who kept trying to get our attention in the shop we were browsing in, finally caught us and started using his tiny massage device on our faces. The little device had different heads that were intended for different parts of the head, like the face, the scalp, and the neck. We didn't even want it, but he was entertaining us. When we thanked him and began walking away, he grabbed our arms and started throwing prices at us. We told him it was a nice little device, but we didn't really have a need for it. He kept throwing us lower and lower prices, and even though I tried to walk away, he was persistent and kept a firm hold on my arm.

He kept throwing us lower prices, shoving the calculator in my face and asking me to name my price. At that point Iris and I were laughing so hard we couldn't even speak, and all I could manage to choke out was, "But I don't want it!" The entire store was looking at our scene, obviously very amused by the Chinese man tormenting the young Western girls. I don't blame them. The entire situation was extremely hilarious.

At last Iris agreed to his final price: 38 Yuan for one, and he'd throw in a second one for free. In the end, Iris and I paid less than USD $3.00 each for some useless massage device we didn't want, just to get rid of him. We couldn't help but laugh some more, since he had essentially bargained with himself to give us a dirt cheap price.

One of my most memorable moments of Beijing was the street musician playing the erhu at the market. An erhu is a Chinese stringed instrument, and this man played it beautifully. Iris and I gave him a couple Yuan, since I really appreciated how much he was into the music. Another street musician was following people around, with a woman shoving a tin can in people's faces asking for money, which wasn't cool with me. But this guy had just set up a stool and began playing for the fun of it.


After taking the subway back to our hostel, we crashed for the night. We’d decided to sleep in a little bit the next morning for our last full day in Beijing.

Coming up next: “Beijing: Day Six!”

Kati

Beijing: Day Four

Ni hao, everyone!

Today was the best day of my Beijing experience (perhaps my whole China experience?), because today I went to…drum roll please…the Great Wall of China!!!

Iris and I got an early start that morning and went to the lobby for breakfast, where we met up with Camelia, as well as our newly-arrived friends, Hanna and Maria (Sweden). The five of us, plus a group of four European adults, all piled in a van and began our journey to the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall.

The drive to the wall was about an hour and a half, and it was actually quite interesting. As tired as I was, and as much as I wanted to sleep, I was really fascinated with our trip out of the city, through the upscale (I mean, REALLY upscale) suburbs of Beijing, and through the outlying villages to the mountains.

We were dropped off at the bottom of the mountain, where a series of kiosks and booths lined the path up to the stairway to the Great Wall. Our driver took us to a large souvenir shop for a restroom break and then told us (one of the European adults knew Mandarin, so she translated for us) to meet back at 1:00 pm. From there, we were cut loose!


Iris and I were very cold, even though we’d dressed our warmest. One of my professors at school told me to dress warmly, since all the crosswinds in the mountains would make it freezing. We bought some warm gloves from a vendor (Iris got a pair of colorful snowman mittens) and we were on our way.

Because the actual wall is situated on the mountainside, we had to take a stairway to get there. It was probably the most difficult hike of my life, and it made me wish that I wasn’t too afraid to take the cable car up (I’d taken it in Hong Kong, but I’d had my fill with cable cars). It took about a half-hour, just to get up, since we had to keep stopping for a rest and a water break.


At last we made it to the top! It was an absolutely breathtaking view of the mountains, and the Wall weaved in and out of the peaks. Unfortunately, we were there in the early April season, so the trees were still bare, but we saw some beautiful photographs of the Wall in winter, covered in snow, as well as autumn, when all the leaves were red and gold.

At least the weather had warmed up at that point, so I stuck my gloves in my pocket and rolled up my sleeves to enjoy the sunny day! We casually walked along the Wall for a few hours, taking our time and enjoying the amazing view of the Wall stretching through the scenery. There were a couple of vendors selling snacks, so we bought some chips and candy and had a small picnic on top of one of the watchtowers.


