Took my time in the morning, then headed to Hue Han Lake, to see if I could find something to eat and get some money from the bank. I tried to get money yesterday before and had some issues, and today was no different. Decided to head back to the hostel and see if there was a lock on my card of some sort, but all was clear. She suggested I try a lower amount, which I did, and it worked – but I am still not sure why I couldn’t get the first amount – since it really wasn’t much. Thankfully, traveling in Beijing is quite cheap.
After getting a bit of money I headed to Bei Hei park, and had a walk around the lake, and then up to the White Pagoda. I decided I’d like to check out one of the markets (I was going into shopping withdrawls), so I headed towards the Pearl Market, but determined it was further than I thought – so I ducked through the Oriental Plaza (high end shopping mall) back to Wanfuching, and took a bus back to the hostel.
Met my two roommates, Constantine (Seattle) and Magley (Ottawa). We then ended up meeting Sevey (Florida), who had been living in Taiwan for 4 years, and had just moved to Beijing. He spoke fluent mandarin, which was handy. He also knew how to play mahjong, so he taught Magley, Constantine, and myself.
After playing a few games, we decided to grab some dinner. With a fluent guide, eating was a lot easier. Sevey did the ordering, and got us some interesting dishes – pig paws, fish, chicken soup (complete with head). The meal came to about $20 Canadian for the four of us. Not too bad, but I’m going to try and eat for less tomorrow.