October In a Nutshell

 Sorry again for the lack of consistent postings. I guess I’m not good at the idea of divulging my experiences on the Internet thing. A lot has happened since October began so I’ll do my best to recall what happened. This is a long one so grab a cup of tea and some snacks.

Mom and Dena Come to Visit

Mom and Dena came to visit. I took the subway all the way to Pudong Airport to pick them up after a short flight from Beijing. It was so nice to see a familiar face and have the majority of the family in Shanghai. They came bounding out with bags hanging from every limb capable of holding something. All those were dropped and hugs were repeatedly given, it almost felt like home. We got to the hotel, dumped the stuff, and started out into Shanghai. They were only here for 3 days so I had to carefully plan our attack on the city to hit the most important food spots as well as the must sees. I first took them to my two favorite dumpling joints that happen to be right across the street from one another. We devoured Yang’s Fry Dumplings then hoped over to JiaJia to get some xiaolongbao. They came during a national holiday so Shanghai was more crowded than usual, which I didn’t know was possible. So I thought I should take them to people square to freak them out a bit. When we got to the beginning of the promenade all we could see was a sea of little, black haired heads. We navigated our way through dodging the fake Rolex dealers and squeezing through the never-ending sets of people. The rest of the day consisted of moseying through the French concession, beers with gin and tonics, and a traditional Chinese dinner resulting in food comas.

The next day I brought my mom back to my campus to show her the neighborhood I live in. After looking through my cage that some people call a “dorm room”, I showed her the open market down the road. This is one of my favorite places around my school. It has countless vendors selling all sorts of produce, recognizable and unknown, kitchenware, and live animals such as crabs, eels, ducks, and chickens. I go here a lot to get supplies for when my friends and I cook dinner.  Next, we met up with Deans back at the hotel and immediately went to lunch to satisfy growling bellies. I took them to a street called Taikang Lu. It is essentially a little western village. Off the street there are a couple alleyways that lead to a maze of little streets, art stores, and cafes. We ate a delectable lunch that consisted of half of a chicken, a chicken wrap, and roasted veggies with taters. A western lunch was a nice break from the repetitive Chinese meals. After lunch we headed of to Xitiandi for a mandatory dumpling stop. We got our fix and then walked through the antique market and the flower, bird, and insect market. Dena had a really good idea for a jewelry display utilizing a birdcage. Obviously because this place sold birds, it also had cages. We found the best shop and spent an hour or so deciding on which design would suffice. After much debate we left empty handed. It had been a long day of walking, eating, and smelling China air so we headed back to the sanctuary that is the PuLi Hotel. I’m going to make a quick shout out to the heated toilet seats in the lobby bathroom. If you have never experienced this kind of toilets, do yourself a favor and go find on in your local neighborhood. I wont get into the details to let you discover the feeling for yourself. Anyways, we had a couple drinks to heal our tired legs and cabbed it over to a Mediterranean place for dinner called Haya. We ate our way through bowls of hummus and caramelized eggplant as well as enough falafel and shwarma to feed the Brady Bunch. We wobbled home and called it a night.

Insect and Bird Market

Xintiandi Park

The last day I had with Mom and Dena consisted of last minute purchases and heavy eating. I don’t recall the first half of the day but I know we went to Old City to get the famous Nanxiang Xiaolongbaos. Mmm I can still kind of taste them. As the sun was on its way down to the other side of the earth we traveled over to Pudong. I wanted to show them the new developments and go into the world financial center building. From the top you can see most of Shanghai, and get deliciously expensive cocktails. I think you pay for the experience of drinking in the tallest building in Shanghai (but not for long as another one is in the middle of construction). As the sun set we watched the city light up as each building turned on its respective light show for the evening. We clanked glasses and reminisced about their successful visit. We went out to dinner then walk along the bund before heading back to the hotel. We said our goodbyes and they were off to Americuhhh.

