The original plan for day one was to accompany the older interns on a day trip to the summer palace, but due to the hangovers we all pretty much stayed in bed. Me and 2 others left earlier than everyone else the night before so we met around 4pm and explored a couple of the markets.
After the guilt of spending most of day 1 in bed we all decided we would meet for breakfast and then decide what we were going to do for that day. We ended up having breakfast in Pizza Hut, which was pretty nice actually I had some french toast with fruit while others got their egg and bacon fix.
Firstly we visited TiAnaMen Square, then we visited the nearby gardens which had some gorgeous building work. What was odd is that we stumbled upon some kind of human market, at the bottom of the gardens people sit with a piece of paper containing statistics and a picture of their slightly past it children with the dowry cost, and others would look around trying to find a match for their children.
After the shock of realising what we had stumbled upon, we headed to the silk market. The silk market is 6 floors of everything; bags, trainers, tailoring, jewellery.. you name it they have it! The only thing you HAVE to haggle the price. I managed to haggle a small bag from 780rmb down to 100rmb and their is a nac to it, which I dont quite have down yet. So far I have only bought a bag and some socks but given then you can get branded trainers for as low as 50rmb which equates to about £5 I will definately be coming back with bags full!
After the silk market we bypassed the night market in Wayfujing on the way back home. Its nicknamed the night market as it comes alive from 6pm and closes at 10.30pm. If you had an appetite before coming here, you will certainly be leaving without one, and you’ll see why from the pictures.
The Night Market
The People Market
Tianamen Square & Forbidden City Entrance
