三里屯Village

We went last night to the famous (or as Chinese people say: famours) expat shopping village on the east side district of 朝阳 (Chaoyang) called 三里屯 (Sanlitun, but pronounced colloquially with the Beijing "r" as sahn-lee-tour). Sanlitun Village is the home of Asia's first Apple store -- three years after opening their doors here in Beijing, this and China's other Apple stores generate on average the highest traffic and highest profits of any Apple store in the world, even more than the iconic "cube" location on Manhattan's Fifth Avenue.

Chaoyang is clear across the city, and at rush hour a taxi ride is every bit of an hour and sometimes more. Even by subway (always packed but at least well air-conditioned), it takes no less than 45 minutes to get to 团结湖站 (Tuanjiehu Station; twahn-jyeh-hoo-jahn; on line 10), a total of 13 stops with one transfer from 五道口 (Wudaokou; oo-dow-koh; on line 13 -- see map).

Once in Sanlitun Village, we met up with some expats at Union Bar & Grille for 20RMB (just over $3) beers during Happy Hour and some good old American grub. I had the 纽约鲁本三明治 (New York Reuben Sandwich; Nyoh-Yueh Loo-Bun Sahn-ming-juh), which came with awesome 薯条 (french fries; shoo-tyow) and 凉拌卷心菜 (coleslaw; lee'ahng-bahn joo'an-shin-tsai). The food and drink were good, and the place was filled mostly with foreigners. Indeed, the setting was so authentic that my roommate A. remarked that the only thing reminding him that we were in China was the small metal plaque on a dimly lit wall beside the bar that read: 消火栓 (shiow-hwoh-shwan), marking a compartment which houses an indoor fire hose and hydrant, required by law to be in every establishment and marked in Chinese.

We had a good time, for sure, and while it's comforting to know that there's a place I can go to escape true Beijing and get a little taste of home, to be honest it's not really the experience I'm looking for. Don't get me wrong, we'll be back. But hopefully over these precious nine months in China I'll be able to keep my time eating New York Reubens and speaking English to a minimum.