June 4...
Today is the 20th anniversary of the crackdown on the Tiananmen protests in the Spring of 1989.
It's an issue not widely discussed in China, and heavily suppressed by the government. Just before the anniversary this year, the government sent dissidents to the countryside, or stopped them from leaving their houses. Foreign journalists were forbidden from filming in Tiananmen square, plainclothes police threatened them in the streets around the square, and any foreign media coverage of the event is blacked out within China. There seems to be a new technique aimed at foreign journalists, which is rather clever. When undercover agents with earpieces see a foreign journalist's camera they walk in front of it and open umbrellas! There's a great video on the BBC (which often gets blocked in China). It's also interesting to read through comments left on stories about the Tiananmen Square massacre (most of the killing didn't actually happen in the Square, but in the streets around the Square). There's one comment that remarks how politely he was treated by the police for doing something that everyone knows is illegal in China (journalism?), and that he would've "being battened and ending up dead" in the UK for the same thing.
Of course some things in China have improved in the past 20 years -general education, the economy, and general access to the outside world. But there is still a lot to be improved, and it's a slow process for a country of 1.3 billion people. And it's slow from a government that has successfully quashed political interest in most of its citizens by promoting economics over other freedoms. Here's an interesting Economist article on the topic of The Party.
Showing posts with label beijing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label beijing. Show all posts
April 19, 2008
Two Good Analyses...
There have been a lot of things going on around China, the Olympics, and Carrefour (a French grocery store, with branches in China).
There has been a wave of anti-French SMS messages going around China, trying to mobilize a mass boycott of Carrefour for 17 days in May for its supposed links to the Dala1 L@ma 'clique'. It's almost too much to believe, except that I lived in China for a year. More of the story is on Lost Laowai, including a translation of the latest SMS messages going around, and what the original platform/reasoning is. A few paragraphs from it include:
Continuing, there is a girl named Grace Wang who was severely criticised for being a Chinese student in the US and for having her own thoughts about the T1bet issue. She has been called "Most hideous Chinese student abroad" by CCTV (Chinese government media), "race traitor" and comments much worse that I won't repeat, on Chinese web forums. Her parents have gone into hiding, and she has had human feces dumped at her door. Danwei has a good summary of the situation, and The Humanaught has a good analysis of her views and the Chinese media/government/people's views.
There have been a lot of things going on around China, the Olympics, and Carrefour (a French grocery store, with branches in China).
There has been a wave of anti-French SMS messages going around China, trying to mobilize a mass boycott of Carrefour for 17 days in May for its supposed links to the Dala1 L@ma 'clique'. It's almost too much to believe, except that I lived in China for a year. More of the story is on Lost Laowai, including a translation of the latest SMS messages going around, and what the original platform/reasoning is. A few paragraphs from it include:
法国政府准备拿出两千万美金，家乐福自己再拿出五百万美金，用于五一降价促销，听说家乐福高层很狂妄，让中国人在五一降价中挤破家。
The French government has prepared 20 mil and Carrefour has prepared 5 mil to use for a May Holiday sale. The owner of Carrefour is very arrogant, believing Chinese people during May Holiday will buy excessively at Carrefour.
[...]
我们的努力可能微不足道，但大家团结起来一定要让外国人看看我们的力量，有良心的中国人转发一百个朋友，爱国的中国人转发二十个朋友。
Our individual efforts maybe mean nothing, but if everyone unites, we can show foreigners our power. If you are a Chinese person of conscience, you’ll send this message to 100 friends, if you are a Chinese person who loves your country, send this message to 20 friends.
Continuing, there is a girl named Grace Wang who was severely criticised for being a Chinese student in the US and for having her own thoughts about the T1bet issue. She has been called "Most hideous Chinese student abroad" by CCTV (Chinese government media), "race traitor" and comments much worse that I won't repeat, on Chinese web forums. Her parents have gone into hiding, and she has had human feces dumped at her door. Danwei has a good summary of the situation, and The Humanaught has a good analysis of her views and the Chinese media/government/people's views.
March 23, 2008
Beijing's Blue Sky...
I just read an interesting blog post on SexyBeijing about Beijing's blue skies.
We keep hearing about how China is doing great things to improve the levels of pollution in Beijing in time for the Olympics, and how the air quality has dramatically improved since 1998. Turns out that, according to the Wall Street Journal, the government has simply moved the pollution monitoring stations to less polluted areas! Two stations in polluted and traffic dense parts of the city were removed and three stations were added in less polluted areas, to give a better (i.e. lower) pollution average. According to Peking University professors, cited in the same article, the pollution in Beijing caused 25,000 deaths in 2002 alone.
I just read an interesting blog post on SexyBeijing about Beijing's blue skies.
We keep hearing about how China is doing great things to improve the levels of pollution in Beijing in time for the Olympics, and how the air quality has dramatically improved since 1998. Turns out that, according to the Wall Street Journal, the government has simply moved the pollution monitoring stations to less polluted areas! Two stations in polluted and traffic dense parts of the city were removed and three stations were added in less polluted areas, to give a better (i.e. lower) pollution average. According to Peking University professors, cited in the same article, the pollution in Beijing caused 25,000 deaths in 2002 alone.
March 22, 2008
T1bet...
There's been a lot of coverage of the events happening in T1bet at the moment. I don't feel that I can contribute anything significant, especially since I wasn't able to make it there myself before leaving China. Instead, I thought I'd give links to some sites that I've found interesting in the past few days.
T1bet Through Chinese Eyes
An article about the "Chinese development missionaries" and how they view the situation in T1bet, and how T1betans view them.
Foreign nations voice support for China's handling of Lh@sa riot
Official Chinese newspaper touts support from Mauritania, Vietnam, Lesotho, and other foreign governments, regarding their good handling of the current situation.
More musings on T1bet propaganda drive
An article by an expat in China focusing on the Chinese governments propaganda and "thought liberation" drive withing the country. Includes an interesting quote by a internationally educated Chinese marketing manager, “I know the government cuts all the negative information and we can not see the true story. But it has to do this. Most Chinese are poor and not well educated. They are not capable of independent thought or making their own judgements. They need to be guided by the government.”
