We’re starting the day with a little culture, via a trip to the Forbidden City. First, breakfast in the lobby restaurant. Determined not to eat like a tourist, I order congee, the popular breakfast dish that resembles soupy oatmeal. Everyone meets up, piles into the mini-van and we merge into the heavy Beijing traffic. There’s so much to take in as we drive through town--shopping malls, bike riders, pedestrians, government buildings, soaring hotels.
We arrive and join the tourist throng. The Forbidden City, a stunning, sprawling place, once served as the Chinese imperial palace. Construction began there around 1400 and more than a million laborers were required to complete its 900+ structures. It’s awe inspiring. The only downside? IT’S FREEZING OUTSIDE! Our hosts and the Chinese tourists don’t seem to notice. Some aren’t even wearing gloves. I’m chilled to the bone and wish I had packed a big Norma Kamali sleeping bag coat.
Michelle’s cold too, but she’s not complaining. She stays close to our tour guide who explains the history and symbolism behind everything. The color red symbolizes happiness, yellow symbolizes power, dragons represent strength, cranes (the bird) represent longevity. I find this fascinating about the Chinese culture. There’s no such thing as a random detail. Everything has meaning.
Next up, a famous roast duck restaurant for lunch in a private room. We’re greeted by a dozen pretty young hostesses in long dresses with their hair pulled into high chignons and mink stoles around their shoulders. Lunch is fun and each dish is beautifully presented, even the scary-looking sea cucumber, which tastes like a cross between a portobello mushroom and eggplant.
Back at The Opposite House, Michelle films a video that the local Lancome team has requested. Called “China Girl,” it’s four looks layered upon each other: natural, office girl, romantic and party. Michelle uses the Asian versions of her favorite Lancome products: for example, Hypnose Precious Cells mascara instead of Definicils Precious Cells, and Stylo Sourcils Design eyebrow pencil in lieu of Le Crayon Poudre. (We need this product in the U.S.! It's a retractable version of Le Crayon and just perfect. No sharpening required.). Jerome heard that Michelle loves the Genifique masks, another product we don’t have in the U.S., so he brought a box of those for her too. (If you live in Europe or Asia, you have to try these!)
There’s a video crew and a photographer documenting Michelle’s every move while she films the video on her tiny Canon camera. She finishes and we take a quick break for cupcakes and cappuccino at the mall across the way. We hurry back upstairs for a shoot with the Chinese edition of Self Magazine. There’s a handsome hairdresser, a beauty editor not wearing a scrap of makeup, a tall photographer who doesn’t say much and lots of assistants. Sound familiar? We could easily be back in New York.
They take several pictures in Michelle’s hotel room then it’s back downstairs to a bar called Punk for one last photo. The shoot wraps, we grab our coats and head to dinner with Joy, who, when she’s not teaching yoga, is a member of Jerome’s PR team. Which explains why she’s in killer shape. Dinner is at Din Tai Fung, a dumpling restaurant on the top floor of yet another luxury mall. We’re glad to see it’s not touristy in the least. We happily, sleepily stuff ourselves with hairy crab soup dumplings and a lovely dessert of almond gelatin squares and shaved ice flavored with condensed milk.
Back at the hotel, I’m so tired I can barely wash my face. I skip my beloved Collaser serum, slap on a little Secret de Vie and climb into bed. Big day tomorrow. We have a photo shoot with Ray Fashion Magazine then Michelle has to pick the winner of Lancome’s China It Girl contest. Bon nuit!
Pictures: The dumpling restaurant, the Forbidden City, Jerome and I, Michelle filming her video, cupcakes with Beijing PR dynamo Katrina, the cupcake options in Mandarin and English, shooting at the Punk nightclub, hairy crab soup dumplings, happy Michelle.
