further adventures in a taxi

this morning, i saw the fiancee off to the aiport. at 5 am. i guess the good thing about having such an early flight is that the roads were pretty empty and it only took 25min to get to the airport. after dropping him off, i went to go find myself a taxi back to the hotel.

i had been forewarned already that none of the taxis leaving the airport will run on a meter and that you have to negotiate the fare price beforehand. i also heard that 100 RMB is about as low as they will go. so i exited out of the airport out of doorway 9 to find the taxi cab stand. . . there were a couple of guys waiting outside and they asked me where i needed a ride to. i gave him the name of my hotel and asked him what price he was charging. we settled on 100 RMB.

i expected him to take me to one of the typical red, or green/yellow taxi cars. instead we started walking to the parking lot. he called someone on the phone and told him that there was a passenger and that we would be heading to my hotel. i was starting to get a little suspicious so i asked him where his car was and who he worked for. the cab driver told me that he worked for a hotel and named the hotel. . .my sense of wariness skyrocketed as the walk to the car dragged out and we reached a white unmarked car. . then i basically told the guy that i was not going to get in the car. i didn't think it was good. he told me not to worry, that he worked for a hotel, and that they would take me to my hotel for the agreed 100 RMB. . .but i already had images of being dragged off and who knows what!

so i began to quickly walk away from the vehicle and repeatedly refused to take the cab. . at one point i was nearly yelling. then another woman in an unmarked car started asking me if i wanted a ride. . .i just ignored her and finally found the taxi stand.

i got into the taxi. unmetered. negotiated 100 RMB and was on my way back to the hotel. . in retrospect, i don't know if i really had anything to worry about. . it could have just been people looking for another way to make a buck. but then again, they could have been scam artists or something worse. . .

Mao’s Body (finally), Forbidden City, Shopping, and Hou Hai

Today, the gods looked down on us! (Or the Chinese government decided to stop shooting all the damn chemicals in the air to make it rain) The sun was out, the sky was almost clear and blue, and it wasn’t unbearably hot.

The good weather helped our spirits and we were able to see a lot of the city. We went back to see Mao’s body (sans bag, but the fiancée did manage to sneak in a camera in his pocket, but got no photo). It was amazing the degree of reverence that the Chinese tourists bestowed on Mao. Many bought flowers from outside and placed it as an offering for Mao, bowing several times in the process, as if paying respect to an ancestor or religious figure. We were able to semi-slowly walk by Mao’s body and peer at his resting body. It was almost eerie and it’s hard to describe how he looked. Except to say he was well preserved and there were no signs of decay. His face seemed almost plump and very similar to the painting outside the Forbidden City.

Next, we wandered around the Forbidden City for a couple of hours. After that, we went to Jingshan Park where we climbed up high to a pagoda. From there, we had the most amazing birds’ eye view of the Forbidden City. After that, we decided to take one of the motorbike rides to Hongqiao to do a little shopping.

Besides getting a little dirty sitting on the back of the motorbike cab, it was exhilarating and a lot of fun. The evening concluded with a delectable Cantonese dinner in Hou Hai and a walk around the lake’s perimeter. . .a nice end to the weekend.

a very wet great wall

Today’s plan was to go with my friend and fiancee to the Great Wall. Unfortunately, the rain that started to set in yesterday afternoon showed no signs of clearing up. But the weather did not seem to deter anyone.In the end, we went to Ba Da Ling, perhaps the most touristy part of the Great Wall, but also the most easily accessible.

I was shocked that there was a massive crowd of people climbing the wall, decked out in raingear and bearing umbrellas. It was a pretty intense experience. Climbing the Great Wall, trying to hold your umbrella and not hurt anyone, trying not to get your eyes poked out by umbrellas, and doing your best not to get knocked over by the overzealous Chinese tourists. Surprisingly, it was a ton of fun! Something about getting absolutely soaking wet, makes one feel like a kid again.We left an hour later, wet and cold, but satisfied with the feeling that we had a unique Great Wall experience.




very wet great wall

It's a Small World After All

The (ex) fiancée arrived in Beijing last night. Today we walked around Tiananmen Square. We attempted to visit Mao’s Mausoleum which is in the Square. His body has been carefully preserved and maintained for the past 30 odd years. The line was probably a mile long. Unfortunately, we were turned away because I had a purse and it was too much of a pain to find a place to check it. So we decided to go back on Sunday.




