The Silk Market

Today was a good Sabbath. Our little branch is wonderful. Yesterday the 8 BYU teachers all went to Beijing to go shopping at the "famous" Silk Market. WOWWWOOOOWWW what an interesting experinece. First of all we rode the bullet train from Tianjin (12 million people) to Beijing (22 million). It's about 50 miles away and it only took about 30 minutes (200 mph) and as smooth as glass. It was really fun. BUT...the Silk Market was OUT OF CONTROL. I thought the Mexican markets were the place to bargin - they have nothing on the Silk Market. It's a big mall six stories tall with about 150 shops per floor. The first two floors are nothing but clothes (American brands - Columbia, Jeep, you name it), the third floor - scarfs, bedding, backpacking stuff etc, the forth floor - luggage, cameras and a gazillion watches, the fifth floor - jewelry. It's a bargaining paradise. Here's an example: Mom found a really beautiful sweater to buy. Their starting price was 890 yuan and by the time I was done bargining we got it for 60 Yuan (about 8 dollars). I bought five great ties for about 8 dollars. Anyway, it was crazy and an interesting experience.

Mom and I are busy and enjoying our students. This week we had them discussing what they thought were the biggest problems China faces. WOW, talk about interesting. Anyway, we feel blessed to be here.