Eric's Beijing Diary

Had dinner last night with Joy and John, friends from Beijing who have moved to Shanghai. Joy moved down here a couple years ago, and John just recently. Joy is really good at finding places that have excellent food as a very reasonable cost, so we ended up having a hot pot with mutton and beef. Afterward, we walked around for awhile in the mall area. It's kinda nice for me to be able to walk around with a couple Chinese friends, because I am less likely to be targeted by the criminal element that preys on foreigners along Nanking Road ("No, I do not want a massage.").

This morning, Joy invited us to a badminton court to play a few rounds with a group of alumni from Renmin University, where she went to law school. I haven't played badminton much since I left Japan as a kid, but it was fun. Just shows you don't have to be good at something to enjoy it.

After we finished, Joy found a really good restaurant. I really like Shanghai food. The roast beef was the best I have had in a long time. I have said this before, but in China, the best food is not found in the most expensive restaurants. The more you pay, the better the food? Don't believe it. Small restaurants staffed by cooks who really know how to make the local specialties--these are always my favorite places.

This evening, I boarded the train with two tickets. I had stopped by the train station this morning on the way to the badminton court to get my ticket. There are lots of trains between Shanghai and Beijing, so I wasn't too worried. But the lady told me I had to take a seat to Nanjing, and then get a sleeper to Beijing. I kept trying to ask her how long the layover was, and she kept repeating that the Shanghai to Nanjing leg would be a little over two hours. I didn't take this as a direct answer, and asked her several times. I finally decided to just go ahead and buy the ticket(s), 'cause life can get complicated if you don't have a ticket for the evening train. It turns out it was a direct answer, because it was not a matter of changing trains. Same train, different car. Always something new.