Next we went to Wangfujing to hide out from the rainstorms. While we were walking around trying to find coffee and juice, I heard someone call out my name. It was a Japanese girl I had known from studying at Beijing Normal University 6 years ago!! Imagine that! Turns out she is working in Beijing for some Japanese university. I gave her my cell phone number and we said goodbye.

It really is amazing that given how big the world is, how highly populated China and Beijing are, that you could run into a familiar face!

finding a dressmaker in qianmen

Today I went to Qianmen to go find a dressmaker. I’ve been inspired by the beautiful dresses worn by Maggie Cheung in “In the Mood for Love”. . very contemporary style qipaos in gorgeous silk prints with higher collars, above the knee.

But it was a bit of a toss up as far as finding a dressmaker. The last time I was in Beijing I had gotten four dresses made in very traditional material (the thicker, embroidered silk) and cuts. I can’t remember how I had chosen the place, but they had done quite good work. Unfortunately, I don’t remember the name of the store or the exact address.

So I found myself wandering the very touristy, busy streets of Qianmen- slipping in and out of random alleys- some starkingly run-down compared to the outer sections- until I discovered one that appeared vaguely familiar. Finally, I entered a store that did have a dressmaker. Painstakingly, in broken Chinese and aided with the DVD cover for “In the Mood for Love” I attempted to describe the type of dresses I wanted made. I was measured and the description was written down. For less than USD $100 I was able to order three qipaos to be made. . . pretty good deal compared to the U.S. . . but I won’t know until August 1st if they are up to snuff (wait for pics).

movie night

tonight i organized a movie and pizza night for the group. we ordered 4 pizzas from mr. pizza (a korean pizza chain)- ny style, veggie, combination, and mr. pizza special.

after many failed efforts by myself to locate an english version of the "war of the worlds" dvd, i was rescued by c who had been able to track one down. . there is a suprising amount of dvds for current releases that are in russian. . i suspect that is because the border between russia and china is not as strictly guarded for pirated goods and that there is better monitoring and control of this type of activity in the u.s.

it is amazing the degree of counterfeit/pirated goods in china. and the packaging is getting better and better. . .sometimes i wonder if chinese people even understand that these goods are pirated. you go into a perfectly legitimate looking CD/DVD store, make your purchase, get a receipt. . .it doesn't feel like you are doing anything illegal. maybe that is part of the problem.

in any case, the pizza really hit the spot. and the movie didn't. . .normally i don't fall asleep during movies, but last night i did. . it seemed pointless and plotless. but all in all, it was a relaxing and enjoyable evening.

street fight

a colleage and i were walking to a hubei restaurant that's on chengfu lu. on the way there, we noticed some yelling and people gathering in a circle. it soon became evident that there was a fight with several security guards and a man.

the man was trying to get away and a security guard raced after him and started beating him with a stick. over. and over, again. then other men surrounded him, making it more difficult to see.

another witness told us that there was a previous incident with the young man and that the security guard decided to attack him. the man had just stood there in shock. . .but as the security guard continued to hit him, the young man began to defend himself. and that's when the fight really broke out.

it was really terrible to see. i felt helpless and intuited that that young man must have felt even more helpless. eventually the fight broke up and i saw the young man walking away from the guards, leaning against his friend for support and holding his t-shirt to his head to keep the blood from dripping onto his face. he was so young. maybe 19 or 20.

i don't know if the other bystander's story was correct. maybe the young man had done something wrong previously, perhaps stolen something. or maybe the security guard had a personal grudge against the young man. . or was just on a power trip. i suppose i'll never know.

wedding portraits: chinese style

need i say more?

Taxi Cab Conversations

It seems like a number of my blog posts have been inspired by conversations I have with cab drivers and yesterday was no exception.

Last night, five of us went to eat Brazilian food and chill at a jazz bar. The two boys took the first taxi and the three girls took the second taxi which was told to follow the first taxi. . .we’ve been using this method a lot with group outings. . there’s been too many incidents and wasted time spent trying to find everyone. We wanted to squeeze into one cab, but the cab drivers always refuse claiming that the police will fine them 3,000 RMB.

