Teahouses and Beer Tents

This post is coming to you from the Be For Time Teahouse. Well, I'm writing it while we're here, but unfortunately they don't have wireless internet, so we'll be posting it from yet another net bar. This might be a temporary situation, as the lady who runs the luguan said something about the whole neighborhood's wifi being down. It doesn't make much sense to me, but I did spy a wireless router at the luguan, so who knows.

Anyway, about the Be For Time Teahouse! Here's the premise: you pay Y18 (a little more than US$2) to come in, and you can drink as much as you want. They have everything, it seems: all kinds of tea, coffee, juice, soda, flavored milks, and ice cream, plus a whole list of things I can't even read (including some red bean, green bean, and corn flavored concoctions). You can buy food, but they also give you several plates of nuts, crackers, and seeds to munch on. It's a pretty good deal, and if it's possible to pig out on liquids, everybody here does. So far we've had a pot of oolong tea, an espresso, a mocha, two cups of pearl milk tea (boba, for our Taiwanese readers), and two dishes of ice cream - and we're only getting started! Luckily they serve small portions so you can order one of everything.

As we've already posted and told everybody that we've talked to since we've arrived here, we love Harbin! The city is really beautiful, and the best part: no pollution! At least it seems like there isn't any in comparison to Beijing, where it hurt my lungs to go outside.

Last night we tried to take the bus to Zhongyang Dajie, but since it's a pedestrian street, buses don't run there, so we had to guess what stop might be close. We were off by a mile or two, but the walk took us along the river, through an enormous maze of people selling chuar, fruit, clothes, junk-knacks, plastic household tools, dress shoes - you name it, they had it. (I've heard the only thing you can't find in Harbin is a potato masher, so parents, if we get really desperate for mashed potatoes, you might have to ship us one :)

Once we made our way to Zhongyang Dajie, we ate dinner at the Orient Dumpling King Restaurant, which was highly praised in both guidebooks that we own. Unfortunately, they only had one kind of vegetarian dumplings - zucchini (we think) and egg - which was disappointing. They were pretty good, though.

We wandered around Zhongyang Dajie for a few minutes, then settled at a beer tent. During the summers here, there are semi-permanent beer tents set up all over the city, with beer on tap and snack booths lining the sides. We had a pitcher of beer and a tub of popcorn (it was sweet, not salty - another disappointment) before feeling chilly and deciding to leave. We checked out one of the many Russian goods shops, which we now know sells furs, vodka, and stacking dolls.

In other news, we registered and paid for classes - in cash, up front. It's nerve-wracking carrying so much money around. Classes start Monday, so we're anxiously waiting to see what they'll be like (and who our classmates will be). We debated between two class levels and decided to register for the harder of the two classes, since the easier class uses the same books that Tom used last time we were in China. Thankfully, we still have the option to move down if it's too much. Wish us luck!

A note from the net bar: Tom is such a good boy; he's apartment hunting while I'm surfing the net. I should probably help him... or else he might make me call and talk to people on the phone! Oh no!