TJ Visits China! :)

Shanghai and Shopping

My friend TJ, who I went to high school as well as college, planned his trip to China the moment I told him I was moving here. I waited nearly 5 months for his arrival but the time was here. He arrived on Thursday, November 15th at the PuDong International Airport in Shanghai and he was going to be for one week. One week is not nearly enough time but I was going to make it work.

 I had planned a big dinner the night he came in with a lot of my friends here in Shanghai as a Welcome to China. It was a fun night of laugher, eating, and drinking. We finished the night with a visit to a bar for some more drinking and dancing. After being on a plan for 15 hours, I was hoping all of this would allow for a long and needed restful night so the jet lag would not be as bad for the rest of the trip. Unfortunately he was unable to sleep for some strange reason.

Even though he was running on 36+ hours without sleep, Friday was still an active day of shopping. The plan was to show him a mix of shopping spots and sightseeing, however, things don't always turn out as planned. Stop number one was the South Bund Fabric Market. This place was vendor after vendor of tailoring shops. TJ ended up getting a tailored suit for 700 RMB (I think we could have gotten a cheaper price based on the events of the rest of the day but it was still a really cheap price). There he also got a casual coat for around 500 RMB. My friend Jose came with and he got himself a coat as well.

Stop number two was lunch in XinTianDi. This area of Shanghai is a western hangout. There is also a large number of really good restaurants. We ate at a Vietnamese restaurant that had an AMAZING curry duck leg. Afterwards, we went the Fake Market on 580 Nanjing West Road. Basically you can get anything you want on these five floors of shops for less than 10% of retail price. You do take the chance with electronics of it not working property or with things breaking down or tearing up easily but at these prices, you can't past of the opportunity.

We spent 4 hours in this place buying everything from chopsticks to jeans to a Louis Vuitton computer bag . TJ had all his souvenir shopping done after the first day and at some very low prices. Of course like many other places, I think we overpaid on a few things but we didn't care. The Louis Vuitton bag was only 250 RMB after the tough haggling we did. Granted it was a fake but it looked nice.

We ended the night with some dinner at this Chinese restaurant near my apartment and had a great dinner topped with some BaiJiu. If you had never had BaiJiu before, it tastes awful and is about 50% alcohol. We got a small glass of it and my friend, being the good Southern boy he is didn't think that that one little glass would be able to get him buzzed let alone drunk. He was in for a surprise! After one sip he was buzzing. The sad part is we ended up getting three of those glasses, which was a bad idea.

His first full day was over and very tiring. The plan was to leave for Beijing on Saturday morning and arrive back on Tuesday night, but as I stated, not everything happens as planned. Saturday morning came and my boyfriend wanted to go to this French Crepe place for brunch. I couldn't say no to that, so the trip to Beijing was pushed back to Saturday night. After brunch which was so good, TJ wanted to do some more shopping so I took him to the fake market at the Shanghai Museum of Science and Technology in PuDong. I had never been to this place before, but I figured it would be the same as the other fake market which was a correct assessment. What I did not know is this fake market also contained a fabric market. One suit, coat, and tons of other stuff later we finished with the market. It was getting late and we had decided that it would be best to leave in the morning for Beijing. After waking up at 5am, we got on the 7:50 train to Beijing. Finally!

On the Road to Beijing

I have a classmate that has lived in Beijing for two years now working as an architect and she told us the best place to find a hotel was in the BeiXinQiao area. Well, this place at first look was on the edge of murder- and hooker-ville. We had no idea where my friend had sent us so we stopped in a McDonalds for some much needed lunch and to use their Wi-Fi. After tiring to find a place, my wonderful-beyond-words boyfriend called me and told me he had booked us a Homestead and gave us the phone number for the lady and she got us there without an issue. 

The Great Wall of China

After getting checked into the homestead, the landlady gave us information on the best way to get to the Great Wall of China. It was easier than I thought it would be, just one 12 RMB bus ride up there. How easier could it get?

Upon arriving to the BaDaLing section of the Great Wall, it was, for lack of better words, FUCKING COLD! It had to be between 0F and 10F. There was snow and ice on the ground which was nice. I was hoping for some snow photos, I just wasn't prepared for how cold it would be. TJ had an interesting experience that I have yet to have in China. Natured called before we headed went up to the wall and there was only a public restroom. Not sure if you have heard the rumors about public toilets in China but best guess, is those rumors are true. No toilet paper and just a hole in the ground. TJ threaten to buy a scarf from one of the vendors but he had a more creative approach. If you want more details, just ask.

