Gaobeidian Furniture Street

I've decided what I want to "bring home" from Beijing.  

It's a known fact and guaranteed thing here in Beijing.  Us expat wives get to "treat" ourselves once in a while for traveling  living on the other side of the world, away from family and friends for years just so our spouses can build their careers.  We put our lives aside and do what we need to for our hubbies.  This comes with some added perks for us.  Some people want pearls.  Others purses.  Diamonds.  Jade. 

I want furniture.

Is that too much to ask?  Just a small treasure here and there.  And I don't really look at it as selfishness, cause in all practicality - a piece of furniture benefits everyone.  Visually, comfortably, functionably.... the list goes on.  It lasts forever, and I don't have to have a "special occasion" to bring it out.  

This weekend, my friend and I went to Gaobeidian Furniture Street.  This is more than a street my friends.  It's a mecca for us furniture addicts.  It literally made me sweat, smile, and tear up.  The most beautiful, exquisite, gorgeous pieces you can't even dream up I saw.  We were there for a little under 3 hours and didn't even hit but a fraction of the stores.  Crate and Barrel, Pottery Barn, Good's, Restoration Hardware - sorry... you ain't got nothing on this place.

Gaobeidian Furniture Street.  Beautiful.

It was hot, nobody spoke English (except in the high-end store), and we were hungry.  But I gotta tell you - we enjoyed ourselves and laughed like we had been friends for years.  We started off in Lily's Antiques, which is a higher-end store.

Lily's outside view.

Benches and swings - the heaviest wood you have ever sat on.  Of course, when you are this tiny, you don't need to worry.

This is the "antiquey" pottery they had.  But there was plenty of modern, earthy tone ones, too.

Color Pop.  It's like a Schwann Cream Pop.  

Or maybe yellow is more your look.

Can't decide?  Use them ALL!

LOVE the different woods.

And different fabrics.

As my English/German (I use a "/" here because she has a strong English accent, yet speaks in German.  Worldly woman!)  friend sat in this oversized chair, she picked up a magazine that had been placed on it.  OMG... it's her HUSBAND on the cover!  He had an entire interview published about his job in Beijing at Ritz Carlton.  Way to go!

I won't be bringing this piece home, but it's by far the coolest table I've ever seen.  Tiled.  All hand tiled.  And the antlers above I love.  

They've taken a Chinese medicine cabinet and made it functionable.  The little drawers have actually been converted to shelves inside - they are faux drawers!

Beautiful all-weather piece made from cork.

Must.  Have.  Me.  Want.  Very.  Badly.  

Wait a minute.  Want.  This.  More.  

So far all of these pieces were in Lily's Antiques.  Just ONE of the stores on this street.  It has 3 levels, with the bottom being the "modern" stuff, the 2nd floor being antique-fakes (not really Chinese antique wood, but kinda look like it), and the 3rd floor being real authentic, 3000+ year old things.  

Like this opium den.

And these chairs that were $10,000 for one.  Notice the one on the right has a hole in the seat.  I think it was actually more expensive.

After Lily's we were already pretty overly-stimulated, but journeyed anyways one way down the street.  We went in about 1 of every 5 shops we saw.  A lot of shops you don't even need to go inside, because the amazing pieces are outside.  

Like this ridiculous elephant. 

The manes on these lions were AMAZING.  Of course, all hand made.  

My mom's gonna kill me for repeating this story.  My friend will as well.  But when we were admiring these huge beasts, she points and says (in her strong English accent), "Look!  This one's even got a proper _____!"  I.  Lost.  It.  

While walking down the street, we ran into my driver taking a snooze on the job.  I thought it was hilarious.  I haven't shown him these pics yet - keeping them for a good laugh someday.  We love Mr. Yang.

At least he took his shoes off.  Notice them on the top of the car.  

We were lucky enough to see some pieces even being built right before our eyes.  

Of course, not every one appreciates true art and beauty.  This is something I would LOVE to have in my house.  I'm sure my husband would think otherwise.  But to me, this is beauty.  

And this is the most adorable children's piece I've seen.  Great for books on top, toys in the shelf.  Love it.  

And in honor of our special, loved, and missed family in England.  

We are alive/Name that _______ #2

We are alive and moved into our "permanent" home in Shunyi.  Shunyi is an area north east of the city, but still considered Beijing.  I can get into the city limits in under 15-20 minutes by car.  Even though we are so close to the city, it does at times feel so far away.  Life here is much less hectic, more civilized.  Although I feel like I am living in a jungle or something with all the bugs and noises.

Night #1 proved to be a rude awakening.  We are truly in the country and our house is suffering from constantly having workers going in and out.  We had some mosquito issues.  Well, I have had issues.  Nobody else in the family was bitten, thank goodness.  I sustained 12 bites to my face.  I'm surviving, but on some strange Chinese herb topical and a pill that literally makes benadryl seem like taking a cup of coffee.  But I would have done anything to stop the itching and swelling.  Now, six days later, I just look like I have the plague.  Needless to say, I won't be posting pics of this.  I'd like to forget the fact that my nose was twice it's normal size.