We finally reached the cable car and toboggan exit, but we still had about a half-hour to kill before we had to be back. The five of us sat down on the stairs and just enjoyed the sunshine (which we didn’t get much of in the city), basking in the warmth and taking in the view.


I could have stayed there all day long, so I was a little bitter that I was on a tour and had to leave. Camelia, Hanna, and Maria walked down the stairs to the bottom, but Iris and I decided to take the toboggan ride down to the bottom.

It was an absolute blast! The line was a little long to get on, but it was definitely worth the wait. We got to control the speed of our toboggan, although there were employees standing at points along the ride telling you to slow down. So I did, and then Iris caught up to me and almost ran into me! I sped up, but the employees kept yelling at me to slow down. It was very confusing, so after a little bit I just ignored them all and enjoyed myself. : )




We met up with our group at the bottom, and we went to eat at a nice restaurant in the vendor area at the entrance. At the restaurant they served us a variety of dishes in the traditional Chinese-style of dining, with all the dishes placed on a center turntable, and you just pick what you want and put it on your plate. It was pretty decent, but not enough for nine people. We drove back to our hostel, where they dropped us off after a long, but amazing, day.

It was about mid-afternoon at that point, so we thought we’d take the subway back to the same Bar Street we were at during our second day. We got a little lost trying to find it, and a local woman stopped and asked if we needed some help. She was so nice to us, even though we were Westerners, and her English was excellent. It seemed like one of the only times I actually felt welcome in Beijing, since at this point I’d gotten the impression that locals don’t care for Westerners so much.

On our way I found a peach blossom tree in bloom. One of my dreams was to see a cherry blossom tree in bloom, but they only flower for a few weeks each spring. Cherry blossoms are identified with Japan, while peach blossoms are Chinese, but they look the same to me, so I was still really excited to actually see it for the first time. I’m sure the Chinese would say it is good luck to see it in bloom…


We found Bar Street, and it was absolutely beautiful in the daytime, just like I thought it would be when I saw it at night. It was sunset, and the river was full of paddle boats. I got some great pictures.


However, we were starving, and it was difficult to find an actual restaurant. There were so many beautiful bars and lounges with live music, and they looked like a lot of fun, but we needed a good meal, not some peanuts and chips.

After traversing up and down the entire street, which wraps around a river, we looped back to our starting point and found a Vietnamese restaurant. It was really delicious food for a decent price, and the atmosphere of the restaurant was incredible. The waitresses were dressed up in colorful traditional costumes, and the presentation of our food was very nicely arranged on the plate (I had orange chicken).


However, the service was probably the worst I’ve ever experienced. Some of the waitresses were nice, but others seemed impatient with us, or they just didn’t enjoy their job, who knows? And we were there for about two hours from the time we ordered our food and drinks to when our last dessert came. The dinner came out in a timely manner, but it was hard to track down one of the waitresses to order dessert. And when we did, it took about a half hour for the first two to come out, and another half hour after that for the last one.

At that point, we were so tired from all the walking and hiking we did that day that we couldn’t really feel annoyed. We started laughing uncontrollably, amused at our situation here in this strange city with its bizarre dining practices. It was a very unusual reaction, I know, but we couldn’t help it. At least the dessert was pretty tasty when it finally came.

After that we took the subway back to our hostel, where we took our showers and crashed for the night. It was certainly the best day I’d had in Beijing, and I was a little worried that everything from that point on would seem lame in comparison to my spectacular experience on the Great Wall of China.

Coming up next, “Beijing: Day Five.”

Kati

Beijing: Day Three

Ni hao!

Today was our Temple of Heaven day. The name might sound unfamiliar, but I’m sure you’ve seen pictures of the round temple. In Chinese architecture, round buildings represent heaven, while square structures represent the mortal world or man. Often these round temples sit on three round, tiered bases, which represent, the mortal world, then man, then heaven.


