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.

长白山: Part 5

The Changbai Chronicles, as continued from part four.

After our lovely day on the north slope of Changbai Mountain, we grabbed our shuttle back to the hostel and proceeded to the train station to see what our options were for returning to Beijing. We had actually gone to the train station at 6:30 that morning before we left for the mountain, but the ticket agent said she wouldn't sell our type of ticket until 8:00. Since our shuttle was leaving at 7:00, we had to wait until we returned at 5:00 that evening to see if there were any available trains to Beijing from 长春 Chángchūn.

Unfortunately for us, there weren't any trains available for the next few days. And unfortunately for me, the trains from Beijing to Nanjing were all sold out as well. So by the night of the 31st, all we had secured was one bus ticket to Changchun leaving at 6:10 AM the next day.

长白山: Part 4

The Changbai Chronicles, as continued from part three.

After finally arriving at our hostel the night before, Barney and I made plans with the hostel staff to take a shuttle to Changbai Mountain's 北坡 běi pò (north slope) the morning of the 31st. Luckily, our day on the mountain, the reason for the entire arduous trip, progressed without incident and ended up being very enjoyable. Since this was very much a visual trip, I'm just going to let loose with pictures and the occasional caption. Enjoy!

长白山: Part 3

The Changbai Chronicles, as continued from a previous post.

After arriving at Antu and being directed to the long-distance bus station by a friendly shopkeeper, Barney and I were ecstatic to see an empty bus with the word Erdaobaihe written across its window in huge characters. We went up to the official hovering by the entrance and asked where to buy a ticket for the bus. He gave us a funny look, walked over to a nearby throng of people, came back and said, "没有票了 méi yǒu piào le (there are no more tickets)." He then told us that the next bus to Erdaobaihe was leaving at 5:30 the next morning.

长白山: Part 2

The Changbai Chronicles, as continued from part two.

After Barney and I arrived at Yanji Train station, we immediately went to the 售票处 shòu piào chù (ticket office) to buy our tickets for the return journey. We could have possibly bought them earlier, but we still weren't sure about the transportation situation waiting for us at our destination, nor were we totally set on our timetable. But, with transportation looking good and a timetable decided upon, we were ready to buy our tickets for the twenty-four hour return in two days' time.

Unfortunately, China was not ready to sell them to us. The ticket agent informed us that there were no beds for the day we wanted to leave - there were seats, but who wants to sit for twenty-four hours? - nor were there beds for the day after OR the day after that. The earliest we could leave was September 4th, which put me in Nanjing on September 5th, the day after I was supposed to have registered. Awesome.

长白山: Part 1

As explained in my previous post, my friend Barney* and I had planned an excursion to 长白山 cháng bái shān, or "Eternally White Mountain," to begin our year in China. Our itinerary was to be as follows:

8/29     Leave Beijing Train Station on the K215 bound for Tumen
8/30     Arrive at 延吉 Yánjí, take the long-distance bus to 二道白河 Èrdàobáihé, check in at the hostel
8/31     Visit Changbai Mountain
9/1       Check out from the hostel, take the bus from Erdaobaihe to Yanji, board the K216 to Beijing
9/2       Arrive in Beijing
9/3       Take the bullet train to Nanjing from Beijing (me alone)

Arriving

Well, I'm here.

After a tolerable flight across the Pacific, I'm back in Beijing for the fourth time in two years. The pollution is worse than I remember it, which is kind of disturbing because I didn't think it could get any worse. The city, of course, is still just as insane as I expected. Luckily this time I'm a little more comfortable wielding Chinese on the fly, so when the taxi driver couldn't find my hostel, I was able to jump out of the taxi and ask a hotel security guard for directions, and when the hostel receptionist started to make things complicated, I could talk my way through it without having to pull out my translator. I know these sound like pretty small issues, but for me the resolution of each of these issues was still a victory in my mind. They validated my progress in adapting to China and using Chinese. But the biggest validation - in terms of my Chinese progress - came today at the Beijing Train Station.

Leaving

In less than an hour I'll be hopping on a plane to take me to Vancouver and eventually Beijing. It's funny how nonchalant I managed to be these past few weeks about the fact that I'm moving to China for a few years. But now that it's down to the final hour, I admit I'm freaking out a little bit.

You see, since I've been to China a few times now, I know a lot more this time about what I'm getting myself into. Good (or any) customer service, constant central air conditioning, normal toilets, familiar food, and orderly lines are about to become serious luxuries. I'm going to be frustrated by some experience at least once a day. And I'm going to miss so many people who mean the world to me.

