Sights, sounds and.............aroma of Beijing..

It rained, FINALLY!!..

...the best news we've been waiting for, has been answered...It rained, today, after a long while. Boy, what a difference a rain can make!
The weather and temperature finally improved. It rained heavier as the night passed on. Actually it started raining on Sunday morning. Went out til afternoon, then came back to see the whole street lined up with people, young and old, on both sides of the street waiting for the cyclists to pedal through the street. Too bad i missed the action! But heard the people were cheering and chanting "Jia You!", as the riders pedaled through..

A few pics inside one of the subway waiting areas. The most popular line in all of Beijing, would argubly be, Line 1 (i think our yannie would agree with this). During rush hour, that line could have people packed in, chest to chest, literally.

Anyway, i still wasn't able to go and watch any matches (so, no pics of any baddy actions, yet). But y'day(Sunday), was able to meet up with Fengwei and added another troop to the squad as BadFever finally showed up. We spent part of the afternoon visiting the Wangfujing area & the always crowded Chang An Jie street, the main artery in Beijing (i'm sure yannie is very familiar with this also). Also stopped by for who-knows-what-apparent-reason at the Quanjude restaurant. There were literally thousands of people, going to and fro in this popular shopping area/district in Beijing.

Also went to a souvenir shop and took some pics of some of what they're selling as official souvenirs. Notice in one of the pics, the price of one of those replicas medal is nearly RMB60,000+. And one of the miniature Bird's Nest replica costs RMB2008 (to represent this yr).

Btw, re the pic with people standing at the edge of the glass railing, actually they were watching the games LIVE through a very large jumbo screen. As a matter of facts, many malls were showing the live feed on their large screens. The govt. also assigned a few public places to show the games for the public to gather and see.

Anyway, here are some pics taken from our mini-stroll around in the Wangfujing shopping area, in the semi-dampen weather.
Thanks to Fengwei for providing all the "free" tour guide!

 

Some pictures of..

...the smog-filled sky of Beijing (these were taken the night before, in the Dawanglu area). Can you guys see the sky??....i know i can't..:crying:

One pic showing the smog-filled sky, in the morning hours..

And one pic showing the main forces behind CHN's badminton domination (posted in the Dawanglu subway station).

 

Badminton venue and its vicinity..

...we also stopped by the badminton venue; here are a few pics of the badminton venue and its vicinity. Guess what, going underneath a road overpass is one option to reach the gate. The stadium is huge!! I would say, it's at least 2x the size of the Staples Center (in L.A.)
Security was definitely tight. Accessibility is definitely difficult.















...i know it's been slow, but tomorrow, the camera will finally roll into the baddy venue! ..stay tuned...

 

We are toooooooooooooo shyyyyyyyyy

...yes, too shyyyyy...
Don't worry, we'll get one for today......

 

Here are the last few memoirs of Beijing...

..(that i was able to capture and saved)....

Another side story. This should be a good learning experience about haggling, esp. for those who plan to visit this shopping area in the future :
So, i was in the famous tourist shopping place, called the Silk Market shopping area, in the Yonganli area (and met Loh and hcyong, as well). I was looking to get a pair of shoes and i stumbled upon one of the many shoe stalls.
I stepped in and asked the young gal for a pair of shoes. Looking around and trying to find a pair of shoes that would fit my huge pair of feet, the lady seller quickly pulled out her calculator and quickly punched the numbers. (Yes, we conversed in English, as most of the vendors and sellers in this Silk Market shopping center can speak English). She said "For that pair of shoes, i'll charge you RMB1,150 (nearly US$200)!". I looked up and said to her, "Hmm, sorry, how much did you say?". She repeated and showed me the digits on the calculator. I then told her, "No way, for this Chinese branded shoes, i only want RMB100!". She then responded by saying, in an almost screaming type of voice, "Say what?!?! You must be kidding me!! You said you only want to pay RMB100 for this top of the line Chinese branded shoes?? Do you know how much these pair of shoes actually cost?? And i'm giving you a big discount already!!". I looked at her again, while i smiled and said "No, i'm not one of those gullible tourist who you can fool. You don't think i know this place is good for haggling. I only want RMB100!! Period". She then said "Sorry, but i can only give you RMB1,150". I then started to pretend to get up to walk away when she burst out "Ok, Ok, i'll give you RMB800!Discount!" I quickly said, with another smile "Fu-wan, i only want RMB100!! Take it or leave it!!". Then she quickly said "Ok, i'll give you RMB500! That's a very good price". I replied, with another smile "No, i want to only pay RMB100 for these shoes". Then i got up. But as soon as i started to leave, the young gal called her boss. The guy came and quickly stopped me in my tracks. He pulled me back down and offered me "Ok, i'll give you RMB200. That's it". I looked at him, smiled and said "RMB100, my friend. No more, no less". Finally, after all those haggling and all, he gave up and said "Ok, Ok, done deal, i'll give you RMB100. You keep your words and be a man (just like in that Russell Peters' comedy video). The shoes are yours. But give me the money". After i looked at him, and he was somewhat smirking, i said "OK, here it is, RMB100". And off i went, smiling while shaking my head.
Phew, what an experience that was. From RMB1,150 to RMB100!!. If i didn't persist and haggle continuously, who knows how much i would be ripped off for paying that much for the shoes.

Pic, below, during our quick lunch get-together at the Awana M'sian restaurant(which was recommended earlier in another thread)..Food was not bad, but price a bit much. Place was empty when we ate there..

