再见, Beijing

Today was my quick tour of Beijing, aided by sightseeing by taxi. I saw the forbidden city, which is indeed rather impressive, and the summer palace, likewise. Ate the obligatory Beijing duck (I think the waitresses were puzzled seeing me roll it up fajita style...)

I normally use my mobile for telling the time, but since I didn't bring it on my trip, I am frequently without a clue of the time, which can be impractical at times. So I thought maybe I should buy a watch, and hey, what better place than China, right? Problem is, I don't want a fake rolex, nor have I seen any other cheap watch that I like sofar. So the ironic situation is that a watch is the only item I want to buy right now, I get offered them on the street continuously, yet I can't manage to buy one...

So this morning, as I was asked for the 100th time by a random guy if I wanted to buy a "rolex", I was about to wave "no" to him, but then I spotted something much more to my taste in his hand: a watch with the Mao himself waving at you. So after negotiating him down to 5$, I proudly put on my wrist, happy that I finally managed to buy one. It didn't fit snugly, so I tug on the strap... and promptly break it. The street vendor wasn't around for my warranty claim. Oh well. I guess the chairman will have to tell me the time from my bag.

Tomorrow I am flying to Singapore.