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BEIJING : Many Beijing residents have offered their homes to foreign guests, so they can experience the city's lifestyle.
However, there is another kind of home-stay being run by a different group of locals in Beijing.
Life in a neighbourhood in the west of Beijing was not something that Dean Katsiris expected when he arrived in the capital.
There was no room service or daily delivery of newspapers, and no one to make his bed every day. But this was the closest that he could get to experience local life during his four-day visit and he enjoyed every minute of it.
The Canadian found his host Aaron Duckworth on a home-stay online community called couchsurfing.com.
Mr Katsiris said: "As a traveller, you don't really get an in-depth understanding of how a society works. So with couchsurfing, staying with a local or even someone who's just been here for three to four years... he's a fountain of information. He has so (many) interesting stories (to tell). So, it's great."
Mr Duckworth is an American who has spent more than two years in Shanghai and Beijing. He joined the network to make new friends.
Contrary to what the name suggests, many members or "couchers", as they call themselves, do get proper beds and even a guest room to sleep in.
This way of travel is gaining popularity with students and budget travellers. Requests to bunk in had been streaming in for Mr Duckworth, until China tightened its visa restrictions.
He said: "At the beginning of summer, there were some requests... I told them this is not like travelling to Australia, you will need a visa, and documents... That has stopped them from coming."
Mr Katsiris decided to leave the city before the Games to avoid the crowds and peak pricing. But he admits he has been bitten by the city's Olympic bug.
He said: "It's too bad that everything is so hard to get to. It's all fenced off for security reasons. (For example), I wanted to go to the (Bird's Nest) not knowing it was the (rehearsal of the) opening ceremony. I had climbed up to get a picture. The security (officers) asked me to get down..."
Although many foreigners were forced to leave the country in the run-up to the Olympics, those who managed to stay, especially long-time residents, have unwittingly become the ambassadors for the city by offering their unique perspectives. - CNA/ms
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