Red Cliff (赤壁)

Tuesdays in Beijing is half-price movie day. Every Tuesday my friends and I get together either to watch a movie or have dinner somewhere nice. Last Tuesday, Marco and I watched “Red Cliff” at Wanda Cinemas. Ticket price was 35 per person during Tuesdays and 70 per person on other days.

Red Cliff is currently the hottest movie to hit town. I remember two Saturdays ago, Richard and I were so frustrated because we can’t find a cinema which offers Hancock.

The nice thing about this movie is even though it’s in Chinese, the English subtitles are well translated. The movie has a star-studded cast with a world-renowned director. The movie is based from the famous Chinese novel “Romance of Three Kingdoms”.

Advertisement

Will You Close The Window?!?!?!

When I wrote my blog regarding 10 things I hate about China, it was spring.  At that time, the weather is still cool that there’s no need for air-conditioning.  Now that it’s the peak of summer, air-conditioning is a relief to the scorching heat of the sun.  However, in China, most of them seem scared of the cold.

A couple of days ago, I was lucky enough to ride an air-condition bus home.  It was hot and humid and I badly need something cool.  When I entered the bus, it felt heavenly.  However, when I sat down behind a Chinese guy, he suddenly yanked open the window so wide and let the humid air in.  I was so annoyed so I tap his shoulder and asked him to close the window.  He replied in Chinese, “I moved to this seat because I want to open the window.  I’m scared of the cold!”  I was fuming inside and was contemplating banging him in the head and say “This is an airconditioned bus!  If you hate the cold, you shouldn’t ride this bus!”  I didn’t do it but I almost did.  Maybe next time I will.

House Rules During Olympic Matches

The Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee recently posted on their website the house rules for spectators when watching Olympic matches.   I suggest you print it out as sometimes they might have their own rules which are unreasonable and you have something to disprove them.

I remember attending one of the Good Luck Beijing games and I had some paracetamol with me.  They informed me that I can’t bring it in.   As I was in a hurry, I just let it be.   This time, I’ll come prepared and print myself a copy of the house rules.

The House Rules are as follow:

Lanzhou Beef Noodles

Lanzhou is the capital of Gansu province located at the northwest part of China. Nestled between mountains, the weather is perfect and the scenery is superb. As the city has a significant Muslim population, Muslim restaurants and fast food chains are found in almost every corner. No McDonalds nor Starbucks but several KFC.

The most popular food in Lanzhou is the Lanzhou Beef Noodles (兰州拉面). This dish was first created during the reign of Emperor Guangxu (1875 – 1908), Qing Dynasty (1616 – 1911). It has five main features: clear soup, white radish, red pepper, green caraway and yellow noodles. The noodles can be wide or slim to meet different preferences. A bowl of beef noodles cost 10 to 20 yuan and takes only a few minutes to prepare.  According to a local, the best place to eat these noodles are in Muslim restaurants.

We had a chance to try this dish and it was huge and filling. It taste like any other noodles but maybe we just don’t know how to mix everything. Our guide put some vinegar on his noodle and spicy sauce so maybe that’s why he finished everything.

Latest Tianjin Starbucks Mug & Tumbler

I was meaning to go to Starbucks for quite some time to take photos and check out the latest city mugs and tumblers.  I got the chance to do it yesterday as I was at the main office and there’s a Starbucks on my way to the bus stop.

In that Starbucks, they still have the Beijing mug & tumblers which I’ve posted in my previous blog as well as the latest Tianjin tumbler and demitasse set.  The Tianjin tumbler has that huge clock structure which I saw on the way to the city from the train station.  The color and font design is similar to the new Beijing & China tumblers which they’ve recently released.  Retail price for the tumbler is RMB 95.

The demitasse set composed of one Tianjin cup and one China cup.  Retail price  for this set is RMB 88.  They’re quite cute and when I went to the Starbucks near my home, they said it’s already sold out.

Since I wasn’t happy with the photos I’ve taken in the Starbucks near the office, I  thought about going to the Starbucks near my home.  When I got there, they don’t have the tumbler nor the demitasse set.  They, however, have the Tianjin mug.  In this shop, they were more amenable to have a picture taken so I think the picture is much better.  Retail price of the mug is RMB 90.

Well.. for the collectors in Manila, I have a friend going home this August.  Send me a comment if you want me to buy you some of them.  For other collectors, I’ll see what I can do with the shipping.