A neighborhood either on the way to or at the BBEShop/BBESport..





Pics of either the inside of BBEShop or BBESport. And the young lady who strung Feng's racket. She did this starting knot, which i heard had been discussed in this forum, so quickly. But we all forgot to record it, ah well.(Fengwei should have more)











And here are the rest of the pics. I esp. like the t-shirt the guy was wearing. The translation of it is something like : The Olympics is always in my heart??
And a few of pics of the area where our BadFever (Kevin) and smashed 1(Jason) were staying.

 

All in all..

..i could say from my own personal experience of traveling in and around Beijing area, it was a very eye-opening visit. A lot unexpected & interesting incidents and encounters. Despite a city with its heavy eastern history/tradition, i think Beijing is definitely growing and moving towards a more global flavor/future, esp. with all the new structures, infrastructures.
How fast will it take? That we won't know.
Btw, that new CCTV building, which i believe is 90-95% complete, that's shaped like a trouser, is huge (with a capital H):

1. Even with the numerous pushing and shoving and overcrowding, i'd have to say thank goodness for the subway system the Beijing/CHN govt. has put in place. I can imagine without those subway/trains, who knows how many people would roam & populate the street. I heard they are planning to expand the subway lines even more, as i believe Beijing currently has about 8-10 lines serving the greater Beijing area.

2. They did a very nice job in clearing, organizing and preparing the city for the Olympics. True (like Loh mentioned in another thread), a lot of the major public places & areas mostly appeared welcoming & modern, on the surface. But if one were to travel and visit the side areas, they still show the "real" Beijing.
And yes, bicycles still roam the street.

3. Smog issue, i think it'll still be there. Unfortunately, Beijing is located somewhat in a valley. So, in order for it to get a clear & fresh air/sky, mother nature needs to lend its hand. Good thing one can travel further out to the Great Wall (Badaling) area and breath some fresh air.

4. Food wise, the local Beijing dishes are okay & edible (some would say they're somewhat salty and greasy). Foods in the mall and those sold in reg. restaurants can be somewhat more or less similar or different in taste. And yes, i saw those "funky" delicacies (innards, snakes, insects on skewers etc.) still being served along the side-walks near Wangfujing. And a lot of tourists actually hung out along that street. But i'm just too chicken to even try them.
For the Peking duck lovers, you guys don't have to go to the famous Quanjude restaurant and wait for a long time. One can get and taste a Peking duck in many duck restaurant. From what i heard, they all basically taste the same.

5. As for restrictions to what we can or can't do, I noticed, there are still some wherever i/we went.

6. As for the people & language themselves, the people are quite friendly and helpful. Like i mentioned before, they are care-free and won't bother you much (even if you're a foreigner).
English is, unfortunately, still not prevalent, if minimal at best. And I don't know if it'll make its way into mainstream China. If one is traveling alone without a guide who can converse in Mandarin, i'd say, "good luck".

 

Btw, just want to say..

..another big thanks to our Beijing host: Fengwei, who had basically sacrificed and took his precious time to accompany many of us first time visitors to Beijing, basically every single day. Also to other local Beijingers: kemana & LI De Quan for their accompaniment!!

 

Pictures, pictures...

..we're all waiting to see the pics you took!!! esp. the ones at Quanjude...

..you sure about that??..I mean, i don't want you to spend money traveling all the way from Dutch to Beijing again, just for me...

..anyway, if it won't happen again, it'll definitely remain in my memory for a long, long, looooooong time..

......that's life but do enjoy it while you still can (many of us wish if we're still in school!)..
thank you! Please post the BC gathering pics in the "Who's Going" thread...

 

Oh..another scenario of the Silk Market haggling..

..besides my encounter at the shoes stall, i also had a similar encounter @ one of the sporting goods stall on one of the upper floors.

So, i arrived at this sporting goods stall and i asked the lady seller if she has Yonex rackets. She then pulled out a stack of rackets, all the latest & greatest Yonex models. Once i saw the rackets, i knew they were all fake. I asked her how much does the Arcsaber 7 racket cost?(yes, for the inexperienced and untrained eyes, the design, paint jobs on the rackets look so legit). She paused and pulled out her small book and said "For this racket, i'll sell to you for RMB850 (that's over US$100!)". I glanced at her and said "Hmm, no, i can only afford RMB100". She then started to exaggerate and told me how popular the racket is and how so many people actually bought it. I haggled with her until i finally pulled out the Armortec 700 and MP 99 from the stack and showed her the serial no. on the handle cone. I then bent all 3 rackets and seriously, they were all super flexible. I asked her "Excuse me, but how come all the serial numbers are exactly identical on each racket? I think these are all fake"; further, i couldn't see any U or G numbers either on any of the racket's cone. I could see she was taken back after i made that comment and there was a long.......pause, literally, for a couple minutes. She was "reply-less". I asked her again, "Well, so what do you think, can i get this fake racket for RMB100??" She replied "Hmm, no, i'll give it to you for RMB200". After that offer, i quickly put all the rackets down and walked away. And as i was walking away she started yelling at me "Ok, ok, my friend i'll give it to you for RMB100. Just give me your money." I turned around and told her it's okay and thanks; although i was planning to say to her "Ok, i'll pay you RMB100 but you'll have to give me 3 rackets", but i didn't.
I also saw a couple of Yonex shuttlecocks tubes, in her stall, and they were labeled so wrong; one even had a Yonex 60 label on it. I asked the lady "is this even real??". She only said "This is the top of the line Yonex birdies".