A Burd in Beijing: Two Burds in Beijing!

Last week my sister took a detour during her work buying trip and visited me in Beijing. Our itinerary was full and the days were long as I schleped my sister across the city which I have now called home for the past month and a half. It seems that in her four day here, she progressed through the same set of reactions towards this ancient and unique city which I myself have experienced over the past six weeks.

Her first impression was that based on Sanlitun, the uber modern out of place shopping village, which I have described in previous posts, home to Balenciaga, Balmain, Miu Miu etc. She was somewhat disheartened when I dragged her out of Sanlitun Rd and out into the Hutongs and highways to see the real Beijing. With this came a slight disgust at the priority given to cars over pedestrains when crossing the road (she was almost run over several times), the dust and the street vendors serving BBQ'd intestines and other unidentifiable delicacies.

Of course, by the time we trekked our way to the Great Wall and back (as well as many of Beijing's other majestic sites), fried up our very own Chinese creations at a cooking class, scoured the quirky boutiques of 3.3 shopping mall which offers the latest in cutting edge local Chinese designs, and caught a glimpse of the local art scene at 798, she had come full circle !

I was sad to see her leave but will look fondly upon the memories captured below of having Two Burds in Beijing. Enjoy!

*click on any photo to bring up a slideshow