Monthly Archives: January 2012

Chinese New Year Temple Fair at Chaoyang Park 朝阳公园

January 26, 2012 in Beijing Interns, Chinese Holidays, Events

We ended up at the Chaoyang Park Temple Fair with friends & a couple of interns from My China Opportunity, a few days ago. It was a festive and bone chilling occasion.

On this small adventure, I stumbled upon $50 feather dusters, boiled cow stomach, and a few other odd things.

Pretty much all of China takes a week off from work from the first day of Chinese New Years, until the last. Being an American foreigner in China is quite nice because we get to celebrate all holidays.

Holiday season starts with a week off in October, a few days off in November, Christmas, New Years, and a week off for Chinese New Years.

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Recycled Water Bottle Planter

January 26, 2012 in DIY

Recycling in Beijing

Beijing has limited no craft stores, so my rubbish bin has been my haven. For this project, I used water bottles and torn panty hose (base cover). It is self watering, because water is constantly absorbed from the base of the bottle.

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莱太花卉市场 Laitai Plant & Pet Market

January 9, 2012 in Beijing Shopping, Markets

Beijing, China

Directions to Laitai Plant Market

Laitai Market is a great place to find indoor plants and small pets. We recently had a social activity with My China Opportunity and explored the market.

Beware of plant pests! When buying plants thoroughly inspect your plant, to make sure you don’t bring any unwanted creatures home. I had a white fly invasion, which infected EVERYTHING. I now add worm castings (worm poop), into all of my potted plants. It somehow deters white flies and also makes your plants stronger. A natural fertilizer!

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