Day 13 -- Beijing, China

Out of bed by 8:00am and down to another not-so-lovely breakfast in the hotel an hour later. Shortly after, my cousin Netta showed up with a friend from Beijing, Xueling, and her two daughters Iran and Reyan. Their father, Samid, is from Iran, so the oldest daughter is named after his country. They thought about naming the younger daughter China, but decided to choose a name close to ‘Iran.’ They are unable to visit Iran or leave China at all for that matter as a family because they do not have a passport for Reyan and won’t be able to get one for about three more years (when she turns five). This has something to do with the fact that she is the second child, but I don’t quite understand all the rules. If I heard properly, there would be a large fine to pay if they try to get her a passport now. They do have the option of getting her an Iranian passport, but that is not what Xueling and Samid want. Mom, Netta, Xueling, her girls, and myself went to Hong Qiao Market to do some shopping. They have electronics, silks, other fabrics, pearls, and I’m sure an array of other things that I didn’t see. I’m getting better at bargaining on prices. First they will give me a number and I convert it to U.S. to see how completely outrageous the price is. I usually counter with a third to half of that price and go up from there. If I don’t get to something I think seems reasonable, I start to walk away and listen for what number they shout back. I also confer a lot with whoever I am with and say stuff like “you can buy one in the States for less than that.” It usually seems to help, though I’m sure I have been taken more than once on purchases. One of the tricks they use is to start out really high and then when you are appalled by that number, they ask you how much you want to pay and push the calculator into your hands for you to type it in. This is where you need to really undercut them, because you only go up from there. And don’t worry about telling them too small of a number on your first counter, they won’t stop dealing with you because of it. After seeing the assortment of electronics they had, we decided we should call Dad and Daniel (they were both at the hotel resting) and see if they wanted to come. They met us there within about 15 minutes and started shopping around. Daniel walked away with a small Yamaha 256MB mp3 player that you can completely conceal in the palm of your hand. The girl started out at 850RMB (just over US$100). Daniel countered several times and tried to get her down to 400RMB when she was saying 410RMB. He realized that he was arguing over about $1.25 and decided to take it for the 410RMB (just over US$50). It doesn’t have an English manual with it, but it is incredibly simple to use (drag and drop USB and it has English language functions) and smaller than most mp3 players you will find in the US. Dad also made a purchase: a portable DVD player. They tried to add a pair of headphones for me as well (the standard ear buds I have are too big for my little ears!), but the girl only came down 50RMB to 200. No way we were going to pay $25 for some headphones that were probably knockoffs anyway. Mom and Dad also bought some memory cards for their cameras while we were there. As we figured out much later in the day, the CF card marked 2GB turned out to be a 1GB and the 1GB memory stick was actually a 256MB. We will try to take them back before we leave, but we aren’t sure they will do anything for us. (Note: The girl who sold Daniel the mp3 player said that some of the players say 2GB and are only 256mb, so be aware! Ask questions!!) Left the market and we all went to T.G.I.Friday’s for lunch. After lunch, Xueling and the girls headed home, Mom and Nanetta went to grab a few things in preparation for the next week, and Dad, Daniel & I went back to the hotel to relax in the warmth for a while. When Mom and Netta returned, we got online and booked a tour for the next day, then left for A Fun Ti for dinner. We met Samid, Xueling, and the girls there at 7:15pm for the 8:00pm show. I was here last year, but with so many shots of BaiJiu (white liquor), my experience was cut short and a little hazy near the end. The food and entertainment are North-Western Chinese and have more of a Middle Eastern flavor. Samid said much of the food was similar to that of Iran. Being that aside from our table there were only two other white people at A Fun Ti, we got picked a lot for participation in games and dances. For one game, Daniel and I were on stage with 13 other people. We held hands and danced around in a circle while the music was playing, then the hostess would shout a number and stop the music. Whatever that number was, you had to form a group of that many people. If your group was too big or too small, you were out. The first attempt was poor and two-thirds of us would have been out, but one girl begged for another opportunity. In the end, it was myself, Daniel, and one Chinese guy still standing. The Chinese guy and I were given hats as a prize and Daniel was invited to stay on stage. They pulled up a chair for him to sit in and blindfolded him. A beautiful belly dancer came out with a snake and danced around him. They finally took the blindfold off of him, put the snake around his neck, and then made him dance with the belly dancer. At the end, they said it was “The Dance of the Beauty and the Beast.” He was offered a beer, the snake, or the beauty as a prize. He wisely chose the beer stating that he already had a beauty. There was also a drawing for various prizes using business cards. Dad REALLY didn’t want to put his card in, but Netta insisted and put it in the box for him. As soon as the hostess pulled out the card and was flipping it back and forth, Dad knew it was his (he has Chinese on one side and English on the other). He won a bottle of Chinese wine and had to go accept it and say a few words, which the hostess translated for everyone. He ended up giving the wine to Xueling and Samid. The next time we were brought up onto stage, we had to dance. The professional dancers would show us what to do, and then they would pick a guy and a girl to do the same thing. Daniel had to do a little dance and pick up this tiny little Chinese girl and spin her around. On my turn, they had a male and female belly dancer demonstrate and picked a white guy (German or Russian I think, couldn’t tell for sure by his accent) in his mid to late 50s as my partner. They insisted that we both roll our shirts up and show our bellies. More than embarrassed, I obliged. I don’t think I have ever sucked my tummy in quite so hard. We both danced and laughed, then joined in to a follow the leader type dance that led us onto the tables in the restaurant/ audience area. The music quickly turned to club style after that. We stayed on the tables for a bit, then moved up to the stage to dance. We all had a really great time and I was glad to have the opportunity to experience A Fun Ti again. We left there and went back to the hotel at about 10:00pm. As I was getting out of the cab, I saw my belly-dancing partner walking through the door ahead of us. I guess it’s either a random coincidence or a popular place to stay. We all went to bed pretty quick after getting back as we had a tour scheduled for the morning.