Two Weeks Left...

I seem to be dwelling on the fact that my time in Beijing is coming to a temporary close. I know that endings are an inevitable and assumed part of living temporarily somewhere, but I continue to be amazed with how quickly time seems to pass as I get older. It seems like just a matter of weeks ago that I was stepping onto the plane in Grand Rapids, unsure of just how this experience would treat me, what friends I would make, what would Beijing be like, how would I adjust to teaching...in just five short month I can no longer imagine my life without this set of experiences. I love it here and cannot wait to get back here after the fall. That said, I cannot wait to get back home and the comforts that this brings.

Reflecting on my time here, I keep coming back to the question of what would be a perfect day for me in Beijing...what would I do, what would I see, where would I eat if time and money were not of primary considerations...plus I would not get full since food plays so prominently into my idea of a perfect experience.

The day would begin with a trip to Steak and Eggs...one of the few places in Beijing to get a good American Breakfast. It is not nearly as good as Wolfgangs, but for here it is not too bad. After this I would make my way to the Old Summer Palace. I visited here for the first time just this past weekend, but it is one of my favorite places in Beijing. It was remarkably empty for a "tourist" attraction in Beijing. The palace that was on this site was destroyed by Anglo-Franco troops in the Second Opium War. The remains of the palace can still be seen. My feeling is that the site of the Old Summer Palace is nicer than the new Summer Palace. Both have their charms, but perhaps because of the relative lack of crowds, I preferred the old to the New.

For lunch I would eat at the Golden Peacock Dai Minority Cuisine restaurant. This is one of the best "bang for the buck" restaurants that I have encountered anywhere on earth. This is food that is so good I would easily spend 20 dollars or more for a meal with drinks...instead, I typically spend no more than 5 dollars, drinks included. It actually is only that much if I go there myself, with a group it is usually kept to 2 or 3 dollars per person. The highlights of this restaurant are really spicy beef, pineapple rice that is sweet and glutinous, potato balls with sesame oil and cilantro dipping sauce that are better than any french fry I have ever had anywhere, cheap beer, free appetizers that I would order as an entree if they were on the menu and a friendly and attentive staff (somewhat rare here in China). All told this is one of my favorite restaurants anywhere on earth, regardless of price. The fact it is so cheap makes it all that much better.

After time spent in the park, which is essentially what the Old Summer Palace is, and lunch, I would make my way to Nanluogu Xiang, a hutong filled with shops, restaurants, cafe's and similar small business' in a restored Hutong (old Beijing alley). This is a pretty calm street in the middle of the city, too narrow for much traffic to pass and a great place to spend a quite afternoon with a book, checking your email (most cafe's have wi-fi) and grabbing a good bite to eat. After relaxing for a while at a cafe the hutongs that surround nanluogu make for a great view of daily life in Beijing. The hutongs that surround tend to be less restored and commercialized, giving a glimpse into the daily life that is the reality of so many Beijing residents.

The late afternoon calls for a Massage which means Dragonfly Therapeutic Retreat, one of the most peaceful massage places I have encountered. This place specializes in relaxation, which is sometimes great and others not quite what is needed. The massages can be out fo this world but occasionally fail to hit the mark. That said, more times than not I walk away a very satisfied customer, plus the price cannot be matched (in the United States, for China it is on the expensive side of massages) at just 13.50 for an hour long massage. As an occasional hedonist, I usually indulge in a one hour foot massage followed by a one hour body massage that puts me in a deep state or relaxation...

Dinner would follow that relaxation and there are numerous choices for a great dinner in Beijing. Since it is a piece on Beijing, my choice will be Beijing Duck. The flavor of this famous dish lives up the the hype and makes for a great day. A thin pancake with plum sauce, a few pieces of crispy duck, sliced onion, sliced apple and a bit of garlic and sugar make for a succulent treat that I am prone to stuffing myself with. An entire duck (which feeds two or three with some side dishes) goes for about 11 dollars, a bargain again for the levels of flavor that exist in this Beijing treat.