If you’ve heard that the Forbidden City is big, then you’ll be shocked to learn that the Temple of Heaven grounds cover an area three times larger than the Forbidden City. We decided to take the long way and go around the outside edge to find the smaller, outlying temples and buildings. However, we didn’t realize what a long walk it would be.

Actually, the grounds are very beautiful. Because Beijing has a much drier climate than Macau, there are a lot of pine trees that grow here. It reminded me a little bit of the forests of Flagstaff, AZ I used to play in when I was younger in the summertime. But it was so cold and windy that day!

The grounds are actually a park, and I think that the locals don’t have to pay the entrance fee we had to pay. Our ticket got us in the gate, but it also allowed us to see the three main temples in the Temple of Heaven. There were people jogging around the outside perimeter of the grounds, and there were some interesting exercise groups that we saw. One woman, who was by herself, was just standing in one spot hitting her arms, legs, and backside. I think it has something to do with targeting your muscles, but it was very strange and I’m not sure what the point of it was. I mean, who hits themselves? There was also a small group of women doing what Iris and Margarida called “Chinese Square Dancing,” even though it really wasn’t. They were blasting country music (in Mandarin Chinese) while doing a bit of a box step kind of dance. It was amusing to watch, and they seemed like they were having a good time with it.

Before going to the main temple, we wandered around the grounds a little bit. It was really beautiful, and there were lots of tiny pavilions around that didn’t have too many people around. We just sat around and enjoyed the sunshine a bit before finding the main temple.


We found a cool place called “The Divine Music Administration,” which was a museum of Chinese music history. I really wanted to go, but it was an extra admission fee. I was a little irritated that I had already paid my entrance fee for the Temple of Heaven, but it didn’t include these smaller museums. We tried to get into another museum, but of course our ticket wasn’t made for that one either. Annoyed, we continued on to the main temple.


Quite a few people asked for our pictures today. A pair of Asian girls saw us taking jumping pictures at the gate, and they asked if they could have pictures with us. A big group of Asian boys walked by and said “Hello.” When I replied “Hello” back, they got so excited and asked for our picture. Three of them rushed into the picture, while their friend took group photos with everyone’s camera.


At last we found the main temple, the iconic image that everyone sees of Beijing. I was a little disappointed that it wasn’t actually THE Temple of Heaven, but rather its name is “The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests.” Kinda lame, actually. It was a really cool structure, but you couldn’t actually go inside. You could take pictures from behind a gate of the inside, but it was super-crowded with tourists.


Our next stop was the Imperial Vault of Heaven. It was really just another circular temple, like a mini-sized version of the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests. But the cool part about this place was the Echo Wall. A round, curved wall surrounds the temple, and you can stand at one part and talk to someone on the other side of the temple, and you hear them clearly! We had lots of fun talking to one another, but continued on to the next stop.


This structure had no temple, but rather was just a series of three tiered walkways. In the middle of the top round disk was a raised bump, which apparently is where you stand to be closest to heaven (since circles represent heaven).


Afterward we actually found a metered taxi to take us back to Hong Qiao Pearl Market, where we hung out and shopped some more before meeting Camelia at our hostel for dinner. There was a really yummy restaurant next door which served good Mandarin-style Chinese food. Back in the US, when we eat at a Chinese food restaurant or get take-out, it’s usually Mandarin-style, which is what they have in Beijing. In Macau they have Cantonese-style (southern China-style), and it’s not really to my liking.


After dinner we went back to our hostel. We had bought tickets to see some Peking Opera through our hostel’s tourist desk. A woman and a man met us and hailed a taxi. Because only four of us could fit, the man went with Iris and Camelia, while the woman met her friend, who had his own car with him. Margarida and I got in, even though I wasn’t too sure about this informal method of getting there. But I trusted my hostel, and knew they wouldn’t scam us like this.

We finally got to the hotel where the opera was at, and I walked around the souvenir shops and read some of the tourist info about Peking Opera. When we took our seats, the lady who had accompanied us gave us money for a taxi back to our hostel and left.

