Monet Does Beijing

Pictures from my semi-impromptu excursion to

北海公园 Beihai Gongyuan (Beihai Park),

arguably Beijing's most beautiful public park...

America Night in Beijing

Miracle of miracles, I was actually able to see the celebrated Toy Story 3 in all of its 3D glory right here in Beijing, and it was even in ENGLISH! I was ecstatic, especially since I thought I was going to have to wait until August, or even (gasp!) December to see "Pixar's best movie yet."

You see, even all the way over here in Beijing, we heard all the hype. Among my classmates, one of the most conversation-generating topics was the fact that everyone's 脸书 lianshu (lit. "face-book") News Feed was covered with comments from home about how Toy Story 3 was the most incredible movie ever. So it came as no surprise that, after our program organizer announced a voluntary excursion to see the movie in English, we nearly overwhelmed her with numbers.

Ode to the Western toilet

Oh Western toilet,

since the early days of my childhood,

you have been there to support me.

I never fully appreciated

your existence

until you were gone.

Now,

I am in a strange place

where you and your kind are few and far between.

Instead,

I must make do

with the squat toilet.

Oh Western toilet,

I miss your height, your cleanliness

and above all, your convenience.

I yearn for the days

when I can once again flush toilet paper

instead of throwing it into a wastebasket.

I pine for the time

when that toilet paper

will once again be provided to me.

(as well as hand soap.)

When we meet again,

I will gladly take note

of the floor around you,

as it will be clean of others' misfirings.

Oh Western toilet,

our reunion will be a happy one,

but until then,

I will try to squat with grace.

Hey sleep, it's been real

We're only on our seventh lesson of 32, and my mind is already fried. Immediately after my one-on-one session with a 老师 (teacher), I trekked over to a cozy coffee shop I discovered a little ways from the university. It attracts an interesting mix of local university students and foreigners making their home in Beijing. Better yet, it makes coffee... excellent coffee.

So being in such a cozy place, with a cup of caffeine in front of me and the rest of the day ahead of me, I was feeling pretty good about tackling tomorrow's chapter... until I flipped to the vocabulary list. Today's new characters, to be memorized by tomorrow:

Today was NOT a fairytale

In what has been perhaps the most frustrating day in Beijing to date,

I had to traverse the city to find the elusive Apple Store. The reason?

I messed up my iPhone about as much as it's possible to mess up...

Once upon a time...

I thought I was really clever and awesome by taking my iPhone with me to China. Since it wrote in characters so well, I thought I could just stick in a Chinese SIM card and use it for my 7 months here in 中国. So, I went off and bought a nice little SIM card.

Too tame, let's add some conflict...

After finally getting the SIM card into my iPhone, I realized that it wasn't picking up any service. I took it to the student center on campus (called the "Friendship Store," quite the misnomer) and showed my phone to them to see if they could figure out what's wrong.

China's Cultural Quirks

As recorded by a 外国人 waiguo ren (foreigner). I will be adding to the list periodically.

1. "His" & "Her" shirts.

Ok, if I'm ever allowed to use "I can't," it's right here. Couples with matching shirts are everywhere. I've seen matching striped polos, cartoon T-shirts, and even "His" and "Hers" fitted shirts with their names emblazoned on.

中文，中文，西班牙语？

Well. I have officially completed the first week of classes. I can say, without equivocation, that I am exhausted. HBA has certainly been everything I expected, and so much more... more engaging, more demanding, and even more rewarding.

It's about 10 PM on Saturday night over here. I'll actually probably go to bed soon, even though this is the first night that won't find me waking up to an alarm. But first, I'm going to take this time to reflect on my program experience so far.

It all started with a pledge...

dichotomy |dīˈkätəmē|

for my siblings' benefit:

dichotomy (n.) - a division or contrast between two things that are opposed or entirely different

Welcome to 北京 (Beijing)

The recurring theme of my pre-program tour around Beijing was one of clashing eras. With the city's hypermodernization over the past few years, it's frequent to see tall steel complexes surrounding small, ramshackle hutongs, or alleyways. What's more, Beijing is rapidly becoming a major source of consumer demand, making Western brands a very common sight around the city, even in the most unexpected of places. Since this dichotomy is better shown than told, I decided to chronicle our time in Beijing through photos. I'm also just really lazy. So here we go.

Our first foray into 北京

After settling into our hotel, my mom and I consulted our travel books to find a good place to eat. We settled on Grandma's Kitchen, pictured above. The travel book described the restaurant as a little piece of the Midwest right here in China, but I guess the owners just couldn't go completely Western on us, given the paper lamps. Although I will give them credit for authenticity: they gave us a jar with a straw in which to pour our canned sodas. I haven't drunk out of a jar since my childhood days at the neighbors' house.

