Judy and I decided to head back out to the 798 District today. But first, Judy had to make another trip out to IKEA. She decided there were a few things she saw yesterday that we needed in the apartment. She gets there as they open, and is in and out very quickly.

The most amusing part of her trip was the taxi ride home. Yesterday, she had a driver who spoke a little English and took great pride in China. He asked lots of questions about what she liked the most about Beijing. When he dropped her off, he even discounted 2 yuan off her fare. Today, she got the same taxi driver. At IKEA, there is a long line for people needing taxis, and a long line of taxis waiting for passengers. To get the same driver two days in a row is pretty amazing. He was so excited to see her again. He gave her the same discount on her fare. We’ve never gotten any fare discount in our time in Beijing.

After all our new IKEA items get placed in their new home, we head out to 798. Our first stop is a café for lunch. I had a burger that was pretty good. Judy had a chicken sandwich that wasn’t quite so good. We weren’t sure it was thoroughly cooked. After lunch, we walked to a gallery we visited last spring called Soul Collection. Judy liked several things in the shop, and we’ve been trying to decide what to bring home from China. We’ve got so much junk back in the US in storage, we don’t want to add to it, but a few small items to bring memories will be nice.

We found several items, made our purchase, and then walked around the district some more while they packed our items. We stopped at a coffee shop and killed some time just “people watching.” After more wandering, we went back by Soul Collection and picked up our stuff, and headed home. Now it’s time to get ready for a big week of work and travel.