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Published: June 13th 2010
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police van RANDOM DAY IN BEIJING
Hi - it is Tues morning here in Beijing; quick update from our experiences yesterday. We were planning on going to the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square yesterday and to get our train tickets for Qingdao trip - struck out on all three - the May 1 holiday seems to have been through Monday and the Forbidden City, etc was SO completely crowded - it was unreal - we drove by in a cab and all you could see is literally a sea of black haired heads and bodies packed together - it was crazy - so we quickly dismissed that idea; then we got to the train station, again so crowded! this huge room packed with people in lines waiting to buy tickets - we were the only 3 "whiteys" in the entire Beijing Train Station and this place was big. It was funny when we finally got to the front of the line a
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super market few older Chinese men tried to bud in line and the girl behind the counter was having none of that - it is funny we are waiting in line for a long time and he was like "I just need a ticket to so-and-so" I could tell what he was saying in chinese 😊 then the lady put up a sign (like gone to lunch) and had us all move over one line (I think she saw the three of us and thought "oh - no" - seriously no one seems to speak english here for the most part - and people always seem so happy to hear Jake talk in Chinese - he is told constantly how good his chinese is by so many people. I'm just happy to be able to get something to eat and get around here with Jake..
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train station So anyways, there were no train tickets to be had anywhere that would work for us for the short time we are here, so now we are going to stay in Beijing and take one side trip on the Fast Train to Tianjin for the day. It goes super fast - takes only 30 min to go which would normally be a 2 hr train ride. Should be fun. Originally we weren't super impressed by our accomodations, it needs new carpeting, and a good paint job - everywhere - Jake says they are really nice for Chinese standards, and the price is super cheap, with 2 separate bedrooms, and a bathroom - but when were planning on going on a 2-day side trip we obviously only booked our rooms through Tuesday, and then they were booked when we tried to get the room for the rest of the trip - man did our accomodations look awesome then - but we checked back and then they only had 3 singles, then the next time nothing, then only through Friday, then this morning, we were able book our same room for the remainder of our stay - typical Chinese interaction Jake
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rich part of town states. So now we have a place to stay the rest of the time.
We had a traditional/famous Peking Duck dinner last night, and went with Jake's friend Mac. It was good, but as we were finishing up, Brian went to the bathroom and got "kidnapped" - this guy asked where he was from and when he found out he was American - he insisted he come into their private room and they were looking for their friend that spoke english - Brian was able to get away long enought to summon Jake - so all of us ended up sitting at their table, and doing "beer" shots. (Well, Jake and Mac did) They wanted us to go to karakoe, but we went home - but first they came out as we were paying and I guess they really wanted to
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foreigner area pay for us, but didnt want to let us know, but since Jake and Mac speak Chinese, there was no way to sneak it over on us - so then Jake was saying they probably felt really bad - it is really important to 'save face' here and they felt bad they were not thinking quick enough to pay - but the entire bill and we ate alot, even dessert was $22 for the 4 of us.
We also went to the silk market, met some of Jake's Chinese friends and was harassed the entire time to buy everything - you couldn't even look at things because they don't leave you alone - it was an experience.
We also met Jake's Chinese family - we went to his house to get a suitcase. They were so nice even though they didn't speak much English - they took over 100 pictures I swear of all of us, just Jake, just Brian and I, the mom and I, etc....by this tree that tree - she was
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another one of brian's pictures...haha funny. Then they drove us to a HUGE mall - we got foot massages - it was cool - super dark room, these orange lounger chairs, and TVs - it was a 45 minute massage for about $12 which I guess is expensive according to Jake - it was great. Now we all want body massages too.
We got up a bit later today and ate breakfast (dumplings) at this interesting place - then off the Summer Palance - it was AMAZING - we hired a guide to give us the history - it was really cool - absolutely incredible - I have tons of pictures when I get home - I don't know how to down load - maybe Jake can show me how to blog and add pictures. It has been fun. I think we will try the Forbidden City tomorrow. We are going to have pizza and free beer at Crow's Nest tonight with some of Jake's school friends.
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