T1bet crushes conspiracies by D@lai L@ma clique
According to this article, T1bet has been working hard to crush conspiracies by the D@lai clique over the past five years.
China's tough line in T1bet...
An International Herald Tribune article including the quote "The Communist Party is like the parent to the Tibetan people, and it is always considerate about what the children need," Zhang said last year. He later added: "The Central Party Committee is the real Buddha for Tibetans."
Hu on Time list of 'influentials'
One of my favourite articles from when I was in China. "Hu [Jintao, the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, and former Communist Party Chief in the TAR] explains plans for a 'peaceful rise' in seeking a benign external environment". "Hu's vision has been to build a 'harmonious society'".
Hopefully Hu Jintao can maintain a "Harmonious Society" through the use of tanks, troops, and the chasing of monks. (OK, that comment was a little biased.)
At Shuttered Gateway to T1bet...
A look at the situation, by the New York Times, from Chengdu, Sichuan Province, one of the main gateways into T1bet. There's a short video that accompanying the article. It's interesting that the article mentions Wuhousi and the T1betan area surrounding the temple, which I visited just over a year ago.
Canada T1bet Committee
A group representing T1betans in Canada.
The New Colonialists
An Economist article about China and their need for raw resources, and how it affects their policy.
There's been a lot of coverage of the events happening in T1bet at the moment. I don't feel that I can contribute anything significant, especially since I wasn't able to make it there myself before leaving China. Instead, I thought I'd give links to some sites that I've found interesting in the past few days.
T1bet Through Chinese Eyes
An article about the "Chinese development missionaries" and how they view the situation in T1bet, and how T1betans view them.
Foreign nations voice support for China's handling of Lh@sa riot
Official Chinese newspaper touts support from Mauritania, Vietnam, Lesotho, and other foreign governments, regarding their good handling of the current situation.
More musings on T1bet propaganda drive
An article by an expat in China focusing on the Chinese governments propaganda and "thought liberation" drive withing the country. Includes an interesting quote by a internationally educated Chinese marketing manager, “I know the government cuts all the negative information and we can not see the true story. But it has to do this. Most Chinese are poor and not well educated. They are not capable of independent thought or making their own judgements. They need to be guided by the government.”
T1bet crushes conspiracies by D@lai L@ma clique
According to this article, T1bet has been working hard to crush conspiracies by the D@lai clique over the past five years.
China's tough line in T1bet...
An International Herald Tribune article including the quote "The Communist Party is like the parent to the Tibetan people, and it is always considerate about what the children need," Zhang said last year. He later added: "The Central Party Committee is the real Buddha for Tibetans."
Hu on Time list of 'influentials'
One of my favourite articles from when I was in China. "Hu [Jintao, the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, and former Communist Party Chief in the TAR] explains plans for a 'peaceful rise' in seeking a benign external environment". "Hu's vision has been to build a 'harmonious society'".
Hopefully Hu Jintao can maintain a "Harmonious Society" through the use of tanks, troops, and the chasing of monks. (OK, that comment was a little biased.)
At Shuttered Gateway to T1bet...
A look at the situation, by the New York Times, from Chengdu, Sichuan Province, one of the main gateways into T1bet. There's a short video that accompanying the article. It's interesting that the article mentions Wuhousi and the T1betan area surrounding the temple, which I visited just over a year ago.
Canada T1bet Committee
A group representing T1betans in Canada.
The New Colonialists
An Economist article about China and their need for raw resources, and how it affects their policy.
August 08, 2007
One Year to Go...
There's only one year left until the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, PRChina. There was an excellent article on yahoo.ca entitled "Beijing's yearlong party begins as Olympic countdown clocks reach 1-year mark " which is worth the 2 minutes to read. It's fairly well-rounded, especially after all the Chinese propaganda I read while living in China about the 2008 Games.
The article highlights the Chinese excitement for the games, noting a speech by Wu Bangguo "laden with communist jargon such as 'Deng Xiaoping theory' and the building of a 'harmonious society'."
It also mentioned a few of the difficulties China will have. Some of these difficulties were noted by Jacques Rogge, head of the International Olympic Committee, who "said the dirty air in Beijing might force some events to be postponed". That can't be good.
A beautiful, sunny summer day at Houhai in Beijing!
But the Communist party is making things better by moving polluting factories away from Beijing and closing some down for up to 3 months before the Games. They will also force up to 1/3 of Beijing cars off the roads during the Olympics, as they did during the African Leader's Summit in the Autumn of 2006. They're also hoping to help the pollution situation by "control[ing] the weather. Meteorologists began tests last month, firing rockets to disperse rain clouds - a move to guarantee sunshine. They've also fired rockets containing sticks of silver iodide to induce rain to clean the air." [More about Chinese controling the weather!]
Other difficulties faced are "old habits, such as spitting in public, jumping ahead in line and littering", all of which are being addressed by special committees to improve Chinese behaviour. I can attest to the bad behaviour -I don't know how many times I was spit on, shoved out of the way, or had someone literally point right in my face and shout "LAOWAI!" But on the positive side, Rogge says "preparations for Beijing 2008 are truly impressive in every regard."
There's only one year left until the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, PRChina. There was an excellent article on yahoo.ca entitled "Beijing's yearlong party begins as Olympic countdown clocks reach 1-year mark " which is worth the 2 minutes to read. It's fairly well-rounded, especially after all the Chinese propaganda I read while living in China about the 2008 Games.
The article highlights the Chinese excitement for the games, noting a speech by Wu Bangguo "laden with communist jargon such as 'Deng Xiaoping theory' and the building of a 'harmonious society'."
It also mentioned a few of the difficulties China will have. Some of these difficulties were noted by Jacques Rogge, head of the International Olympic Committee, who "said the dirty air in Beijing might force some events to be postponed". That can't be good.
A beautiful, sunny summer day at Houhai in Beijing!
But the Communist party is making things better by moving polluting factories away from Beijing and closing some down for up to 3 months before the Games. They will also force up to 1/3 of Beijing cars off the roads during the Olympics, as they did during the African Leader's Summit in the Autumn of 2006. They're also hoping to help the pollution situation by "control[ing] the weather. Meteorologists began tests last month, firing rockets to disperse rain clouds - a move to guarantee sunshine. They've also fired rockets containing sticks of silver iodide to induce rain to clean the air." [More about Chinese controling the weather!]
