First stop... something unrelated ;). Plan for the trip was to bike to metro station and then use subway system (hey! It was like 25km! Not on my Sunday!) Somewhere between home and subway there is "Today Art Museum". Here you can see that they apparently have some problems with font loading ;) (geeky IT joke, soory :) ) |
| Jumpers |
Still, it's a nice spot. Unfortunately, I cannot tell you any more, since I don't know. Yet. :D. So, just have fun with the photos.
There are figures sitting on top of the building. You won't believe that, but my phone does not have a zoom ;), so I couldn't take a better photo.
At the same time, there is a sculpture in the front, showing number of human-like figures in different poses. As you can see (thank you, random chinese women for providing proportions to my photo!), they are bigger than average human.
 |
| Just... smile..... |
Yup, that's me. Yup, that's a smile. Seriously. What did you expect? I didn't have me coffee! ;)
 |
| Big. Loud. Jammed. |
Still on the road to subway ;). One of more common views in Beijing. When you ride through some housings, you often arrive near one of the Ring Roads - huge, massive, loud, dirty roads that should provide a fast way for cars to travel between distant parts of the city. The idea is cool - those ring roads are running around the city like circles. The problem? They are often jammed with traffic ;).
 |
| Om nom nom nom |
Yay for coffee! Just had to share. Expensive like hell - compared to other food. Taste of the caffeine in the morning, err, almost morning ;) - worth it.
Ok, that was last stop before subway. Let's elaborate a little bit about subway system :). I don't have any photos or (would be much better) movies, so just imagine. Right now you have 14 lines in Beijing - that's 14 times more than in whole Poland :D, and they are planning to have 19 before 2015. Now guess why they need so many new lines so fast. Yep. Crowds. Everywhere. Amount of people in the main stopover stations is breath-taking. Figuratively. And literally. Visualize that :). Other than that, only advantages. You travel quickly. You travel cheap - ticket cost 2yuans, and as long as you are inside subway system, you can switch lines as much as you want (you don't have to go outside the subway station to switch lines). And, last but not least, if you go through at least one station that is a stopover, you travel with smile. Why? Well... Each train has names of the stops read in two languages, chinese and (surprise!) english. So, when you arrive at transit, english speaker (women!) says something like "Passenger switching to line no.2 please be ready to get off". Each time, hearing that makes me smile :)
Ok, ok, back to trip ;). Here I am, at the main square of Zhōngguāncūn. Probably main, I'm guessing :). Everything here is usually huge, I'm not sure phots from phone can show that scale. Anyway - square, sculpture, stairs that I'll climb in a sec. As for the golden something in the middle - check below ;)
Aaaand, here we are. That goldy oldy goodie is labeled as "Life". No more story, unfortunately.
 |
| Life - distorted, gold plate picture of yourself posted on the Internet |
What is life? Apparently it is (are) tall (around 3m?), golden two spirals (I'm guessing DNA), that are shiny enough to get a mirroring picture. A little bit dusty, with a traces of wear. What I can say. Life ^^
Next stop - a few steps above :). I'm guessing those are fountains, unlucky not yet operational. I'll be back! - when they enable them :)
He he ^^. Sorry, I didn't brought my shovel, I cannot dig to the toilet. Unlucky me ;)
Ha. Time for the top. That thing is huge. With my tiny little camera I was able to grab only a portion of it. Yet, as it was said before, and will be said each time with something to that scale :), chinese people build BIG things :).
View from the other side. Damn, I need some wide angle camera for those shots :).
That's the moment my phone started to die :/ So only couple of shots left. On the left, dear readers, we see some random building whose story I do not know, but it attracted my attention thanks to those clock towers. Hotel, probably?
 |
| Those spikes at the bottom? Hoods from the coffee shop in front :). Really |
Whoa. First church I've seen here. It's a bit different after Poland, where you'll find church every couple of steps ;). Probably that's because I'm not used to the temples - yet :)
Just for scale ;). On the right is the fancy plate-alike structure from previous pics. Yeah :D
 |
| You, chinese chick! You're ruining my picture! Shoo shoo! |
What the hell is that? I have no idea. It's in the front of shopping mall, and it's just red and spiky and stuff. And that's all I know.
Unlucky, that's the last one. My phone battery died, and with her my ability to mumblemumble here. Oh wait, not yet! The shopping part! Yarr...
What I wanted - Android tablet. What I was prepared for - couple of electronics shop. What I was willing to pay - I didn't know. What I was expecting - to bargain.
Let's go with the not cool part - I didn't get it. After I arrived I realized that even if I wanted to buy something I had no idea if the price was good or not. I intended to use phone and browse quickly net for prices, but... Sucker died. Damn.
As for the rest. Man. I was in one of the buildings - and I'm pretty sure it's only one of them. It's like a geeks dream. Five stories filled with everything that needs power to work. Cameras, notebooks, comp parts, tablets, phones, everything. I could spend there whole day and still not have enough. So the couple of shops - more than satisfied. Since I couldn't get a tablet, I've decided to buy a pendrive - 8gb. I had a vague idea how much does it cost, so go! Time for some business!
First try - 8gb, small, compact, perfect. I ask for the price - 95yan. Ok, let's play that I'm interested (ok ok, I was). My offer - 75. Response - NO. 95. Wtf? Where is the bargain part?
Ok, I'm gone to see another one. The same pen. Initial price - 100. My offer - 80 (yes, I adjusted it). Response - No. 100. What. The!
Third time! Same pendrive. Initial price - 95. Wow, like the first one. Let's try to be more cooperative - my offer 80. Response - No, 95. What the! Where is the fierce discussion! Where is all that crazy bargain! I want my pendrive, but only after being cursed and told that I'm taking their food!
Damn. I went to the next one. 8gb, price - 100. My offer... wait, there's a 16gb version. What is the price for that one? "175". Screw it - mine is 160. Seller - ok!
Wait, wait, whaaaa? 160? After first try? Am I being ripped off or something? Damn. It's hard when there is no price label :)
Ok, ok, it's getting late here. In summary, I wanted to buy a pen (that you can get online for around 80) starting from 75 and the price was not negotiable. I bought the one for 160, bargained from 175, and I could get it online for 150. Which means I did overpaid, but that was small price for the experience ;). Next one will be harder - getting the tablet I want at a price I want :D
That's all, folks ;)
0 komentarze:
Prześlij komentarz