Hái yuăn ma? Bù yuăn!

Being in Beijing for only a short business trip, I nevertheless stick faithfully to the ancient adage of working hard, playing harder (long live nocturnal attaché!).

The first night, the hotel concierge told me that the hotel was ‘very close’ and within ‘a walking distance’ to the famous Tiananmen Square (and Forbidden City, naturally). Well, I didn’t know whether a) I was so physically unfit that a mere ‘walking distance’ wore me out to a state of panting breath; b) I was duped by the concierge into walking there, so that by the time I got back to the hotel, I would have been in severe need of the exorbitant hotel massage service; or c) the locals had different concept of ‘close’ and ‘walking distance’ (when in China, act like Chinese).

And what’s worse, the Square was closed due to (I think) an official visit by a foreign dignitary. Pfff… I ended up lurking at the gate, trying to find any anglophone who was willing to take a picture of me grinning under the photograph of Mao. No luck.


Second night, I prowled the Wangfujing, looking for mementoes fabriqué en Chine. And there were plenty here and there. I made my first purchase like a good tourist should: no bargain. I learned my lessons quickly, though, and eventually managed to cut down on my price tag to almost 50%. Shopping had rarely been better. =)


Not surprisingly, Beijing streets did not only offer shopping, but detailed program of excursion would not be disclosed here to protect the guilty. My visit did not allow me enough time to get acquainted, but I was pretty sure I’d be seeing the city again. Till then, zàijiàn!