Anyway! After TJ's adventure, we had to get some warmer gear before we went increased our altitude to the Great Wall. The vendors were extremely pushy and it was hard to even get a word in but TJ managed to get a hat that one might think of when they picture a Russian and he got some thick gloves and an additional scarf. I only bought a hat but for a lower price from another vendor, again TJ over paid.....HA!

There are two ways to reach the Great Wall at BaDaLing. There are stairs and a ski lift. Can you guess which one our cold and lazy asses did?

After exiting the ski lift, we were on the Great Wall of China. What a sight! It was absolutely amazing. The magnitude of the wall tracing the snow topped mountain edge was surreal. Just like with the Grand Canyon in the US, pictures are just not enough to capture the beauty of it all. The Great Wall of China is a must see for anyone visiting China. Both TJ and I were glad we did not exclude this from the list.

Walking the wall was difficult at times with the uneven stair rises. There were times going back to the ski lift that we thought we would never make it back or that we might have a heartache if we go one more step. You never know just how out of shape you are until you have climbed the Great Wall...HA! 

Of course by the time we were on the wall, the temperature had increased and with the walking, it was getting very hot. All the apparel we had purchased at the start was too much for us. We did have some Chinese people come up to use and ask if they could take some photos with us, not sure if it was because of the hats or the fact we were Americans. That was a new experience for both of us even though I had heard cases of that happening in the less international cities in China.

When I told my boyfriend about the snow on the mountains, he was sad he had to work and wasn't able to come. Being from Ecuador, he has never seen snow before, a sight I hope to change in the near future.

We finished day one in Beijing with a short stroll through the Olympic park before heading off to meet my former classmate, Kim from the University of Tennessee. The Bird's Nest was a building I could not leave Beijing without seeing and my friend was more than happy to build in time for that.

So far Beijing has not given me a good first impression at least compared to Shanghai. People say "You either like one or the other," I think I like Shanghai better without a doubt. It wasn't until we met up with Kim that I finally saw a part of Beijing I would not mind living. She took us to dinner in the "western" area of Beijing, near the TuanJieHu Metro Station.

Dinner was Hot Pot per my request since TJ had yet to have Hot Pot while in China. I am not a big fan of it but I was trying my best to have him experience China as much as possible in the short time he was here. The Hot Pot was Sichuan, an area of China that is known for having really spicy food (I LOVE this type of Chinese cuisine). I don't think the food agreed with TJ but it was great getting to talk to Kim after two years and meeting her boyfriend.

BeiHai Park
Day two in Beijing began later than expected. After all the walking from the day prior, it was not surprising that we overslept by an hour or so. We needed the rest!

The first stop on the agenda for day two was the Forbidden City, however, the taxi driver misunderstood where we wanted to go when he pointed to it on the paper our landlady gave us. When he dropped us off, we had no idea where we were. The area did not look like the entrance to the Forbidden City but then nothing in Beijing looked like I had expected thus far. TJ and I saw all these people gathering around little shops and TJ said that this is what he was expecting to see in China. They were small shops selling many different things. We ended up getting a snack which looked like caramel covered cherries on a stick and walking around.

The treat was good so I thought; TJ had a different opinion (I guess I have adjusted to the flavors here in China). Before TJ threw his away, we saw an entrance to a park. It was a beautiful lake side park. Not long after entering, I saw a sign for BeiHai Park and I knew where we were. I had been told to visit this park by many people and they were right, it is a must see in Beijing.

Salary

For anyone who is wondering about salaries in China, the cost of living in China can be cheap or very expensive, it all depends on the life style you wish to have. I am not talking about living like a person of wealth and means but more so living the Chinese life style or a western life style. 

 From my observation, the Chinese people have the ability to live very modestly. A typical meal is cooked at home and usually many generations will live together. I suppose you could say that for most foreigners regardless of the country they live in that the life style is different than the local community; however, in China there seems to be a big difference between locals and foreigners.

Most Americans and Europeans have their Starbucks coffee every morning (I have been told that China has the highest priced Starbucks coffee in the world...unverified) and are not use to eating Chinese cuisine every day. A western restaurant is about 200% or greater than Chinese restaurants. There is also the consideration of travelling factored into the foreigner cost of living. Whether it is travelling to home country or exploring the country and surrounding countries, foreigners have the extra costs associated.

A typical Chinese salary is around 4,000 RMB per month according to my own research whereas an entry level western salary is around 10,000 RMB per month. There are some westerners that make a lot higher than that.