Panjiayuan Flea Market

After work two Sundays ago, we ventured to the Panjiayuan Flea Market. We had read it was a "must-see" in our guide books and saw that TIME listed it as one of the "10 things to do in Beijing". We loved it! It was a hub of authentic Chinese culture and history--we couldn't help wandering the seemingly endless alleys of curios and artwork for hours. We also tried our hand at bargaining, a skill we've been forced to perfect since we've been here. In Beijing, bargaining is a "must." In fact, we were told that vendors at this particular market often ask 10x more than what the item is actually worth, so we went in with our "game faces" on. At Panjiayuan we found more than before that bargaining can be a fun game, the vendors seemed to really enjoy bargaining with us and it all seemed very lighthearted. To our surprise, we had fun bargaining and we were successful! We are looking forward to going back to Christmas shop soon! Let us know if you see anything you like in the pictures and we'd be happy to bring it back for you :).

Jacky bargaining!

Surprised by our skills!

Success!

Posing with the artist of our new painting (now hanging up in our living room)!