So after spending almost 21/2 hours on the plane next to a very interested and curious Chinese, and after being served the typical Chinese breakfast Chou aka not even the slightest hint of flavor rice porridge, I and luckily my checked luggage, too arrived at Beijing Airport. You might now think, why the heck did she check in her biggest suitcase for just about 4 days of travel. Well, let me tell you, my hostmom had me sent tons and tons (with that I mean half of my suitcase) of Sichuan Specialty Snacks to my agency's office for the staff to enjoy. The inside of the airport already gave me an idea of which temperature would expect me outside. It was cold. And with that I mean really cold, the German kind of cold. Just without a real winter coat and winter boots to make up for it. Not a really good match. So I quickly made my way to the Airport Express, which would get me into the city in no time and drop me off only 1 Subway Station away from my hostel - how convenient. A girl from my agency already waited for me at the subway station and accompanied me to my hostel, which I was positively surprised of. English speaking staff, large hang out area, clean rooms and bathrooms, enough toilet paper. Out for a good start there. After settling in my room and handing over 4 kg of food, Grace took me out for lunch, treating me to some yummie Dumplings, one of Beijing's specialty. Though we had not much time to spare with those little wraps of deliciousness as the actual purpose of my trip was scheduled right after - so Grace took me to the PSB aka Visa Center where another girl from my agency was about to give me and a couple of other Cultural Ambassadors a hand to renew our visa and/or put another entry on it. Meeting other Cultural Ambassadors was really neat, sharing experiences and speaking proper English, though now I am even more happy to not be placed together with all the others in Beijing. They barely make Chinese friends as they spend most of their free time hanging out together and in bars for foreigners. Speaking English. So I do see a huge advantage for me having been forced to go out and explore Chengdu myself, making tons of Chinese friends and improving my Chinese everyday, as I can connect my leisure time with practicing Chinese. And i get to be taken to all the hidden and truly Chinese spots where no tourist would ever get to. I do feel lucky to be right where I am :-)
So after the woman at the service desk assured me that the extra entry would be allowed - YAY MALDIVES I AM COMING - I headed out there as fast as possible to finally, after almost 3 months of chatting on Wechat and occasionally talks on skype, another Cultural Ambassador from Guatemala who I got introduced to during the first week in China and from then on keeping in touch with her, sharing stories - funny as well as crazy - and just being good friends. We arranged to meet at Beijing's Silk Market, a huge building full packed with anything you could ever want to buy - ranging from clothes, over jewelry to cell phone accessories - where bargaining is a MUST. Oh people, I had great fun! I could bargain a whole day just for fun, and luckily my Chinese level is by now good enough to not be scammed by the vendors for the Foreigner status. Ha, I think they were even a little bit intimidated by a foreigner suddenly speaking Chinese to them explaining that the offered price was no where close to acceptable or adequate ;-P
Meeting my friend Camila in person was great and I immediately felt like meeting an old friend. We, together with 3 or her friends she brought with, strolled through the market for about 3 hours, me walking away with lots of stuff and lots of fun memories made.
Finding the way back to my hostel was surprisingly really easy, as the subway in Beijing is super nicely organized and with its over 13 lines pretty convenient to get around the city. For only ¥2 by the way. No matter how long it takes! So after arriving at the hostel, the only goal was to get to bed as fast as possible, which made showering and getting ready for bed a 15 minutes affaire. I did spend 15 extra minutes on the stairs though, as I hunted the whole hostel down for the best signal and ended up on the staircase :-) finally in bed I was happy about my first day and excited about the upcoming, as that would only bring more time with Camila and a day at Beijing's summer palace.