So now I'm wondering to myself, why in the world am I leaving? Why leave the country, the culture, and the people that I love so much?

西安: An Evaluation, Part 2

Now on to people….. oh my goodness, so many people. I thought I’d be used to it right now, I really did, but every new place in China I go, it’s the same incredible crush and the same upswell of frustration as I try to fight my way to my goal. Honestly, I think the only place in China I’ve never felt crowded is the grazing land of Inner Mongolia, but that’s just because it’s GRAZING LAND. I think it was the last hour of our time in Xi’an that got me…

First, getting a taxi was impossible. So many people were vying for taxies everywhere. My friend Liz even got into a struggle with one girl as they both tried to get into the same taxi. Hilarious from my viewpoint, but frustrating all the same. Then, we tried to board the bus. I, being used to the Beijing system of boarding on the back, boarded the back of the bus… and waited. The bus wasn’t going, and there was an automated message repeating on the speakers. I couldn’t quite understand the stilted speech in the automated message, but everyone was looking at me, and I flushed, beginning to realize maybe the message was for me. Liz had gone up to pay our fare, so I didn’t know what the problem was, but as I began to understand the message (as it repeated for the eighth time), I realized it was saying, “People who boarded the back of the bus, please get off and board up front.”

西安: An Evaluation, Part 1

After spending approximately 36 hours in 西安 (Xī'ān), the City of Western Peace, I’ve reaffirmed a few things in my mind:

1. I love hostels. They are God’s gift to the frugal traveler.

2. There is absolutely no escaping the crush of people in China.

3. Food is the best way to get to know any culture.

Let’s talk hostels. Our hostel, the Shuyuan Hostel, apparently has been ranked among the top ten hostels in the world by Hostels International, and I think I can understand why. A private room for Liz and me cost ¥160, or ¥80 ($12) per person, per night. This private room came with its own bathroom (Western toilet!), shower, towels and shower shoes. The hostel itself had free Wi-Fi (not the greatest), on site laundry services, a restaurant, a large bar and great décor. 

from the lobby
credit: Liz Lee

They also had pretty good service, aside from a minor passport issue. I had forgotten that you are required to show your passport when checking into any overnight accommodations in China. What’s worse, my passport was still being processed back in Beijing for the addition of a visa (allowing me to go to South Korea next weekend). This looked like it was going to be an issue, as in the lady said, “You can’t stay here,” but another super-kind lady intervened and asked if we had any other paperwork. Luckily, I was travelling with copies of every official passport/visa-related document, as well as the receipt from my visa purchase, so they were able to use that information to check me in. Moral of the story: ALWAYS BRING YOUR PASSPORT/INFO WHEN TRAVELLING. Thanks Mommy :)

Another benefit of staying at the hostel was that one of the employees, seeing as we were in a rush to see lots of things before two in our party had to get back to the train, offered to drive us where we needed to go for a pretty reasonable fee. So we actually had our own private car for the day, which was greatly appreciated as we went off to see the Terra Cotta Warriors and whatnot.

Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to take advantage of their organized excursions, but the literature was really promising. For anyone thinking of spending time in Xi’an, there’s the added bonus of it being one of the closest modern Chinese cities to Tibet. I really wanted to skip on over to Tibet, but class on Monday kind of discouraged me from taking that option. Anyway, hostels. They’re great.

大连: One Family's Dynamic

Note: A few months flitting about various locales in China, and a few books read on Chinese society definitely don’t make me an expert, so please don’t take my words as absolute truth. These are simply my observations and my attempt to categorize them into transmittable ideas for those back at home who will never have the opportunities I have been blessed with to experience such an incredible culture first-hand.

I feel like the dynamics in a Chinese family are as varied as those all across America. After all, people are all different, so it would follow that the families of one society, although very similar across the board, would have different micro-structures. In China, these differences are further amplified by the uneven way in which modernization is happening across the country. A rural family and an urban family have their differences, and even within the category of urban families, the poor and the wealthy obviously have their differences too.

I had the pleasure of staying with the family of a Chinese friend this weekend in Dalian, a modern coastal city. They were a perfect example of the blend of modern and traditional that coexist in Chinese society. The parents were both very easy-going and willing to talk about any subject, even government. Notice I said, “both.” It seemed to me that even though the father was “head” of the household, the mother did not play a subservient role. She was respected, as she should be. Both she and her husband run their own separate companies. Yet at the same time, my friend explained to me, she was very traditional and conservative with the way she looked after her daughter. My friend cannot get her ears pierced nor wear make-up, and is expected to wear clothing that, relative to her age of 21, is fairly juvenile. To be fair, this only stems partially from tradition; the other part is that the mother does not want her only child to grow up (according to said child). 

