Easter in China

I have finally posted more of my photos to my Flickr page. You can access these from the side links. More will come in the next few days. You may notice that this update does not have a photo for everyday I was here. The project that I started this year, to take a photo everyday for the entire year has sadly failed. With the isolation that I have here on campus I started to miss days when I did not leave the campus. What I do have, however, is photos from Beihei Park, some everyday Chinese scenes and the construction at the Olympic Venues. I hope you enjoy. Now on to the Easter stories.

I had the unique experience of spending Easter in a non-Christian country. It was very odd to know that it was a holiday, yet there was nothing to make this day seem any different than any other. There was just as much construction, traffic and general busyness as there is on any other day in Beijing. It was, however, a beautiful day; sunny and 70. This factor alone made it a good day. I attended church for the first time in Beijing. The service that I attended was open only to foreign passport holders, they had people at the door to ensure that everyone coming through the doors presented a passport. They have services that are open to everyone here in China, but my guess is these services have a much more regulated message. While my Mandarin is improving, it will be quite a while until my level of fluency reaches the point where I can get anything other than a cultural experience out of the services open to all.

The service that I attended was housed in a theater. I would estimate that there was between 800-1200 people in attendance. The service was an interdenominational service with pretty good music. It was a somewhat more lively crowd during singing than I am used to, but I really cannot get too picky. There are far fewer church options here than there are in West Michigan. The service was good though not exceptional.

Following Church my friend and I went to the Goose and Duck pub to sit outside in the warm sun enjoying Western Food, a well cooked burger and fries. Not quite as traditional as Easter Brunch, but delicious nonetheless. Following lunch we decided that since everything was open we may as well get some shopping done. Where else to spend Easter Sunday in China than at IKEA.

The reality of a less expensive IKEA is somewhat difficult to imagine, but this is what IKEA in China is like. Things here really need to be less expensive since if items cost the same as they do in the States, IKEA would be far more expensive than they the local store. As it is, many things are more expensive than the local store, but not by that much. I stocked up on some odds and ends that always tend to fill your cart at IKEA but is questionable if these items are really necessary. I walked away with a lot of odds and ends and spent less than $30. I found it somewhat difficult to talk myself out of larger purchases that are really not necessary given I only have about 3.5 months left here this time and nowhere to store any furniture items while I am back in the States. It was difficult to pass up the good deals since it is amazing just how inexpensive things are here in China. Even living a somewhat luxurious lifestyle 150 U.S. dollars can get me through the better part of two weeks here, if not longer. This includes some shopping every week, 3-5 meals out a week, 1 or 2 of which are Western, Chinese Lessons, Transportation...even cabs, and at least one tourist activity in a 2 week period.

Easter had an odd feeling to it. It was certainly a holiday in my mind, but around me there was nothing that set it apart from most other days, at least in the minds of those that surrounded me. Adding to this feeling was the realization that this was the first major holiday (Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas) that I have spent apart from my family. There are bound to be more in the future, but it made for a somewhat unusual mood for an already unusual Easter experience. The weather has remained nice here this week, making it somewhat difficult to focus on work. Most people at home just returned from Spring Break but I still have a few weeks to go until our break, for International Workers Day, May 1st.

Zai Jian