No doubt these guys ‘drove’ the BMW clients wild with excitement!

Have a look at some of the images from the event below.

Big event today in Shanghai for @riverdance and @bmwgroup. This is the car I get to arrive in… twitter.com/PadraicMoyles/…

— Padraic Moyles(@PadraicMoyles) April 15, 2013

Riverdance Flying Squad Rehearsals

Riverdance Flying Squad Rehearsals

The lads of @riverdance just before we took to the stage in Shanghai. @bmwgroup @julianerskinerd #dance twitter.com/PadraicMoyles/…

— Padraic Moyles(@PadraicMoyles) April 15, 2013

Read this on the Riverdance website: Riverdance Flying Squad visit Shanghai

On the road; one suitcase, one carry on. So what do we pack and how do we manage to squeeze it all in? Well, here in Riverdance we are forced to condense all our favorites and essentials into one small bag. So when we do it, we do it good. I have once again picked several cast and crew members to pour their hearts out and divulge their most personal item which they feel they cannot live without.

The Irish Times App:

Moving rapidly with the times our very own Production Manager, Brendan McLoughlin swears by the Irish Times App on his iPad Mini. This way Brendan can stay informed with local news from home and abroad. He checks scores on gaelic football and hurling as he is a strong GAA fan. Being in China for several months means one can go weeks without finding or reading an english text newspaper. He can pass the time on travel days waiting at airports or on bus journeys with his favorite app.

Brendan McLoughlin reads the Irish Times between his busy hectic schedule.

Dear Diary:

Our wonderful cultural liaison, Lindsey Newhall who has been a part of the Riverdance company since 2009 is never to be found without her hardback diary. Be it sitting in traffic in the middle of Beijing, between load in and curtain call or simply on downtime in her hotel, Lindsey keeps track of daily life here on the road in China. These are but a few of the things she notes in her diary:
Places visited
To do lists
Memories
Rumors
Jokes
As Lynsey will be continuing on to Thailand from Beijing, I’m sure she will encounter many more memories along the way, however none as beautiful as those with Riverdance. We wish her all the best. No doubt her diary will continue with her along her travels.

Lindsey noting the day’s excitement on her hammock!

Maggie! Maggie!

Miss Darlington would sleep in her leg warmers if she could get away with it! I’m surprised she doesn’t have a pet name for them. Not to be seen for a minute back stage without them on, she swears by them. ” It’s important to keep your body warm between dances backstage.” We have been relatively fortunate on this Moy tour to have performed in newly built theaters with suffice heating. However between harsh winter temperatures and unpredictable heating arrangements it can be become difficult to stay limber while offstage in Chinese theaters.

Maggie Darlington stretches

A Samsung obsession:

Our very own Medical Officer, Garrett Dockery has been so kind to pose for me and my blog to let all the readers know what his secret tour obsession is and what he simply cannot live without. “My Samsung:…. If I lost my wallet, it wouldn’t bother me half as much as it would if I lost this,” he claims! His ‘man toy’ is a kindle, a music player, a mobile phone and he can watch TV shows or movies on long bus rides between cities on tour. “It is my link to the outside world, and my wife of course!”

Read this on the Riverdance website: What I cannot live without: Life on tour in China

As this tour approaches the end, my sightseeing days increasingly fill with awe-inspiring moments. For my final blog there is one common theme, grand and impressive scale.

During our time in Wuxi many of us took a trip out to see the Lingshan Buddha.

A peaceful walk in the company of friends and under the shadow of an immense Buddha inspired many photos. However, I’ve chosen just one to share with you. Looking up at this eighty-eight meter colossus I crooked my neck at a severe angle and stared up at two friends peering down at me. Lauren and Ben peek out from the foot of the Buddha and express the human to statue ratio.

In Changzhou, on a walk to find food, we noticed a multi-storied pagoda emerging from a hazy sky.  Curiosity led us into ornately decorated temple grounds and in front of a very impressive structure.  In this image a pillar carved with dragons and sea creatures is in focus as the pagoda rises behind it into the white sky.  I have visited a few temples on this tour but this one really impressed me with its ornamentation.

