Last full day in Beijing

My time in Beijing has gone by so quickly! Even though this city is so big and I’ve only had 8 days to explore its territory, I definitely feel like I’ve done it right! Starting with the Great Wall, The Parks, the Temples, the nightlife and the Beijing Duck, I couldn’t have asked for more of this wonderful city. I know that my experience would have been different had I not stayed with Darah and Marshall. They’ve had 9 months of living here to hand pick the amazing restaurants we visited and share with me the ins and outs of this city. Also, it would have been a completely different experience had I not been with Marshall, who speaks the language. I would imagine that a one week vacation to Beijing, not knowing the language and not staying with friends who live here, would be amazingly intimidating, somewhat frustrating, and beautifully overwhelming.

On my last full day in Beijing, I woke up early (the first time since the Great Wall), got my American Breakfast at the Bridge Café and caught up on my blogging. This routine has definitely been my comfort in Beijing, my home away from home. The Marshall and I headed off to 798, the up and coming trendy art district of Beijing. It is a part of the city where old factories and manufacturing buildings were renovated into design studios and art galleries. You have rustic old China paired with trendy new Beijing. The old buildings provide an amazing shell for the new ideas, youth, and freedom of expression that is now accepted in modern China. And in the middle of this art district, there lays the Lebrun James Basketball Court sponsored by Nike. Basically, Nike is genius. They built this full court basketball gym with bleachers and all and covered it with Lebrun James everything. They have basketball games there, shooting contests, you name it, and they have it. And it’s in the middle of up and coming trendy Beijing. Brilliant! In addition to watching a couple of shooting contests, Marshall and I walked in and out of the bizarre art exhibits that lined the complex. This place was also a photographer’s dream. I thought of Denaye and Marco often and I imagined them both with their cameras, being creative with the angles and snapping away at the surroundings vs. actually entering inside any of the exhibits. We did both and I have to admit, the art was a little abstract for my own tastes, but I love taking the pictures!

And since it was my last full day in China and its China, I couldn’t get just 1 cheap but amazing massage. So, we went back to Oriental Taipan and got another 90 minute foot massage. This time we added on a 20 minute head massage (all for under $30, no tipping). It was a little slice of heaven. And though I felt a bit indulgent, who can pass it up? We were supposed to head back to our place before heading out for the night but our 20 minute head massage was more important that a wardrobe change… so onto the next item, one more visit to Yashow market for last minute shopping. J It was today I realized that these people do not say no to you. So start lower than you think to start, and don’t negotiate up. Just state your final price up front and it’ll speed up the tedious but entertaining process of purchasing. And Beijing wouldn’t be complete without going to the local Mexican restaurant named Cantina and eating dinner while the BEST American Hip Hop mix is blaring throughout the joint. I felt like I was at En Fuego and it was Taco Tuesday-except I was in Beijing and there weren’t any Mexicans. In fact, this place was where all foreigners went to eat! It was pretty funny! Darah met us at dinner along with their friend Elizabeth. After great conversations, 2 orders of mile-high nachos and a few margaritas, we headed to a lounge called Mesh and then back to Punk (my third time there this week!). As scrubby as I looked, and as out of place that made me feel, I am glad we went out on my last night there. I felt like the week went full circle as the place I first visited in China was also my last. And as most of the nights ended this week, we were fast asleep the whole 45 minute cab ride home to Wudouko.