The current exchange rate is about 7RMB for $1.00 USD. The highest bill you can get in China is 100RMB (only about $14.00 USD). But most people in China don't use cash anymore, many of them use an app on their phones to pay for everything. It is very convenient!
A bottle of water costs about 2RMB, that is only about 25 cents in the USD.
At first, I had a hard time with the food here in China. It is a lot different from anywhere else I have lived, and sometimes not being able to read the Chinese characters on a menu means that I have to guess what I'm getting. But one of my favorite dishes here is a traditional tomato and scrambled egg stir fry with rice. There is a small outdoor restaurant by my apartment that makes my favorite version of it.
October is a special month in China because of Golden Week. It is similar to our 4th of July in the United States. There is a large parade in Central Beijing with a lot of traditional Chinese music and instruments played. I've heard the Chinese National Anthem a lot this past week.
Beijing is surrounded by mountains, so there is a lot of great hiking. I really like getting outside and being in nature, so I had a lot of fun!
I'm trying really hard to improve my Mandarin Chinese. Because I am still learning, most of the books I read for practice are for kids. They are colorful and have short familiar stories. I find them really helpful for learning characters.