Next we move on the Temple of Heaven in Beijing. Equally as stunning, this main structure and the many buildings surrounding it possess a regal quality. I’ve included two images of The Temple of Heaven. In the closer image you get an idea of the decorative exterior, while in the second there is more of a sense of the imperial and ceremonial space.

Moving onto one of the most memorable moments on tour, a visit to the Great Wall of China in Mutianyu. We were extremely lucky to visit the day after Chinese New Year celebrations since we experienced an un-crowded and sunny trip to this magnificent “Wonder of the World”.

In my first photo Maggie Darlington and Jason O’Neill climb up a sea of steps as the wall and its snow covered surroundings bend and twist behind them. In my second image, a man stands on the wall’s undulating surface with his back facing the viewer. What attracted me to this image was the way the wall and the mountains mimic each other ‘s shapes as they layer upon each other into the background.

In order to “go out with a bang” my last image is of some the brightly colored fireworks outside our hotel in Beijing on Chinese New Year.  In this image smoke and color fill the night sky as shadowy figures look up at the dazzling display.  What can never truly be expressed in this image is exhilarating sensory experience of being so close to so many fireworks exploding all at once.

This has been a wonderful tour of China and I hope you have enjoyed my visual documentation of this colorful, diverse and welcoming country.

Read this on the Riverdance website: My final photo blog from China

Iphones galore at Starbucks

I’ve just received a picture of the crazy snow at home from a friend. The picture, sent via an application on my iPhone known as WhatsApp..one of the vast number of iPhones  amongst the troupe is what helps us through days when we really miss our loved ones at home.  Undoubtedly, being a dancer in  Riverdance is a dream come true, touring the world, doing what you love.  But, it is difficult being away from family and friends for long periods of time. Sitting in my hotel room in Changsha, it made me wonder about Riverdance in 1994 “back in the day” and how difficult it was keeping in contact with loved ones when lets face it, there were very little methods of overseas communication.  Speaking to Niamh O’Connor, my dance captain and the only original dancer from the show from its inception, I try to gain an understanding of how things have changed.

“There was no such thing as the internet. The only thing we could do was buy phone cards to phone home with. In fact, just before I came on tour, I found all of my phone cards that I had kept down through the years. There were hundreds!”. Siobhan Manson, also pipes up “Oooh phone cartin bitin” and Maeve Croke and Alana Mallon begin reminiscing about their time in Germany, searching for phone cards in the hope of hearing a familiar voice so far away from home.  Maeve explains that it’s so much easier these days. She also swears by Whatsapp and tells me she loves her little group conversations with friends. The only time she avoids them is when they start to organise nights out at home!

Skype is also a great method of communication and it’s not uncommon to see someone with headphones in waving at their phone. In China, the internet connection in some of our hotel rooms is dire so with free wifi in the lobby, you are likely to find swarms of us online there after the show.  It’s particularly useful for the likes of Conor Downey from our crew who has just recently got married and has a young child at home and another on the way!

Brendan’s son Daniel with the cast

Brendan McLaughlin, production manager also has a young son Daniel, who along with Brendan’s wife Catherine came out to visit over Christmas.  Not only was this fantastic for Brendan, but we all enjoyed having Daniel around, and he’s such a character an kept us all entertained!  The accessibility and lower cost of flights makes a better Christmas possible for people like Brendan. It also paves the way for impromptu visits from Nicola Dempsey’s boyfriend Adrian who was able to spend Christmas with her and Peta Anderson has just welcomed her beau Brendan who has just joined us…all the way from Australia!