Geckos are another uninvited friend in our home.  They are NOT as cute as they are on the Geicko commercial, either.  My ayi says they are normal when a home hasn't been lived in for a while.  Well, eviction has been served.  They need to get out.

Ah, yes... I have an "Ayi".  This literally is translated "Auntie".  She's a hell of an aunt.  She cooks, cleans, watches the kids, does laundry, goes grocery shopping.  It's amazing.  She's extremely underpaid and a commonality here in Beijing.  She makes me typing this blog entry possible.  Her name is Chen and I will write more about her later.

Chen took me to her fruit and vegetable market today.  I wanted to see where she shops and her bargaining.  It was.  Well.  Very native.  And humbling.  Yes, I was the only non-Chinese person there.  Besides my 8 month old.

Entryway

Here's the owner of this vendor.  Doing his books for the day.

Not sure what all of this is.

Easter bunny ain't got nothing on this.

And it's time to name that (fruit) (veggie) (bug) (whatever I pick).

WHAT IS THIS???



More to come soon.

Break

Sorry to say, but I've gotta take yet another break from blogging.  I might be able to post some things sooner than I thought (or later....) if our Internet gets up and running.  We are moving to our "permanent" home Thursday and the Internet is not set to get going until August 1st.  Pray I stay sane until then!

Name that Fruit #1

Can you tell me what this is?

The first person who can "name that fruit" I will send a special card to from Beijing.  And if I can figure out the mailing system here (future blog post....) I will send a lil some'thin.

Yes, it takes some work to get to.

But it is delish!

Here's the final hint:

Chaoyang Park Part 1 (west)

Chaoyang Park in Beijing is not just any park.  It has amusement rides, a bathing beach, a lake, an island, and a shopping center.  It's amazing to say the least.  It's very green, with trees and willows surrounding the borders.  It was the venue spot for the 2008 beach volleyball olympic games.

I labeled this post "Part 1" because we went there on a day it was close to 100 degrees and quite frankly.... with a toddler and infant.... you just can't do half the stuff you think you can even when the weather is favorable.

We entered on the west side of the park so I'm going to just cover that area for this post.  Maybe someday soon I can do the other sides.  I'd love to get there at 6am when it opens so we can see everyone doing their morning exercises.

So when you enter, there are instantly places to start having fun.

For instance, a paint ball fight in the woods.

Tight-rope walking looked way tougher in person.  There's no way I could do it. 

There are really cool "air trails" you can take throughout this area.  It's like being in Nottingham Forest.  

Then immediately next door there are basketball courts?  They were packed, even in the heat.

With the park being so large, there are multiple means of transportation.  Bikes, scooters, boats, and buggies are just to name a few.  You can rent them yourselves, or hire someone to tote you around.  You can rent a bike for 1-6 people.

I really wanted to get one of these and go all around the park to see everything.  I think when the in-laws get here we will have to do this for sure.  I can't wait to see all 6 of us on one.  

Perhaps the boys can pedal the girls, too.

The park is beautiful, with a lot of green everywhere.  But you want to remember your bug spray.  Even in the middle of the day, the mosquitos were out in full force.  

Onto the rides.  This place has tons of rides.  Big ones, small ones, air ones, water ones, land ones... you name it.  You have to go to a ticket booth to get a ticket for the specific ride you want.  I forgot to mention, it cost 5RMB to get into the park.  Right now, that's about $0.79.  That right, 79 cents will get an adult into the part.  The kids were free.  But you do have to pay for each individual ride.  This actually was to our benefit, since only one child went on the rides and we got away with her only riding about four the entire time we were there. Each ride costs a different amount, which is annoying when buying a ticket.  Overall, I think we spent (maybe) $20 for the day.  Not too bad.

Air rides.

Land rides.  This was very expensive.  It cost about $8 for two tickets.

Water rides.

And they really don't enforce any safety measures here in China.  For instance, when we were on the merry-go-round, the man running the ride was smoking a cigarette and ashing all over the place.  Nice fire/burn hazard, I'm sure.

Oh yeah, and height requirements.....

They are a joke.  Every ride we went on Bianca was too small for, but nobody cared.  They even allowed her to go alone if we would allow it.

I have to insert this pic.  I miss you, Atlanta.  Lauri, this is for you!  And before you ask, NO, it doesn't taste the same here.

There's an awesome children's play area, too.  It was relatively cheap and there's a sand pit, huge play house, and trampoline.  It's all nicely shaded, too.  

When we were sitting, watching our daughter play, we noticed a nasty smell.  I turned only to see they were spraying fertilizer or pesticide or something arsenic right behind us.  Nice.  Can you imagine in the States - spraying chemicals like that while all these children are playing?  Never would happen!  There's another thing that would never happen in the States.....

This boy just finished his business before I could get the camera ready in time.  But you can see what occurred.  Kid had to go, momma held him over the garbage can and the business was complete.  Nice.  

And I'm know fashion mistakes like this happen all the time in the States, but I couldn't help myself.

(warning: vision may be blinded due to brightness)

This is one area that is full in the mornings, I'm sure.  You see these all over Beijing.  They are like non-electric treadmills.

More to come soon.  This week is crazy!  We have 19 days until we move into our "permanent" HOUSE in Beijing (not that I'm counting the days or anything....).  We can't wait.