Other difficulties faced are "old habits, such as spitting in public, jumping ahead in line and littering", all of which are being addressed by special committees to improve Chinese behaviour. I can attest to the bad behaviour -I don't know how many times I was spit on, shoved out of the way, or had someone literally point right in my face and shout "LAOWAI!" But on the positive side, Rogge says "preparations for Beijing 2008 are truly impressive in every regard."
May 27, 2007
Random (Laowaiing) Conversation...
This one happened during the May holiday at the Summer Palace in Beijing. Walking along a little boy points his grubby finger into my face (no more than 5cm away) and shouts at the top of his lungs:
Grubby: LAOOOOOWAIIIIII! (Foreigner)
LaoWai: (Pointing back in his face) ZhongGuo Reeen! (Chinese person)
Family: hahahahaha
Yup, I had a Chinese moment by pointing my finger and shouting in a little kids face. At least I didn't make that hoarking noise followed by a big spit wad.
But his family really seemed to enjoy the speaking foreigner. Haha. Ain't that funny?
This one happened during the May holiday at the Summer Palace in Beijing. Walking along a little boy points his grubby finger into my face (no more than 5cm away) and shouts at the top of his lungs:
Grubby: LAOOOOOWAIIIIII! (Foreigner)
LaoWai: (Pointing back in his face) ZhongGuo Reeen! (Chinese person)
Family: hahahahaha
Yup, I had a Chinese moment by pointing my finger and shouting in a little kids face. At least I didn't make that hoarking noise followed by a big spit wad.
But his family really seemed to enjoy the speaking foreigner. Haha. Ain't that funny?
May 09, 2007
May Day Holiday, Part I...
I arrived in Beijing last Tuesday for May Day, also known as International Labourer Day (or something like that). I stayed at the Lotus Hostel near the XiDan district, which is one of my favourite hostels in China. Hopefully I can visit them a few more times before I leave! I spent most mornings out in the courtyard, laying on a couch in the sun reading.
The first day in Beijing I didn't wander too far and only went to the White Dagoba Temple near the hostel. It was originally built way back in the Yuan Dynasty, which was founded by Genghis Khan. The temple was nice but the best part is that it was quiet. There were actually two Tibetan monks circling the dagoba, clockwise, as you do to gain merit. It was interesting to see one of them talking on his mobile in Tibetan while going around and around.
The next morning Alex arrived from Qingdao as planned and after breakfast at the hostel we headed out to Houhai. I haven't seen Alex since I was working in France way back when, so it was nice to catch up and swap travel stories for the week (and look at things "with Chinese characteristics"!). We wandered around Houhai lake for a bit, through some hutongs, then sat down at my favourite cafe in Beijing for a drink.
One thing that I love about staying at hostels is the people you meet along the way. Of course there are always some crazies, but usually everyone is nice and has at least one interesting story to tell.
Late on Thursday morning we headed off to the Military Museum, which was interesting for a great number of reasons. I'll leave some of it up to your imaginations, but they had a lot of interesting items on display.
In the afternoon we tried to make it to the Midi Rock Music Festival in Haidian Park. I was excited about seeing Soundtrack of Our Lives in the evening, but fate had other time-consuming and expensive plans. I had made it by bus to withing one Beijing block of the park, up in the north-west of Beijing. But of course, when you're that close to something nobody knows where it is. Nobody. The cops hadn't heard of the park, people shopping in the area hadn't either, and even people working in stores nearby didn't know. We asked 5 cab drivers, who said they didn't know and sped off. Finally one said she knew where the park was, and drove us to the south of the city and dropped us off. Of course it wasn't the park. We got in another cab who had heard of the festival, knew the type of music, and where it was. Excellent we thought. 25km later, we were at the gate of the Pop Festival, with streams of primary school students walking in and out of the gates.
So now we were in the middle of nowhere-park, and none of the stops on the bus stop-sign looked familiar to me. Luckily there were some girls there who knew the area, and took us to their stop from where we could catch another bus to the metro, to catch two different metro lines, before getting another bus back to the hostel. Yes, it took a long time to get back, but the girls wanted to know if I was single (surprise, they were too!), and were quite fascinated with my arm hair.
I arrived in Beijing last Tuesday for May Day, also known as International Labourer Day (or something like that). I stayed at the Lotus Hostel near the XiDan district, which is one of my favourite hostels in China. Hopefully I can visit them a few more times before I leave! I spent most mornings out in the courtyard, laying on a couch in the sun reading.
The first day in Beijing I didn't wander too far and only went to the White Dagoba Temple near the hostel. It was originally built way back in the Yuan Dynasty, which was founded by Genghis Khan. The temple was nice but the best part is that it was quiet. There were actually two Tibetan monks circling the dagoba, clockwise, as you do to gain merit. It was interesting to see one of them talking on his mobile in Tibetan while going around and around.
The next morning Alex arrived from Qingdao as planned and after breakfast at the hostel we headed out to Houhai. I haven't seen Alex since I was working in France way back when, so it was nice to catch up and swap travel stories for the week (and look at things "with Chinese characteristics"!). We wandered around Houhai lake for a bit, through some hutongs, then sat down at my favourite cafe in Beijing for a drink.
One thing that I love about staying at hostels is the people you meet along the way. Of course there are always some crazies, but usually everyone is nice and has at least one interesting story to tell.Late on Thursday morning we headed off to the Military Museum, which was interesting for a great number of reasons. I'll leave some of it up to your imaginations, but they had a lot of interesting items on display.
In the afternoon we tried to make it to the Midi Rock Music Festival in Haidian Park. I was excited about seeing Soundtrack of Our Lives in the evening, but fate had other time-consuming and expensive plans. I had made it by bus to withing one Beijing block of the park, up in the north-west of Beijing. But of course, when you're that close to something nobody knows where it is. Nobody. The cops hadn't heard of the park, people shopping in the area hadn't either, and even people working in stores nearby didn't know. We asked 5 cab drivers, who said they didn't know and sped off. Finally one said she knew where the park was, and drove us to the south of the city and dropped us off. Of course it wasn't the park. We got in another cab who had heard of the festival, knew the type of music, and where it was. Excellent we thought. 25km later, we were at the gate of the Pop Festival, with streams of primary school students walking in and out of the gates.
