There’s no complete Beijing IKEA visit without staying and eating their Swedish meatballs after the shopping. As I sat down and chunked the meatballs in, I had a nostalgic feeling creeping through my spine. The meatballs were OK, a little on the raw side. I don’t get why we got fries. It should have just come with boiled or mashed potatoes.

The IKEA restaurant in Beijing isn’t just a place for tired shoppers to eat, but acts like a dedicated restaurant. People come from all over town just to eat the food there. Apart from meatballs, they’ve also got several salmon dishes as well as Chinese dishes.

If in Beijing, it’s definitely a worthwhile visit.

A while back I went to the Beijing IKEA with a few friends, it is the second largest in the world dwarfed only by one in IKEA’s home country Sweden.

Entering IKEA felt just as if I was back in Sweden. Everything was the same as Swedish IKEAs. Except one thing. Here, the people were Chinese.

Products in the IKEA in Beijing cost roughly half of what they would have cost in Sweden. Since most of the products are produced in China, their savings in transport are passed on to the consumer.

Another difference is that in Sweden IKEA furniture is the cheapest you can get, and a popular brand amongst young people. In China, it’s also popular amongst young people, but for entirely different reasons. IKEA in China is more or less a luxury brand and a is used as a fashion statement.

What! A Chocolate Pizza?

The last time I went to Origus I was really surprised to find a chocolate pizza. It was basically pizza bread with chocolate sauce and cheese on top. Although I don’t think it was very nutritious, I’d have to say it was quite good.

Here in Beijing, prostitution is rampant. You can find prostitutes at clubs, hairdressers, massage parlors and on the streets. The normal price range goes from 100 CNY to as much as 2,000. Prostitution is illegal in China, but it’s pretty hard for the police to bust them, because they’re all covered in some way. Hookers at clubs don’t openly announce their profession, and it’s impossible to see the difference of them and a regular club-going girl. At the hairdressers, how can the police know that they are prostitutes and not just hairdressers? Despite difficulties, the local police has had quite a few successful raids in the past.

The area in Beijing that I live in is called Fulicheng. Several times a week, we get these namecards (pictured above) of massage services with suggestive pictures of girls slipped in under the door while sleeping. Whether they really do massage or not, I’ve yet to find out. But from what I’ve heard, these girls generally do very poor massages. I guess the rest should be left to the imagination.

When you’re tired of all the Western-style bars and clubs over at Sanlitun, Houhai and Workers Stadium – you should definitely try this out. This is what many Beijingers do and is a cool experience for the casual traveler.

• Make sure you’re with good company.
• Scourge the streets until you find the closest Muslim (Xinjiang) joint, and get a table outdoors.
• Start ordering Yanjing (Beijing) brand beers and some shish kebab (yang rou chuan / lamb on a stick), some pickled peanuts and green beans to go along with it.
• If you don’t know how to order, point at the plate of your neighbors and order what they’ve ordered.
• Let the games begin. Usually 6 bottles is enough for a person.
• Be merry.

The beers go for around 4 CNY ($0.6 USD) per 600 ml bottle and the kebabs 0.5 CNY ($0.1 USD) each. All together it shouldn’t cost more than 35 CNY ($5 USD) per person. Not only is this a very good deal, but also something unique to remember. I liked the food and the beers, and would do this again anytime.

These guys know how to earn money and close when all their customers leave, so don’t worry about the time.

This time I decided to pick up a pizza at Papa John’s just downstairs. The pizza was pretty good (a little greasy), but the waiting time was a long 30 minutes. I ordered the 12-inch Pizza Alfredo, which I only managed to finish half of. Along with it I had a can of Coke, which brought the final price to just below 100 CNY ($15 USD). This is a pretty expensive meal by Beijing standards but something pretty nice to have once in a while.

