Our New Office

It’s not bad news, but things are probably going to change. Ever since we signed up for the new Google phone, it’s become evident that most of our photos will now be taken with our phones.

Just like this picture taken of Jason on our third day in New York (and our third day of eating pizza, I’d like to add).

The Google Android phone has made navigating NYC super easy. We have maps and Internet directions right at our fingertips. Top that off with one of the coolest desktops I’ve ever had on a phone. Every 30 minutes my screen updates to show a new Web cam photo taken from somewhere in the world Universe. I took a picture of my phone (with our actual camera even) to show you. The image you see on the phone is from a Web cam at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center that is snapping shots of the sun.

I love this thing.

You’re probably thinking: geez, this sounds like an ad. Well, it is.

If you have a Google Android or are thinking about getting one, then buy all your accessories from Amazon. I’d suggest you try out the Google G1 Android Phone Mega Accessories Bundle, at least to start.

For those that click on this link and purchase from Amazon, we will make a small commission. Any money we make on this blog helps us keep up our travels and our blog, so thank you in advance for your support.

Saturday, October 18th, 2008. The reviews of the “dirt” or “ghost” market we read in our guidebook were glowing. Of all the touristy markets in Beijing, the best deals were said to be had here. Hundreds of booths, people selling out of little shops (or on the ground), and the occasional genuine authentic antique. While it was definitely the biggest market we went to, it was a little over-hyped. Still, it’s worth a visit. Here are my thoughts about Beijing’s Ghost or Dirt Market:

Unfortunately, Sara and I aren’t big fans of jade jewelry or sculpture. If you’re into jade, you’re going to love the Dirt market. Lots of jade bracelets, pendants, necklaces, dragons, lions, and various other sculptures. We saw some incredibly complicated carvings, for example. If only we were interested…

Second, the best deals at the Dirt-Ghost market are for big, one-of-a-kind items. We found a huge and obviously hand-carved rock sculpture that would be the center piece of any room, and it could be had for less than $1000. Definitely a deal. However, for someone looking to buy items that fit in a suitcase, the deals were a lot more pedestrian. Still, if I were decorating my home with Asian art, the discounts here would more than cover the cost of a plane ticket.

Third, you have to be on your guard for scammers. While I know this sounds like silly advice – you should always be on your guard – the truth is a lot of really shady people were selling goods at this place. We looked at wool rugs, for instance, and nearly every rug this young man was selling was dirty. Upon closer inspection, the rugs looked worn as well. Yet he was selling these obviously used rugs for new-rug prices. When I told him his rugs were used, he got irritated and refused to deal further.

There’s also a lot of fake “antiquing” going on – covering carvings or sculptures in special chemicals designed to make something look much older than it is. I could spot some of these fakes because a lot of the time the underlying sculpture showed clear signs of manufacture – such as metal left over from a from, perfectly drilled holes, etc. I’m no expert, I just know that ancient Chinese craftsman didn’t produce anything with obvious metal-casting remnants – they were much too careful for that.

Finally, and perhaps most disappointingly, the market carried many of the same souvenirs and curios as all the other markets we’ve been to. Very repetitive.

Still, I can’t say that I didn’t enjoy myself. It’s always fun to negotiate with people and look for bargains (at least for me.)

If you only go to one market in Beijing, the Dirk or Ghost market is the one to go to. In fact, my advice would be to skip all the other markets in Beijing (such as the numerous stalls south of Tiananmen and the Pearl market) and just head to the Dirt market instead (just remember, it’s only open on weekends). You can get everything you want here, and the prices are as good as any of the places we looked earlier in the week.

This mythical creature combines the teeth of the lion, the scales of a fish, the antlers of a deer, and a bunch of other features that I can’t remember. It was created by the Ming Emperors to demonstrate how so many different peoples were united to form one China. Beijing is a must-see for any world traveler – it represents many of the Chinese people’s greatest achievements.

We spent the rest of the day getting some work done. Tomorrow morning, we fly to Xian.

So long Beijing – it’s been amazing!

The Days Inn Forbidden City is located just outside the east entrance of Teifai park, about a half-mile away from the south gate of the Forbidden City. It’s also a long city block away from the Wangfujing shopping area. In short, the location is excellent when it comes to tourism. We stayed at the Days Inn for 5 days, and here’s our review:

The bad:

• The rooms are small, the bathrooms offer no privacy whatsoever (I can hear everything that happens through the paper-thin bathroom doors), and the view out our window was pitiful.
• The breakfast buffet was very repetitive – nearly the same offerings every day
• The shower door didn’t close completely, so you had to be careful or you would dump a lot of water on the floor.

The good:

• The location is just about perfect for tourism in Beijing. It’s easy to find a cab, you can walk to the major tourist areas (Forbidden City, Tiananmen, etc.), as well as the subway
• Everything is clean.
• The staff is superior. Excellent english, extraodinarily friendly and helpful, and very professional. We felt sorry for them – it seemed like the same staff worked 12 hours a day.
• The food at the breakfast buffet, while repetitive, was of good quality. Lots of fruit juice, all sorts of breads and cereals, and then a nice collection of western and asian staples (eggs, hashbrowns, congee, etc.).

Overall, we would recommend the Days Inn Forbidden City to anyone traveling to Beijing.