So now we were in the middle of nowhere-park, and none of the stops on the bus stop-sign looked familiar to me. Luckily there were some girls there who knew the area, and took us to their stop from where we could catch another bus to the metro, to catch two different metro lines, before getting another bus back to the hostel. Yes, it took a long time to get back, but the girls wanted to know if I was single (surprise, they were too!), and were quite fascinated with my arm hair.
May Day Holiday, Part II...
Friday was a lazy day with an excursion that started and ended with a lunchtime all you can eat/drink sushi buffet with Vanessa (a German girl from the hostel) and Alex.
Saturday we headed to the Summer Palace, where the 18th century Emperor's once frolicked through the summer heat. It's an immense complex, with a huge lake in the middle. I imagine that at one time it was quite relaxing, but the place is swarming with tourists now. For dinner that night we went to a Western restaurant called "Steak & Eggs" that had poutine made by a real Montrealer! Of course it isn't as good as the real thing in Canada, but for China it's not bad.
On Sunday we headed out to the Factory 798 Art District in the Northeast of Beijing. It used to be home to a slew of factories, but a lot of them have been converted to modern and post-modern art galleries. Despite this, there are still a few working factories around. I was quite impressed by most of the art, which was very innovative and new. We chatted briefly with one of the gallery owners who said that 5 years ago the only people who bought the art were foreigners -now it's 99% foreigners who buy the art. But he also said that the younger generation are much more interested in it as they're tired of the traditional propaganda art that they learn about in school.
After a wonderful Western breakfast at Lush on Monday, I did some clothes shopping. Despite most of our clothes being made here in China, it's surprisingly hard to find something that I like here. In fact, the area around XiDan was the first time that I saw Chinese brand clothes that I would actually wear. The whole shopping experience was definitely another China moment. I really think that number of sales staff in each of the stores were greater than the actual number of shoppers. "Try this, try that, pants? different colour?" Every time you decide to make a purchase the person who helped you will shout something in Chinese and every other salesperson in the store will shout hurrah! Yay for buying wearable clothes.
Friday was a lazy day with an excursion that started and ended with a lunchtime all you can eat/drink sushi buffet with Vanessa (a German girl from the hostel) and Alex.
Saturday we headed to the Summer Palace, where the 18th century Emperor's once frolicked through the summer heat. It's an immense complex, with a huge lake in the middle. I imagine that at one time it was quite relaxing, but the place is swarming with tourists now. For dinner that night we went to a Western restaurant called "Steak & Eggs" that had poutine made by a real Montrealer! Of course it isn't as good as the real thing in Canada, but for China it's not bad.
On Sunday we headed out to the Factory 798 Art District in the Northeast of Beijing. It used to be home to a slew of factories, but a lot of them have been converted to modern and post-modern art galleries. Despite this, there are still a few working factories around. I was quite impressed by most of the art, which was very innovative and new. We chatted briefly with one of the gallery owners who said that 5 years ago the only people who bought the art were foreigners -now it's 99% foreigners who buy the art. But he also said that the younger generation are much more interested in it as they're tired of the traditional propaganda art that they learn about in school.
After a wonderful Western breakfast at Lush on Monday, I did some clothes shopping. Despite most of our clothes being made here in China, it's surprisingly hard to find something that I like here. In fact, the area around XiDan was the first time that I saw Chinese brand clothes that I would actually wear. The whole shopping experience was definitely another China moment. I really think that number of sales staff in each of the stores were greater than the actual number of shoppers. "Try this, try that, pants? different colour?" Every time you decide to make a purchase the person who helped you will shout something in Chinese and every other salesperson in the store will shout hurrah! Yay for buying wearable clothes.
May 07, 2007
Breaking Up is Hard to Do...
I'm back in town now after a full and relaxing week in Beijing. I'll post more on Beijing, with lots of photos, this week. The food was great, I met an old friend and made some new ones, the weather warm, the sites interesting, and the hostel courtyard the perfect place to relax.
Talking with the various backpackers, most of them suggested that I take off and go to South-East Asia or to Europe now. Hearing their stories of travel of course didn't help either! I know that I'd love it, and I can't really figure out what's holding me back. It's like some sort of bad dating relationship, where breaking up is hard to do even though you know it's the best choice. I'll have to do a bit of research into the possibilities.
Anyway, it's off to bed as I've got a 7:30AM class tomorrow to start the week. I'll get to sleep just as soon as the boys above my room stop shouting, pounding on the pipes, screaming like girls, throwing chairs, and stinking up the bathroom.
I'm back in town now after a full and relaxing week in Beijing. I'll post more on Beijing, with lots of photos, this week. The food was great, I met an old friend and made some new ones, the weather warm, the sites interesting, and the hostel courtyard the perfect place to relax.
Talking with the various backpackers, most of them suggested that I take off and go to South-East Asia or to Europe now. Hearing their stories of travel of course didn't help either! I know that I'd love it, and I can't really figure out what's holding me back. It's like some sort of bad dating relationship, where breaking up is hard to do even though you know it's the best choice. I'll have to do a bit of research into the possibilities.
Anyway, it's off to bed as I've got a 7:30AM class tomorrow to start the week. I'll get to sleep just as soon as the boys above my room stop shouting, pounding on the pipes, screaming like girls, throwing chairs, and stinking up the bathroom.
May 04, 2007
In Beijing...
I'm still in Beijing, and I won't make it out until I have to leave. The hostel where I'm staying is just too nice, and I can't be bothered to fight the Chinese hordes to try to find a bus/train to another city (i.e. ChengDe). The weather has been great, and every morning I sit in the courtyard outside in the sun.
Seen some interesting things, eaten some great sushi, and met some cool people. I'll have to write more when I get back to my computer and can upload some photos.
I'm still in Beijing, and I won't make it out until I have to leave. The hostel where I'm staying is just too nice, and I can't be bothered to fight the Chinese hordes to try to find a bus/train to another city (i.e. ChengDe). The weather has been great, and every morning I sit in the courtyard outside in the sun.