Interestingly however,  Niamh tells me her family would have visited a lot more years ago particularly as tours back then were longer. But now, with more ways of keeping in contact, less so. “We used to be so happy having people come out to visit all the time. You could also write a long list of things you wanted from home!  But now, things are a lot better especially because you always know what’s going on so you don’t feel like you miss out on anything”

Fiona McCabe keeping track of emails from home

This brings me onto all the little ‘home comforts’ we miss. I, for one am counting the days to a good ole mug of tea and slice of McCann’s toast with melted Golden Cow butter…yummm!  Since it’s nearly the end of our tour, I took the liberty of asking people what they are looking forward to most.  As I was expecting, there was a resounding agreement that food would be right up there on the list but of course, seeing family for the first time in 12 weeks was definitely top of the list.

Our Chinese crew and Garret Dockery checking in with loved ones at the airport

Read this on the Riverdance website: “Back in the day” – Reminiscing about Life on Tour with Riverdance in the 1990′s

________________________________________________________

Click on any photo to view photo slide show

________________________________________________________

Wenzhou, city no.21 was a highly commercial city and as with many cities that we have been to, it is booming, with high rise buildings in abundance and shopping malls galore. We arrived to our hotel and decided to head out after a failed attempt at getting food in the hotel (Picture fish tanks with live fish primed for eating, various chefs tucked behind glass windows ready to cook you a range of weird pre-prepared dishes..eek, no thanks!) The following day, we luckily found a “European Centre” and had a nice lunch at a lovely Italian restaurant.  On our last night, we decided to brave the local streets in search of food. Just a few short steps from our hotel, we happened upon what I can only describe as an area resembling an army camp with rows of little tents lit up. But boy, what a discovery. Locals cooking, watching TV, playing pool enamored of course by us..a few weird looking westerners propped up on stools, gorging on rice and noodles..happy campers!

Next was Lishui, and the “Pearl Boutique” hotel , one of the nicest hotels I’ve ever stayed in. With simple, stylish and forward thinking design and rooms equipped with a huge sofa and flat screen TV, we spent the night chatting and chilling out here. We also found a little restaurant next door and with some perseverance, and plenty of gesturing and pointing, we finally tucked into some of the nicest rice and veg dishes for a measly £3 each!

Travel day beckoned and a short while after boarding the bus, we witnessed some incredible scenery, arriving late to the “Picturesque Hotel” in Wuxi.  The hotel was far from picturesque however and with no food outlets near, we feasted on a late-night McDonalds close by.  Wuxi is home to the biggest Buddha in China (sixth biggest in the world) so after a few visits to Starbucks at the local mall over our few days, we picked a day and headed off to the one thousand year old Lingshan Grand Buddha.  Standing at over 80 meters high, the Buddha is made completely from bronze and is highly impressive. Not only did we visit the Buddha, but the site is filled with meaningful Buddhist structures and plenty more. With another show down in Wuxi’s “Grand Theatre” we finished off our stay here at a local Australian bar.

We were welcomed to Chengshu by a huge sign at the entrance to our hotel referring to us as “The Hoofers of Riverdance”.  A girly afternoon followed as me, Nicola, Nicole and Fiona took a wander through the hutongs of Chengshu.  Later that night after a long search for food, we were once again propped on little stools at an intriguing little family restaurant.  We returned on the second night and although it is impossible to tip in China, we sneakily left double our bill amount (£6.60 for 6 people!!) and exited quickly.

Now, with nearly ten weeks gone we are preparing for our exciting trip to Beijing and Shanghai to finish what has been a most enjoyable “Moy” tour.

Read this on the Riverdance website: Wenzhou, Lishui, Wuxi and Chengshu: Tour cities no.21-24.

It’s been a busy few weeks here in the East.  Flighting between a plane seat, (excuse the pun),  my beloved heavy shoes, the wonderful daily randomness in China and some lengthy conversations over Tetley’s tea and a good film (I would safely say I’ve watched about 20 films in two weeks!)  I feel like I haven’t had a minute.