Shanghai Rolex Masters

The next week the Shanghai Rolex Masters started. For those of you who don’t know, the Rolex Masters is an ATP tennis tournament that attracts the best players in the world. It came as a surprise to me that Shanghai had a world-renowned tennis tournament because the Chinese aren’t that into tennis; ping-pong is their forte. This worked as an advantage for me because the crowds were minimal, which made it possible to get close to the players. Being a student in China has its perks, one being 50Kuai tickets to tournament grounds including center court. Normal tickets cost upwards of 180Kuai. 7.50USD to go watch the best players in the world play tennis does it for me. First day we went we saw Nadal on the practice courts; I was within an arms distance of the best tennis player in the world. That day we also saw Isner (tall American), Sam Querrey (also American), and Roddick. All the Americans won that day which is always a plus. The next day we went back at night to watch matches on the center court. In succession I saw Roddick play, then Nadal, then Federer. Watching most sports on TV are generally boring, including tennis. But nothing compares to watching the best players in the world float across the court. It was truly amazing and we had decent seats for student tickets. The semi-finals and the finals took place on the weekend. Unfortunately, I was going out of town that weekend to Nanjing, but on the bright side I got to see another Chinese city.

Nadal!

Me and the "Terra Cota" Federer

Nanjing

Nanjing, previously called Nanking, is known for a few things: it’s great city wall, the man made lake, the great Nanking massacre, and their fish. This was a USAC group trip so we got to experience all that is Nanjing. The trip started off with a bang. Because we left early Saturday morning many of us were tired from the previous night’s activities. To keep things PG let’s just say the bus ride was filled with unwanted bodily fluids. Luckily they were neatly contained in grocery bags and then gently tossed on the side of the freeway. We arrived at the ancient city wall of Nanjing. The wall surrounds a nice a park that runs along a prodigious man made lake. The wall reminded me of the Great Wall of China minus the vertical climb. Walking through the park we came across giant yoyo wielding performers. The person holds two sticks with a string between them on which a conical, plastic object rides back in forth.  You’re probably baffled from my description so I’ll just show you a picture and you can figure it out.

On the city wall looking down to the lake

lakeside walkway

The Chinese YoYo

After the relaxing walk through the lakeside park we went to one of the most depressing places in China: The Nanking Massacre Memorial Site. For those of you who don’t know about the massacre go take a history class. But to sum it up, around World War 2 the Japanese came over to China, specifically Nanking, and rape, pillaged, and murdered roughly 300,000 people. The memorial site was informational and long. The architecture and the statues were amazing. Unfortunately, we only had an hour there due to our prolonged stay at the park. To read and see everything you would need at least 2 hours.

the outside of the memorial

That night we had a group dinner once we had settled at the hotel. When I say a group dinner I refer to USAC taking us out for a traditional meal. I strategically try to place myself at the table with the most girls in order to get the most food. As a young child, I grew up in a house where defensive eating was pivotal to my survival, especially during our Chinese dinners. Thank god for my childhood training otherwise I would starve during these group dinners. You have to be quick and take no prisoners if you want to leave full. Due to my black hole of a stomach I always leave unsatisfied. After dinner a few of us went to downtown Nanjing in search of something to fill out stomachs. We found a nice walking street with lots of bright lights and street food, my favorite. There were myriad candied fruits, crispy fried potatoes, and a few mystery items that we avoided.

Candied Fruit

Fish and unidentifiable meats

The next day we traveled to Zhongshan Mountain National Park. This was my favorite part of Nanjing minus the plethora of stairs we had to climb. It brought back horrible flash backs from hiking up the Great Wall that discouraged me half way through my climb. The top was heavily occupied with visitors taking pictures and celebrating their victory of the climb. At the top was Dr. Sun Yat-sen’s Mausoleum. In between all the stairs were long flat areas; I think they were for people in wheelchairs. Because no wheelchairs were present, I seized the opportunity and slid down countless flights of stairs on my sandals. I think they call it Chinese stair surfing but I’ll double-check that for you.  Next we were bused over to the Ming Tombs in a different part of the mountain. Imagine long rows of trees and shrubs interrupted by colossal, stone animals. These went on for a while then the tree line ended and it opened up into a courtyard which lead to the Ming Tombs. I really like this area, it was peaceful and had a lot of open, green areas unlike Shanghai. I managed to wonder of the path a bit and found a bare plum orchard. All the trees were naked without leaves. The day ended with a four-hour bus ride back to Shanghai.

