"Oh That's Different" No. 8

It's been a busy month, with work trips, visits from Scott's sister and my aunt and uncle, and we're looking to possibly move homes. But here's the latest on Beijing's surprises.

Poor little Nia doesn't seem too happy sporting the sprout trend.

Both men and women like the beansprout craze. 

1. Putting fake sprouts on your head is all the rage right now.

A few weeks ago, we started noticing street vendors selling little sprouts that you could pin on your head. They're all the rage in the city, selling for less than a $1 to pin one -- or multiple ones -- on your head. My aunt heard that the sprout was initially designed for a company, or that it came from cartoon, which my colleague Laurie wrote about earlier this month.

To join the fad, Laurie was kind enough to share one of her numerous sprouts -- picked up along the way for reporting purposes, of course -- with me, so long as I promised to photograph our cats with the trendy hairpiece. Sorry, little Nia.

A picture of one of the hutong courtyard homes we're looking at.

Same home, three different prices?

2. When searching for homes, no price is the same.

Scott and I are thinking of moving to the hutongs, or alleyways, which are the old neighborhoods of Beijing. While we love our cozy apartment in the Central Business District, we'd like to feel more immersed in culture, and see what it's like to live among locals. So we've been house hunting and recently found a two-bedroom, one-bathroom hutong courtyard home that several real estate agents were advertising. The agent who showed Scott the place quoted him one price; the agent who showed me the place quoted 2,000 RMB, or about $330 more a month, and a third agent gave us a price that was $500 more than the first agent's price!

Why the discrepancies for the exact same home? Well, real estate agents in China make U.S. brokers look like saints, and depending on the real-estate company, commissions vary widely. And, of course, there's no national standard or law to make sure people stay in a certain range. So you have to look at a lot of places, and try to suss out a decent agent.

Mooncakes: consume with caution. 

3. You will never try a dessert more dense than a mooncake.  

Mid-Autumn Festival, or ZhongQiuJie, is quickly arriving, meaning all the stores -- from Starbucks to the Westin Hotel to the little market down the street -- are selling mooncakes, the traditional food associated with the festival. These little cakes, which are a bit smaller than a hockey puck, are deceiving, as they're packed with flour, eggs, red bean paste, or a variety of other fillings. And you should only eat half, or maybe a quarter of them. They're the densest little things I've ever eaten and I've heard have up to 1,000 calories each!! I made the grave mistake of eating an entire one yesterday and felt fairly ill afterward.

The mooncake is popular because it's round like a full moon, which is thought to be a symbol of prosperity, peace and family reunion. As a result, these pastries can be pricey -- like upwards of $30 per little cake. While some people adore them, others say it's best to buy them for others, regift the ones you get, and then maybe throw them out.