Shopping High

I don’t even know where to begin… I guess I’ll start at 4:00am. Emelia, Molly and I got up to go see the flag raising at Tiananmen Square. We were awake and ready in like 20 minutes, so we just went to the lobby and played cards. Mrs. Lee came down to take us, and Sivana and Lauren were right behind her. We were a small group, but we had a really good time. -As of now I have been awake for 16hrs and 29 minutes- We walked to the square, and it was raining a little bit. Our feet got pretty wet, but it was no big deal. The flag raising itself was slightly anti-climactic, but just the experience was worth it. The best part was on our way home, Mrs. Lee treated us to some Beijing treats! First we stopped at a cart on the side of a road to get burrito like breakfast foods. It was flat pancake dough put on a hot griddle, and covered it in oil. then, they opened it and filled it with egg. They then would fold it and but bean paste in the middle. It wasnt my favorite, but i tried it. For me, thats something. We kept walking until we got to a little resturant, i guess you could call it. it was actually more of a dive, but we had some delishious pork buns! Then we got back to the hotel and emelia and i played some spit until everyone else was ready. Then we went to Temple of Heaven for some tai-chi. The lady that was leading it was soo cute!! she started with typical tai-chi, but then she pulled out a sword and started fighting immaginary people. the noises she made were adorable little grunts. We played our new favorite sport, Hacky Sack, in the park and toured the temple a little bit. The park we visited is a social hot spot! All these retired old people come and dance or play with eachother. It's great. After our morning fun, we headed to the mountains. We went to see the Ming Tombs there. There were some great statues for photo oppertunities. Then we went to lunch at a Cloissane (sp?) factory. The food was good, and there were some pretty cool trinkets, but im too cheep for full priced items. (just wait until you read about our shopping experience...) Then we finally got to the great wall. It was amazing. The part we climbed was soo so steep. It was exhausting, and we climbed all the way into the top. I was soo tired! My feet were screaming!! so were my legs. On the way down my legs were shaking, emelias too. We totally BOMBED it down. I did buy an overpriced t-shirt there, but im a tourist, cant help that. Then we went to a tea ceremony, it was interesting, but nothing that i could express over the blog. haha
MY FAVORITE PART OF THE NIGHT WAS THE SILK MARKET!!!
It was AMAZING!!!! i was really good at bartering.. the first thing we bought was jeans. We went to one place, and she wanted to charge me 200 rmb for a pair of jeans, but i got her down to 180 for two!! We all did that! Then emelia and molly moved on to a new jean store, and when sivana and i showed up, the ladies there were convinced sivana and i were twins. The lady at the second store was so funny. She kept telling us what jeans looked good with our butts. it was funny, and we laughed. i think thats what helped us get an amazing deal of two for 175rmb. i had a really good line, i would say, "i cant pay that much, i still need to eat dinner, and i dont have much money, im a poor student", i think that helped atleast. My trick is to get start low, and then see their reaction, and if i go up, i only go up by 5 or 10rmb. Always, always tell them it its too much 'tai guella (sp?), and emphasise that you are poor. walk away, and see how far they let you go. the farther you go, the better the deal. We didnt get an amazing deal on the jeans, but it was our first time out, and i was still pretty proud of myself. then we went down stairs. it was kinda scary down there. there were so many vendors, trying to sell so many things. we wanted longchamps, and i got into quite the bidding war with one guy. He wanted 200rmb for a bag, and i told him i would pay 70 for one. i told him that i wanted two, and he said he would give it to me for 160. i told him 120. he finally said yes, but i still thought was too high, so i said 100 max. he said no way, so i said, its ok, i will go somewhere else. I got all the way down the hall before he screamed "OK"! It felt soo goood!! i was on such a high for that night. i spent 262 on 3 pairs of jeans, then 1oo on two bags, so i bought 5 designer items, for 362rmb. Thats an equivilant to almost $50. HOW GREAT IS THAT?? im pumped.
ok, its late and i need to sleep because my feet are soo tired after this long, long day.
goodnight

ps. up from 4am until past 11pm. i guess the jet lag wore off. haha
Nicole