First Day in China

We landed around 2pm in China and upon debarking, we walked down a hallway lined with Visa advertisements endorsed by world famous faces such as Yao Ming and Jackie Chan. I normally wouldn't have taken notice, but in a payments article written 2005 years ago, the author noted the same experience.

The customs process was fairly easy but I was reprimanded for not writing my full "given name" with my maiden name "Lei". The Intercontinental Beijing Hotel is pretty amazing, complete with complimentary bottled water, flat screen tv (sound piped in to the bath area with a window for easy viewing), and modern furnishings.

I debated whether to book a tour for Saturday after the conference or go for a self-guided walk, but I figured for the first time in China, better to be in a group. Everyone is extremely friendly. I think I surprised the concierge by wanting to find the food court for some cheap eats. He recommended a sit down restaurant, but that wouldn't have been as interesting. I headed towards the nearest shopping centers and soon felt out of place in my skort so I was looking for three things - ping pong paddle (Butterfly brand), Li Ning sports wear, and a pair of pants.

The first shopping center was definitely for the locals - booths side by side - crammed and a bit overhwleming. You can bargain for the goods, but everything is already marked down significantly. Ping Pong paddles are everywhere, but the Butterfly brand is hard to find. One vendor had only one without the instructions and the other told me that I wouldn't be able to find any since it's "too high class." After touring the food court, I went back downstairs and found a vendor with a nice pair of tan pants. She said she would sell it to me for 90 RMB, I started to walk away, but she pulled me in and asked what I wanted to buy it for. I said 40 RMB - I hadn't really figured out the conversion yet and it was taking me too long to calculate in my head. She said 60 and I said 50 and she started to chuckle saying that she wouldn't even sell it to the local for that low. What do I know. I said my Mandarin was poor, but my mom told me to always bargain. So she said to come in, I stepped in hesitantly and she sold it to me for 50RMB which I calculated later to be $6.50. Not bad. I think the easiest wasy to convert the approximate price is just to divide by 7. Close enough. As for the Li Ning sportswear? That's a surprise for Ted.

I walked around some more, found some mangostene fruit (4.5 RMB - 26 cents) Went back to the food court - had no idea what I was doing in selecting some ingredients to steam and sautee so I followed the person in front of me. (7RMB - $1) and then to the dumpling stall (18 for 5RMB - 80 cents) for takeout. Awesome. Not sure if I liked what I ate, but you can't beat the price.