中国须知

Reporting from Beijing: Here's what i've gathered in my one week in Beijing and Dalian:

Terms –

• 换一下 – means “excuse me” when u need to get off the train, out of lifts. But doesn’t help when beggars approach u on the subway (esp the main line 1 that runs along Tiananmen) cuz everyone will be crouching in one corner.
• 清真means 'halal'. so dun try to ask for pork at the 清真bbq stalls like i did
• 兜 - at the airport security check, the gong an (police) asked me what i had in my "dou", i was stumped for a while - how did he know i had a dou (mcdull) in my bag... then i realised he asked if i've anything in my pocket.
  

Shopping -

• i love wandering around the main shopping strip - wangfujing dajie
• Don’t bother cuz prices r the same, if not more expensive, especially in the malls. Unless u r looking for fakes. Silk street is then a good place to go but nothing special. Evry level looks the same. Otherwise, give me Bangkok anytime.
• Shoes – lots of nice (track) shoes and girlish shoes with画蛇添足 designs. But if u r a bigger than size 39 like me, forget. My feet are so big that foot reflexologists at dalian commented that they r 四平八稳and asked if I can swim well. I told them I dive.

Toilet –

• bring your own if possible. Otherwise, door/door locks, wet tissue, hand sanitiser, soaps and toilet paper
• Rare to see toilets and water coolers in the stations, only at the Olympic station! Didn’t visit the toilet but the brand new toilets near the bird’s nest already have no hand soaps and broken doors. Quite consistent with the toilets throughout Beijing.



• ONE of the toilets in my friend's house - shud give u an idea of the size of her house!
  
  

Subway -

• There’re security checks at every subway station, so bags have to go umpteen times of scanning every day. To prevent handphone from going haywire, keep it switched off. Watering hole - A rare sight in subway stations, n whole of china. As difficult to find as clean toilets
• Their version of the ez-link cards can be purchased easily at ALL subway stations BUT refund at 3 ulu stations only. How “ulu”? so ulu that when I offered to give mine to my friend when I left, she refused to take it cuz queuing will take at least an hour.

Food -

• Beijing
  Peking duck at the overrated Quanjude; 刷(shua4 - don’t have the exact word in pc) 锅 – not a lamb (骚) person so didn’t try
  Exotic food - 现炸现卖scorpions on a stick
  
  
• Breakfast: My chinese friend's mom said my appetite is as huge, if not bigger than theirs. Anyway, dou juang there is not sweet and alittle chao tar, dou hua is salty with spicy soup. Normal breakfast portion is a bowl of porridge, a plate of steamed buns and 2 doughsticks. Love the eatery right outside my difficult-to-find hotel in the hutong, which turned out to be a warm stay
  


• Tried korean cold noodles for the 1st time and it's authentic! (don't know what's real but i believe my friends.)
  

Friends

• really thankful that my fren invited me to join her for home visit to Dalian and stopover in Beijing. Her mom really took care of me - covering me with blanket after i came out from the shower, topping up my bowl with food
• Saw another friend in Dalian

– Yes, this is the source but I heard all小黄, no toy dogs

Places – my favourites

1. Forbidden city


2. Tian tan – where emperors prayed to gods and ancestors for good harvest and luck for country


3. Great wall – where mcdull was supposed to have his photo taken and i was climbing on all fours
   




4. Summer Palace – the famous long corridors!


5. Ming tomb – the one in Nanjing is better, grander



6. Ming Dian café in Dalian - beautiful!! (er…. But I think bad investment for taiwanese company cuz chinese tea and water are the favourite drinks. For the Chinese, even latte is drunk with at least a packet of sugar and lots of milk. No wonder starbucks is so popular with them).




7. 
   
   Good location – near village (where my friend’s house is) which is like Korean setting in korean dramas

Other obligatory mention:

birds' nest actually, i prefer tis version

Air quality in Beijing – just BAD.

The locals said I speak mandarin like them but without the accent, and that I don’t sound like those singaporeans on tv. Should I be glad about that??? Ok, I don’t say儿（鹅） , 侠（虾），青花（蛙），尊（蹲）and I’m happy to stay at that…