The Birdnest, also known as the Beijing National Stadium is currently under construction and set to be one of the main venues for the 2008 Beijing Olympic games. It was designed by Chinese contemporary artist Ai Wei Wei and is set to cost $423 million USD. The name Birdnest comes from the fact that the stadium itself takes the form of a birdnest. For more information, read the Beijing National Stadium article on Wikipedia.

Construction is set to finish this year, so if you are in Beijing or planning to visit soon, you should check out the construction site before it’s too late.

Travel Directions

Before leaving, I looked on the map and thought it would be close to the subway station Andingmen. Once I was in Andingmen, I walked north for over 3 kilometers and 1 hour in the hot scorching sun, on an empty stomach. This is definitely not recommended. Instead, take a taxi from Andingmen station heading north to the Birdnest (Niao Chao in Mandarin). The taxi fare shouldn’t cost much more than 20 CNY (approx. $3 USD) one way.

You might want to not get off the taxi, because as of currently, you are not allowed to enter the construction site.

Video of the National Stadium Construction Site

I was well prepared and brought my digital camera, so below is a video of what I saw when I visited the Beijing National Stadium Construction Site.

Ever since I arrived in Beijing, I’ve been looking to get a gym card and start exercising, because otherwise, I know all the good food would catch up to me soon.

There are many gyms and fitness centers in Beijing, these places are all very nice because fitness centers are still a new phenomenon only for the mid-upper class of China. Most fitness centers have swimming pools, state of the art foreign machines, more than enough staff to help everyone, and provide you with showering equipment. The price is similar to that of a regular gym in North America and Europe.

Here in Fulicheng, we have a gym just downstairs. It’s called the R&F Club, and is complete with a restaurant. R&F stands for Rich and Famous, and as you can guess – the price isn’t the cheapest. A half year card costs more than 2000 CNY ($300 USD), and they have no cards for shorter durations. Since I’ve only just slightly more than two weeks left, the price just isn’t justifiable.

Hosa Sports (aka. Haosha Bodybuilding Club)

On my way to the Century Mart (local supermarket) worrying about what I should do about the gym one day, a guy hands me a flier. Usually I never accept things handed to me on the streets here, but this offer was pretty interesting. Hosa Sports, the gym across the street was celebrating a three year anniversary and were offering discounts on their gym cards. This was great, just what I needed!

The same day I go there and get my card done. Although I’m not staying a full month, I still got the one month card, as it would be the cheapest solution for me. It cost 280 CNY ($40 USD) on the anniversary day.

I’ve been going regularly, almost everyday – and it’s great. Coming from Sweden, the gyms in China are much better, especially in terms of service, location and equipment. I’m already seeing good results and can continue to eat all the beautiful food without feeling guilty. I’m definitely getting a gym card when I move to the next city.

The apartment is slightly larger than 90m^2 and considered high-end, located in Fulicheng. The rent is 4500 CNY / month, approximately $600 USD with furniture included. It’s pretty expensive by Beijing standards, you could get a similar place for much cheaper.

I share the apartment, which has two bedrooms and a living room with a friend, so it only works out to be 2250 CNY (300 USD) per month. Even for this amount I got get a similar apartment for myself in Beijing. Anyway, let’s see some photos.

Just entered.

Entered and turned 90 degrees to the left.

Bathroom to the left, kitchen to the right.

My room.

After I arrive on Chang’an road, walking was a breeze (and fun). The road itself was very wide with many lanes and constant traffic. I walked past Silkstreet Market and the Friendship store, and then walked back to Silkstreet Market and took a cab home.

Something funny and strange happened as I was walking back to Silkstreet Market. Two 20-something guys were sitting by the street smoking, and as I walk by, one of them says to the other “This guy is pretty handsome” in Chinese, loud enough for me to hear clearly. The guys didn’t look gay, but looks can always be deceiving. Maybe they were male prostitutes trying to recruit a “brother”, or maybe it was just because my handsomeness aura was so strong the words just slipped out of his mouth. It was nonetheless a great ego-boost.