In another strange juxtaposition of modern and traditional, my Saturday evening went from shopping at some of the most luxurious designer stores in the world to burning paper money on the side of the street to honor dead ancestors. Allow me to digress. Saturday evening, as I explained in a previous post, my host parents took their daughter and me to Dalian's most ritzy mall, where we browsed around stores like Louis Vuitton, Fendi and the like. I was already aware that this family was comfortably adjusted to a more materialistic consumer culture, as they had picked me up in a fully-equipped BMW sedan and then introduced me to their very Western-style home:

In addition, they had taken me to a Western restaurant for dinner, and while I obviously loved it, they also greatly enjoyed the international buffet themselves. I admit, I didn't see much of the traditional Chinese culture I had read about up until this point. Then, as we were driving back to the apartment from the restaurant, I saw various groups of people huddled about little fires along the sides of the streets. I asked my friend why there were so many people with their own little fires going, and she said that they were worshiping their ancestors. Apparently, this past Saturday, November 6th, was the first day of the tenth month of the lunar calendar, a day where Chinese traditionally burn paper money to deliver to the afterworld for both their ancestors and their own use when their time comes.

I was thinking that it was pretty interesting to observe from inside the car as we sped along the road back to the apartment. But then we stopped. The dad got out, went and bought something, then got back in the car. We continued to head back to the apartment. Then, on the long road leading from the main road to the apartment complex, the dad pulled along the side of the road, and we all got out. I circled around the car and saw him pull out HUGE stacks of paper money, along with three bottles of alcohol. I then watched as they walked over to the sidewalk and began to burn each sheet of paper money, one by one. It was so fascinating to watch. There was no real ceremony or ritual to it; just slowly feeding paper to the fire. Each of the family members did take a bottle of alcohol and spread it around the fire in a circle. What an eerie contradiction. Here was this modernly-dressed family, straight out of an extremely modern car, doing an incredibly old Chinese ritual on the sidewalk of a city street. I helped a little bit when stray bills flew away, so I guess I have a few dollars waiting for me in the afterlife. Otherwise, I just watched it all slowly burn away, guaranteeing my host family a fortune in the life to come.

Other experiences, in a nutshell, included going to the health club inside the apartment complex and having to deal with naked females of all ages parading around the locker room. Nudity in single-sex shower areas is apparently the norm in China, something that completely shocked me the first time I walked into Peking University's gym locker room. Also, the father very much enjoyed encouraging me to drink basically anything and everything. Wine and some kind of coconut alcohol at dinner, beer at lunch, and more coconut alcohol for the train ride back to Beijing. Oh, and then there was the dumpling-making session I had with my friend's mother. That, however, is yet another post to come...

大连: First Impressions

Aaaaand we're back. Apologies to any loyal followers of my blog out there, I was blindsided by a midterm season that was more intense than expected. The good news is that even though I didn't post, it doesn't mean I don't have a ton of material to share with you all!

We'll go reverse chronological again, so I can explain some of my more illuminating experiences while they're still fresh in my memory. So first, to the just-concluded weekend...

This past weekend was incredible. My Chinese friend and I travelled to her hometown of 大连 (Dàlián), which is... actually, I still don't know where it is, so we're going to Google Map it and find out just where I spent my weekend.

Well, look at that. You see Dalian, right there on the tip of that protrusion coming down from the north? I guess I could have swam over to North Korea if I really wanted. But that would involve some minor risks, so it's probably best I didn't try. Who would want to leave Dalian anyway? It's a beautiful, well-kept city, and more modern than I anticipated. It's a bit of a vacation town, very clean and accessible, and definitely nowhere near as crowded as Beijing. And due to the city being occupied by eight different Western powers and one point or another, the buildings are riddled with all different styles of colonial Western architecture. Dalian is also home to what is supposedly the largest public square in all of China. The mood in the city was incredible; everyone seemed so festive. That might also be because they typically don't have to deal with problems such as poverty; Dalian is one of the wealthiest cities in the country:

Example A: The parking garage of my friend's apartment complex could have been a fully-stocked Mercedes Benz car lot.
Example B: When said friend's parents took me shopping, the first three stores we hit were Gucci, Prada and Louis Vuitton. In response, I ushered us over to Sephora where I bought a ¥50 ($7) container of glitter. Yes, I am a high roller.
Example C: There are a variety of foreign restaurants (which usually denote the presence of disposable income) in the city, including a Western-style buffet on the ground floor of the Shangri-La Hotel, where my friend's parents treated me to dinner Saturday night. The selection was amazing: steak, chicken burritos, nachos, tossed salads, cheeses, fresh fruit, spaghetti carbonara, rolls and rolls of sushi, a chocolate fondue fountain, cakes, pudding cups....