Since I had the address written down, I decided to take the passenger’s seat next to the cab driver. And so the conversation went a little something like this:

Cab Driver Where are you from?

Me: America

CD: No no, where are your parents from?

M: Vietnam

CD: Vietnamese and Chinese people are pretty much the same. . . that’s great. Your Chinese sounds good.

M: Umm. No, it’s really not that good.

CD: You are pretty.

M: (silence)

CD: Is one of those boys in the cab in front of us your boyfriend?

M: (stammering for a bit, before realizing that the lie would make the Cab driver leave me a lone) Sure

CD: He’s a pretty good looking boy. Is he buying dinner for you

M: No. American custom is for everyone to pay for himself.

CD: But if he likes you, he will pay for you.

M: (silence) CD: So where did you grow up? Vietnam? M: No. I was raised in America.

CD: So you were born and grew up in America. Wow, your parents must have a lot of money.

M: No, not really. They left Vietnam during the war and fled to America.

CD: War is terrible. It is pointless. Both sides fighting with the only result is death. (more ranting about how war is bad but I couldn’t catch everything)

M: That is true. CD: So, do all Vietnamese women look like you?

M: I guess pretty much. . Although most Vietnamese women are thinner than I am.

CD: In that case, once I save up some money, I’m going to Vietnam to check out the girls. Well, my Chinese Born American buddies told me I should be flattered. . that it is the Chinese way to speak so frankly. . .nonetheless, it made for an interesting ride, that’s for sure.

riding in style

now THAT, my friends, is what i would call riding in style. . . (and i'm sure infringing on a trademark!!!)




riding in style

inconsistencies

one of the things that makes living in china difficult is that nothing is constant or can be expected to remain the same. this is a quality of american life for which we take for granted, the ability to schedule an appointment in advance and it happen, to expect that your life tomorrow will go as planned and not be dramatically different from yesterday or tomorrow, public transportation for the most part follows its designated schedules, etc. . (not that there aren't exceptions to this).

here, stores and vendors are open when they open. for example, the internet cafe i frequent posts their hours as being 7:30 a.m. - 10 p.m. but i have yet to see them open that early. . yesterday i came at 9:00 a.m. and they were open, today they opened after 9:30 a.m. . . .a friend of mine who was working for a chinese company one day went into work and found the business had shut down compeletey overnight. . . buildings left and right are being torn down. . marked by the chinese character "chai". . .one day they are there, and the next. . ?





inconsistencies

hot HOT pot

The weather has been amazingly cool this week and last night there was a big rainstorm. It made for a good night to eat spicy Sichuan food.

For those who know me well, you know I cannot resist good food and love spicy food- I have been known to douse my Vietnamese hu tieu with WAY too much chili paste irregardless of the effect it has on my digestive system.

So last night a group of 10 of us went to get hot pot. We actually ordered half spicy half non-spicy. Basically what happens is you order a ton of uncooked meat, raw veggies, and tofu. Then the large metal bowl is placed in the middle of the table and heated by flames underneath. Once the broth/oil is boiling, you put in whatever food you want to eat. Then, when it has boiled to your taste, you can dip it in a sesame paste.



What I love about this style of eating (which is actually pretty popular with Vietnamese cuisine), is that it makes dining a very communal activity and allows one to savour the food. Of course, I ate primarily the hot side because it was 100X more flavorful. And although my tummy was not happy afterwards, it was well worth the good meal, great company, and enjoyable evening.

unsuccessful attempt at ordering lunch

Went to “Sculpture in Time”, an internet café nearby my hotel to do work this morning. Around 1pm, I could no longer fight the hunger pangs and decided to walk over to a nearby Old Shanghai dim sum type eatery. The restaurant is a good local standby, cheap (with free soymilk), fast service, and open 24 hours.

I ordered Xiao Long Bao (steamed pork dumplings that are filled with soup) and asked the waitress if they have any vegetable dumplings. (“You meiyou shu cai de baozi me?”)

The waitress said something something baozi (translation: buns with various fillings), which I interpreted was a name for the vegetable baozi. So I ordered those too.

