Freezing Weekend...

On Friday Vik and I spent the day together. We met at the Silk market which is another massive indoor market with everything you could imagine in there. It was alot easier to bargin down the price there I think but alot more full on with people grabbing you and yelling at you to buy their things. I bought some beanies with Vik from $25 down to $4 each, she bought some shoes and we both bought a USB (which later Vik opened her's and it had someone's photo's on there of a holiday at the snow skiing hahaha!) lucky it was cheap!

We just shared a massive bowl of noodles that cost a few dollars for lunch then took a train to the Temple of Heaven (bypassing a chinese bakery). The Temple was a series of 3 constructions that were varying sizes simply built for the purpose of giving offerings to different Gods, as well as "Divine" kitchens and corridoors for preparing the sacrifices and things. Pretty cool place but it was so cold so we got over it pretty quick. Caught a train back up to Tien'namen to look for a bookshop that I'd read about but we pretty soon gave up and just walked to the next subway home, which above the subway was a massive building called "Beijing Books"!! We bought a few but they're no cheaper then in Australia.

We were dying to watch an English DVD that night so were looking for the men that sell them on the street...the one time we want them there no where to be found...But Jessica must of read our mind because when we got home she had been out that day and bought Revoloutionary Road for us to watch! Vikki was not at all impressed with my bed and said she had a bad night sleep haha! It shows I must be used to it now.

Saturday we all met up at Panjiayuan Market known as the Dirt market because it's outside and been going for years, all the village people used to bring there traditional wares and sell on this big dirt area. It's apparently the biggest market in Asia and it's huge!!!! we were there for over an hour and only saw less than a quarter of it but it was too cold to stay any longer. I bought a scarf and headband and Rosie bought a teapot, Peta bought a little pocket watch, and Vik bought a scarf. We took a taxi to Tien'namen in an attempt to find the Underground City...we didn't go with high hopes because no one we ever asked had heard about it and all over the internet travellers say it has taken them hours to find and often haven't found it at all....but was a great tour if you were able to find it. What it is is a series of tunnels that go all around under Beijing that was created years ago for the "high-ups" if Beijing ever came under attack. But, there are apparently heaps of opening though all are extremely hard to find being just little doors down tiny alleys and my tour book only had one of them listed. We got as close as we thought and then started asking people, finally one guy said yes and told us which way to go but at the same time tuk tuk drivers came passed and said we know exactly where it is....in our huge rush of excitement we STUPIDLY forgot to comfirm a price before starting the trip! it was a fun ride and pretty scary on the main roads but then they started taking us through the little allyways and pulled up out the front of a big door that said Underground City....But...It had a sign saying it had been closed since April for construction :( Thats when it all went downhill....The Tuk Tuk people started demanding the ridiculous amount of 300 Yuan and pulled out thier WordArt business cards with the price list on it!!! we were pretty annoyed at them because they knew it would of been closed so we initially said they were getting nothing...that did not go down well at all and they started yelling for 300 and following us on their bikes. I dont mind being yelled at but someone grabbing my arm demanding money is another thing... We all started yelling then and I think the locals were loving a bit of action! Seeing Vikki has the loudest voice by far she gave them a hundred followed by the rest of us which was still far too much money then we turned and left, they were still yelling but stopped following us.

We spent the afternoon in the Forbidden City which was goo to finally see but a bit of a let down I think...Everything over here looks big and great designs but you are never allowed in any building so its a mad push with the millions of asians to get to the window where you can take a photo and see in, plus we were all freezing and hungry.

Went to Hou Hai the Ex-pat area for a warm drink and dinner before heading to the Beijing Theatre (which is a beautiful building inside but no cameras) and watched the Shanghi Ballet...I hate Ballet! I had a nose that wouldn't stop running so all the prestigious theatre-going Chinese now think its normal for Australians to watch the ballet with 2 bits of tissue hanging out your nose..and the Music was awful! a high pitched screeching lady singing what I'm assuming was words. the other girls loved it though so obviously being a non-dancer I just wasn't able to appreciate it.