We woke up a little earlier on Sunday because we were going to the dirt / ghost / antique market. This is a market that I have wanted to visit for a while but never made it. I am glad we finally did. It is probably one of the most interesting places I have been in Beijing. Supposedly they have real antique goods but most of the stuff appears to be replicas which I like because I can afford replicas and not the real stuff.

We picked up my friend Miao and headed to the market. At the entrance were a bunch of people selling what appeared to be tiger furs but I doubt they really were. The place was huge and full of all different types of things. This market was the only place I have seen Tang dynasty pottery which has become one of my favorites. I ended up buying some dancers from that period because I could not find the piece I really wanted in a size smaller than 1m.

Bargaining was harder than at the other markets but still had to be tried. When you walked away here they usually did not follow. The good thing was the abundance of stalls selling exactly the same thing so you had plenty of chances.



























After the market we found a tea house which was fortuitous seeing as my mother had been talking about wanting to go to one the night before. We got to sit in the special VIP room which seemed a lot like the other room but cost everyone an extra 10 quai. They of course told us this after we ordered.

The tea was good. We all got different kinds although Miao’s won for coolness. It came in a teapot with its own candle and liquid sugar that boiled out looking very suave. The food was also free so we tried at least one of everything on the menu. Most of it was Shanghainese style which I am not a bug fan of but my mom and aunt barb loved everything except the feet and necks.

After gorging ourselves on many different types of free food we wandered over to Tiananmen and walked through a park to get there. It was really beautiful and I am glad we stumbled on it. The square was pretty windy so we walked through it quickly.

After that we headed down to the hutongs and walked around there for a while. It was fun having Miao around as he could answer a lot of our questions. I finally found out what the people with nothing are selling, faked receipts to send in for expense reports. I never expected there to be a huge black market for that but there are a lot of people selling them.

We also wandered into a Chinese medicine store which was one of the oldest in Beijing. It was fun just walking around and seeing all the different things. That area remains one of my favorite in Beijing.

I was able to find what I think was where I developed my love for hot pot. The first place I went to last august when I was here for a week only. It looks very similar and has about the same number of small streets to wander down to get to.

We wanted to see the flag lowering ceremony in the square so we headed back to get good spots. We managed to get a pretty good place but we could have stood anywhere and seen over almost everyone, at least my mom, aunt barb and I. The tour group next to us was talking about how unfair it was that the foreigners got to see and they did not, thanks Miao for the translation. I felt bad for a second but remembered that we were standing behind everyone else and the only reason we could see was genetic.

I ended up holding my camera up for a group of around 8 people behind me as a gesture of compassion. At first I did not realize people were watching the screen of my camera until Miao mentioned something, once I realized though it was pretty easy to still take pictures and let everyone see when I wasn’t.

We had to skedaddle (spelled correctly on the first try according to Word, I am awesome) after this to get to the hotel where I thought we were supposed to meet the parents of one of my friends from Seattle. Her parents were on a tour and their first stop after Turkey was Beijing. We went to the hotel were I thought they were staying and after looking for every possible variation of their name I used their business center to find out they were staying in a hotel that had no words in common with the hotel we were at except for hotel.


We finally got there and met up with them. It was interesting to talk to them because they have spent a lot of time traveling and done some really interesting things in their lives. After talking we headed back to Sanlitun for foot massages and more pizza. A good way to end a full day.