Buy, Buy Beijing

Back in Beijing...

Hong Qiao Pearl Market
Near the Temple of Heaven is a heavenly place for those of us who like to shop. Here you can find the (fake?) Polos, purses, parkas, etc. On the third and fourth floors you can buy pearls at the same place Colin Powell and Bill Clinton shop.

Ikea, Beijing-style
Since our last trip to Shanghai we’ve been wondering what the Ikea in China is like (we saw the sign but didn’t have time for a visit). Now we know. Sunday was not the smartest time to go but we had no choice. As we all know, Ikea prides itself on its “store-flow” setup. It’s a maze you go through to get to the Marketplace section. Well, the arrows here are on the floor, too, but no one pays them any attention. It was so crowded with under-30s that we had to squeeze our way through. A glimpse at the cafe (huge) revealed some concessions to the local food- rice and stew- alongside the mandatory Swedish meatballs. Overall, though, pretty much everything else was the same at the same prices. Now everybody’s house will look the same.

The Bird, Insect, Fish Market
All the different kinds of turtles and fish make up for the fact that there are no birds at the Bird Market. I suspect it’s due to the Avian Flu scare. There are also rodents, rabbits, tarantulas, puppies, and kittens but the market is mostly filled with crickets and cricket paraphernalia. The crickets are sold by their individual weight and each one comes in a little ceramic bowl covered with a tin lid held in place by a rubber band. The surrounding sound of all these caged crickets is wonderful (my opinion) so I can understand why someone would want these little guys. Not only do they sell various little houses for them -ceramic jars, stick cages, little ornate boxes- but they also have itsy-bitsy food and water dishes (I bought some!) and training sticks, a long skewer with some string at the end (like a lion tamer has, only smaller, much smaller).