Finally in Beijing!
Dear family and friends!
Here we are, in Beijing! From time to time we will write a little bit about what’s going on over here…
elin:
First days have past by very fast and first impression is very good! For the moment we are staying int the swissotel but hopefully at monday we can move to our new apartment. After seeing almost 20 apartments we finally decided for a brand new one in a compund called Hopson. 2 bedrooms and huge livingroom with floor to ceiling windows. as it was empty we got to choose some furniture in a showroom and the rest we will probably find at ikea. The area is very nice with a lot of small noodlebars, restaurants and a big fitnesscenter. We cant wait to move in!!!
Oliver has already been working a little bit, mostly paperwork but also shooting a congress meeting. At that time I’ve been exploring the city a little bit, but mostly just the area around our hotel. Beijing is huge and what looks so close on the map is in reality very far. But as it is so cheap with taxi here(2 yuan/kilometer) you can get around pretty fast.
The air is different here, a little dry and dusty. I guess we have to get used to it. Both me and Oli are very tired all the time. We get tired very early here and falls asleep early. Which resualts in that we wake up in the middle of the night and cant sleep. At least today we are still up and its around 9pm=)
Food food! We had a lot of good food so far, and cheap. Tonight we ordered 4 dishes plus rice and beer and it was 200 yuan. And than it was way to much to eat! Last saturday we took our first bar tour and went to the sanlitun bar street. Seems to be a tourist trap and overpriced but we had fun. Had some beer and vodkatonic. Oliver got a massage in the bathroom for 10 yuan and I had to pose with some different guys who wanted to take picture with their cellphone. The evening ended in a dance club which seemed ok. We were just a little bit confused where to go because everything seemed to be v.i.p and all the time came a guy saying something in chinese and getting us out of the room…
Today i took a little shopping tour which ended pretty bad. Started at a market mall with 4 floors of copy clothes and bag. Both some things i needed and understood after a while how it worked. The salers started with the price 350 whick in the end went done to 80. For the first time so far i wished i were looking chinese cause everyone whanted to sell me something ALL the time. Then i went to another shoppingstreet, one on beijings biggest. Very soon two cute chinese girls started to talk to me and were very friendly. We went together to a shopping store and i thought they we’re just two of those young chinese that like to practise there english with foreigners. Then we went for tea, in a chinese tearoom. We tried about 10 different, all very good, sorts of tea. i learned how to hold the cup and got tea for loosing weight, become succesful, stay happy etc. Then came the bill…3000 yuan for 3 persons. I was chocked!! As i only had 200 yuan on me and needed a cab home i paid 150 and they paid the rest. i felt stupid and confused. How could 10 small cups of tee be so expensive? The place didnt even look special. I went back to the hotel. Sad and confused. Talked to oliver and to his college Bailou,which is chinese. She was also chocked and told me that next time i should call the police. Probably those girls were hired from somewhere to trick foreigners….First bad experience so far. But as oli said: you live and learn. I guess i have to be less blue eyed and more carefull from now on…But im alive and i got my passport and my money..=) (So no worries mum)
Tomorrow is a new day and maybee we are going to the summer palace or the zoo. Looking forward!!
Talk to you all later!
Vielle Grusse and Kramar/ Elin and Oliver