BEIJING!!!

We arrived in Beijin in the evening and met our guide- Kerry. The first thing we noticed is that Beijin is NOT a lot like the other areas we had been too. China put a lot of work and effort into making Beijin modern and hospitable for the olympics.

We got to the hotel, and let me say, it is the nicest hotel I have EVER stayed in...this is not a joke, it was beautiful, and guess what? It was a real bargain- $37 US dollars a night!

They served a complimentary breakfast each morning in their ULTRA modern and swanky restaurant- also the best breakfast, buffet or otherwise, I have ever had. They had every breakfast food you could think of, American, French, Chinese or otherwise! So lots of delicious choices..and since we were never sure just what lunch or dinner would bring- we ate for the "just in case" scenario!!!

We were on our own this first day in Beijin- meaning no guide, but none was really necessary. We were going to the pearl market and the silk market, two places my parents were very familiar with, and they were the best guides possible. I guess I was so excited with the ridiculously low prices and large quantities of goods, that I didn't take any pictures, honestly, NO pictures of the pearl or silk market? What a tragedy, because believe you me, that was SOME FUN STUFF!

My dad is the bargain master, and enjoys a good round of good hearted shouting with a chinese merchant more than you can imagine! Every stall was the same, offer a price, counter offer, both parties act offended at the terribly low/high price, walk away/turn way, and then get yelled at, grabbed, and dragged back, only to go through the same exact thing at least 5 more times before deciding on a "fair price" the funny thing is, after a few tries, I could tell you what we were going to get something for before the bargaining began, and it would have been a lot easier and less noisy for both parties to just start and end there...but that's not the game!

We did the silk market in the morning, and then went to a traditional Chinese lunch- at PIZZA HUT--HAHA! In the states I hate pizza hut, but in China, it was delicious! This is where I got tissue stuck in my zipper, but that story has already been told. Amber did say, "You know Ashley. You are the only person that this could happen to,...and these types of things happen to you ALL THE TIME!" On one hand, she's right, strange things happen to me a lot, but on the other hand, I think it's just that I'm really not embarrassed by silly stuff like that, and when it happens, I get a good laugh, and let other people get a good laugh as well!

That afternoon we went to the pearl market, and WOW! I got some GORGEOUS pearls for shockingly low prices...no really...shocking! I also wanted to buy a large quantity of "designer" purses, and the lady we were bargaining with realized how many we were looking for, (it was all the girls and my dad, and our last stop of the night) so she dragged us out of the market, and to her "Warehouse" (translation: really beat down and seedy apartment complex across the street) so no other vendors would try to get us to buy from them, and also becuase she had a lot better selection there! It was really fun, and...looking back...slightly dangerous!

We then had Sizzler for dinner...another restaurant I wouldn't probably hit in the states, but SO appreciated in China- the best salad bar, with fresh fruits and veggies, something we had really been missing..YUMMY!!!

Here we are on the subway on the way to the market- lots of people tried to speak their limited English to us after finding out we were American. One older guy sitting next to my mom pointed to my mom and said

"Mama?" and then pointed to Amber and I. She said yes, and he started giggling, and so did the lady next to him.

We just smiled, not in on the joke, and then I'm pretty sure he made fun of our eyes-

He said, "Mama, girls- SAME EYES! SAME EYES!" and then used his thumb and first finger to open his eyes as wide as possible, and then laughed hysterically at us. He would occassionally repeat "Same eyes..." and get a chuckle. So...I guess they think our big American eyes are just peculiar as we find some of their features- we thought it was just as funny as the old guy did when we understood we were being laughed at, and we laughed right along with him!

One last goodie...this is at our Chinese massage...YIKES! look at those pastey legs. And I forgot to mention, it was ABSOLUTELY FREEZING in there. We were all shivering so much that they brought us bags of HOT HOT HOT rocks to put on our stomachs and feet. Then those burned us, but hey--beggars can't be choosers.