In Qingdao, we found the most amazing coffee shop/wine bar called “Deja Vu” and “Deja Vu” it was since we spent every minute of the day in this place. Whether it was digging into our breakfast bagels, tucking into an amazing Caesar Salad or sipping some delicious red wine whilst enjoying chilli fries at night, this gem literally saved our lives. We didn’t venture far apart from a short jaunt to one of the many beaches in Qingdao. Apart from the cold weather, this beach was wonderful and I would imagine it to be extremely busy when summer comes around. We also visited the local mall and picked up some necessities at a local pharmacy. The staff at “Deja Vu” were run off their feet for four days. We also met a lot of other westerners who are teaching English there, and made the most of being able to meet other English speaking visitors.

________________________________________________________

Click on any photo to view photo slide show

________________________________________________________

Next up was Kunshan and probably one of the hardest days to date. Finding food was terribly difficult upon arrival. After spending hours travelling, we walked for miles in search of decent food and ended up settling for a Chinese buffet style takeaway. The following day we did little but get some food at a local Chinese restaurant and watched “It’s Complicated” after the show. After a quick stay in Changshu, we travelled after our show here to Zhangjiagang, staying in much larger apartment-style rooms equipped with washing machines….score!!   Apart from “The food situation”, the other huge struggle we have is finding proper washing facilities in China so needless to say the whole troupe spent their time washing their clobber and re-packing our suitcases. I also enjoyed a lengthy lunch with James Keating on the 20^th floor of a nearby building (as you do!).  The view was phenomenal as was the food and James is quite a character so he kept me entertained!

Tizhou followed and onwards and upwards, we had a few great days in Heifei.  After a rather lengthy bus journey, we enjoyed some fantastic street food outside our hotel and were glammed and ready in preparation for Emma Warren and Niamh O’Connor’s birthdays. The local German bar named Bacchus was the party spot, chosen of course after much research on TripAdvisor (A note to anyone visiting, VPN for accessing Facebook, Twitter etc, TripAdvisor and any free translation app you can find are your best friends!).  The food was delicious and the resident band were great. Emma is a fantastic singer and joined them for a few hits. Myself and Craig Mason also joined in as backing singers for Tina Turner’s classic “Rolling on a River” and of course no night would be complete without a few tunes from Peta Anderson!

The following day, we just chilled out at our hotel and bought a cake from one of the many superb bakeries here in China.  A huge chocolate cake, freshly baked and prepared for a measly £7.80, equipped with candles, birthday hats etc.  As the saying goes however, nothing ever goes to plan. Just before we were about to leave for the second last bus of the day, the cake fell a whooping 17 floors to the ground after being knocked off the windowsill!  Shaun Kelly, the culprit had to make a rather quick dash back to the bakery and hastily ordered a new one in the nick of time. But, I must admit, at this stage nothing phases me here, maybe that’s why the Chinese people are so relaxed and care-free…Anything goes..Take note! : )

Read this on the Riverdance website: Qingdao, Kunshan, Zhangjiagang, Tizhou and Birthday celebrations in Heifei.

After carefully selecting my images for this week’s blog, I realized they all share one common theme. All of them convey how I have encountered different aspects of Chinese culture on tour.  Whether it’s through a bus window or during a ravenous search for street food, I  happened upon some intriguing and foreign aspects of daily life here in China.

Elderly women practicing their Tai Chi

Out of desperation I begrudgingly ate from a fast food chain in Zhangjiagang. I peered out the window and saw two endearing elderly women practicing their Tai Chi. Amidst the frenzy of this modern shopping mecca these two women found a spot of open air to conduct an ancient and calming practice. What I appreciate most from this image is their focused countenance and soft grandmotherly appearance.

The next voyeuristic image was also captured through a windowpane. Traveling to Hefei on a long and bumpy journey I was captivated by small houses and farms, even graveyards zipping past my window. I snapped indiscriminately hoping to capture in focus some of the scenery passing me by. This image shows a wall of sandy soil and man carrying what looks to be a burdensome stack of dried grasses on his back. What struck me during this journey, and what is expressed in this photo are the seemingly antiquated traditions or ways of life set against an explosion of modern urban growth.