Seen some interesting things, eaten some great sushi, and met some cool people. I'll have to write more when I get back to my computer and can upload some photos.
April 17, 2007
Four Days in Beijing...
I was finally able to make it to Beijing for longer than 3 days, and that extra day made a huge difference. I was actually able to relax a bit, and enjoy some wonderful food (that's what my life seems to revolve around here, and my mom thought I was food obsessed before!). It gave me a chance to walk around and see more parts of the city, and to forget about work life for a bit.
Arriving on Friday morning with Jodee and Stephanie, the first order of business was getting a hostel. The lady behind the desk asked her friend in Chinese, thinking I couldn't understand, "should we tell them 60 or 70RMB?". So of course she told us 70RMB and I wouldn't take anything over 60. Next we went for lunch and had sushi before having Blizzards at DQ! The weekend was off to a good start when we met up with Kim and Tami at the hostel. The five of us headed out for all you can eat and drink at another sushi place for only 68RMB! Lots of sushi, sashimi, tempura, salad, and a few drinks. I planned to make it an early night, but I ended up running into a few Canadians and French at the hostel, so I didn't make it back until sometime past 5AM.
Saturday the girls headed up the Great Wall, so I decided to do a bit of exploring on my own. I started with Prince Gong's Mansion and gardens, which were quite nice except for the hoards of Chinese students on a tour who stood in front of everything interesting. But I could see how it would be nice if it was quieter. The weather was actually nice and warm, so I wandered by HouHai then to my new favourite cafe between the Bell and Drum Towers for a much needed iced latte.
Then it was off to the National Art Museum of China, which had a few really cool exhibits. I couldn't bear the thought of eating Chinese food so I had a turkey club sandwich back at the hostel, which definitely filled the craving.
Sunday morning Kim, Tami and I went for breakfast at Steak & Eggs, a great place with REAL Western food including toast from real bread, bottomless coffee, and even poutine (I almost cried when I saw it on the menu, I must go back!). The three of us headed to a friend's place for lunch where we head real shepherd's pie with a real salad complete with olive oil and vinegar dressing. See, I'm obsessed with food! Next we hit up the NiuJie Mosque
, one of the biggest/oldest mosques in Beijing. The architecture was surprisingly Chinese, with only a few inscriptions in Arabic to set it apart from the average Chinese temple. Of course we had to have Muslim food (大盘鸡) for dinner.
Monday was my last day in the Chinese capital, so I made the best of it by starting off with pancakes and French toast at Lush with Kim near WuDaoKou. Next we went to the Beijing World Art Museum which had a great special exhibit on Pompei which for some reason we got into for 25RMB instead of the normal 50. We had a late lunch/coffee with an Aussie friend whom I met in Kunming, before grabbing another DQ Blizzard and the train back to Baoding.
I was finally able to make it to Beijing for longer than 3 days, and that extra day made a huge difference. I was actually able to relax a bit, and enjoy some wonderful food (that's what my life seems to revolve around here, and my mom thought I was food obsessed before!). It gave me a chance to walk around and see more parts of the city, and to forget about work life for a bit.Arriving on Friday morning with Jodee and Stephanie, the first order of business was getting a hostel. The lady behind the desk asked her friend in Chinese, thinking I couldn't understand, "should we tell them 60 or 70RMB?". So of course she told us 70RMB and I wouldn't take anything over 60. Next we went for lunch and had sushi before having Blizzards at DQ! The weekend was off to a good start when we met up with Kim and Tami at the hostel. The five of us headed out for all you can eat and drink at another sushi place for only 68RMB! Lots of sushi, sashimi, tempura, salad, and a few drinks. I planned to make it an early night, but I ended up running into a few Canadians and French at the hostel, so I didn't make it back until sometime past 5AM.
Saturday the girls headed up the Great Wall, so I decided to do a bit of exploring on my own. I started with Prince Gong's Mansion and gardens, which were quite nice except for the hoards of Chinese students on a tour who stood in front of everything interesting. But I could see how it would be nice if it was quieter. The weather was actually nice and warm, so I wandered by HouHai then to my new favourite cafe between the Bell and Drum Towers for a much needed iced latte.
Then it was off to the National Art Museum of China, which had a few really cool exhibits. I couldn't bear the thought of eating Chinese food so I had a turkey club sandwich back at the hostel, which definitely filled the craving.Sunday morning Kim, Tami and I went for breakfast at Steak & Eggs, a great place with REAL Western food including toast from real bread, bottomless coffee, and even poutine (I almost cried when I saw it on the menu, I must go back!). The three of us headed to a friend's place for lunch where we head real shepherd's pie with a real salad complete with olive oil and vinegar dressing. See, I'm obsessed with food! Next we hit up the NiuJie Mosque
, one of the biggest/oldest mosques in Beijing. The architecture was surprisingly Chinese, with only a few inscriptions in Arabic to set it apart from the average Chinese temple. Of course we had to have Muslim food (大盘鸡) for dinner.Monday was my last day in the Chinese capital, so I made the best of it by starting off with pancakes and French toast at Lush with Kim near WuDaoKou. Next we went to the Beijing World Art Museum which had a great special exhibit on Pompei which for some reason we got into for 25RMB instead of the normal 50. We had a late lunch/coffee with an Aussie friend whom I met in Kunming, before grabbing another DQ Blizzard and the train back to Baoding.
April 13, 2007
March 26, 2007
Forbidden City Made Possible By...
...The American Express Company
There's nothing more enjoyable than getting away from here for an amazing weekend in Beijing, filled with real food and fun. It didn't start off too fun with train difficulties on Friday morning, but we arrived in Beijing all the same an hour or so late. After meeting with some friends of friends, and getting some food, I went to the Silk Market with Kim and Tami and did some bargaining for gifts. We were soon off to North SanLiTun, one of the bar districts in Beijing. I have been craving a real pizza for several months now and I was told about a great place there called The Tree which has real cheese, real pepperoni, and real pizza sauce! Most pizzas in China include corn/potato as a topping, don't have good cheese, and are served soggy. As soon as I stepped into the place, I knew I would have to stay and wait the hour and a half for a table. Not only was the Pepperoni pizza amazing, but I was able to get a Leffe too. The whole group of us then headed out to another couple of places and danced a bit (while some of the girls with us got poked by Chinese men, but that's another story).
