Memoirs of Beijing

My sisters came to visit me in Beijing but since they took the budget flight to Shanghai, I had to pick them up there.  As usual, I have to stop by a Starbucks shop to purchase for my favorite collectors.  There are several Starbucks in Shanghai notably in famous tourist spots like Xintiandi, Yuyuan and Nanjing Road.  They still don’t have a store at the new Terminal 2 airport of Shanghai Pudong.

Unlike Beijing tumblers, Shanghai have box sets perfect for gifts.  I was lucky enough to purchase a Shanghai box set and a Zhejiang box set.  Each box set costs RMB 388 (Ouch!).   What I like about it is, some of the tumbler designs are transparent and can only be purchased in a set.  The Shanghai box set is composed of Shanghai, Xintiandi and Yuyuan.  The Zhejiang box set is composed of Ningbo, Shaoxing and Hangzhou.  Check out the pictures of these sets.

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My friend went back to Hangzhou during her birthday and told my avid Starbucks tumbler collector cousin about it.  She said she wanted the box set which consists of Hangzhou, Ningbo and Shaoxing.  She thought it was supposed to be one tumbler with all 3 names but I told her it was one tumbler each for Hangzhou, Ningbo and Shaoxing.  So, she ordered it from her friend and asked her to courier it over to Beijing.  When I received it, it was 3 tumblers of Hangzhou which my cousin has already.  So.. I’m putting it up for sale for the first 3 people who wanted it.  The cost of each tumbler is RMB 100 each.  It might cost more than the retail but they had to courier it to me from Hangzhou.

Photo Credit: Gold Tan

Starbucks lovers are in for a treat as Starbucks China turns 10.  To celebrate their 10th anniversary, Starbucks rolled out their 10th anniversary tumbler, mugs and gift box.  Also, Starbucks lovers in Beijing and Tianjin will get 20% off this Friday, January 16 and Saturday, January 17 on their merchandise excluding hand crafted beverages, coffee beans and coffee passports.

So that means.. the Starbucks tumbler group lovers on multiply, should tell me to buy your faves this weekend to get 20% off.   Hahahaha!  Hey!  Any discount is always welcome!  Grab your favorite merchandise while it last!

Chinese New Year is just around the corner and what better way to give gifts to your loved ones is to buy Starbucks merchandise.   The coming Chinese New Year is the Year of the Ox.  Merchandise shaped like an Ox are sprouting up everywhere.  Some of them ridiculously expensive while others are dirt cheap.  Not to be left in the dust with the other shops, Starbucks came out with the Chinese New Year merchandise.

Some of them are the coin bank which is shaped like an Ox.  According to my cousin, my aunt have been collecting this coin banks for the past two years already.  She already purchased the latest one which is an Ox.  It seems like Starbucks merchandise collection runs in their family.  Another Ox merchandise is the mug.  It’s quite cute actually though I can’t remember how much it cost.  There’s also a small tumbler with the Ox design which they don’t have on the website.

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Dropped by again at the Starbucks near my home and they have the autumn and the Halloween collection already. I tried taking pictures with my camera-phone but it didn’t look good. So, I just downloaded the ones from their website and will post it here.

Let’s start with this year’s anniversary blend tumbler and mug (picture on the right). The tumbler design is brown in color with a mermaid. I’m not sure if this is available in other countries but my cousin has it already. They’re selling so fast so if you want one, you better grab one already!

Then we have the Autumn flower collection. The mugs on this collection has both painted and embossed flowers. I’m not a fan of the bluegreen color but the red one is ok. Also, it’s not as striking as the anniversary tumbler but if you’re into collecting, might as well buy one. Hehehehe!

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When I posted the previous two entries about the latest mugs & tumblers of Starbucks, I thought it was just a new release.  However, as I get to know the baristas at the store near my home, they told me that each city hosting the Olympic Games in China has a new design for their mug, tumbler and demitasse collection.  It’s not really with the Olympic logo and all as that’s copyrighted and Starbucks ain’t a sponsor.

The 6 Olympic cities are Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Qingdao, Shenyang (Qinghuangdao) and Hong Kong.  Of course, the country where they are located has it’s own design as well.

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I was meaning to go to Starbucks for quite some time to take photos and check out the latest city mugs and tumblers.  I got the chance to do it yesterday as I was at the main office and there’s a Starbucks on my way to the bus stop.

In that Starbucks, they still have the Beijing mug & tumblers which I’ve posted in my previous blog as well as the latest Tianjin tumbler and demitasse set.  The Tianjin tumbler has that huge clock structure which I saw on the way to the city from the train station.  The color and font design is similar to the new Beijing & China tumblers which they’ve recently released.  Retail price for the tumbler is RMB 95.

The demitasse set composed of one Tianjin cup and one China cup.  Retail price  for this set is RMB 88.  They’re quite cute and when I went to the Starbucks near my home, they said it’s already sold out.

Since I wasn’t happy with the photos I’ve taken in the Starbucks near the office, I  thought about going to the Starbucks near my home.  When I got there, they don’t have the tumbler nor the demitasse set.  They, however, have the Tianjin mug.  In this shop, they were more amenable to have a picture taken so I think the picture is much better.  Retail price of the mug is RMB 90.

Well.. for the collectors in Manila, I have a friend going home this August.  Send me a comment if you want me to buy you some of them.  For other collectors, I’ll see what I can do with the shipping.

Starbucks in Beijing is almost in every corner like in Manila. They are usually overpriced but still steaming with people. I have two cousins who collect Starbucks items as a hobby. One of them collects city mugs while the other collects tumblers. They told me to keep them informed of any new mugs or tumblers or if I visit another city, to buy one if there’s a Starbucks there.

So.. how much does a Starbucks tumbler cost? RMB 95 or US$13.50 or Php617.50. Crazy right? But we each have our own fetishes. My cousin who collects tumblers has more than 40 of it already and she’s always checking the internet for new ones. So when I informed her that there are 6 new tumblers in Beijing, she asked me to buy 5 of them.

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