The stairs of doom

Chinese stair surfing

giant stone animals by the Ming Tombs

Dad comes to visit

Just recently my dad came to visit. The week before he came I prepared myself, expanding my stomach that is. Although he was only here for the weekend we managed to eat our way through Shanghai. The weekend started auspiciously when we were given a free upgrade at the Four Seasons. It was relaxing to stay in a hotel after being cooped up in my dorm. We dumped our stuff and headed out to a restaurant that he’d been to last time he was in Shanghai. From the busy streets in the French Concession we dipped into an alleyway courtyard lined with stones and bamboo. Wall sconces lit up the bamboo providing just enough light to see the path. After moving through a couple doors we entered into a giant open room filled with dark wood, a sushi bar, an open kitchen, and countless white-coated chefs. After devouring a delicious meal we headed down the street to find a second dinner. Walking off our 1^st course we wondered to a courtyard surrounded by restaurants and a little park. Our second meal was traditional Chinese cuisine. Needless to say we ate until we couldn’t fit anymore in and then walked it off on the way back to the hotel.

The next day hurricane Katrina came to Shanghai. Since I’ve been here I’ve never had to deal with extreme rain or wind. The one full day I have with my dad the weather decides to be the absolute worse it could be. Despite the torrential downpour, we walked through many districts in search of a satisfying meal. Finally we made it to a restaurant we read about in the newspaper, Hunan Tasty Village. After trading a few Chinese words with waitress, dishes started to arrive. The food would’ve been impossibly spicy but I told her we didn’t want extremely spicy. Luckily, the food arrived appropriately hot. I realized that I’d never contract a sinus infection here because all the food is so spicy that my sinuses are constantly clear. Next we trekked through the rain with our weak umbrellas over to Xintiandi. By they time we got there it looked like we got pushed into a pool with our clothes on. The wind was so strong it kept overturning our umbrellas rendering them useless. We just laughed, ate some dumplings, and decided to see a movie in hopes the rain would cease…It was raining harder once the movie was over. I’ve noticed something about the cabs in Shanghai. When you don’t need a cab you see their little green lights lit up inviting you in. When you’re in desperate need for a cab, like in the middle of a rainstorm, you can’t get one to save your life. We walked and walked until we finally got lucky enough to catch someone getting out of their cab. After drying off in the hotel room for a couple hours we ventured out in search for dinner. We tried to go to a place I read about but we got denied due to a private event that night. So I took him to the restaurant I took my mom and sister to. We ate a Chinese feast. I think the waiters were impressed with how much food two people could eat; we must have ordered 5 or 6 dishes.

My dad left in the early afternoon so we woke up early to eat as much as possible. I had to take him to Yang’s Fry Dumplings and JiaJia. After I took him the international bookstore we walked over to the dumpling restaurants. He kept reminiscing about a place called “Plump Dumpling” in NYC that had fried dumplings in soup. I reassured him these would emulate that experience. We stuffed our faces with dumplings then spent his last hour in Shanghai relaxing in the hotel lobby eating homemade jellies and marshmallows.

I’ve been here for just over two months. I’m really enjoying my time here and I’m looking forward to what’s next. In November I’m traveling to Xi’an to explore the Terra Cota warriors. Then, at the end of November a small group of us are traveling to Hong Kong. I’m excited for the rest of my time here but I’m starting to really miss home. I can’t tell you how excited I am to eat Mexican food, see the beach, play with my puppies, and go back to SLO. 

All you can eat

Sorry for the delayed updates, I’ve been busy with weekend trips and school that I haven’t had time to compile all my trips into words.

Here is a little recap of the past couple weeks…

For 85kuai (another word for money like we have “dollars” and “bucks”) all your dreams can come true. And no I’m not referring to a happy ending, I’m talking about all you can eat buffets. Around the city there exist uncountable buffets that range from 50kuai all the way to 300kuia for all you can eat and drink free flowing champagne. The other night we found an 85kuai buffet that offers all you can eat Indian food and drink free flow beer. Talk about a safe haven in a city of small portions. I believe the reason behind the Chinese’s thinness is their small portions. At many restaurants, on the street and off, the amount of food you receive is minimal, especially for a growing (hopefully still) boy like me. Maybe that’s why the Chinese eat their rice and noodles ravenously, they are starving! Although I eat many times throughout the day, I never feel full. After the other nights gorge my insatiable hungry was cured. I piled my plate high as if it was my last meal and ate happily for a few hours. For all the food we ate and all the beer we drank the poor restaurant had to lose money on us. After dinner our group traveled to a club called Phebe’s. If you have epilepsy this place is not for you. I’ve never seen so many flashing lights, shooting lasers, and disco balls. Needless to say it was a great night.

