SECOND DAY IN BEIJING - PART ONE

(1) THE JADE PLACE

(2) THE CRYSTAL PLACE

the crystal brooch that I bought

(3) THE BRASS/COPPER PLACE

(4) THE MEDICINE PLACE

24th NOVEMBER ~ On the first day of our tour around Beijing, we were taken to a few places which belonged or were controlled by the government. The modus operandi was the same. When we arrived, we were given briefing and demonstration - and later on we were asked whether we would like to buy the items being promoted. I guess it was one of the ways how the government was trying to promote the local products to the tourists but just imagine what a waste of time it had been, especially when nothing was bought, although at times we would learn something new or discovered interesting information. The problem was: the items sold were guaranteed to be ORIGINAL but the price was a bit TOO HIGH.

Nevertheless, I had a good time taking a lot of pictures so at least I got myself occupied. And listening to the briefing was another tiring thing to do as you would need to listen very carefully. Most of the promoters spoke English with thick Chinese accent - and at times, they would even try to speak in Malay Language, which was very funny indeed. In the end, we would be more interested in the language spoken rather than the products trying to be sold.

And the visit did not end here. There were a lot more commercial places that we HAD to visit throughout our stay here.

TO BE CONTINUED...