I was looking for the Rain Flower Garden and I got off the bus a bit too early. I decided to walk the last part. But of course, because I have no sense of direction I soon became lost and was wandering through a part of the city which was fairly run down.
There were lots of small kiosk-like shops and eateries, shops selling metal sheets, pipes and generally a lot of dirt and dust and, by the amount of stares, people who had clearly not seen a foreigner in their whole lives.
However it had a friendly atmosphere as usual and it was not an unenjoyable walk. I happened to look over the road and saw this hotel. Now, I cannot pretend to be able to read a lot but you don’t need much written Chinese to understand that this hotel has rooms from £9 – £10 yuan and can do 3 hours for £4.
I never did get to the Rain Flower Garden but I did discover what sort of people live just outside Zhonghuamen and what they like to do in their spare time.