China Travel, News and Lifestyle
Beijing
Papa John’s Beijing
Aug 3rd
Sometimes you are allowed to cheat. 
When you get tired and run out of ideas of what to order at Chinese restaurants, there are always western chains to satiate your hunger.
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.
2008 “Birdnest” Olympic Stadium Construction Site
Jul 30th
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.
Getting a Gym Card in Beijing
Jul 23rd
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.
My Apartment in Beijing
Jul 22nd
This is long due and should have been my first or second post. I didn’t do it before because I hadn’t unpacked, and after I unpacked I had to tidy up, add a little laziness and voilà – it took two weeks to get some pictures of the apartment I’m staying in.
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.
A Walk on Chang’an Road
Jul 18th
Fulicheng is pretty close to Guomao, which is on Chang’an road, Beijing’s main road. Tonight I decided to take a walk and headed out around 10:30 PM. It was warm enough outside to wear tshirt and shorts.
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.
