The next stop is SiDaoKouBei [37-39+Article]

The title: Annie has picked her Chinese name, SiDaoKouBei, based on our favorite bus stop. Also, China has decided that we are not only a couple, but we are married. And I should buy everything for her. Oh, China…

I felt like a real reporter for the first time in China on Monday. I went with Zhou Jing, a reporter for the world news section of China.org.cn, to the opening ceremony of a Czech astronomy exhibit at the Beijing Ancient Observatory. Apparently she has an “in” with the Czech embassy, so she always gets invited to these things and scored me an “exclusive interview” with the Czech ambassador. The story went well and was online by Tuesday. You can read it here.



After the great adventures of the weekend, I decided to take my explorer hat off for a day and go to spinning class at the gym after work instead. It kicked my butt, but it felt good to work that into my week again.

I donned the explorer hat again on Tuesday as Annie and I made our way to Joy City, a mall in Biejing. On the way there, we also came across 77th Street, an underground mall mostly for locals. The stuff was cool and relatively cheap, and I got a pair of just-for-show glasses, trendy by Chinese and American standards. At Joy City, I bought a new pair of flip flops from H&M for RMB 30 and a Blizzard from Dairy Queen - yummm.

Wednesday was a great day at work since my piece about Great Wall Fresh went online and was on the main page, along with my picture with Mr. Chen!

After work, Annie and I went to WuDouKou to meet up with a friend we made at the Great Wall Beach Party. He pointed us in the direction of Pyro Pizza, a popular hangout for foreigners in the university area. We had a great margarita pizza and mozzarella sticks. We will definitely be back there.

With no other plans in WuDouKou, we decided to explore the area. We came across an outdoor market that stretched on for a few blocks and had anything you could think of – clothes, food, pets, knock-offs, etc. I got a few things there – the best among them being The Karate Kid on DVD for RMB 5! It’s in English with Chinese subtitles and shows Jaden Smith in Beijing, so I thought it would be a great memory!

So much to look forward to this weekend – stay tuned! And if anyone back home wants anything from China, let me know. It’s all so cheap. Love.