A Day at Wangfujing

Wangfujing is "the place to go" for shopping, so said my workmates. Sadly, I did not realize how big a wallet they thought I had (I may be a rich American, but I am still a college student). We didn't end up buying any non-consumables, but that's okay. We had a good time, saw some very impressive ivory and jade jewelry and sculptures for sale, some of it getting over RMB3.5 Million (that's half a million greenbacks, baby). Needless to say, some of it was pretty darn impressive.

I had my first American food of any sort (save some coffee and diet coke, I suppose) today: A Big Mac. I forgot lunch before I went out, and couldn't help myself. It was neither more or less delicious than I remember, which was somehow disappointing.

We then went for tea, which was the highlight of the evening. We went to a sortof modernised teahouse--one where the tea was not poured for us, but simply given to us. It was still both good to look at and drink:
Perhaps Even Better to Look at than to Drink

The teahouse experience was accompanied by some very darn talented artists on traditional Chinese instruments, starting with one man:
Playing a Traditional Chinese Song

The one man turned into a duet, who actually started off by playing an American-sounding folk song:
This is Not a Banjo

And then, finally, the group became five. Together, they were just spectacular. The otherwise quiet crowd broke out into applause for them:
These Guys Are Probably Not Paid Enough

The most interesting of instruments was on the far left--this sort of mini-organ from Tibet (as we learned from Callie) that one played a bit like a saxophone:
Looks a Bit Like a Rich Hobbit's Pipe

Anyway, the tea was quite nice, and was served with dried plums (but not prunes, somehow) and pan-blackened watermelon seeds. Yummy.

We walked around more, and, of course, didn't buy much, but observed some of the Russian-influenced architecture, saw the oldest (and possibly most expensive!) department store in Beijing, made the mistake of wandering into a souvenir shop. I am not buying anyone souvenir-style gifts except upon specific request, I promise.

Anyway, we then got dinner at my first Hot Pot in China. The place was like a sauna and actually smelled kindof funny, but the Hot Pot wasn't bad (not my favorite meal ever). Callie did the ordering for us, and seemed to have gotten us pretty good stuff:
Though She Looks Concerned

After Hot Pot, we realized it was getting a bit late, and decided to head out.
I got my second American food today afterwards--an Oreo Blizzard from Dairy Queen. Not bad. I have certainly noticed that places that are supposed to be pretty darn cheap in the US (Pizza Hut, Dairy Queen, KFC anything Budweiser, etc) often end up being proportionally quite expensive in China... even if not actually more in converted US Dollars. That said, I'm cheap, and rarely am willing to pay $8 for a pizza when I could get a Chinese meal for $5.

Anyway, that's that. Tomorrow: Summer Palace, hopefully with a big crew.