see a movie

By train.

Before I came to England, I always thought London was a trendy modern city. When I came to England, I suddenly found that there was a huge contrast between London and my imagination. It's strange to describe it in one word.

The first miracle of London is antiquity. Everything in London revolves around antiquity: the buildings are ancient and Victorian buildings are everywhere. Even if they are not old, they will make new buildings old. You don't think any of these buildings will be out of harmony with the whole environment. Londoners are also very old-fashioned. They are very conservative. They won't take the initiative to make friends with you, so it's difficult to make friends. Only by integrating into their society, such as taking part in work, will they accept you when they are familiar with you, but it is also difficult for you to integrate into their circle. Londoners like to go to Porto Polo Market on weekends, where almost all antiques from all over the world are sold. There I saw the real Shoushan stone and Qingtian stone in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China, which were wrapped in pulp and absolutely "punctual". And the price is not expensive, only a dozen to dozens of pounds. In China, you can buy at least several thousand dollars. This is my little secret. Don't take away my discovery. ) London is full of silverware. If the price is good, 1 you can even buy five old spoons of pure silver (1 above). In London, if you talk about "old" with people, it is easy to find the same language. What architecture and antiques are their favorite topics.

The second miracle of London is that it is expensive. Before going abroad, many people told me not to bring too many things, because everything was sold there. But when I arrived in London, I found what a big mistake it was. You suddenly find that your money suddenly becomes so small. In London, you can rarely find anything below 1: a cheap sandwich costs nearly 2 pounds (10 times the domestic price), an ordinary kitchen knife that can be bought with domestic 20 yuan money costs more than 30 pounds (20 times the price), and a good bowl that can be bought with domestic 5 yuan money costs more than 10 pounds (30 times). However, many things were originally made in china. (Of course, there are cheaper stores such as 1 pound, but more than 70% of the products come from China). Britain hardly has its own manufacturing industry, so things come from all over the world. Selling such expensive things is a way to support luxury life. The British are particularly good at doing business. In order to promote consumption, there are seasonal discounts. Discounts are often in two seasons, one is at the end of June and the other is before Christmas at the end of the year. In the first week of discount, their discount is often 20-30%, then the price will be increased by 50%, and in the last week, they can be discounted to 70-80% of the original price. In fact, this is a kind of consumer psychology. You see, what they sell is 10 times the price. If they discount to110, they won't lose money. They really have their own way of making money. Think about it, domestic manufacturers have to fight to the death for a profit of 5%, which is really not in the business doorway.

The third wonder of London is backwardness. To be fair, London is at least two years behind Shanghai in terms of urban progress and citizens' application of high-tech knowledge. Most of the software used by Londoners is Windows98, few can use Windows2000, and even fewer can use Windows XP. The first landlord I lived in London used Windows95! The software here is prohibitively expensive, so Londoners are almost fascinated by the new software. Broadband Internet access costs 28 pounds a month, so it is not very popular. In London, it is not without piracy. You can often see cam-in street stalls, but it is much more expensive than in China. For example, an ordinary DVD costs 14.4 (which is very expensive for most Londoners). In the street, you will see 7 pounds each. This kind of DVD is of poor quality, and the shell is usually printed by a color printer. It can be as cheap as 5 pounds without a shell. Coupled with the Japanese students in the room, London is so old-fashioned. No wonder the British writer bette midler said, "At 3 o'clock in new york, London was still 1938".

The fourth wonder of London is the business experience of Londoners. This kind of business is immersed in every nerve of Londoners. Because what they eat comes from France and Italy (except for fast food, Italian pizza and pasta are better, and French dinner is more upscale, without local specialties), their clothes (clothes) come from China, and their electrical appliances (appliances) come from Japan. So under the pressure of high living expenses, what Londoners have left is to sell. They sell things at sky-high prices and then lure you to buy them in various ways. Therefore, Jan Morris once famously said, "London is more like a show than other European cities. She lives by cheating. " . The second festival in London is all shops, and the prosperity of business is unmatched by other major cities in the world. Financial exchanges, metal exchanges, etc. Conduct massive transactions every day. There are countless auction houses, and more than a dozen auction houses auction stamps every week. Londoners have a large number of treasures handed down from their ancestors (more precisely, conquered people from all over the world). At that time, China paid hundreds of millions of taels of silver, which is why they especially like antique street. So it's not surprising that things are 10 times more expensive than Shanghai. 1 It's not impossible to buy five silver spoons.

The fifth wonder of London is that it is a real art world. There are museums everywhere, and most of them are open for free, and there are all kinds of art treasures. The ancestors of Londoners conquered the whole world, so their treasures contain the best cultural relics and artistic treasures in the world. In the British Museum, you will suddenly find that they almost moved the civilizations of Egypt, Greece and even the whole world to Britain. Fortunately, they didn't get much treasure of China's ancient civilization, and rarely saw the fine works hidden in the Forbidden City and Shanghai Museum. The street art of Londoners is even more refreshing. They can be covered with paint, which makes people feel like sculptures, but you put a few copper coins in front of him, and suddenly, he will make faces at you and make a bird-like sound to tease you, which is amazing. The level of street performers is even more surprising. The performance level of street instruments in Covent Garden is absolutely unmatched by any orchestra in China. Later, I learned that many of the actors here are Russian, Polish and other national actors.