I spent most of today getting the supplies I need for this semester. After a quick breakfast of warm soy milk and millet porridge (6 yuan = $.96) we headed for the subway station. When I lived in Beijing there were only 2 subway lines, now there are 15! The only different from the Boston MBTA is that the Beijing subway was cleaner, the train was air conditioned, and I had to put my bag through an X-ray machine when entering the station. I paid 2 yuan ($.32) and went 7 stops to 雍和宫 Yonghegong Station. Yonghe Gong is the only Tibetan Buddhist temple in Beijing. Here is the Wikipedia page for it. You can see some photos here. We walked around and looked at the statues and burned some incense. The biggest Buddha statue there was 26 meters tall and was carved from a single piece of white sandalwood.
After that we went to a store in nearby Wudaoying Alley where I bought one of these HEPA filters. For those of you who aren't familiar with HEPA filters, they clean the air. I figure this way I can breathe pollution free air at least 8-10 hours a day (any time I am in the dorm room). Wudaoying is a fun place, full of lots of little cafes and shops.
After that we had lunch. I had chicken stir-fried with cashew and celery. Yum. (It was a bit expensive 48 Yuan = $7.70) but I have enough leftovers for another meal. A few of the customers in the restaurant were smoking, which drives me nuts. It is supposed to be illegal to spoke in public places in Beijing now, but the law isn't always enforced. The guys were sitting under a big "no smoking" sign too!
After an afternoon nap (jet-lag is horrible) I had a big welcome dinner for the program. At dinner I found a menu for a cake shop under the table. The English in it was really funny. I'll end this post with a quote (from next to a picture of a really yummy looking coconut cake) "Southeast Asia is locally bom warn shredded coconut stuffing with gentle cherry young lady, will deduct joyfully hand with meticulous care, a pair for faction to fresh happy partner. Born that way noble, the matchless feeling in the mouth, is the ignition sends to the fervour godfather level cake." Haha!
After that we went to a store in nearby Wudaoying Alley where I bought one of these HEPA filters. For those of you who aren't familiar with HEPA filters, they clean the air. I figure this way I can breathe pollution free air at least 8-10 hours a day (any time I am in the dorm room). Wudaoying is a fun place, full of lots of little cafes and shops.
After that we had lunch. I had chicken stir-fried with cashew and celery. Yum. (It was a bit expensive 48 Yuan = $7.70) but I have enough leftovers for another meal. A few of the customers in the restaurant were smoking, which drives me nuts. It is supposed to be illegal to spoke in public places in Beijing now, but the law isn't always enforced. The guys were sitting under a big "no smoking" sign too!
After an afternoon nap (jet-lag is horrible) I had a big welcome dinner for the program. At dinner I found a menu for a cake shop under the table. The English in it was really funny. I'll end this post with a quote (from next to a picture of a really yummy looking coconut cake) "Southeast Asia is locally bom warn shredded coconut stuffing with gentle cherry young lady, will deduct joyfully hand with meticulous care, a pair for faction to fresh happy partner. Born that way noble, the matchless feeling in the mouth, is the ignition sends to the fervour godfather level cake." Haha!