"Huí tóu jiàn," Beijing!

That means "See you later" in Mandarin.

Jaspal and I have returned to UB from Beijing. We had a great time, despite the insufferable heat and humidity. It was great to see Aman as well.

Among the highlights of our trip (aside from the previously mentioned "hutong" antics and the flock of people dancing in unison):
1) Finding the "hipster hutong."
Aman and I took a random excursion one day while Jaspal was at the conference, and we discovered this cool little hutong that is being redone with cute little shops, cafes, and bars. There was a yummy Indian restaurant, a great cafe, and some unique t-shirt shops. On the one hand, it's kind of sad that it's no longer a "traditional" hutong, but on the other, at least it's not been torn down, like a lot of the others. There are huge sections of the city that are under wraps right now, underneath which they're tearing down hutongs to make way for shopping plazas.

2) The giant TV screen.
This was an Aman discovery, and he kept hinting about a cool TV screen, but we were not prepared for its magnitude. It was about the size of two football fields, and hung overhead, broadcasting undersea and outer space views. Very mesmerizing.

3) Bargaining at the Silk Market.
As we all know, I love shopping, especially when there is a bargain involved. The Silk Market is about four floors of bargaining madness, where you can buy everything from fake Louis Vuitton bags and Nike sneakers, to fake antiques and North Face jackets. Basically everything is fake. I came away with three pairs of shoes and a fake Le Sportsac Tokidoki purse. Ahhh...

4) Our Mall.
For some reason (okay, it was the food court and the air conditioning) we kept finding ourselves at the Oriental Plaza mall, close to our hotel. The food court was awesome. It had everything from Beard Papa and Dairy Queen to traditional steamed buns and hot pot. The most interesting thing was a concoction called "Indian Roti Prata" that was more like a crepe than anything else. The best part was when we ordered it, the girl at the counter called someone on a cell phone, and two minutes later, a real live Indian person showed up (complete with chef's hat) to prepare our treat.

5) Olympics Madness.
Needless to say, Beijing is very excited for the 2008 Summer Games. Everything is emblazoned with Olympics mottoes, and the "Five Fuwa" (cute little animal mascots) are all over the place. I finally broke down and got some magnets at the airport.

6) Harry Potter.
I got the book. It was the regular price (about $30), but I had to have it. Two days later I found a guy selling pirated copies in the subway for 50 yuan (about $7.50), but whatever. I didn't want to buy one and find out that chapters were missing or something. Anyway, I can not put it down. I've read up to page 500-something in the past two days, but I haven't reached the end yet, so don't say anything!!! I'm terrified to find out the conclusion, but I can't stop reading.

A word to the wise when traveling to Beijing -- DON'T buy the current Beijing Lonely Planet -- a lot of the listings in there no longer exist (this happened to us with three restaurants). I think they're probably coming out with a new one for 2008, so the current version is outdated.

More soon!