Day Trip

One of the perks of living in Nanjing is that there are high-speed trains to Shanghai leaving every 30 minutes, most of which will get you to the western edge of the city within an hour of boarding the train.  From there, you can catch one of two metro lines that will give you access to the city's expansive metro system, making logistics easy even for the most directionally challenged of us (not that I would ever label any of my friends as directionally challenged).

I took advantage of this perk the other weekend when Barney was in Shanghai taking care of business. I spent the lunch hour and early afternoon wandering Nanjing Street (somewhat like Fifth Avenue, except not really), and then met up with Barney around 2:30. After a brief discussion of our options, we decided to check out this shopping area in Shanghai called 田子坊 tiánzǐfāng. I didn't really take pictures because I was so caught up, but here are some Google Images that might be of interest. It was the coolest shopping area I've ever been to in China. For people familiar with Beijing, it's somewhat of a hybrid between 798 and Nan Lougu Xiang. It had art. It had crafts. It had old-school hipster glasses. It had kitsch. It had jewelry. And oh my goodness did it have food. Barney and I didn't have a lot of time, so we didn't explore as thoroughly as we could have, but from the various cafés, Thai restaurants, and New York pizzerias that I did see, Tianzifang is definitely a place for people craving international cuisine. I guess Shanghai in general is a good place for that too.

Panjiayuan Flea Market!

After our impromptu journey to Tiantan Park, we headed back to the bus station and grabbed a bus back to Panjiayuan Flea Market. The gates were actually open to us this time, so we sauntered in and prepared to deal with the incredible clutter of random nonsense for sale. As almost any Beijing guidebook will tell you, most of the stuff here is fake. Fake antiques, fake jade, fake "original" artwork, etc. But it's a great place to buy random trinkets if you're into that sort of thing. To give you an idea of the magnitude of this place, here are some pictures of one section of the market:

umm... lucky tassel things?

artwork lane

新疆: Part 3

Kashgar, China, was just a quick 90 minute flight out of Urumqi. For those keeping score at home, think of flying from Kearney to Denver. Same general direction, not-so-drastic change in altitude. Kashgar (also known as Kashi) is a decently-sized city located at one of the most fascinating crossroads in the world.

新疆: Part 1

As one of my previous posts stated, I spent my first day in Beijing in preparation to leave the next. During orientation, we Yale students were surprised with a pre-commencement trip to 新疆 Xīnjiāng (Xinjiang Province) on the complete opposite side of the country. Now I knew next to nothing about Xinjiang, and our internet wasn't working in the dorm, so I didn't have the chance that evening to do some quick research. All I did was pack for a Nebraska fall (ready for heat or cold) and hope that would get me through the five days. What little I gleaned as I prepared for the trip with the other seven Yale students was this:

• Xinjiang has been host to some serious ethnic tensions in recent years between one of the minority groups, the Muslim Uighers, and the majority Han Chinese who had been moving in to "modernize" the area.
• Its principal city, Urumqi, was pretty large with a couple million people.
• Since it was Ramadan, a lot of people wouldn't be eating during the day.
• The cities we'd be visiting bordered some serious desert and mountains. We'd be going to the hottest spot in China. We would also be eating lots of grapes, which were apparently a specialty of the region.
• Xinjiang would feel a lot like Inner Mongolia since they're so close and share a lot of customs. Great.

Party in the PRC

So... Friday was my 21st birthday. Yep, the big 2-1. And ironically, I celebrated shedding the restraints of many American laws in China, where said laws don't matter at all. But my friends were not about to let that little detail stop them from giving me a night to remember in Beijing :)

First, of course, all the teachers somehow knew it was my birthday (I had told a couple, but I guess word spreads fast), so they kept wishing me happy birthday throughout the morning. Although, I have to say, waking up to a 考试 kaoshi (test) was not the greatest way to start my 21st birthday. But it definitely got better. At our bi-weekly 中文桌子 zhongwen zhuozi (Chinese table), everyone sang me "Happy Birthday" (in Chinese of course), and proceeded to hoist their glasses and 干杯! ganbei! which is the Chinese equivalent to "Cheers!" Given the number of birthdays that have occurred over 中文桌子 during HBA (mine was either the fourth or fifth), Friday lunch has almost become the unofficial birthday lunch.

讨价还价ing Like It's My Job

Even though I already went to the 秀水街 Xiushuijie (Silk Market) with my mom a few weeks ago, I just couldn't seem to stay away. It's just so enthralling... the shops, the sounds, the silk! We're talking about six stories of rows and rows of stalls, selling 各种各样 gezhonggeyang (all kinds) of products, almost all of which were fakes. If I didn't believe China's reputation for being able to fake anything before coming here, I believe it now. Working my way from the top floor down, I had the opportunity to buy knock-off:

...pearls, Tumi luggage, jade jewelery, the entire Apple family (including the iPhone 4), Rolexes, Tiffany's jewelry, designer headbands, Chinese antiques, silk artwork, "designer" clothing (Abercrombie, Burberry, Ed Hardy, Juicy Couture, Polo Ralph Lauren, True Religion), "designer" handbags (Burberry, Chanel, Coach, Gucci, LeSportSac, Longchamp, Louis Vuitton, Prada, among others), Nikes, Converses, and Uggs, not to mention the pirated movies and many TV seasons available...