The next morning I had some French toast, for the first time in 7 months, with Kim and Tami. We met up with Jodee and Stephanie from my school, as well as a bunch more people, then headed off to the Forbidden City (aka "The Palace Museum"). It was a beautiful day with amazingly blue sky and a warm breeze (the sky is rarely blue in Beijing), and the Forbidden City was pretty empty. It was actually a pleasure to walk through the huge complex, though it was odd to see at the bottom of every sign "Made Possible by the American Express Company". I was determined to find the controversial Starbucks within the compound and eventually decided on an amazing vanilla frappuccino. For dinner we headed to a great sushi place, then off to another district of Beijing for some expensive drinks by a lake to finish off the evening.
On Sunday morning I went for breakfast with Sarah and Josh at Lush, a cool place in WuDaoKou where you could hang out all day. I had my first pancakes with syrup in 7 months along three cups of amazing coffee, all for 20RMB ($3.00)! Amazing I tell you. After a real breakfast, we headed to the Capital Museum to check it out for a bit before heading to Carrefour to pick up some essentials such as pastries, chocolat milk powder, and cheese
...The American Express Company
There's nothing more enjoyable than getting away from here for an amazing weekend in Beijing, filled with real food and fun. It didn't start off too fun with train difficulties on Friday morning, but we arrived in Beijing all the same an hour or so late. After meeting with some friends of friends, and getting some food, I went to the Silk Market with Kim and Tami and did some bargaining for gifts. We were soon off to North SanLiTun, one of the bar districts in Beijing. I have been craving a real pizza for several months now and I was told about a great place there called The Tree which has real cheese, real pepperoni, and real pizza sauce! Most pizzas in China include corn/potato as a topping, don't have good cheese, and are served soggy. As soon as I stepped into the place, I knew I would have to stay and wait the hour and a half for a table. Not only was the Pepperoni pizza amazing, but I was able to get a Leffe too. The whole group of us then headed out to another couple of places and danced a bit (while some of the girls with us got poked by Chinese men, but that's another story).
The next morning I had some French toast, for the first time in 7 months, with Kim and Tami. We met up with Jodee and Stephanie from my school, as well as a bunch more people, then headed off to the Forbidden City (aka "The Palace Museum"). It was a beautiful day with amazingly blue sky and a warm breeze (the sky is rarely blue in Beijing), and the Forbidden City was pretty empty. It was actually a pleasure to walk through the huge complex, though it was odd to see at the bottom of every sign "Made Possible by the American Express Company". I was determined to find the controversial Starbucks within the compound and eventually decided on an amazing vanilla frappuccino. For dinner we headed to a great sushi place, then off to another district of Beijing for some expensive drinks by a lake to finish off the evening.
On Sunday morning I went for breakfast with Sarah and Josh at Lush, a cool place in WuDaoKou where you could hang out all day. I had my first pancakes with syrup in 7 months along three cups of amazing coffee, all for 20RMB ($3.00)! Amazing I tell you. After a real breakfast, we headed to the Capital Museum to check it out for a bit before heading to Carrefour to pick up some essentials such as pastries, chocolat milk powder, and cheese
March 23, 2007
March 17, 2007
The 11th is Queuing Day in Beijing...
According to a headline in the wonderfully exciting, interesting, and insightful China Daily, "Beijing institutes queuing day"! Now imagine this, the government has decided that the 11th of every month will be "Queuing Day", which means that if there are two or more people waiting for something they are supposed to line up. That's right, the government has to encourage people to line up to help eliminate line-jumping before the 2008 Olympics. It seems they feel that having people line up once a month will lead to an orderly and 'civilized' Olympics.
According to the newspaper "orderly queues are a rare sight in a city which is also hard at work trying to put an end to spitting and littering and present a more "civilised" face to the world in 2008." The Capital Ethic Development Office, set up to teach manners to the people of Beijing, also hopes that Beijing residents can be "missionaries of civilisation" for the rest of China.
In an effort to encourage Beijing citizens to actually line up, slogans have been posted around town such as "It's civilised to queue, it's glorious to be polite", "Voluntarily wait in line, be polite and put other people first", and "I care about and participate in the Olympics and set an example by queuing".
I wonder if people will be able to line up during the whole period of the Olympic Games? Maybe they will have "Queuing Weeks" next year when all week long people will have to line up.
According to a headline in the wonderfully exciting, interesting, and insightful China Daily, "Beijing institutes queuing day"! Now imagine this, the government has decided that the 11th of every month will be "Queuing Day", which means that if there are two or more people waiting for something they are supposed to line up. That's right, the government has to encourage people to line up to help eliminate line-jumping before the 2008 Olympics. It seems they feel that having people line up once a month will lead to an orderly and 'civilized' Olympics.
According to the newspaper "orderly queues are a rare sight in a city which is also hard at work trying to put an end to spitting and littering and present a more "civilised" face to the world in 2008." The Capital Ethic Development Office, set up to teach manners to the people of Beijing, also hopes that Beijing residents can be "missionaries of civilisation" for the rest of China.
In an effort to encourage Beijing citizens to actually line up, slogans have been posted around town such as "It's civilised to queue, it's glorious to be polite", "Voluntarily wait in line, be polite and put other people first", and "I care about and participate in the Olympics and set an example by queuing".
I wonder if people will be able to line up during the whole period of the Olympic Games? Maybe they will have "Queuing Weeks" next year when all week long people will have to line up.
March 13, 2007
Beijing Drum Tower and Food...
I left for Beijing a little later than I wanted to on Saturday, but I had to take the only (standing room) ticket available before 3PM. I made my way to the Drum and Bell Towers north of the Forbidden City and walked up the Drum Tower for a view of the surrounding hutongs and the nearby Bell Tower on the beautiful but bitterly cold afternoon. There was an underwhelming one minute long drum performance, which wasn't nearly as good as the performances at the drum and bell towers in Xi'an.