What arrived was the Xiao Long Bao and these barbeque pork baozi. . .hmm. . I really need to work on my food characters some more. . but it was a pleasant surprise, the bread was slightly sweet (which I think is more typical of Cantonese food) and they were better than the vegetable baozi I had had there previously. I guess if at first you don’t succeed, try try again.

cd dvd

For lunch today, I took three of my friends to the best jiaozi (dumpling) restaurant I’ve been to in Beijing. I had been there previously with a friend who is a local here. Otherwise it would have been impossible to find, it’s a little dive, across the street from Renmin Da Xue (The People’s University of China) in the basement of a little store down a random alley.

We filled our bellies with several cold dishes and pork & leek dumplings, pork & cabbage dumplings, and shrimp & pork dumplings. After lunch, we bought some ice-cream from one of the street vendors and decided to browse a DVD/CD shop.

Besides the usual pirated copies of American movies, a scattering of Chinese, Korean, and Japanese movies, I was surprised to find a large selection of Chinese porn. Unabashedly in full view.

Not that I’m surprised there is a demand and market for that sort of thing. . .it’s just that part of me still expects Chinese culture to be relatively conservative.

However, there are signs that this is changing. . it is no longer uncommon for couples to live with each other before they are married, women dress much more provocatively, and there seem to be more Chinese women at the bar scene drinking and smoking as much as the men. I guess China is changing in more ways than one.

Bei Dai He

So the beach trip was WONDERFUL!!! I didn’t realize how nice it would be to get away from the dust and pollution of the city. Bei Dai He is essentially a resort town for wealthy Chinese, Russians, and expats living in Beijing. The pace of life seems slower (e.g. cars actually slow down considerably when your cross the road) and people are more laid back.

Despite leaving Beijing at 10 a.m. we did not arrive at the beach near our hotel in Bei Dai He until 4pm. This was a reminder that everything in China takes time, primarily due to inefficiencies that have not been worked out yet. For instance, it is not possible to buy round trip train tickets in China. You get your one way ticket to your destination and once there, have to push and take great efforts to keep your place in line with the seemingly hundreds of Chinese people that are trying to buy their tickets back.

Once that was accomplished, we found two cabs that were able to take us to our hotel, the Friendship Hotel. An impressive looking three star hotel, the hotel staff nonetheless took an hour to check us in. Mostly, this involved finding our reservations, getting our passport information, and paying. . to top it off, you can’t even get the keys at the front desk but have to go to the individual building your room is in and put down a deposit for the key.




But finally finally we made it to the jam packed beach. The beach or sandy area was actually pretty small. Not realizing that parts of the beach were owned by different hotels and groups, we wandered over to a relatively uncrowded section. However, we were quickly told that that was the CCP’s private beach and we could not be there.

So we made our way back to the Friendship Hotel’s property and found a small spot that got a little bit of sun. Some of the group ventured out to swim or play Frisbee, but I just entertained myself by reading and taking photos. I must say, Chinese men enjoy pretty flashy and skimpy suits!!!

After the sun went down, the group headed back to the hotel to wash up for dinner. Because it started raining, we decided to go to a nearby restaurant rather than the more happening part of town. The restaurant was divey and the food was superb. We ordered fish, baby clams, fried eggplant, shrimp, tofu with duck eggs, lamb skewers, noodles, etc. With our bellies full and all of us tipsy from Great Wall wine, we decided to go to karaoke. It was great, we had an enormous room to ourselves and stayed up late dancing and singing along to the small selection of American songs they had.

The only bad part of the night occurred when we had to pay. The waitstaff tried to charge us around USD $120 after initially stating a 300 RMB (USD $38) cost for using the room. Mind you, we did incur some charges for water, fruit and snacks, and wine, but in no way did it sum up to $80. The staff claimed that we were charged more because they had to stay late to keep the place open. . . but the truth is we were the only customers, we were obviously foreigners, and they wanted to make us much money off of us as they could. In the end, we paid them the 300 RMB plus the amount for the food and drink we consumed. Nonetheless, it was still a great trip, we had a ton of fun, and came back slightly more tan and feeling mentally refreshed.

rising early

i have been up since 6 a.m.

i think it's cuz i am nervous about missing the train to Bei Dai He (the group is leaving at 8:40 a.m.). i don't mind too much because i fall asleep really easily on any form of transportation (except for horseback riding or something, but maybe i could manage that too). and i got to get all my things ready. . i'm only taking a backpack with the barest essentials, towel, change of clothes, toothpaste/brush, latest nick hornsby book (thanks e!), etc.

there will be pics on sunday or monday so you can see what a northern chinese beach looks like. i am sure it will not be as lush as the ones in southern china, but it'll be nice to get away from the pollution and noise of the city. sometimes i don't notice it, but yesterday during my run, i tried to breathe in deeply and couldn't get a good breath of air.

well, have a great weekend everyone. . and hopefully i'll have good stories to tell when i get back to make up for this boring blog (my excuse is i'm still waking up).