During a later bus journey we traveled alongside a windy river for the majority of our trip. Surrounded by beautiful mountains and tiny villages I sat peacefully absorbed in the sights that unfolded before me. This picture gives you an idea of some of the provincial dwellings I observed tucked into the rolling hills.

The last three images come to you from the city of Wenzhou.  Another “Moment of Zen” was experienced when I visited Jiangxinyu Island.  The sun was shining the air was clear and filled with the scent of flowers and trees. It was so rejuvenating to visit this island and discover its ancient temples and peaceful environment. The blue sky in this image contrasts with vivid yellow walls of the Buddhist temple as a monk walks past in his bright flowing robe.

After visiting the Island, I searched for food alongside my friend Iseult and discovered a gathering of tents. It was hard to tell what it was from a distance but we stepped inside and saw an abundance of small food vendors and market stalls. This friendly lady cooked everything from scratch in her makeshift outdoor kitchen. What I found endearing was her friendly nature and the fact that it felt like I had stepped into her home. Her young grandson riding up on his bike talking to her while she cooked, and local people she knew well coming up to sit and have a meal.

What can be even more personal than feeling like you are in someone’s kitchen? How about someone’s wedding? Our hotel in Wenzhou had several wedding receptions take place in the lobby and the pomp and circumstance surrounding the events was quite entertaining!  Incessant fireworks preceded the arrival of the bride and her wedding party while two dancing dragons performed before them. It was a moment captured in my last photo. The tension of the dragon’s stance is captured as it pounces at the bride with her bright red parasol. All the while a crowd of onlookers remain in the distance making this an action filled shot.

Whether it’s through a bus window or during a ravenousness search for street food, I’ve happened upon some intriguing and foreign aspects of daily life here in China.

Read this on the Riverdance website: Photo blog – daily life here in China

I have always been fascinated by cultures and a countries traditions, but in particular cuisine and food. So, upon agreeing to this tour I polished off my palate and decided to really absorb all the tastes of food that China had to offer.

Whether its walking down the street at night, waiting at the train station or simply standing outside a bank there is always someone eating something. Now as I mentioned in a previous blog, I am adventurous but I am no Anthony Bourdain or Andrew Zimmern. I wouldn’t last too long on the Travel Channel’s ‘Bizarre Foods’ however, I have put together a list of strange and bizarre foods that I have seen, touch, smelled and even heard, but taste, eh, not necessarily! I usually have my camera on standby but since I consider myself more of a blogger than a photographer, please excuse the amateur pictures. (I leave them professional photographs to my roommate, Nicole McKeever!)

A regular occurrence:

Seeing chunks of pork, chicken and fish (including fish head) hanging from crooks outside apartments, small food stores and or simply strung across a clothes line down lanes and alleyways. This may seems unusual to us westerners however this is a very ancient practice here in China (rooted in the south over 2,000 years ago). This is known as ‘Lawei’. Firstly the meat is marinated in salt and spices for several days before being hung outdoors to dry in the sun. Lawei can vary from region to region, depending on climate and temperature and annoying mosquitoes. Some regions preserve pork by slicing it and wrapping it in pig intestine to savour the flavour!

Curing meat on the street

Wall Mart:

Let’s just say the one in downtown Yantai is not like your regular branch in Orlando, Florida. The grocery section is usually split up into dried foods and processed foods in the first floor and fruit, vegetables, meat and ‘live’ foodstuffs on the ground. Feast your eyes, I dare you! Always bearing my Riverdance blog in mind, I’ve reached for my camera and snapped at the poor live frogs, turtles and the not-so-fortunate severed poultry and their body parts. Wall Mart here is not your typical oh-so-friendly Saturday morning shop but rather an explicit display of all God’s creatures. Leave the kids at home.

