The day's done stampede

Yesterday, Grace and Paul (my friends, a very nice couple who have opened their house to me here in Beijing, while I try to find a way to settle down) took me and Fei Fei (a girl from Xinjiang, China) out to dinner. We had some dumplings at a restaurant and then some shaved ice at another restaurant inside this one large shopping center near the apartment.

At about 10, the ice place was going to close so they had the bill paid while we were still eating. When the music stopped, we decided it must be time to go. The server said she would take us out. I thought this was a little bizarre, I mean, sometimes when you eat at someone's house they will walk you out, but not at a restaurant. We had to go down to the first floor and then, instead of using the main entrance, we had to use the staff entrance as the mall had already closed.

When we got to the main floor there was literally a flood--a stampede--of chinese women all aged between 20 and 35 years old. I kept thinking, "Wow! A lot of people wait until the last minute before finishing their shopping!"

When we got to the staff entrance one whole wall was filled with time clocks, used to punch-in and out of work--that's when I realized that all these women stampeding out of the building were store workers who had just got off work. Now they were wearing their normal clothes and racing out. It was just quite a sight and situation to be in. A first for me to have closed a shopping center. I think it's the only time in China when I have felt like I was walking slowly, so many people stepped on my heels as they tried to get to the door.