Convenience

Don't you wish you had a grocery store right in your basement? We do! Kind of.

Located on the first floor of our building is a little market that opens a couple of hours earlier than the main super market (which is all the way across the street and doesn't open until 9:30 am). Many times this fact has saved our breakfast when I realize too late that I am all out of eggs. While there are no dairy products or meats at this store, they offer a modest selection of produce and Chinese cooking staples like oil, soy sauce, vinegar, Ramen noodles and frozen dumplings, as well as products like dish soap, tooth paste and toilet paper. This is also one of the only places to continuously stock my beloved's favorite treat, Coke Zero.

Outside entrance

Great prices on fresh produce. We just have to wash it well.

The prices are about the same as the main grocery store for most things, even cheaper for some items, and to top it off, we don't even have to go outside to get there. We can use this...clean and inviting....entrance just around the corner from the elevators:

It leads through the tiny storeroom of the market, past the kitchen where the staff (a sweet husband and wife team) cooks their meals, and then into the store.

Amy makes her ice cream selection. Ice cream bars cost around 30 cents each.

After Amy picked out her ice cream, we walked here to get her hair trimmed:

Hair salon in building 4

The woman who lives in and operates this small hair salon in a neighboring building charges the equivalent of $6 for a ladies' hair cut and $4 for men. She is also encouraging of our language skills and likes to teach us new words. The last time I went there she was marveling about how the first time we came we had to read what to say from a book, and now we no longer need the books.

Examples of other businesses that operate within our gates are: music and art schools, real estate offices, massage parlors, preschools and day care centers.

Not everything about life in Beijing is so convenient, but there are many things like these that we have come to appreciate about big city life!

Fruit trees in our complex