Beverages:

“Not for all the tea in China”:  Being Irish, I do love my tea and having said goodbye to Barry’s tea bags I have not shed a tea-r since! Bubble tea, green tea, yellow tea and oolong are to name but a few of the hundreds of different types of blends. Tsing Tsao piju (beer) and Great Wall red for wine lovers is all on offer but next on my agenda is to taste a cup of the ginseng blended drink on offer in many family style restaurants here. To be drank in cycles and not for more than three months at a time, I am ever curious about this ancient root which so many Chinese people believe brings longevity and good health to those who indulge. Here’s hoping I can take some home with me.

Liquid Ginseng.

Enough is enough:

In the city of Qingdao four girls decided to take a break from the frantic Chinese cuisine and tucked into a fine helping of hamburgers and french fries in the quaint cafe ‘Deja Vu’ across from our hotel and venue. Many thanks to the proprietors for serving us endless amounts of chicken nuggets, salads and mouth-watering tacos for the duration of our stay.

Lauren Smyth, Nicole McKeever, Fiona McCabe and Nicola Dempsey take a break from street meat, hometown salty angles and burning treasures!!!

Menu Options:

Read this on the Riverdance website: Food, Glorious Food.

________________________________________________________

Click on any photo to view photo slide show

________________________________________________________

Leaving Beijing behind, we were off again…next stop, Zhengzhou. After leaving such an amazing city, this place was always going to be a disappointment and I have to be honest, unfortunately it lived up to our expectations. Upon arrival, our Chinese hotel left much to be desired. For some reason, in China they insist of having no proper privacy in our en-suite bathrooms. We have been in many hotels now where they actually have windows from the bathroom into the bedroom. In one hotel, Jason O’Neill’s toilet was enclosed in a glass compartment along with his shower!  Now there’s a new idea. Zhengzhou was no different with both our toilet and shower enclosed in clear glass with no door, no blinds, just a tiny curtain. This is just one of the many examples of cultural differences here in China.

I am compelled to tell you this week about some of the dining experiences we’ve had since we got here. The restaurant staff at our hotel in Zhengzhou were among a large number so far who find it very difficult to understand what we are trying to order, even though they have both English and Chinese translations on the menu. Understandably, they don’t speak English but they tend to just stare at us and laugh repeatedly whilst we try to order. Picture a group of tired, frustrated and hungry dancers pointing at dishes on the menu and making the most comical hand gestures to describe food. In Zhengzhou, it took us about 20 minutes to get a glass of cold milk (It’s amazing the lengths you go to to have a half decent mug of tea!). On night two of our stay here however, we had a lovely night out in an a hip little bar just moments from our hotel. It was a special occasion with it being Fiona McCabe’s 30^th Birthday and we had a fantastic night with all members of the company in attendance.

Back to the “Food situation” as we like to call it and let me give you a few more interesting stories.  A few evenings ago, troupe members Craig and Shane decided they wanted french fries at our hotel. With a failed attempt at describing them over the phone, the reception staff paid a few visits to the room and using Google translate, they finally understood their order and replied “No”…no explanation, just “No”.  So off they trotted to McDonald’s and a little while later, they returned and visited Maggie and Nicola’s room only to find Maggie enjoying a lovely plate of french fries from room service. More recently, they waited an hour on a vegetarian pizza, only to be served a large bowl of popcorn!!   On another occasion Brian Shinners wanted “Chicken with Parsley Sauce” from the room service menu.  Six different phone calls and visits from not one but four hotel staff, (including the chef!!) he decides he’s had enough and orders a taxi to KFC. When the taxi arrives he changes his mind as it can be quite dangerous going solo. He returns to his room and there it was….his “Chicken with Parsley Sauce” and of course his roommate John in convulsions of laughter.  Callum Spencer also spent a considerable amount of time spelling out words like “eat” and “food” and tells me “I will never forget the music they played when they had me on hold!”.

