I didn't venture out too far today...hung around the area by my hotel since the weather wasn't too great. I went to the Pearl Market to check out what things they have there...very similiar to Yashou Market with all the fake purses, watches, etc. They also sell other arts and crafts, clothing, etc...every place is starting to look the same now. There is so much shopping available for all the tourists...Silk Market, Pearl Market, and Yashou Market are the more popular ones.
I had more taxi drivers try to rip me off at the Pearl Market. Since my hotel is so close to the Pearl Market, it costs just 10 yuan (which is the minimum fee charged) for a cab ride there. The taxi drivers were wanting to charge me 20 yuan to take me back to the hotel, but I refused to pay them the 20 yuan. There were a few people from Norway who were having the same problems I was having (they paid 15 yuan and cabbies wanted to charge 30 yuan)...so finally one of the other taxi drivers said he would take both me and the Norway group in one car. I paid 10 yuan and the Norway group paid 20 yuan. In the end, it all worked out....but I'm starting to realize that if you are in a touristy area, these taxi drivers can pretty much try to charge you what they want since they know you might not have any other way to get back. Very dishonest!!!
I met an American businessman (Cory) while I was out walking around...his hotel is just 10 minutes from mine, so it's great that we are very close to each other. Since we are both here by ourselves, we decided to meet up for dinner at a sushi restaurant near his hotel. Most of the meals I've had so far have been relatively cheap (less than $5 USD)...but the sushi restaurant was pretty expensive...prices were like US prices! It cost us about $20 per person for the sushi...and there wasn't even that much food. Luckily, he wasn't too hungry, so I ate for the both of us! :) Afterwards, we walked to a nearby bar called Mississippi...not sure how they picked that name instead of Georgia. :) There were a few other tourists sitting at the bar...a lady from the UK, a lady from Australia, and a man from the US...they all knew each other since they have lived here for a few years for work. Cory and I chatted with them for awhile, but he didn't really seem to fancy them too much...so we left and walked around the neighborhood for a bit before we went our separate ways.
During dinner, we made plans to go see the Great Wall on Saturday. Helen and I are going to the Badaling Great Wall on Monday...but I also wanted to go to the Mutianyu Great Wall. Mutianya is supposed to be less touristy and not as heavily restored as Badaling. I read online that the view is spectacular as well and that there is a bobsled slide that you can ride down that I definitely wanted to try! :) I told Cory about it and he was interested in going with me...which is great so we can split the cab fare (about 800 yuan). There is a bus that you can take, but when I spoke to my conciege last night...he said it would not be comfortable and safe for me...so taxi it is!!!
