Beijing hen leng

Ok… Zuotian he Jintian Beijing was minus zero degrees! Tomorrow it is supposed to be minus 8 degrees!!! We are getting pretty used to the cold now… I think we are getting used to it because it has been gradually getting colder. Not like we were in Aussie summer then BAM crazy cold weather.

We have had various activities in the afternoons! which are good! it keeps us busy and it helps us learn and experience various aspects of Chinese culture. We have done paper cutting which is a very popular thing in Beijing, we have done singing.. which is a bit... difficult... and yesterday we did tai chi! We are learning how to do stuff with a spear too!!! its awesome!!!!

Me tai chi-ing it up!

Last night we all went out for the first time in Beijing. We went to a club called “Propaganda” which was pretty cool, it had a neat underground feel to it. A lot of ex-pats there too. RnB music all the way with some whacked left field music too! The trip there was not so cool though. All of us required 3 taxis, we got into the second taxi and showed the taxi driver the address, he said he knew where it was. But as it turned out, we did not get there. We thought he was taking us for a joy ride but it turns out that he went in the correct direction, just he didn’t know exactly where it was. The meter was like at 40 kuai which is STUPID! The others got there fine, paying only 25 kuai. We got the taxi driver to drop us at a main street and so we could walk and find our own way. We didn’t wanna pay the fare as he did not take us to our destination. So all of us ran across the road. Mark didn’t so our attempted “runner” failed as he had to pay the fare.

“Propaganda” was having a ladies night, so we did not pay entry and we were given 3 free drinks! I had 2 mojitos which were really really nice, and I had a “propaganda” which is this cocktail with a mixture of different alcohols in a martini glass which the bartender then lights up with a lighter. I also randomly bumped into Michelle Wong!!! We did not decide to head out to propaganda until the last minute, so I had not rung anyone… but it was soo cool to bump into her!!! It was like.. omg.. I actually know someone here????

We left around 3ish and one of the other girls on the tour had “picked” up this Chinese guy, who with his friend took us to this restaurant for supper. It was pretty random and ok. But yea… I don’t know. The clubbing is not the same as it was in Hangzhou. Its good… but it is missing something… or… maybe I am just all clubbed out and I am over it. Nevertheless it was still a good night out.

Today we had our excursion which turned out to be like “An Amazing Race.” We were given instructions to get to a certain destination which was “Chi Bei Hai” which had a huge lake which had frozen over!!! We were to find our own way there, which meant finding the correct bus, and then we were to find certain buildings and to take photos of us there. We were also to find a random person and to ask them 5 questions.

It was pretty cool, I must admit I was quite tired so I lacked the zest and energy that I usually had. But yea. It was really cold today, and seeing the frozen lake made it even colder! OMG it was psycho… there were men who were jumping into the frozen lake to swim!!! They would come out and their bodies all red from the cold! CRAZY!!! I think they do it as it is good for their health or something. After we had finished our tasks and had lunch, we went iceskating on the lake!! Cost us 20 kuai to hire the skates and yea… it was pretty mad aye!! Just iceskating outdoors instead of indoors in an artificial environment, and to see the lake just completely frozen.. you could see leaves and stuff in the ice! I skated around the lake, and went around a building which was really nice!

HrMM... I dont think these boats are going anywhere

After that, we went for starbucks for a nice warm drink. Biggest disappointment and waste of money. I had the “famous” hot chocolate which was pretty ordinary. After that the group split up. The girls went shopping and I went home with the boys to chill out and rest. I tried to get my internet working. I talked to the man in the admin office… attempted my chinese… and yea Got him to come to my room to look at my internet. He couldn’t get the connection, in the end Duncan came and knocked on my door and yea… he hoo

ked up our net!!! After that Lincoln and Joel popped in, and we decided to go for dinner.

We walked down the street and ate at one of the small restaurants there (which we have been doing lately which is great for the wallet!) We ordered this wicked Beijing dish called Ka pow tofu. (I cant be sure if that’s correct spelling) but it was really really nice!!!

Labels: Beijing, China, China Gang, Clubbing, Culture, Food, Sightseeing, Sport