Living the high life

Last week we had one of those rare beautiful blue-sky days in Beijing, and took the opportunity to check out 国贸(guómào), the Beijing Central Business District. Despite the name, the CBD is not in the center of Beijing, but a decent distance to the east, between the 3rd and 4th ring roads. As I live and attend class within the 2nd ring road, I do not often travel that far out. The CBD is however, the most modern part of Beijing I've seen so far, featuring vistas such as this:

Our destination in the CBD, however, was the China World Trade Center Tower III, a skyscraper of 81 floors int he center of the district that sits atop a mall and features a bar on the top floor. After wandering through the mall for a while, and wondering at the presence of a large number of American and European luxury stores (Prada or Gucci, anyone?), we made it to the building. After taking an ear-poppingly fast elevator that reached a top speed of 10 meters per second, we made it to the 81st floor. The view was a wonderful overview of the city, allowing you to see far into the distance on such a clear day.

Because the cafe was so packed, we had a hard time sitting at a window with a good view. So I took a picture over other people's tables instead. The angular building you can see in the background here is the CCTV building, affectionately referred to by many Beijing'ers as the "underpants building," owing to its pants-like shape.

 

Since the 81st floor featured not just a beautiful panorama but also a fancy bar, we decided to get a couple drinks.

Martin is enjoying a fancy whiskey, the name of which I forget, Ben is enjoying an enjoyable summery concoction fo gin and creme de mure, a blackberry liquor, and I am enjoying a Last Word, a cocktail of gin, green chartreuse, lime juice, and maraschino liquor. It was delicious. They were very expensive, but quite enjoyable, and nice to sip while doing Chinese homework atop one of the tallest skyscrapers in Beijing.

Additionally, this bar also featured the nicest bathrooms I've seen since I got to China, which is admittedly not a particularly difficult feat. The views from the urinals were particularly impressive, and an enjoyable distraction as you emptied your bladder of the drinks you just consumed.

The only negative aspect to the whole adventure was the (what-I-am-almost-certain-was) an attempted scam, both on the way in and the way out.

Beijing is a pretty safe place for foreigners. Of course, there are pickpockets like in any major city with many tourists. And I've heard stories of foreigners getting into fights in bars or clubs, but they seem fairly rare. The most common issue, however, is one of two scams. You're walking around one of the busier areas of Beijing, and are approached by one or two Chinese people. They walk up to you and ask you, in very good English, if you're a student, where you're from, why are you in Beijing, and discussing the surrounding area. It's a very pleasant conversation, and they may even talk about their work, as either a teacher or a student or perhaps something else, and offer you their card. After a while, they'll invite you to come check out a nearby art exhibition or tea shop. And you figure, why not? It's fun to talk to a local and you've always enjoyed Chinese art/tea. Maybe they even offer to write your name using calligraphy as well. And then you have a cup, or take the calligraphy, or walk around the exhibit for a while. And as you're finishing up, they present you with a bill. For several hundred American dollars.

That scam is supposedly the most common way of being targeted as a foreigner in China. Other than this trip to the CBD and one trip to Tiananmen Square on my first trip to China, I've never run into it, so it's still not super common. But it does happen. As we were walking into the World Trade Center Tower III, we stopped to look at a model of the CBD, and talked for a while with an art professor and his student about the area and our studies for a while before being invited to check out his nearby art exhibition. We made excuses, claiming we really wanted to get to the tower, and departed. If we hadn't been warned of the scam earlier though, we almost certainly would've taken them up on it. Similarly, on the way out, we were approached by someone else asking "Are you students?", the same opening line the professor on the way in used.

So the CBD is a great place to get a glimpse of modern Beijing, both good and bad. And one of the most exciting views I've ever enjoyed while peeing.