Bai He and Houhai

Tonight was my first night ~out~ in Beijing and it was FUN. First we went to a vegetarian restaurant that has apparently been in a few famous films put out in the past year. It's called Bai He (Lily) vegetarian restaurant and is in the film If You Are the One, which my roommate says is a very good movie. I'll have to check it out when I'm back. We had some AWESOME fake meat, including sweet and sour pork, spare ribs, and sausages. It was really fun and everyone wants to go back there soon.

After dinner we headed over to Houhai, which is a bar district surrounding a man made lake in west Beijing. It's hopping, even on a Tuesday night. As you walk along the street, bar workers hawk their wares at you.... it's so funny, they speak any language they think you'll understand in order to get you to sit down and have a drink. One empty bar even offered us 30% off, but the rule of thumb in Beijing is not to go into a place if it's empty. There's about twenty million people in Beijing, not counting the tourists. Nowhere should be empty.

After walking around for a while we settled on a bar called Bar Sambal. I had a couple cocktails and some good conversation. I explained the ins and outs of Judaism to my Chinese classmates (who were not taught about any sort of religion in school), which was incredibly interesting. We shared popcorn and french fries and a man spun me a sugar mouse because I am a foreigner. Although now my Chinese classmates say that I am not a foreigner anymore, I am a local. Because I live here! haha. I'm slowly learning some Chinese and my roommate, Di, and friends Tara and Shelley are eager to help me learn Chinese as well as learn some American colloquialisms.

Tonight was great, I wish I had pictures to share but a) apparently that doesn't work and b) I took my camera out tonight..... with no memory card. Good job, Rachel.

Tomorrow we're going to the silk and pearl markets, the Temple of Heaven, and the Sanlitun bar district. We have the day off class so we planned a full day of shopping and sightseeing. This is the Beijing that I wanted to see.