The theater was a type of dinner theater, with the front half full of tables and the back half (where we were) with traditional movie theater-style seating. We watched some of the people being served tea by a guy with the strangest teapot I’d ever seen. It was normal sized, except the spout was long than his arm and very skinny. He did really fancy tricks with it, and it was a very entertaining way to pour tea.


I had already learned about Peking Opera in my world music class last semester, but my friends had no idea what was in store for us. Poor Iris, bless her heart, couldn’t stop laughing as soon as the first mini-performance started, which was titled “Goddess of Heaven Scattering Flowers.”

This performance only took about fifteen minutes. The plot line is simple: The Goddess of Heaven is ordered by Buddha to scatter flowers over the mortal world. Pretty simple.


The next performance, “Eighteen Arhats Fighting Wu Kong,” filled up the next hour and fifteen minutes. It is about a monkey who enters heaven, which makes Buddha angry. Buddha sends eighteen of his warriors after him, and the performance shows the monkey beating up all his warriors in a very comical way. It was interesting because it showed off their martial arts and acrobatic skills on stage.


It wasn’t until after the performance when I found out we’d seen two separate plays. I was very confused as to what the Goddess of Heaven scattering flowers around had to do with a rebellious monkey.

Instead of going back to our hostel, we took a taxi to the Night Market. We had no idea what was there, but when we got there we were definitely shocked by what we found.

The Night Market is a row of about 60 booths that serve nothing but food and beverages. And by food, it’s more like a bunch of nasty things on a stick. I saw everything I never wanted to see, like scorpions, sheep penis, bee cocoons, seahorses, lizards, and even silkworms…on a stick. Iris, Camelia (who’s a vegetarian), and I stayed far away from all that stuff, but our adventurous Margarida was excited to try everything…even the nasty silkworms.


I stayed safe with a fruit kabob and an ear of corn, while Iris had this really cool pineapple drink that fizzed and emitted smoke!

Margarida was sad when they started closing down, since she had yet to try the scorpion. Me, I was glad to go.


We got lost trying to find the subway, so we tried hailing a cab. We stood in the same spot for half-an-hour, and all the taxis drove right on past us. There was another Western guy across the street, and all the taxis passed him up too. Most of the taxis were full, but some just passed on by us for no apparent reason. Some even switched off their vacancy lights as they drove past us, only to turn them on again when they were a bit further down the road.

It was incredibly frustrating, and it was apparent that we were being discriminated against for being Westerners. Finally, the guy was able to get a cab, but we had no luck and went to find the nearest hotel to call a taxi for us. One taxi stopped for us, but he tried to bargain the price with us. We’d discovered that bargaining the taxi fare was against the law in Beijing, and that they were required to use their meter. We threatened to call the Taxi Bureau if he didn’t use his meter, but he just laughed and drove away.

The first hotel we went to was a small boutique hotel. We asked the front desk if they could call a cab for us, and we explained our situation and how no one would stop for us. They claimed they couldn’t call us a cab because they didn’t have the number. It didn’t make any sense, but we just left, even more frustrated. The next hotel we tried was much more accommodating, and they were able to call us a metered cab.

At last we got back to the street of our hostel and were let off. We entered the lobby and stopped at the tourist info desk to get our discounted refund for our Great Wall trip the next morning. Originally we had signed up to go at 11:00 am, so that we could sleep in a bit, but they convinced us to go at 8:00 am for a discount. I was under the impression the discount was 60 Yuan each, but in fact it was total, meaning Iris, Camelia, and I would only get 20 Yuan back (USD $3). We also learned that it would be to another part of the wall, the tourist-crowded one, and we began to argue with the desk girl. We were already frustrated with our taxi problems, and her broken English and their deception only made it worse.

