BEIJING TIP: Do squats!

Beijingers love to squat. They squat on the toilet, squat in the street, squat in the subway, squat while smoking, squat at the bus stop, squat....well u get the idea. For a newbie, so much squatting will put extensive strain on your quadriceps. So practice those squats!

Squatter spotted beside the entrance to the Temple of Heaven

Sanlitun 三里屯

Here are some pics I took my 2nd day in Beijing of Sanlitun 三里屯 - a shopping / bar / restaurant district on the east side. I can actually cycle there in about 5min.

This massive adidas is the 1st shop u see coming from the main street. This is the biggest adidas store in the world!

Here is a huge UNIQLO building next to adidas. I quite like the patterns of the windows (that fool in the corner is Denis). When shopping at UNIQLO, keep in mind that the quality of clothes in UNIQLO Japan is much higher than in UNIQLO elsewhere as the Japanese like to keep the best fabric for themselves.

What a pain to keep those windows clean!

Another building similar style to Uniqlo, i like the trees, but not sure what is inside.

Further north is a VW showroom. Here we saw some zippy paintjobs for the olympics.

Best of Beijing: Panty-hose socks

Beijing ladies hate that barefoot feeling, so what do they wear before they put on those heels? Panty-hose socks = Denis' favorite thing in Beijing! 

Seen prancing around in Beihai Park 北海公園....Sexaaay!

BEIJING TIP: Buy a rain poncho the same day u buy a bike!

Today it started pouring while Denis and I were out biking around 798 (pics to come later). We waited inside for about 1hr and the rain still kept coming down. As it was getting late, we had to bike home in the rain, in our shorts, t-shirt & sandals (abt 30min). 

Everyone else biking was wearing big ponchos that covered most of the body and bike (they come in red, yellow, blue or grey). Apparently you can buy them in the supermarket, too bad for us, there were no supermarkets on the way back home.

BJ TIP: buy a rain poncho from the supermarket!!!

update: rain poncho costs 36RMB at Lotus in Wudaokou

update: 1st post about 798

Paralympics - Water Cube

More pics at Olympic Park, this time of the water cube, what a cool structure! i will have to explore the inside later.

Paralympics - Bird's Nest

This past monday I went to see athletics at the Paralympics. Booked tickets online for just 50RMB. Here are some obligatory pics from my visit to the Nest:

Young olympic supporters must keep their energy up!

香港加油！！Yes a HK athlete actually won gold in athletics!

Funky guitar dude and Peking Duck

Last night my cousin (who just arrived on tuesday) wanted to welcome himself to Beijing with a Peking Duck dinner. Luckily I had brought my trusty food guide and lo-and-behold there was a famous duck joint just south of Wang Fu Jing 王府井 area - Liqun Roast Duck 利群烤鴨店.

Just outside on the corner of the restaurant was an old dude singing traditional songs and playing on a weird looking instrument. 

Closer inspection revealed that it was basically a lie-flat guitar (which he later told us he bought in Shanghai). It was kind of funky as the frets had keys on them which were labeled in their respective notes.

Anyway, after hanging out there for a while, we went into the restaurant. It is actually a very famous place as the walls were filled with pictures of movie stars, singers, politicians eating there. Finally we got our Liqun Peking Duck! Ended up paying 117RMB per person.