Panianyuan- The “Dirt Market”
Since there are so many sites to see in Beijing Jenn and I haven’t had much interested in shopping, but we definitely wanted to go to the antique flea market in Panianyuan today. It’s supposed to be the best place to get antiques, crafts, and artwork from local artists. Also, it was the first day that Mary was able to join us on our sightseeing as she had been working every day since we arrived. It worked out perfectly because she speaks Mandarin and is able to barter with with the locals. The prices here are insanely low, and we are like kids in a candy store- I got by boyfriend my favorite find for the day, but I can’t tell what it is because he will be reading my post and I don’t want to ruin the surprise!
hundreds of porcelain vases...
Mary and Jenn check out tea sets
and haggle prices
Showing this little boy his digital picture on my camera was a
major highlight of my time in Beijing
This little one was fascinated by my camera so I took his picture and showed it to him afterward. I bought a present for my future nephew from his mother and while we were negotiating a price her little boy started to cry because he was hungry and wanted to eat lunch. Mary pulled out a small bag of M&M’s and those tears disappeared right away though! Clearly toddlers’ love for M&M’s transcends all cultural differences! All of my nieces and nephews love the stuff which is why I like to call it “baby crack.”
I'm obsessed with Mao propaganda- I bought a ton of posters.
But this Andy Warhol knock off was a bit too steep for me at 400 RMB
Wangfujing Snack Street
This was by far one of my favorite experiences in Beijing. At 4:00 pm every day, there is an open market on Wanffujing street (quite literally means “Snack Street”) where you can get fresh and amazing street food. Jenn and I are quite literally throwing caution to the wind and trying everything, and I am loving that we are both foodies who love to try anything no matter how gross it looks. We got fried calamari, stinky tofu, candied huckleberry fruit, donuts, and dumplings. Everything was hella good and since I am writing this entry in retrospect, I can say that my digestive system has had zero reactions to my samplings of Chinese street food- just make sure it's hot and cooked right in front of you!
Raw fish on sticks and been curd
Candied fruit- we tried candied huckleberry- the traditional candied fruit
stinky tofu...it tastes better than it smells!
This is an amazing travelogue. While I go through the rest of them, thought will drop in a line. A street side view of Beijing is indeed interesting. I'd read a book called Smoke and Mirrors, about China in its "formative" years. And this reminded me of just that. First time here. WIll frequent more.
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