For those few who haven't realized...

China isn't all that Communist. This picture was one of many taken along the street of my hotel, which included Lamborghinis, Aston Martins, Rolls-Royces, Mercedes Benz, and other luxury cars I had never heard of. Along this same street were the typical luxury designers as well. It's just hard to believe that it was only within my lifetime that it was even possible for these stores to open in Beijing, much less thrive.

Token 长城 Picture

The changcheng, or Great Wall, was, of course, epic, even though we were at Badaling, the least authentic section of the wall, and the most popular. My mom and I still had a great time climbing the many steps/slopes to get to the summit of this particular section. I personally was a hit among the Chinese tourists. I think many of them come from inland China, which is less populated and sees fewer Westerners, which is why they wanted a picture with a 外国人waiguoren (foreigner).

"Man and Nature Coexisting Harmoniously"

...or at least that's what the sign on the way to the bear enclosure said. These Chinese bears were in a concrete enclosure in what was called "Bear Village," a collection of tourist shops at the base of the Great Wall. I guess the bears might be happy they don't have to fend for themselves, but they also don't have trees. However, they do have lots of tourists willing to throw them the pieces of sweet potato sitting in dishes along the rail of the enclosure.

在长城的肯德基

For the curious, the KFCs in China are pronounced kendeji (ken-duh-gee), and they might actually be Beijing's most popular restaurant chain. This classy little establishment was right at the base of the Great Wall for anyone who was already missing the calories they just lost (I was mildly tempted).

Which image does not belong?

After our successful quest to find Beijing's best pizza (you can tell we were making a real effort with trying new food), we walked along one of the many lakeside parks. Apparently couches are very popular options to put around restaurant patio tables. At the end of this particular park, we found these adorable kids practicing their martial arts. It just seemed so... cultural, I guess, with the kites flying around and everything, so I had to take a picture. Later I saw the little green circle in the background. It's actually very difficult to go anywhere in Beijing without seeing modern Western influence.

BONUS

A "Forbidden City" that's no longer forbidden!

It's just irony, ok? Aside from running your bag through an x-ray machine, there is no real obstacle to getting in to see the Forbidden City. In fact, it's about as far from forbidden as you can get. The buildings that flank either side of the many courtyards hold exhibits showing off the treasures of old, from empresses' wedding dresses to solid gold dinnerware to flowered trees carved out of jade. As large as I thought the city was going to be, in reality it was actually even bigger, so we didn't have the time we wanted to explore every nook and cranny.

Sittin' on a fence post, chewin' my bubble gum...

when along came Herman the mulberry leaf-eating, cocoon-spinning silkworm, who is singlehandedly responsible for the silk industry. For his services, Herman gets treated like a king during his caterpillar days. He only lives in the most temperate of environments, never wants for food, and, by silkworm farmer mandate, does not have to deal with loud noises. Farmers don't want to upset the silkworms in any way so as not to jeopardize the quality of the silk they spin. Unfortunately, the price for such luxury is a swift, chemical death while still in the cocoon, so as not to break the silk. While silk-spinning, like cotton, was once done by hand, now it is almost completely mechanized.

And here's the Summer Palace

Once home to the great emperor who built not only the Summer Palace, but the Forbidden City and the Ming Tombs. While he used to have these many hundreds of acres to himself (2/3 of which are taken up by the giant lake), now tourists can wander pathways, glance into the private bedrooms, and paddleboat around the lake. I have to admit, I was impressed by the workmanship of the Forbidden City, but the beauty of the Summer Palace surpassed it by far, in both natural and human artistry.

The Water Cube, the Bird's Nest, and nothing else

Briefly the busiest area in Beijing, this place is now devoid of people. I recently read that the Olympic park was Beijing's biggest white elephant ever, because they simply had no use for the facilities after the Olympics concluded. So now, except for occasional distant pictures like this one, the only activity available is to see where Michael Phelps did his thing.