After Zhengzhou, we were ready to brace the extreme cold of Inner Mongolia and arrived early afternoon to Hohhot. With temperatures as low as -21C, it was no surprise that the majority of the cast stayed indoors. Our talented physical therapist, Garrett Dockery fully embraced the weather however and went wandering. Not long later, he informed me he spotted a group of locals ice skating on the frozen pond and decided to join them..no bother to Garrett!  The highlight of our visit here was yet another amazing theatre which boasted a grass roof! And of course it would’ve been rude not to visit Zara and the likes in the shopping mall close to our theatre, where once again we suffered another impossible dining experience at Pizza Hut. In China, it seems acceptable to sit and wait for over and hour on your dinner whilst all other members of your party have been served. Unfortunately this time the ill-fated diner was me. Restaurants also insist on giving just one menu to a table of two or more and ask that you pay immediately after you’ve ordered.

Our journey from Hohhot to our next stop, Yingkou was somewhat different as we boarded a tiny little plane (difficult times for the ‘tall people’ of the troupe!)   Unfortunately in Yingkou, there was very little to do in the surrounding area. We also had more comical dining experiences at the hotel restaurant and suffered the relentless, terrible version of Samantha Mumba’s 1990s classic “Always come back to your love”. Every time we went for breakfast, lunch or dinner the tune was played and it became a running joke within the troupe, to the point where we had to politely ask them to turn the music off.  Nicole McKeever ordered dumplings and got not one but three wrong dishes and Shaun Kelly also ordered a coffee and was handed a spoon ten minutes later.

So, there you have it, another typical week in China, and no doubt I will have more comical experiences to report in the final few weeks of tour. The cultural differences are more and more apparent and certainly make our tour more interesting. I’ve also included some of the humorous translations we’ve seen during our stay, and some of the bizarre sights I’ve seen to date.

Enjoy! : )

Read this on the Riverdance website: Cultural differences – life on tour – Inner Mongolia

Browsing Panjiayuan Outdoor Antique market down in the South Chaoyang district and I was not prepared for the cold. Forced to duck in and out of jade and amber dealers’ booths to warm up, I braved the biting arctic winds.  Although the weather was unwelcoming, the local dealers were not.

Wandering from stall to stall everything from old war binoculars and antique swords to buttons and paintbrushes, it was worth every minute of the treacherous winds. Never have I felt so alienated in a shopping environment as I have in Panjiayuan. After having read mixed Lonely Planet reviews of this place I was terribly glad I took the plunge. Haggling and speaking loud blunt English to even louder Chinese  I happily left with a painting;  A beautiful canvas of a Tibetan tribal woman herding sheep- an early birthday gift for myself!  I felt I was beginning to bargain with frostbite so I decided to make my way to the taxi rank, back to the warmth and comfort of my Sheraton hotel room.

Next stop was the Silk Street Market in the Chaoyang district. A short 30 minute ride in a taxicab. Five floors of color, food, art, shoes and jewelery to boot. Here lies something for everyone. Legend has it, the traders haggle best in the morning so an early buffet breakfastoff I set  to explore the famous marketplace. The early bird catches the worm! Not that my suitcase is in any need of extra baggage I still play oblivious to all the domestic flights we take with Riverdance and stock up on unecessary shoes, hats, gloves and black pearls. Another generous gift wrapped up and gift tagged to muggins.

Nanluogu Xiang Street is a prerequisite for those who love to spend afternoons of aimless wandering and a must for tourists who love to soak up chinese culture. Stop by the stalls of hot chestnuts and smelly tofu and make time for plenty of eye-catching locals as they hurry by in their pedal bikes and carts.

One friendly guy even stopped and posed for us with his precious puppy!

Have your camera on standby as you saunter from one small, winding street to another. Did I mention come with an apetite? Skewers of any kind of meat is readily available, noodles, uncanny-looking jelly on a stick and frozen yoghurt are to name but a few of the delicacies on offer. Since I wasn’t feeling so adventurous prior to our due performance, I ducked in to a quirky tea house and settled for a hot coffee. Enough adventure for one day!

Read this on the Riverdance website: The city: Beijing. The place: Panjiayuan, South Chaoyang