The Chinese are effing brilliant! [Day 6]

I love the pace of this place. It’s fast but relaxed at the same time. You can tell that by the way that people drive. In the US, they would be called horrible drivers, but here, it all seems to flow so well. They have a way of driving without ever stopping and rarely braking. Intersections are a free-for-all, without lights or signs most of the time. I guess this Chinese proverb describes it all:

"Be not afraid of going slowly but only afraid of standing still."

The mall that Celine took us to today was kind of a letdown. It was about 8 floors high, and was basically one huge department store with a food court at the top. Everything seemed overpriced, and the employees were way too eager to help. I really like the clothing here, but I'm not sure how much of that I can put up with. The good news: I resisted getting McDonalds (I'm trying to wait at least a week until I give in to America's guiltiest pleasure).

I saw my first drunk Chinese person! It must have been this guy's 18th birthday or something, because, out of a group of about 7 people, he was the only one who could barely hold his head up. They were taking shots of Yanjing from bowls. Tsingtao and Yanjing are the most popular beers here, and they most commonly come in green 32-ounce bottles that cost upwards of 3 kuai (US$0.44). There were 16 empty bottles on that table. Gambei!

I was pretty proud of the UNC interns last night. We explored a windy street near our cafeteria full of shops, outdoor eating venues, and the occasional stray dog. It just went on and on and on. We navigated our way home after that without having to double back at all!