Yes, I think I'm ready to go back to Dalian, at least as a guest. Guests have it made when they go to China. True, many cultures put an emphasis on making guests feel at home, but few cultures that I have encountered roll out the red carpet the same way that the Chinese do. During breakfast the first day, my host family noticed my affinity for peach juice. That evening, while my friend and I were buying her some boots, the father went to Carrefour and bought multiple boxes of peach juice, both for me to drink during my stay and for me to take back to Beijing. What's more, they watched over my every bite, concerned that I hadn't eaten enough or had enough to drink, and ready to offer more at a moment's notice. They drove me around the city for over an hour just to make sure I had seen all I wanted to see. And they were infinitely patient as I tried to understand their rapidly-spoken Chinese and respond in kind. It helped that their daughter knew enough English to be a helpful translator.

So there you have it, my first impressions of Dalian. Much more to come, including a visit to the Chinese version of Sea World, making my own Chinese dumplings, and observations of Chinese familial culture.

Tianjin! 天津！

Was the previous post a bit of a downer? I thought so too, so here are some fun pictures of my day trip last Friday to 天津 Tiānjīn, a coastal town just 30 minutes from Beijing by train. I love the quaint atmosphere there; it's like a happier Beijing in some ways. The shopping was great, the air was cleaner, and the food was... really really interesting. It was actually a colonial town for a while when the British occupied it back in the Opium War days. Now, I would normally be very excited to show you all the pictures, but I must sadly report that my beautiful camera has succumbed to old age and now blurs pictures around the edges, so Blogger won't accept some of them! :(

But still, enjoy the pictures (and two whole videos)!

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 2

So where were we? The first day in Urumqi, I think. Before we move on from that, I'm just going to share a few scenes from the streets of the city.

1. Even if you're a Muslim woman who has to cover yourself from head to toe, you can still rock sparkly clothes, interesting skirts, and some pretty pointy heels.

Adios America, Bonjour Beijing

Two weeks of American relaxation came and went, and before I knew it, I was leaving my home for the longest period of time in my life. Since I wasn't leaving for Beijing until Sunday evening, we decided to make a weekend excursion of our trip to Omaha. We also had to pick up Alina, who had returned from her little camp at Stanford :) It was also Ricky's first time out of Kearney, as he flew straight into our little airport from Europe.

The weekend was just what I needed before departing to Beijing again. We spent some time shopping at the mall, getting a few things here and there, including a great book that I read on the flight, Empress Orchid. At Natalia's insistence, we also went to an exhibit currently in Omaha called "Bodies." It was actually incredibly fascinating. The exhibit showed human bodies de-fleshed, preserved, and dissected in ways that one could see just how we work. It's just incredible how complex we really are, and all that develops from the joining of two tiny cells and a few strands of coding.

内蒙古: Trekking

After an eventful and incredible week on the steppes of Inner Mongolia, I've finally made it back to Beijing to write about my adventures. Now, when I say "write," I'm technically referring to the 800 character report that I'm supposed to compose about my investigation into the Mongolian culture, as it's due Monday morning, but what's the fun in starting early on an assignment? So first, I will catalogue my adventures as I recorded them in my little notebook.

Part laziness and part time shortage keep me from writing as thoroughly as I'd like, so all I'm really going to do is transcribe my observations from my book to my blog, punctuated by a few (very illustrative) pictures. I'll also be adding in my final thoughts in italics from time to time.

Friday, 6:50 PM, on the bus

Chinese highways aren't big into roadside towns or fast food outlets. Instead, there is the occasional joint gas station-convenience store-bathroom that pops up with much less frequency than in the US. It was at one of these stops that our group first experienced the startled glances and unabashed staring that would follow us through the rest of the week. I guess a bus-load of Westerners speaking Chinese is unusual in Inner Mongolia.  I fell asleep for about "half the trip" (or so I thought) when we were still in foggy and mountainous terrain.

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！