After arguing with her for about ten minutes (I’m sure we looked like total witches to everyone else in the lobby), she finally figured out all we were saying, and told us that we would be going to the same part of the wall as originally planned. She couldn’t give us any more of a discount, but at that point we were just so fed up with dealing with people that we didn’t care.

Unfortunately, our day ended on a bit of a frustrating note, but it was all forgotten the next morning when we went to the Great Wall of China!!!

Coming up next, “Beijing: Day Four!”

Kati

P.S. Learn "thank you" in Mandarin: Xie-xie! (Pronounced "shee-ay, shee-ay.)

Beijing: Day Two

Ni hao!

We got an early start on Thursday morning. After getting ready very quickly in our room, we went to the lobby for a very delicious (and cheap!) breakfast. Margarida, Iris, and I finished breakfast and caught a taxi for our first landmark of our Beijing trip: The Forbidden City.

We were dropped off in the back entrance, and instantly we were struck by its size. Of course, you would expect something called a “city” to be large, but it seemed like the high wall of the Forbidden City stretched on in both directions forever. What was more impressive was that it was surrounded by a large moat, making it seem truly castle-like and mysterious.


We purchased our entrance tickets, but we were a little irritated that the high tourist season prices went up 20 Yuan starting April 1, the day we were there! However, it didn’t take away from our excitement of being in the Forbidden City, one of the coolest places in China!

The Forbidden City was really amazing. The architecture was absolutely spectacular, and it was so easy to imagine an emperor living here with all his wives, servants, and guards. It was so incredibly large, and I’m sure we barely saw even half of it, even though we spent almost four hours there just walking through all the sections.


Again, we were stopped by a few people asking for our pictures, but poor Iris was often left out. Although she has beautiful blue eyes, her long, black hair makes her look Chinese from behind, haha!

When we emerged at the front entrance of the Forbidden City, we were directly across the street from Tiananmen Square, which is where the infamous massacre of protesting students occurred. The iconic image of Chairman Mao hanging above the front entrance of the Forbidden City was also there.

It was so cool to see the picture of Chairman Mao, so naturally I stopped to take a picture. However, there were rows of guards lining the five bridges (five is a lucky number) into the city, and they told us to keep moving it along.


To be honest, all the guards there made me a bit nervous. They all had red armbands around the arms of their uniforms, reminding me that I was in a communist country that has some political issues with my own nation. I was an alarming realization at first, but seeing many other Western tourists around made me feel a bit better.

We explored Tiananmen Square a bit, which is surrounded by four buildings with a monument in the middle. I found it a little strange that there was a security check before entering the square (which is surrounded by small fencing), but we had no problems and entered quickly.


Another interesting point to note is the fact that there are security checks before entering the subways, and you have to put your bags through a metal detector. I suppose it makes sense in this age of terrorism, but I can’t imagine the early morning rush hour being slowed down by these security checks.

In front of the Forbidden City, across Tiananmen Square, was the mausoleum of Mao Zedong. It’s only open in the morning, from 8:00 to noon, so we weren’t able to go inside. But apparently the corpse of Mao Zedong is on full display inside! You can actually see his body resting inside a glass case! I’m not sure how I would feel about getting that close to a dead body, but apparently many Chinese nationals make the journey to see him and bring flowers.


One thing we kept our eyes open for was a tribute to the Tiananmen Square Massacre, but we didn’t see anything that even mentioned it. In fact, the massacre is a taboo topic in mainland China, and you will have a very hard time finding any information on it in books or the internet. It was almost surreal knowing about all the censorship around me. I looked around at the locals and wondered if they knew how much censorship was actually going on.

After asking for directions from one of the security staff (we had a map, so all he had to do was point for us), we set off for the Beijing Hotel, the oldest hotel in Beijing! It was a bit of a relief to get out of Tiananmen Square, away from all the guards and security and whatnot. It was making me so uncomfortable, and once we were out of the square I felt like I could breathe again.

