Just for combs..

The front of the shop had ads of combs. I had a closer look and saw that the shop only sold combs of various sizes and shapes. I didn't have a chance to go in as we were busy looking for a lunch place. The shop is located in Xidan.
When we found the lunch place, we chanced upon another shopping mall selling clothes. There is a wide selection of winter clothes at reasonable prices.

Smoke and Puddles

It's starting to get colder here.. Temperature was about 20 deg cel and windy. The first photo is taken near the school in Dawanglu. This was at about 3pm when I was on my way to Shin Kong Place (shopping mall) for lunch. I believe the 'smoke' must be from some manhole. This has been happening quite often the past couple of days.

This is the road that I have to walk to get home. The men are walking out while I am headed in the opposite direction. Have to walk this path carefully as that huge puddle is always there when it rains. :(

Beijing's Underground City

I wish I was writing my blog daily but am sometimes just too tired to write. I went for an aerobics workout today.. and have sore muscles again.

Anyway, yesterday went to visit the Underground City (Chinese: 地下城; pinyin: Dìxià Chéng), also known as Dixia Cheng. Unfortunately, it was closed for renovations. The 'city' is a bomb shelter comprising a network of tunnels located beneath Beijing. It has been called the Underground Great Wall because it was built for the purpose of military defense. Read more in wikipedia..

More photos and description here

Temple of Confucious and Guozi Jian

More sightseeing today. Visited the Confucious Temple and Guozi Jian (the Imperial College).

The Temple of Confucius was initially built in 1302 and additions were made during the Ming and Qing dynasties. It has a total area of 22,000 square meters (5.4 acres). It is the second largest temple constructed for Confucius, the greatest thinker and educationalist in ancient China, ranking only behind the Temple of Confucius in Qufu, Shandong Province.

Guo Zi Jian (Directorate of Education) is on the left of the temple; both were originally built in 1306.

Mid Autumn Festival

Been busy still trying to settle the class schedule with the school. Finally it has been sort of settled. Today, went to Longtan Park to view the light up for the mid autumn festival. The musical fountain show was also very spectacular.

Capital University of Economics and Business

Today had lessons at the main campus (west campus) of the university. It took just 30min to get there from the east campus, shorter than I had expected.

Morning coffee

Today was the first day of school. Just had 2 hours of briefing about Chinese law and school procedures. Had to have our morning cup of coffee. There are about 70 Starbuck outlets in Beijing. These were bought from the ShinKong Place shopping mall near the school.

Xidan Bookshop

The titles at this absolutely vast bookshop (Běijīng's largest) are largely Chinese, but the basement is home to what might be the city's best selection of English-language titles. There are all the classics, Austen, Dickens, Hemingway, Twain et al, but there are also books on China that have slipped past the beady eye of the censor, as well as an expanding range of new fiction.

Subway

Subway lines are well-labelled in English. Announcements are also made in English.

Small but strong

Er guo tou "second distillation" (literally "head of the second pot") is a clear, potent spirit and takes six months to produce. 56% alcohol. This tiny bot is 10yuan.