Following dinner and the massage, any level of relaxation goes out the window as I amke my way to the Fengtai Stadium to watch Beijing Guoan, my club team play a level of pretty poor soccer. The games are entertaining though, a great way to spend the evening with the Chinese (few foreigners attend the games). The level of play for a professional team is not that much higher than mid-level college teams, but still a lot of fun to watch.

Following the game there are numerous bars to relax with a cheap (less than 75 cents) beer or two.

While I would love to have a day like this, the time and travel constraints probably will keep this from ever happening, but this is my Beijing. This is a great place with a lot to offer. If you want to spend the day as a tourist this is very easy, if you want to spend it as a local (as much as a really tall white boy can) this is even easier. There are so many great things that I have yet to discover here. My ideal day may very well look a whole lot different in another year. I am just excited that I am lucky enough to have the chance to experience these events.

All the best,

Zai Jian

Stupidity and Frustration...

I am totally in love with China...most of the time. It does seem however, that every time I have all of these warm feelings towards my adopted home, the government goes and does something idiotic. I have written about my questions with predicting the weather for the Olympics over a year in advance previously. A recent article sets new standards in environmental destruction and poorly thought through tourism. The Chinese government has recently announced that they are planning to build a "highway" up Everest. Their plan is to have a paved roadway to base camp, making the path that the Olympic Torch will follow much easier to navigate. This will cost millions of dollars, money that certainly could be spent more intelligently on education, village infrastructure, farming advances, drought prevention, reforestation, or pretty much anything...maybe even government officials salaries would be a better use of this money, at least that way some of the money would be pumped back into the Chinese economy.

http://news3.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-06/18/content_6259691.htm

Life and times of a tall Beijinger

I apologize for not writing more as of late, I have been without internet and my computer for a little while now...Technical problems happen over here as well. I am guessing that everyone that is reading this has also received an email from me recently, but if not, welcome to my life in China. I cannot believe that I have less than a month left here. The time has flown by. The pending departure has caused me to frantically finish as much as I can in my time here, each weekend crossing off items from a list of things still to do in Beijing. I must say, that the crush of time to go has meant that my weekends have been far more productive than when I felt that I still had unlimited amounts of time to spend here in China. Each weekend I visit three or four restaurants that I have heard about, do two or more cultural or tourist events and have pretty much made sure to make the most out of my time here.

This task of getting things done has been made much easier by the presence of a new place to live. I have added a second apartment in my life. For the last few weeks I have been spending the weekends at my new apartment in downtown (kind of) Beijing. My apartment is in the Students district and is really cheap. I will say that the quality of my living is a bit lower than any place that I would ever consider to live in the U.S., but for some reason I have no problem with the place in China. I love the added convenience that living in the city gives. Knowing that I do not need to go all the way back to Huijia has allowed me to see Soccer games, go the Symphony, go Salsa Dancing, spend a lot more money at Restaurants, do more shopping, sleep in later on the days of my Chinese lessons and pretty much just get more out of life.

Speaking of Chinese lessons, it finally feels like Chinese is kind of starting to click. While there is still so much more that I do not get than I do, I am beginning to understand random bits of overheard conversations. This, along with a pretty firm grasp of ordering and directional language has more or less allowed me to actually listen to what is coming out of people’s mouths rather than just assuming that I do not understand what is being said. I can string a few sentences together now and can give some basics when meeting people for the first time. This is the first time that I have felt this way with a foreign language and the sense of accomplishment, at least when not drowned out by the feeling of utter stupidity because of lack of Mandarin knowledge, is pretty awesome. I still have a very long way to go, but I am starting to feel that progress is being made.

In addition to the Mandarin breakthrough’s I have also begun tutoring a student in conversational English. My Chinese tutor had a friend that was looking to improve her spoken English and thought of me. I think that her English is pretty fluent, but she wants more help. I hope that I can help her out, but if nothing else it is teaching me a lot about the culture and life of a normal Chinese person.

These experiences have combined to reassuring me that I need to be back here. I am in the process of figuring out what to do when I look to return in the winter. I am planning on being back in December, hopefully at my same school. Time will tell, but what I do know is that I am still having the time of my life over here. I hope everyone is well. I cannot wait to see you soon.

