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.

The Original Huhot Mongolian Grill... Seriously

One of my favorite aspects of HBA is the 社会调查 shehui diaocha, or "societal investigation." While HBA offers a variety of "research opportunities," such as experiencing the cosmopolitan life in Shanghai, the true Karate Kid's life at Shaolin Temple (kung fu teachings -by monks!- included), and the rural life of a small village, I chose to go to Inner Mongolia.

You might not believe it, but going to Inner Mongolia actually hits home a little bit for me. As certain friends and family members know, my favorite restaurant back in Kearney, Nebraska, is, strangely enough, the Mongolian Grill. So naturally, when this opportunity arose, I had to seize it. I really had no choice. After all, how many people can say they've actually been to a Mongolian grill in Huhot?

Alright, I suppose there was also a little bit of academic interest...

The Magic Erhu

No matter how I try, I will never do justice to the experience of a Beijing Opera performance with mere words. So I've employed a little AV assistance to try to recreate it as much as possible.

First, a disclaimer. Before watching the videos, I highly suggest putting on earphones if you're in public, or turning the volume down a bit if you're in the privacy of... somewhere private. Beijing Opera is not exactly known for being quiet.

Now, for the performance itself. We actually ended up going to Liyuan Theater, the same theater that I attended with my mom, so I was already pretty familiar with what was going to happen.

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...

HBA vs PiB

For those of you who don't know, I am studying Chinese in China this summer through the generosity of the Light Fellowship, which is a Yale-based fund created by Richard U. Light to encourage Yale students to study East Asian languages (a properly grateful post on the subject is upcoming). In the area of Chinese, the Light Fellowship only funds a select few programs in mainland China, with the most popular being the Harvard Beijing Academy, Princeton in Beijing, and Duke Study in China. Every year, come Light Fellowship-time, students have to pick their poison, and the debate is renewed on which program is "the best."
 
I mention this because the subject took up a large percentage of my conversation with Binh and her PiB friend on our evening out. After hitting up the zoo, we caught a cab to the 后海 Houhai area, so named after the lake which is its central feature. It's easily one of the most visually gratifying hot spots in Beijing, with brightly lit clubs and beautiful greenery surrounding the lake. We (Binh, her friend, my friend and I) actually ducked down a little alleyway only to find Hutong Pizza, the place where my mom and I had eaten three weeks back. After Binh approved the atmosphere, we settled down to a delicious meal, and some fun conversation (much of which ended up being centered on one Kaitlyn Newell... don't know how it happened). It was also discovered that my HBA friend Claire is a serious Settlers of Catan player, something she and Binh bonded over quickly. I was frightened. 

Pandas.

And other animals, I suppose. And people too, like Binh Doan. But we'll save that subject for another time. This blog is all about the pandas.

Today was our epic trip to the 北京动物园 Beijing Dongwuyuan (Beijing Zoo). Amazingly, the actual process of getting to the zoo was quick and uneventful, even though our independent excursion crew totaled nine people. The Beijing subway system is incredibly efficient and user-friendly. For 2 kuai (about 27¢) you can take the subway anywhere. About twenty minutes and four stops after entering the subway station, we were buying our 20 kuai ($3) tickets to enter the zoo plus the panda enclosure (without panda access, the cost is 15 kuai, or a little over $2).

Of course, the Panda Enclosure was literally the first thing we ran into as we entered the zoo.

Yes Mr. Pavlov, You Rang?

Week 3 at Harvard Beijing Academy is almost complete.

It's amazing how quickly we've all settled into our routines...

6:00 AM: cell phone rings; wake up, shower, study new characters for today's lesson, finish last-minute homework issues, eat something.

7:30 AM: get ready to leave

7:40 AM: leave dorm for classroom building

7:45 AM: arrive at classroom, find a seat and review characters until...

8:00 AM: 听写 tingxie, or "hear-write;" our teacher dictates a sentence using about 3 of the day's 50-70 new terms, and we write out the characters --must hand in immediately along with last night's homework-- then class follows