Up very early after a long night's rather fitful sleep. But at least there was enough of it! As far as I can tell, the matresses in China are all made in the same joinery factory! We both put coats/jumpers under our hips to prevent bruising! Had a lovely breakfast of French omelette for me, and toast and jam for dad, washed down with China green tea. Yum! Cost: Y38 (a bit over $6!) Left home and caught a cab to the Zhongguancun area to investigate a new mobile phone for dad and anything else that might look interesting. Crazy place! It is literally a battlefront. Us against the armies of the corporates. No quarter was given and none taken! We fought them at every level: ground floor, basement, first; you name it! In the end we retreated to MacDonalds for a coffee and a regroup! We made a final onslaught but were beaten back by shear numbers and basically a lack of knowledge!! All we wanted was a mobile phone that had a nice big keypad and worked in Australia. If it had an inbuilt electronic clothesline, that was ok, but it had to satisfy those two fairly simple (I thought) criteria. Alas, not to be! Another time another battle.

Nearly back to the hostel and I made a fatal decision: call into a, hitherto observed but deliberately ignored because I knew dad would want to be in there place, or not! Hmm, you guessed it. Some time later, and several precious stones and associated apparel encumbered, we wended our way home.

What a magic little afternoon. We freshened up and then returned to the courtyard for "refreshments". A man who worked in the hostel introduced himself and it turned out that he was a musician. He then played some of the Chinese stringed instruments (and one wind one, but more about that in a later blog) and kept us entertained for the remainder of the afternoon. Absolutely one of those unforgettable instances that life throws about. Luckily, I recorded some of it on my iPod. I will add it here later if I can find a way.

After that we returned for dinner in the hostel (again) and thoroughly enjoyed it (again) Total cost: not much!! Spent the evening chatting to local staff and in particular one young woman, who really gave us an insight into modern life in Beijing for the average person. It was not an easy conversation in the end as her life seemed even to us, to be hopeless. And she is a university graduate who longs to teach but can't because she was never considered an attractive enough candidate! An interesting article in Beijing Today last Friday speaks of sexretaries and the culture of employing attractive (intelligent) women in business related roles in China, however from what this lady was saying, it applies in other areas as well. Teachers are needed but she graduated 4 years ago and still hasn't got a job and now has totally lost hope. I learnt more about China tonight than I ever knew! Or perhaps wanted to know. But I am determined to learn more.