My beijing trip

I went to Beijing in October 2006 and had the opportunity to visit the Summer Palace and the Houhai night life which was an unforgettable experience. Houhai is filled with luxurious restaurants, bars, boating and couples dance slowly on open streets. If you plan to go to Beijing, Houhai should be your first destination, and you can't really spend only one night there. The atmosphere is really warm, and the trees are really beautiful to look at as well. I really couldn't do enough restaurant trips around Beijing, and food appears to be the number one commodity. Make sure to visit one of Beijing's black/flea market for art. There are some really professional artists who can make perfect copies of famous Chinese paintings, which can go for prices of around 800 RMB, and trust me, they are really worth it. Just make sure not to ship them back home, because the post office will deliberately fold them and destroy them for free of charge. Also never ask the taxi driver for a change, because they will return fake money. Some shops will charge you "white prices", so if your bottle of juice seems a bit overpriced compared to local prices, just leave the shop asap and never come back again. Because Chinese live on lies and they will try to fool you where ever you go. Fortunately some Chinese are good people. Don't be surprised if the male hotel employees yell bitch at the female hotel employees on their way down the elevator, it's just Chinese custom. Overall, it was a pleasurable experience and a lot of beautiful things to see, you just can't trust anyone.