Today was our first day in Beijing.

Our driver, Mr. Cmoe Qiu (pronounced “Cho”), picked us up and took us to the Friendship Store in central Beijing. We browsed through the store which had interesting as well as odd things in it. We finished up there and made our way to lunch with our new friends, Iris, Stellar, and Claire, Stellar’s seven year old daughter.

They ordered lots of good food for lunch and we had a great time getting to know each other. I taught Claire how to make cootie catchers and she really liked that.

After lunch we went to a clothing shop called SZBR that had locally designed and made jackets, pants and shirts. I found a great jacket and can’t wait to wear it!

After that, we went to the YaShow Market, which is a very intense experience. It’s four floors of presumably copied brand-name items. I bought myself a Paul Frank teeshirt and a skirt. My brother got two Ferrari shirts and my Dad got frames just like his own glasses. We had fun but were glad to get out of there.

By the way, nothing is the price that they say at first. So, be sure to haggle with them!

Bugsly