Champion Negotiator

After an early start to the day, 530AM wake up call, 6AM breakfast, 630AM shuttle service to the airport, 9AM flight to Beijing, we checked in to another beautiful hotel...the St. Regis. Lauren and I have another upgraded room, with a walk-in closet, a giant tv & another tv built into the mirror in the bathroom. The view isn't as ideal as it was in Shanghai and especially not in Hong Kong, but it's nice out there.

We had a Thai-Indian lunch, a restaurant suggested by an English speaking woman we ran into in a coffee shop while wandering around looking for lunch. We ate family style and enjoyed the food. Lots of spices, curry, lemon grass, etc. It was a nice change from the Chinese flavors, without being too western.

Back to the hotel for a quick chat with the concierge and we broke up into 2 groups... men to the spa for massages, women to the silk market to do some shopping. So both Laurens, Cathy and I set out around the corner and up the main street a few blocks to the silk market. It was 6 floors. We read the signs on the outside, and I suggested we start at the top & work our way down. We stripped off our layers of coats and sweatshirts as we went up... it was extremely hot inside.

Lauren & her new fan,

From Beijing: Day 1 -- Food and Silk Market

Started out in the jewelry floor. My aunt (Vivianne) had asked me to pick up some pearls for her, so I started out in one shop with a younger looking woman. We agreed on a price, what I wanted to pay, and she began to irritate me... swapping out strands to be lower quality and all around being shady... so I walked out. Found another lovely woman who had a nice store, nice stuff and gave me a great price for not only a necklace but included a bracelet, earrings and an extra clasp for the same price as the original.

From Beijing: Day 1 -- Food and Silk Market

I became a hard core negotiator and everything else I bought was for the price I wanted or I walked away until they chased me down and offered it to me for less than what I was originally counter-offering. It was an exhausting day... but we got some great things at great prices.

For dinner we had some American cuisine... fried chicken, steaks and pork chops. A good break from the Chinese food before we start on more tours tomorrow.

A fortuitous moment, tonight, I checked my email and saw the Groupon for a 67% discount on a photobook... hooray memories from China memorialized for two-thirds of the cost. Fancy that!