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I arrived to Beijing at nine am after a night of watching the slumdog millionare on the plane- what a great movie!! I didnt get much sleep so felt pretty much like a zombie when i finally got in here. All the partying and farewells in the weekend just took the life out of me, it was such a great weekend thanks to all of you who were there with me :)
Had a bit of an hassle finding my way to my friend Edoardos place but in the end i had a chinese phone number, were able to call him and in 30 minutes found myself in this amazing flat in the 28th floor in a skycraper- hard life of a backpacker huh. The wiew is gorgeous and i pretty much have my own bathroom and while i went rambling around the town today someone just magically made my bed and folded my clothes- either a travel fairy or a maid. It was great to see Edo and we had dinner in a lovely yonnanese restaurant and had some beers in a nice bar after.
I walked around shops and had bravely lunch alone i chinese restaurant with a succes, most of the food was quite yammy. Then i wisited the contemporary art district of beijing, factory 798. It was a crazy place full of galleries and really experimental art- good fun, will add some pics later. There was everything from a tiny galleries where you can talk with the artist and were exhibiting just few pieces to a massive nike sponsored basketball "hall" where bunch of chinese were playing with music and lights on the bacroung- they throw me the ball laughing but unfortunately i didnt have the guts to embarrass myself and join the game.
Beijing seems really modern and organised and surprisingly fun and still has a very different vibe about it- the chinese capital of 16 million people seems to fit as much culture and fascinating peculiarities as medium size country in Europe. First i was a bit intimidated by the weather being so cold (and it is a bit chilly- about 7 celcius or so) but the day was sunny and pretty and i think its a great start for my trip. This far i have been spared from eating anything really grose either, allthough at lunch i accidently ate something so spicy i almost died. Seriously.
I went to the forbidden city which wasnt that great, and to the tiananmen square hich was huge. Most i enjoid walking around "hutong" the old city parts and its narrow alleys by the lakes. And eating the beijing duck ofcourse. Yummy!! A friend of mine showed me a great little bookshop/cafe with a good section of books on china- my backpack is in danger to get even heavier now. Last night i went with Edoardo and hes friends to listen to a reggae band and had a blast, so much fun. The band was really good and made us dance the night away. Today will go to listen to another friend of mine teaching a class in the university here and then walking to the summer palace.
Will get back when i have more things to write, cheers babes.
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