Top: scorpions on a stick

Bottom: Beijing roast duck

From the most reviled to the most revered, the Beijing culinary scene has it all. For those interested in the former, the scorpions were still alive and wiggling, just waiting to be cooked. For the many more who are interested in the latter, one of the chefs came out and cut the duck right in front of us. Beijing roast duck is served with wafer-thin pancakes, so I made a duck fajita with sauces, vegetables and all.

no words

Thinking back on where I was, on its significance to the Chinese and to the world, I really can't describe how I feel about this place. In high school, Tian'anmen Square was just a buzzword used to conjure up images of an oppressive China. But for the Chinese, Tian'anmen Square is almost a place of worship. Not only is Chairman Mao's illustrious visage mounted on the north side of the Square (pictured), but his embalmed body is on display in his gigantic tomb close to the south side of the Square. My lucky mother got to see it because she wasn't carrying a bag, but I, with my purse, was denied entry. She said there were a lot of people kneeling at the foot of Mao's coffin, purportedly praying, or something to that effect. Other than the tomb, the People's Hall was on the west side, and the National Museum on the east. I was struck by the fact that I was seeing the very steps that the student protest leaders kneeled on when they offered their petition to the government in 1989, right before the Massacre, and right in the middle of Deng Xiaoping's opening up and reforms. It was a harrowing thought that, while on the surface China seems to have undergone a radical transformation, they can revert back to a police state in a day.

Transition

After three days as a tourist in Beijing, it was finally time for me to go become a student. My mother decided to take the subway back to the hotel from 北京语言大学 (Beijing Language and Culture University), the place where I'm attending 哈佛北京书院 (Harvard Beijing Academy), so I made sure she had explicit directions on how to get back before letting her go off in Beijing alone. I loved traveling China with her; she's the best companion you could ask for. Being left alone in Beijing was daunting for a couple minutes, but I reminded myself that I wouldn't regret this, and got to work getting ready for the summer ahead.

Speaking of work, I'm about two hours behind on my Chinese chapter for tonight because the "lazy way" of blogging actually takes a ton of time. Lesson learned.

Better City, Better Life, Better World

Note: You can see my pictures of A LOT of pavilions by going to my Facebook Photo Album

Ok, so I tacked on the "Better World," part, but in my opinion it sounds so much classier than the Shanghai World Expo's "Better City, Better Life," slogan. Although I have to say that they really marshaled global support for this theme of theirs. The expo, from what I understood, revolved around the idea that people are all eventually going to gravitate to big cities, so we need to prepare a plan for dealing with large concentrations of people in urban areas. To that effect, there was an entire zone of the World Expo dedicated to "The Urban Something-or-other." I didn't go, but I'm sure it was relatively interesting... ish.

谢谢上海 (Xie Xie Shanghai)

After all the sparkly newness of Hong Kong, the rich culture of Shanghai was very satisfying to experience. Easy? Not so much, but satisfying. My mom and I have had a pretty large share of mishaps during our two days here, but it's all just part of the adventure :)

It started with our taxi to the hotel from the airport. After having the taxi stand attendant give him the Chinese address based on our English reservation page, our driver proceeded to the general area of the hotel, only to get lost and ask for directions about four times over the next half hour. To his credit, the hotel was in an awkward location, and he still managed to find it. During this time, I spoke one full Chinese sentence to him, about 3 half sentences, and a nice jumble of half-uttered words and phrases. I was actually really proud of myself. Until the next day.

36 Hours in Hong Kong

Making Hong Kong our first stop on our brief tour of China was, unbeknownst to us, the best way to begin adjusting to this new culture. Hong Kong is like a hybrid of New York, San Francisco, and, of course, a major Chinese city. There were Starbucks and McDonalds on every corner, along with Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Prada, and Jimmy Choo. Porsches were all over the place. And everything was written in both Chinese and English. Except for the odd moment or two when we ventured to try local Hong Kong fare, I felt almost nothing of culture shock. At first, I was pretty disappointed. I had wanted sensational and exotic, and Hong Kong wasn't really delivering. But as the hours went by and we saw more and more of the island, I realized I was taking in a lot more than I thought.

再见 (Zaijian, Goodbye)

I've tried to start writing this entry four or five different times, and every time I just stop because I don't know what to say. I'm so overwhelmed. A year ago, my time in China was just an abstract idea; phrases like "Light Fellowship,""HBA,"and "PKU" just meant sets of paperwork for me to fill out. But now I'm sitting here in the oh-so-classy Omaha Municipal Airport and getting ready to board a flight that will take me to Detroit, and, 15 cramped hours later, to Hong Kong. My mommy's coming too :)

I'm so glad to be spending a week with my mom all over China before my program starts. Every break I've had during college, we say we'll go spend some quality time together, but of course with our family's schedule, that never really happens. Now we'll have ten days to take in Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Beijing before my program begins in earnest. I think she's a little wary of going all over China when we (I) barely know the language, but she'll love it by the time she's done... I hope.

I guess we're technically supposed to be boarding now... whoops. But the last thing I wanted to say was that it has never been so hard to leave home. I delayed packing my last bag until we literally had to go out the door, because I didn't want it to be time to leave. But now that I'm here, I can't wait to see what comes next. Until Hong Kong, 再见！