We had a bit of difficulty finding the hotel, since it was part of a line of hotels that all had similar names. But at last we found it! Apparently it was originally built in 1911, but it didn’t seem all that old to me. In fact, the lobby seemed like it had been renovated only a few years prior.


We wanted to have lunch, but it was 2:00 and lunch was just ending in the hotel restaurant. The teatime set started at 3:00, so we decided to explore the hotel a little bit to kill some time.

It’s such a beautiful, upscale hotel, and we had a great time exploring. Downstairs was the event space, which was exciting for me to see, since I want to be a hotel event planner one day. It was set up for a banquet buffet, but no one was down there so we didn’t stay too long (in case we weren’t supposed to be there).

The hotel was attached to the Beijing Regency Hotel by a few floors of upscale shopping. We browsed for a little bit, and then took the elevator to the top floor to see what the room arrangements were like. We couldn’t see into any of the rooms, but we did find a VIP floor. There was a woman at the top of the stairs, and she wouldn’t let us enter.

Around 2:45 we went down to the restaurant and asked if we could just have some drinks before the teatime set. Margarida and Iris both had a cappuccino, which came on a fancy plate with some cookies. I ordered a Coke (something I’ve become addicted to here in Asia, since it’s the only thing I know how to order when there’s a language barrier). For some reason I still can’t figure out, my Coke was only 5 Yuan less than their fancy cappuccinos with the cookies, which were around 45 Yuan (USD $6). Expensive glass of Coke.

We ordered the teatime set, which feeds three people and is only 80 Yuan (USD $12), and we split the price three-way between us. I’m still trying to wrap my head around the super-expensive drinks and the cheap tea set, which was filled with fancy cakes and cookies, and should have been much more expensive in this fancy hotel.


After teatime we tried to take a taxi to the Hong Qiao Pearl Market. However, each taxi driver we talked to tried to bargain the taxi fare with us before we got in, which irritated us. They were starting at 50 Yuan, some even 80, when we knew it shouldn’t even be 20. We found another hotel and asked the Assistant Manager if their bellboy could call us a metered taxi. We were very frustrated at that point, but the staff was very accommodating and called us a metered taxi. Unfortunately, we found ourselves having to ask hotels to call us metered taxis quite often during our trip.

At last they found us our taxi to the Hong Qiao Pearl Market (only 13 Yuan). Margarida and I had both promised our mothers we would bring back cheap pearls for them, so we were on a mission, prepared to bargain to the lowest prices possible. My Chinese roommate, Cindy, had told me that a good rule of thumb was to bargain down to a third of the price, so I kept that in mind as I did my shopping.


The Pearl Market was actually a large building with about five floors just full of kiosks selling not only pearls, but everything you could possibly imagine! Most of the floors had lots of pearl and bead sellers, but there was also a floor just for clothing (with both Chinese silks and knock-off Western brands) and another floor for electronics (NEVER buy electronics in China). There were also lots of arts and crafts on these floors, and I bought so much here like little dolls, scroll paintings, and even had some calligraphy done for my family.


I had a few people quote me some prices for a strand of pearls (just the beads, not necklaces) before I began bargaining. They were alright, but I finally found one woman that I really liked. She showed me how to differentiate real pearls from the fake ones (I only know the trick where you scratch it on your teeth, which is kinda gross when you don’t know how many people have touched them). I bargained down a strand of decent pearls to 25 Yuan ($3.50), and afterwards she even complimented me about what a good bargainer I was (she didn’t look too happy). But she got over it when I bought a few strands and brought my friends back later. She gave me her card, and I asked if she shipped overseas so my mom could buy more.

I didn’t fare so well with my other purchases. I bought one pretty scarf for my mother, which was her favorite shade of peach. When I opened the scarf at home I found a small gray stain on it. I also bought a pair of silk ties for my dad. The price tag said 400 Yuan for each, but I was able to bargain it down to 300 Yuan for two. However, I found the same ties later at a local market for 68 Yuan, and it was buy one, get one free. Oh well, you win some, you lose some.