Shanghai Part 3

When people in China hear that I studied and Shanghai and now live in Beijing, their first question is typically which city do you like better…which I quickly reply, Shanghai. I have come to love Beijing, but there is just no comparison to Shanghai. The response to this is typically some analysis of how Beijing is more traditional and historical, while Shanghai is more modern and business oriented. While true, I would not necessarily say that Beijing is all that much more traditional. The overall feeling of the city may skew slightly towards the traditional, but this is still a pretty modern city, especially in comparison to the villages that lay all over the city. Beijing is in the process of rapid modernization, or revitalization, or renovation…whichever you want to call it in preparation for next year’s Olympics. I was unfortunately greeted with a major reminder of these projects while going through the Forbidden City this weekend. I was disappointed to find that two of the main halls were completely covered with scaffolding. While this will improve the experience for visitors next year, it makes for an eyesore right now. I suppose that this is the cost of progress.

Shanghai is a city that changes constantly. There is likely no city in the history of the world that has experience the level of growth and modernization that Shanghai has in the last 20 years. As one piece of Shanghai lore states, during the 1990’s 1/3rd of the world’s tower cranes were located within the city limits of Shanghai. In 1984 the tallest building in the city was 24 stories tall…today, there are thousands that tower over this height. Shanghai has one of the most unique and impressive skylines in the world.

Visiting Shanghai was like catching up with an old friend. I was thrilled to find many of my favorite places still in tact, though not surprised to see that some have moved on. In a city that is developing as quickly as Shanghai is, the road to development means that history is sometimes ignored and forgotten. Beijing is the more historical city, but Shanghai has also had an illustrious (by Western standards) past. Shanghai is the city, with the exception of Hong Kong, that has had the most interaction with the west in China. There are pockets of the city that were controlled by British, French, American and Russian foreign contingents, remnants of China’s checkered history of interaction with the west. Today the reminders of this colonial period still are present in western architecture, tree lined streets and even an occasional name. Three of these colonial relics are among my favorite places in the city. The Bund, the riverfront area is among the most famous sights in Shanghai and a phenomenal place to spend a few hours wandering around, regardless of what time of day you are there. It is filled with activity throughout the day, from older people practicing tai chi, fan dancing and martial arts in the morning, to tourists in the afternoon and young couples enjoying a warm evening. The French Concession, the portion of the city controlled by the French is my favorite neighborhood in Shanghai. The tree lined streets, colonial architecture and fantastic shopping make for a great place to spend an afternoon. For a city that loves to “renovate” as much as Shanghai, it is amazing that so much of the French Concession has been preserved. Finally, the Shanghai Art Museum is the former member’s only club of the Shanghai Race Track. This used to be firmly in the British section of the city and the building was one of the most exclusive clubs in the city. Today it houses a great, though small, collection of art that showcases both traditional Chinese art as well as examples from the quickly growing modern art scene in China.

Shanghai was also the site where many European Jews made their way during the early years of the Holocaust. During this period the Japanese controlled Shanghai and because of this, there was no visa required to live in Shanghai. At the time, the United States (among many others) were refusing to grant visa’s to Jews in part because of a lack of understanding of what exactly was beginning to happen in Europe. Many Jews had no where but Shanghai to go. The story of Shanghai’s Jews is told in a wonderful documentary, Shanghai Jews, but is, for the most part a story that is not known in China. In the Shanghai City History Museum there was a brief mention of this period, but no real commemoration of the important role that Shanghai played in the preservation of the Jewish race. It was due, in part, to q quirk in history, but China and Shanghai stepped up to take in a threatened people when no one else would. This should be commemorated much more than it is.

Shanghai is, at least in my mind, a nearly perfect city. There is a mix of new and old, gaudy and understated, frantic and calm. There is so much to do regardless of what interests you, food of any culture to eat, art to see, architecture to marvel at and shopping to spend your hard earned dollars. I have no doubt that at some point in my life I will call Shanghai home. The weekend that I spent there reminded me of the charms of this city.