The Subway and Lunch in a Hutong!

I didn't have that much to say about yesterday so I thought I'd just tag the two days together! Yesterday, Saturday, Vivian took me on the subway to my office so that my card was set up for Monday and I knew the way, altogether the journey took about 40 mins which isn't too bad. The subways are quite similar to the tube in London and are mostly air-conditioned which is a nice relief from the roasting heat outside! I found out the office is near to Sanlitun which is where a lot of "foreigners" go to eat and drink so will most likely be checking that out at some point! Apparently the subways can get quite crowded, lets hope that it doesn't look like this on Monday morning:

The most exciting part of the subway journey for me was that I saw my first Westerner since I left the airport on Thursday! As we got closer to the office there were more westerners around which was quite nice! (I know this must sound strange but when you are surrounded by only chinese for 3 days it is quite exciting!)


We went for lunch in Sanlitun in a chinese restaurant where Vivian chose one of Beijing's speciality dishes (I think), which was a big hot pot, chicken noodle broth thing, where they tipped other ingredients into it at the table. It was nice, and something I'd never tried before.


Today, Vivians parents invited me for lunch at their home. I wasn't sure what to expect until we arrived in their village. They live about twenty minutes drive from where we are living, and their village is apparently what you would expect of a typical chinese village outside of Beijing.


One thing I did notice as we arrived and left was that I seemed to get stared at here more than anywhere else, apparently "laowai"s (foreigners) must be a lot less common out of the city, and apparently are very funny! So we turned of the main road down a dirt track past all these one storey buildings, which although are not traditional hutongs, are of that nature. We arrived at their home, where we went through an entrance door into an indoor courtyard, where there were several rooms of it including a kitchen with a bathroom off it (after a quick inspection when I washed my hands I decided to hold it in until we were home!). One of the other rooms was where her grandfather was living, and I don't know about the others. We went into her parents room, where there was a bed, bench, and chair, as well as a TV and desk. I was surprised to see the TV and air-conditioning unit as I didn't expect there to be electricity in this kind of place. So we went in, replacing our shoes with plastic slippers which I am learning is common everywhere. Her parents were very kind and generous with continuous offering of fruit and drinks before we had lunch, I didn't realise until I got home and looked it up that if you really don't want something you have to refuse it at least 3 times in Chinese culture, so when I tried to stop eating dumplings for the fourth time and it was finally accepted I was full, it was a relief, as I was full the first time I tried to stop! The food was delicious and her family very kind, I just wish I could speak a little more chinese and be able to communicate!


Here is a picture of a similar kind of building to theirs, I wanted to take a picture, but thought this would be disrespectful to their home!

Sorry this is now a mammoth post, guess I had more to say than I thought! x




And of course, not forgetting HAPPY BIRTHDAY UNCLE B!!
Hope you have a great day even if it is without me! Sorry I wont be there to put the "p" in party next week!! :) xxx