Friday night we went out to dinner with friends at a local hutong. Back row- Doris, Alexander, Anthony Front row- Paul, Dave, Justin, Kathy We arrive. The Reception Area The Menu Air is injected under the skin so it turns crispy. The Cooks The Meal Carving the duck is an art. The cook started carving [...]
In Beijing buying a home would be the equivalent of buying a condominium in North America, and the majority of people live in high-rise apartment buildings. There are single family homes in the hutongs and in the countryside,but the hutongs in Beijing are rapidly disappearing. Unlike North America Beijing’s growth is mostly upwards. Instead of [...]
Located in the south east of Beijing near subway station Tiantandongmen, the Pearl Market is similar to the Silk Market. Next door to it is Toy City which our grandkids will be glad we found. Here is where Kathy started to show some real haggling skills. She began slowly but it was like a dam [...]
Yonghegong subway station is not only a transfer station between line 2 and 5,it was built beneath the three hundred year old foundations of the Lama Temple. As you emerge from the subway the temple buildings are there above you. A short walk of fifteen or twenty minutes takes you past many small shops selling [...]
Saturday we went looking for a camera with Mike and Chenxia at a place Chenxia called Computer City. We started looking on the fourteenth floor of the eighteen floors of consumer electronics.We bought our camera on the third floor.Chenxia’s haggling skills are a beauty to behold but somewhat confusing. In the heat of negotiations you [...]
We woke this morning to a three to four inch overnight snowfall. It was the first heavy snowfall of the year. Later in the day Kathy was told by a Chinese teacher it was the heaviest snow she has seen in her eight years in Beijing. At about 7:40 a.m. I heard noise coming from [...]
As Kathy’s second scheduled payday rolled around we were more in tune with how things work in China. Things happen when they happen. This is why nobody in administration felt it necessary to tell us that payday was six days later this month. Some teachers at this school are paid in cash – you go [...]
On Saturday we went to a shopping area around Haidianhuangzhuang subway station, which is known as Beijing’s Silicone Valley, where consumer electronics is king. There was one building with at least five floors of vendors. At this point in our stay in China we are still outsiders looking in and we are intimidated by their [...]
