So like I said before, our third day in Beijing we were on our own. There’s this really cool place we were told about called Silk Street that we wanted to go see. We just had to get there. And what’s a cheap way for 3 kids to get around a city? The subway. The Beijing Subway System. No English anywhere. Regrets. Actually, it wasn’t that bad. It wasn’t great, but we eventually figured out what we needed to do to get to Silk Street.
We had to ride for about 45 minutes each way and it was literally like each subway car was a sardine can. It was so crowded! We were also the only non-Asian (that’s probably politically incorrect) people on the subway. Apparently tourists don’t venture down there often, understandably so. That warranted pictures and stares the entire ride also. Ugh, I know I’m perfect and awesome and all but sometimes having strangers take your picture is just soooooo exhausting. *sarcasm*
There was this really cool dude playing guitar and singing the whole ride too so that was entertaining. Plus he was wearing the creepiest leather trench coat I've ever seen. All of this for the small price of 2 yuan. 2 YUAN. That’s like 30 cents. Totally worth it.
Finally, we made it to Silk Street and it was noooooothing like what we expected. I was thinking it would be like an open market on the street with like scorpions and octopus on a stick and weird food and tiny Buddha statues for sale. I’m not sure where I came up with that idea, but I do know that it was an incorrect assumption. The place was like a mall but every floor was just a square with mirrored aisles and tiny shops on either side. Each floor had something different. Like the first floor was shoes and purses, the second was clothes and jewelry, and so on.
Now, each shop was seriously IDENTICAL. You see the exact same thing in every single one as you walk past. That’s how it was for all the purse shops and everything. So bizarre. All of the workers would stand at the entrance to their shop and just say, "Hey lady, hey lady, you want ____?" Fill in the blank with either shoes, purse, wallet, watch, and so on.
But the deal with Silk Street is that nothing has a price tag. You have to ask the owner how much something is and then they basically look you up and down, judge your current financial status, and name a price that follows suit. But then you’d barter and say no I don’t want to pay that much blah blah. It is the most uncomfortable and exhausting thing in the world because they’d yell at you when you name a price and call you crazy and throw things. It’s very high stress. My favorite was this girl at the purse shop made me name a price and then when I did she said, “Oh no friend girl, you kill me.” Honestly, I’m kind of an awkward person at times, we all know this, and Silk Street brings out your inner most awkward self. Those clever shop keepers. It was such an experience though, I’ll never forget it. I kept thinking that we should have one of these back home but the government would shut it down an hour after it opened up since almost everything they sell are knockoffs of expensive name brand items. The best part about our Silk Street experience is that I realized I totally rock at haggling.
*see sign above my head*
Afterwards we were starving. Everyone knows that shopping makes you hungry, it’s just a fact of life. So we walked (sprinted) across 10 lanes of chaotic China traffic to McDonald’s. Obviously we had to try it at some point while we were here. Plus it had been over 72 hours since I last ate a chicken nugget. My body can’t handle that kind of shock. I need to slowly wean myself off of the chicken nugget addiction. Anyways, I was super curious about what McD’s would be like in China so I thought I’d share my findings with you all. Basically, it’s about the same. The fries are a little weird tasting, there are a few strange additions to the menu like a hamburger with sausage links on it too (ew), and the portions are smaller (America is fat, China is skinny). Overall though, it wasn’t too different. But our fatal mistake while there was obliviously ordering and drinking the fountain pop. The #1 rule while in China: DON’T DRINK THE WATER. We aren’t even supposed to brush our teeth with the water, I do anyways, but that’s because I’m a rebel/lazy. But the fountain pop is China water mixed with the pop syrup. Plus it had ice in it too. Duh, how did we not think about that? So now I’m just waiting for my digestive track to shut down on me. I’m sure it’ll be fine but I was pretty freaked out when I realized what we did. No one is sick yet though, but we’ll see how the next few days go. American McD’s > Chinese McD’s.
So that was our time in Beijing. It was a fabulous couple of days, I’ll never forget the things we did and saw. But Chongqing is the final destination, so the journey continues there.
So that was our time in Beijing. It was a fabulous couple of days, I’ll never forget the things we did and saw. But Chongqing is the final destination, so the journey continues there.