I settled into the "Excuse Cafe", a tiny place between the two towers, for coffee and a glance at a copy of McLean's left by a lady from PEI. It's been a long time since I've seen a McLean's and they had an interesting article called "How to lose your shirt in China" about how Canadians are too trusting and honest and how they constantly get ripped off when doing business in China. There was an interesting mention of how a word for honest (老实, lao3shi) is also a derogatory slang word for gullible or naive.
I met up with Sarah, who used to be a teacher in town here, and her boyfriend and we headed to Lush in WuDaoKou. They had some amazing food, stuff I haven't had since I left home, and it looks like they've got some good breakfast too. We were soon met by some other teachers from here and there, as is the case in WuDaoKou. It's a totally different world from where I'm living.
The next day we headed out for a walk through ZhongGuanCun (中关村), an area of Beijing where there are a lot of universities and high-tech developments. In the process of looking for a cafe we ran into Carrefour and picked up some pain au chocolat! We had lunch at a sushi place where you could grab the ones you wanted off a moving conveyor belt loaded with all sorts of sushi, drinks, wasabi and pickled ginger. I love sushi, and it was hard not to eat one of everything. It was great to get away for a bit, visit some old friends and meet some new ones who work in town here, and to have some amazing food. Not only was it nice to go to Beijing, but when I got back I found out that the power and water had been out at the school for the better part of the day! Needless to say it was a much needed and appreciated weekend getaway.
I left for Beijing a little later than I wanted to on Saturday, but I had to take the only (standing room) ticket available before 3PM. I made my way to the Drum and Bell Towers north of the Forbidden City and walked up the Drum Tower for a view of the surrounding hutongs and the nearby Bell Tower on the beautiful but bitterly cold afternoon. There was an underwhelming one minute long drum performance, which wasn't nearly as good as the performances at the drum and bell towers in Xi'an.I settled into the "Excuse Cafe", a tiny place between the two towers, for coffee and a glance at a copy of McLean's left by a lady from PEI. It's been a long time since I've seen a McLean's and they had an interesting article called "How to lose your shirt in China" about how Canadians are too trusting and honest and how they constantly get ripped off when doing business in China. There was an interesting mention of how a word for honest (老实, lao3shi) is also a derogatory slang word for gullible or naive.
I met up with Sarah, who used to be a teacher in town here, and her boyfriend and we headed to Lush in WuDaoKou. They had some amazing food, stuff I haven't had since I left home, and it looks like they've got some good breakfast too. We were soon met by some other teachers from here and there, as is the case in WuDaoKou. It's a totally different world from where I'm living.
The next day we headed out for a walk through ZhongGuanCun (中关村), an area of Beijing where there are a lot of universities and high-tech developments. In the process of looking for a cafe we ran into Carrefour and picked up some pain au chocolat! We had lunch at a sushi place where you could grab the ones you wanted off a moving conveyor belt loaded with all sorts of sushi, drinks, wasabi and pickled ginger. I love sushi, and it was hard not to eat one of everything. It was great to get away for a bit, visit some old friends and meet some new ones who work in town here, and to have some amazing food. Not only was it nice to go to Beijing, but when I got back I found out that the power and water had been out at the school for the better part of the day! Needless to say it was a much needed and appreciated weekend getaway.
March 10, 2007
January 28, 2007
Chengdu, Sichuan, China...
In addition to the Maosoleum in Beijing, I also visited the National Museum of China on the side of Tian'anmen Square. For a country that proclaims 5,000 years of history, language, and culture, I was surprised at the lack-lustre National Museum. I know that the KMT 'stole' a lot of stuff when the moved to the province of Taiwan, but still. There were a few tables and chairs from the Ming and Qing dynasties, and a couple of greenish blue pots. Without English explanations, and minimal Chinese explanation (size, and dynasty), it didn't lead to a very enlightening visit. The best part was the 50 or so national treasures. Still, it wasn't worth the 30Yuan entry price.
I flew with Air China from Beijing to Chengdu, and the flight was good. They served Chinese food with a plastic fork and knife -the 6th time in 5 months that I've used a fork and knife was on a Chinese airline!
It's been warm in Chengdu, at least compared to Baoding. Saturday was a temple and history blitz. First up was Wenshu Temple, which has a cool street in front that is hosting the International Food Festival -Chinese food with one Indian stall. This is where I tried the emu kebabs and the camel kebabs (both really good).
Next was the Green Ram Taoist Monastery. Then the DuFu Thatched Cottage, which was really expensive and I didn't appreciate that much because I haven't learned much about Chinese poetry. Then we went to Wuhou Temple, another Buddhist temple that is famous for its statues of the Shu Kingdom king of the Three Kingdom era. I tried ChenMaPo DouFu at the original restaurant. It's supposed to be quite famous, but I've never heard of it before. Pretty good though.
I was almost Buddha-ed out, but today I went to see the world's largest Buddha in LeShan, about 120km south of Chengdu. We ended up sitting in the bus for an extra two hours because the express way was closed due to 'too much fog'. The Buddha itself was quite impressive -seated, he's 71 metres tall (233ft).
Tomorrow morning I'm going to check out the Panda Research Centre, before I take a 20 hour hard seat overnight Chinese train ride to Kunming.
In addition to the Maosoleum in Beijing, I also visited the National Museum of China on the side of Tian'anmen Square. For a country that proclaims 5,000 years of history, language, and culture, I was surprised at the lack-lustre National Museum. I know that the KMT 'stole' a lot of stuff when the moved to the province of Taiwan, but still. There were a few tables and chairs from the Ming and Qing dynasties, and a couple of greenish blue pots. Without English explanations, and minimal Chinese explanation (size, and dynasty), it didn't lead to a very enlightening visit. The best part was the 50 or so national treasures. Still, it wasn't worth the 30Yuan entry price.
I flew with Air China from Beijing to Chengdu, and the flight was good. They served Chinese food with a plastic fork and knife -the 6th time in 5 months that I've used a fork and knife was on a Chinese airline!It's been warm in Chengdu, at least compared to Baoding. Saturday was a temple and history blitz. First up was Wenshu Temple, which has a cool street in front that is hosting the International Food Festival -Chinese food with one Indian stall. This is where I tried the emu kebabs and the camel kebabs (both really good).
