School and Iphone 4

Sorry I haven't posted in a few days but there honestly hasn't been a lot to post about. I have gotten into a routine of school, tutoring, studying. There really hasn't been that much time to do anything else. However, yesterday was National Day, the founding of the PRC and so I have a week off from classes because of it. They call the week off a Golden Week. There are two per year in China, for National Day and Chinese New Year. The reason why they give the whole country a week off is because it is the only time anyone can return to their homes. Long weekends just aren't enough time when your traveling by train from Beijing to Chongqing or wherever. So for this Golden Week, Chinese people get one of their two opportunities to travel home each year and over 150 million will take advantage of it this week.

I was planning on traveling to Shanghai this week for both the expo and to see the city but I just decided I didn't want to deal with all the hassle of traveling with so many Chinese people. But I will be making a trip out to the Beijing suburbs, perhaps to Chengde. So, I will have plenty to talk about then.

In other news, the Iphone 4 has been released in China, and people have been going nuts. Scalpers have been going into the Apple store here in Beijing and buying 20 to 30 Iphones for around 5000 RMB. They then go and sell them right outside the store for 7000, 8000 or even 10,000 RMB. Sanlitun Village (where the flagship Apple Store is) has turned into a circus because of it and there are now always police officers hanging around trying to bust sellers. I think its more likely they are just hoping for a discount on an Iphone and then they wouldn't arrest the scalpers. Here is an article about the Iphone pandemonium.

Also, here is a picture from the deck of my favorite cafe, called The Bridge. Many expats and middle-class Chinese college students come here to study. The building across the street is Houlian and it is the main shopping mall in Wudaokou, which is a 15 minute walk from my apartment. Also, many students hangout here because Peking Univ, Tsinghua, BLCU, Renmin my school and at least 5 other schools are all withing walking distance of Wudaokou.