First impressions

I am sure my mom and Tina would explain their first impressions of Beijing as being crowded, dirty, smelly, and confusing... but I am hoping that here at the end of day one their first impressions are shifting. We went to our usual salon for full body massages (we were thinking they would be much needed after the long flight) and we had lunch at a ridiculously good Greek restaurant, Argos. We explored a bit of the Beijing hutong scene. We drank tea on a rooftop at a traditional Chinese tea shop. We ate (our favorite) Ganges, Indian food, for dinner. We went grocery shopping for the necessary ingredients for jiǎozi for tomorrow. All-in-all I think our guests had a really wonderful first day... even despite the smells.

Parts of our day:

Entrance to Argos

A vintage shop in the hutong

Now that's a rickshaw with some horsepower, for sure!

Mandarin lesson:
 Chòu dòufu 臭豆腐 (stinky)