Beach Weekend

This weekend, a group of us are going to head to Bei Da He, supposedly the “Camp David” of Beijing. I think the majority of the group is leaving Friday after work, but I may just take the earliest train out on Saturday morning to save the hotel cost and meet up with people there. I’ll probably come back on Sunday morning so I can rest and spend time with Da Ge, a good friend that lives in Beijing.

I’m curious to see how Chinese people act at a beach. I think growing up, my family went to the beach occasionally, but it certainly was not a typical outing. . I remember picking up some KFC on the way there and having yummy corn on a stick and trying to keep sand off of it.

Anyways, the weekend should be fun. Try to even out my farmer’s tan, read some mags and books, and get away from the city for a bit. Some people from Shanghai are coming up to Beijing for the weekend to meet up with as, so that should add to the merrymaking. . and of course, I’m looking forward to trying somewhat fresher seafood than Beijing has to offer! . . Well, come Monday, I hope to share some fun photos from the getaway.

The Perils of Biking In Beijing

I was able to borrow the bike of a friend of a friend. The commute from my door at Quang Ye to the center at Bei Da (Peking U) takes 45 minutes. Riding a bike cuts down the commuting time by 15 minutes. However, the amount of stress and near-death (only a slight exaggeration) experiences may not make it worth the time.

Let me describe the scene. I am riding a black bike, with a broken basket, the seat of the bike lifts up when you pull on it, and the bike is just a tad too small. I try to weave in and out of traffic, following the other bikers’ lead when it is time to cross an intersection. The streets are PACKED! Luckily, or so I thought, there are bike lanes. .Unfortunately, bikers, cabs, and cars also like to use the “bike lane”. To top it off, there are usually a fair number of bikes and pedestrians that are going in the opposite direction. Oh yea, and no one follows traffic light and rules strictly.

Halfway through the ride, I begin to ignore the sounds behind me of cars honking and people yelling, and just focus on the path ahead. This seems to work and somehow, I make it to school safely, cars, bikes, and people swerve around me.

I told my host that I started riding my bike to school. She said “Before long, you’ll be Chinese”. Imagine that.

Cafeteria Ladies

I’ve been staying at the China University of Mining and Technology’s (Quang Ye) Beijing Exchange Center, essentially a hotel. On east side of the building on the first floor, there is a cafeteria. I have been spoiled by the cafeteria’s at Peking University where the food is either self-serve or the dishes are behind glass cases making for easy selection.

Quang Ye's cafeteria has a bit more of the "Communist China" feel. There is a separate room with openings for the servers, the item names are displayed on strips of paper above the openings, and a variety of food are in numerous containers lined up on a table. Students, staff, and teachers all seem to have debit cards which they use to purchase food.

Rather than letting me pay cash to the servers, I must first order the food (a series of pointing, damn I really need to learn my food words). The meats, veggies, and rice are all behind the wall. An assortment of Chinese dumplings and breads are served from metal and glass stands. After making my selection, the servers tell me what the total is. Then, leaving my food with the servers, I walk over to the cashier and tell her how much the food I am going to buy is. I am rung up and receive a receipt which I then hand over to the server to get my food.

On a side note, these type of inefficient payment services are not specific to cafeterias and is quite common in department stores as well. My best guess as to why this still happens is because (1) it creates more jobs and (2) is a low-tech way of insuring people aren't stealing. All in all, I was able to order some stir-fry greenbeans, ma po tofu, and bread stuffed with vegetables all for about 60 cents. The food was nothing special, but the price and proximity to my room makes the cafeteria a good choice when I want something fast.

Happy 4th of July

some funny signs to amuse yourself with (sorry for the repeats)




funny signs