Beijing - Arrival and Silk Market

A day after I arrived in Jakarta, Chad and I headed off to Beijing. The timing was a bit insane, but Chad had meetings there for work, and I could hardly refuse the opportunity to join him. Another couple from the embassy went too, so Judi and I played tourist while Nikki and Chad worked.

The day before we flew I had a nice little breakdown. I was exhausted from 2 days of flying, 2 weeks of traveling, and 2 months of stress about moving half way around the world. No way did I want to go to a country where I couldn't even ask where the toilets are! Of course, when we got there, everything was okay. Nikki had arranged a driver to take us to our very well appointed hotel, and the concierge had handy cards with translations of all the tourist destinations on them to give to the taxi drivers.

After a good sleep, I was ready to go, so Judi and I spent part of our first day at the Silk Market. The market has everything from chopsticks to knock-off iPods to (fake?) Columbia jackets. It was a test of endurance, and a bargaining "trial by fire". All the vendors spoke enough English to bargain, so that made it easier, but they also had the habit of suggesting starting prices higher than we'd pay in Canada, fake crying (because you're killing them with your price suggestion), and generally pouncing on the uncertainty in my eyes. In the end, I came home with a few good deals, so it was worth it. By comparison, bargaining in Indonesia is a breeze!