Beijing Memo
To finish this Beijing 2008 series, I’d like to give you a few tips for your next trip to China’s capital.
The Silk Market Experience (北京的秀水街)
Once you enter the underground Silk Market at the Yonganli subway station, some 1,700 retail vendors and over 3,000 salespeople are waiting for you, the 白鬼子 (our nickname, we are the “white ghosts”). And as we walk through the narrow alleys, we are nicely asked to part with our Yuan.
Beijing By Night
Between 10pm and 5am, the city is alive and thriving. Night markets, busy streets, lights everywhere — life doesn’t stop in Beijing.
A Chinese Massage Story
I was introduced to massage by my former boss in Hong Kong, Ning. Now don’t imagine inappropriate work incentives: Ning may have paid me a ridiculous wage and asked me to work on weekends too often, but he wasn’t this kind of man.
Beijing’s Nightlife （北京的夜生活）
We accidentally discovered the new heart of Beijing’s nightlife a few days later, walking around the Old Beijing. Most of the trendy bars are now in Hou Hai (后海), by Beihai， where bars, discos, restaurants and night markets are set around the lakes.
Old Beijing (老北京)
Cars are plentiful but people still bike everywhere, older people hang out in traditional parks and not around the Bird Nest, calligraphy is still an art that is practice in the street and many traditions are still followed. This is also Beijing.