The only problem with the Hong Qiao Pearl Market was that it was a Westerner’s tourist spot, and the locals selling their wares there know that. They charge outrageous prices! They quote you one price on a calculator, but tell you that just for you they’ll give a special discount, which is considerable, but still outrageous. A regular Western tourist, who probably has a lot of money at their disposal if they’re able to vacation in Beijing, probably won’t even bargain. They end up paying ridiculous prices for cheaply-made products and getting ripped off.

But there are some tricks you can do to get around it. Some people claim that they’re local, and that they know the real price. For me, I asked around the other kiosks for a price estimate, since you can find the same exact thing at dozens of other kiosks on the same floor. You also see how far you can push them. If you walk away and they call you back, you can still get them to go lower. If they let you walk away, you know you need to raise your price a bit.

They’re really nice, but they’re excellent salespeople. They flatter you, tell you what a great bargainer you are (“What a smart girl!”), and whatnot, but in the end you just have to stick by your original price. In this place, you could get them to go down to about a tenth of the price, I kid you not!

My friend Margarida was just browsing some of the Chinese silk robes at one kiosk. When she asked the young sales assistant the price, she quoted her 800 Yuan. Margarida just laughed and tried to walk away, but the girl kept throwing her lower prices. Margarida said she’d think about it and come back, but the girl wouldn’t have it and grabbed her arm! She wouldn’t even let Margarida walk away. At last she was down to around 60 Yuan (down from 800, mind you), and at this point, Margarida was just irritated. Finally, after about fifteen minutes, she got away, and from that point on we avoided that spot.

We went up to the roof for a breather, and we were very surprised. It was a beautiful rooftop garden, complete with a little pond with its own bridge and a gazebo with benches. We had a lovely view of the Temple of Heaven in the distance. We realized how physically exhausted we were after that crowded market, and how mentally exhausted we were from all that bargaining.


We tried to get another taxi back to our hostel, but no one would use their meter! Frustrated, I suggested we try to bargain down to 20 Yuan, since it was rush hour traffic and the chances of a metered taxi were slim.

A man in a tut-tut came by and asked for 50 Yuan, but we laughed since it only seats two. We kept asking other taxis, but the man in the tut-tut just kept following us and offering lower prices. Finally, we accepted, realizing that this would be a very interesting adventure fitting the three of us in a tiny, tiny tut-tut. And it certainly was very amusing. : )


After dropping our shopping bags at the hostel, we went out for dinner at a restaurant Margarida and I had found during our walk the previous night. Beijing is renowned for its special dish, the Peking Roast Duck, and you can’t go to Beijing without trying it. We had an interesting time ordering with the language barrier, but it worked out and we enjoyed our delicious duck!

We decided to nickname the duck “Chinese fajitas,” since you eat them in a similar way. They give you small flour wraps, and you load up the duck, spring onion, cucumber, and the sweet, delicious sauce and wrap it up like a fajita. It was one of the tastiest meals I’ve had in Asia, and we ate until it was all gone! For dessert we had fried banana balls, which were also pretty good, but nothing compared to the Peking Roast Duck.


After dinner we met our friend Camelia (Bulgaria) for drinks at Beijing’s most famous Bar Street area. It was so beautiful, with all the Christmas lights in the trees and the pretty view of the river. Later on in the week we went back during the day, and the view is absolutely breathtaking. We went to a couple of interesting places. The first one was a cool bar, but I guess it was a slow night because we were the only ones there. The second was a bit more packed, but I was confused by all the Christmas decorations of Santa in April.


Finally, we decided to call it a night. We found a (metered) taxi back to our hostel, where we took cold showers and crashed for the night. It was definitely our longest day in Beijing (and longest post, I promise) for the entire time we were there, and I decided that from then on I wanted to take it a little bit easier and actually enjoy my vacation.

Coming up next, “Beijing, Day Three.”

Kati