My most Chinese experience in Beijing, by Evan Noonan

I have quite a few “Chinese” experiences in my time here in Beijing, but the one that stands out most is from the day I visited the Ikea store, here in Beijing. It had never hit me until that day how different and crazy things could be here in China! Like most Ikeas, the store was huge. Everywhere I looked, people were sprawled out on the furniture, either relaxing or in deep sleep. To me it looked like people had come here for a day out to sleep and relax in the showroom beds and furniture. Some had even brought along pyjamas and slippers to have a kip, and get the full experience. There was security and store attendants all around, but nothing was done to move the sleepers from their resting places, probably due to the sheer volume of people!