Next was the Green Ram Taoist Monastery. Then the DuFu Thatched Cottage, which was really expensive and I didn't appreciate that much because I haven't learned much about Chinese poetry. Then we went to Wuhou Temple, another Buddhist temple that is famous for its statues of the Shu Kingdom king of the Three Kingdom era. I tried ChenMaPo DouFu at the original restaurant. It's supposed to be quite famous, but I've never heard of it before. Pretty good though.
I was almost Buddha-ed out, but today I went to see the world's largest Buddha in LeShan, about 120km south of Chengdu. We ended up sitting in the bus for an extra two hours because the express way was closed due to 'too much fog'. The Buddha itself was quite impressive -seated, he's 71 metres tall (233ft).Tomorrow morning I'm going to check out the Panda Research Centre, before I take a 20 hour hard seat overnight Chinese train ride to Kunming.
January 26, 2007
Visiting Mao...
I had a few days to kill in Beijing while I was waiting for my plane to Chengdu so I decided to finally visit Mao in his Maosoleum (sorry, I should say the "Mao Memorial Hall"). He's available to greet visitors from 9:30AM to 11:30AM most of the week (his schedule changes because sometimes he needs to get plastic surgery). The rest of the day he's quite busy -getting his makeup done, getting his face printed on money, posing for portraits, and having Mao suits made. I got in line outside, ready for the big introduction. The police even made people get out of line who had jumped the queue! There were announcements in Chinese and English reminding people not to spit or take photos. They also said we couldn't smoke -I guess Mao has given up on one of his hobbies.
Once on the grounds of the Maosoleum we could buy white chrysanthemums for 3RMB each, to lay at the foot of a grand statue of Mao sitting in a chair and greeting the masses. I'd say at least one in 5 people bought a flower for him. (Do they collect the flowers at the end of the day and resell the good ones the next day?)
We were split into two lines, and allowed to glimpse Mao from both sides, behind two (bullet proof) glass walls. He was rather quiet, though his face had a wonderful glow. He just layed there under a Chinese flag, with his face and part of his Mao suit exposed. His face looked a bit nuclear orange -I think it was the light they used. We all shuffled by in silence, the visit with him over in a matter of seconds.
As soon as we left Mao's greeting chamber we were met with a multitude of vendors inside the Maosoleum (and outside it too). The sold everything Mao -stamps, waving Mao watches, golden Mao plaques, dangling Mao faces on red threads for your car- everything. I didn't see Mao rolling around at the thought of all that Capitalism. Maybe he's come to accept Deng XiaoPing's wisdom. After all, according to the official figures by CITS Mao was 70% right and 30% wrong.
Because I visited in the winter my whole Mao experience -from lining up with a wide cross-section of the Chinese population, to the brief meeting under the watchful eye of the military, to the Capitalist bazaar just behind Mao's office- it only took 20 minutes. I've heard that in the summer you have to wait a lot longer to get into Mao's office for the 15 second visit.
I had a few days to kill in Beijing while I was waiting for my plane to Chengdu so I decided to finally visit Mao in his Maosoleum (sorry, I should say the "Mao Memorial Hall"). He's available to greet visitors from 9:30AM to 11:30AM most of the week (his schedule changes because sometimes he needs to get plastic surgery). The rest of the day he's quite busy -getting his makeup done, getting his face printed on money, posing for portraits, and having Mao suits made. I got in line outside, ready for the big introduction. The police even made people get out of line who had jumped the queue! There were announcements in Chinese and English reminding people not to spit or take photos. They also said we couldn't smoke -I guess Mao has given up on one of his hobbies.
Once on the grounds of the Maosoleum we could buy white chrysanthemums for 3RMB each, to lay at the foot of a grand statue of Mao sitting in a chair and greeting the masses. I'd say at least one in 5 people bought a flower for him. (Do they collect the flowers at the end of the day and resell the good ones the next day?)
We were split into two lines, and allowed to glimpse Mao from both sides, behind two (bullet proof) glass walls. He was rather quiet, though his face had a wonderful glow. He just layed there under a Chinese flag, with his face and part of his Mao suit exposed. His face looked a bit nuclear orange -I think it was the light they used. We all shuffled by in silence, the visit with him over in a matter of seconds.
As soon as we left Mao's greeting chamber we were met with a multitude of vendors inside the Maosoleum (and outside it too). The sold everything Mao -stamps, waving Mao watches, golden Mao plaques, dangling Mao faces on red threads for your car- everything. I didn't see Mao rolling around at the thought of all that Capitalism. Maybe he's come to accept Deng XiaoPing's wisdom. After all, according to the official figures by CITS Mao was 70% right and 30% wrong.
Because I visited in the winter my whole Mao experience -from lining up with a wide cross-section of the Chinese population, to the brief meeting under the watchful eye of the military, to the Capitalist bazaar just behind Mao's office- it only took 20 minutes. I've heard that in the summer you have to wait a lot longer to get into Mao's office for the 15 second visit.
January 19, 2007
Random Conversation...
This is another Beijing baozi (包子) story. I was walking down the street in Beijing happily eating my baozi out of a bag with chopsticks (I'm in China, you can do that here) when I heard from a group of three university aged students:
#1: 老外吃饱子！ (The foreigner eats baozi!)
#2: 哈哈。 (hehe)
Me: 对，我吃包子。 (Yes, I'm eating baozi.)
#3: 啊，他说了！ (Ah, he spoke!)
#2: Hello!
#1: 你好！ (Hello!)
Me: 你好。 (Hi.)
This is another Beijing baozi (包子) story. I was walking down the street in Beijing happily eating my baozi out of a bag with chopsticks (I'm in China, you can do that here) when I heard from a group of three university aged students:
#1: 老外吃饱子！ (The foreigner eats baozi!)
#2: 哈哈。 (hehe)
Me: 对，我吃包子。 (Yes, I'm eating baozi.)
#3: 啊，他说了！ (Ah, he spoke!)
#2: Hello!
#1: 你好！ (Hello!)
Me: 你好。 (Hi.)
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