When I’m not in class, or sleeping, I’m exploring the city. Like Anthony Bourdain says, “you can spend years in China and still never scratch the surface of what it has to offer.” I’m only in Shanghai and I feel like I’ll never see everything. I’m generally really good with maps and finding my way, but Shanghai has so many streets, nooks, and crannies, I constantly have to check the map to get anywhere. Navigating the subways is a piece of cake and because they just finished constructing new lines it’s possible to get anywhere in the city. I’ve been here for about a month and still haven’t checked out all the districts. My favorite district thus far is the French Concession. I consider it the Soho of Shanghai. I love it there. It’s literately an urban jungle. The streets are lined with trees so dense you cannot see the sky. A place I have explored a few times over is Taikang Lu. It reminds me of parts of Spain with its small alleyways, unique boutiques, and friendly cafes. I like to go there and drink coffee while I do my homework.

one of the streets in the french concession, birds for sale 

Taikang St, an interweb of alleyways

 The other weekend the USAC group traveled to a city called SuZhou. It was about an hour bus ride from the city. As much as I like the city atmosphere it was nice to get out for the day. We stopped by a place called Tiger Hill. After civil wars thousands of years ago an important emperor lost the battle and proceeded to commit suicide. 3 days later a rare white tiger appeared and “guarded” his grave…hence tiger hill. I was a little disappointed that while I was there I didn’t see any tigers, just thousands of tourists taking photos. Other than the crowds, this place was breathtakingly beautiful. Surrounded by a river, filled with old stones, a rainforest’s worth of shrubbery, and of course the leaning pagoda. Although all these types of areas are significant for their respective reasons, they kind of all look the same: old architecture surrounded by trees. But this particular pagoda is the second most leaning tower in the world (following behind Italy’s leaning tower of Pisa). Unfortunately, I couldn’t see much lean, and therefore couldn’t take the much-needed picture of me “holding up the tower”. Moving on to what SuZhou is really known for, the silk production. Making silk is a long and arduous process that involves cultivating silk worms and then using their cocoons to mix with water...zzzzz. If I explained the whole process you might fall asleep while reading this. Just know we got to see the whole process and walk around all the machines, which was cool to see. The best part was the gift shop that showcased everything they can make with silk. My favorite pieces of work, other than the softer than God’s butt comforters, were the silk paintings. They looked like they were painted with a brush, but upon closer examination you can see the strands of silk colored and strategically placed to create the image.

Tiger Hill, me in front of the "leaning" pagoda

Getting lost in Tiger Hill looking for the bus

Silk Worms!

I took a trip to Old City the other day with a couple friends to explore the shops, people watch, and of course eat. Let me start by saying that this past week  (September 22-24 the annual Moon Festival took place). When ever there is a holiday it means the city is packed (more than usual) and places get so crowded that walking becomes impossible. The only movement that takes place is the shuffling of feet and the swinging of elbows. Old City is known for the Yuyuan Gardens, famous, essentially identical to all the other gardens I’ve seen thus far, nonetheless beautiful. But more importantly, there is a place called Nanxiang Steamed Bun Restaurant. This is the world renowned place to get the xiaolongbao 小龙包 ß those are the Chinese characters if you couldn’t figure that out. These delicately crafted, skillfully cooked, and quickly (kind of) served SOUP dumplings are the reason I came to China, other than to learn Mandarin and the art of the crouching tiger (which by the way I’m getting pretty good). The thing I like about this place is that it’s not only for tourists, the locals love this place as well. It is a double window operation, overlooking the central lake, where five or six chefs work vigorously to dish out thousands of little dumplings. The line stretches foreeeevvverrrrrrrr. Naturally, I had to hop in line to try these little treats. After an hour of watching people walk by with their dumplings unknowingly taunting people in the queue, I got my fix. For 20kuai I received 16 dumplings (that’s the standard order), and I stuffed my face with them ahh nom nom. On the inside of these thin doughed dumplings from god sits a pork/crab meat mix surrounded by soup that you have to skillfully suck out; otherwise you’ll burn your mouth/face (I’ve seen it happen…amateurs.)  I was in heaven.

*Quick side note, since I’ve been here I’ve noticed a few things about the Chinese culture. The one that is most noticeable is the Chinese peoples’ favorite hobby: waiting in line. I swear if you go anywhere and line up 4 or 5 people the Chinese will queue up so quickly the line will stretch down the road.  We all like free things, but the Chinese people LOVE free things. This was most noticeable at the Shanghai World EXPO, where they would rush towards the counter at the end of a pavilion and grab a handful worth of freebies.

Add caption

I was kidding when I said it was crowded

The best dumplings in the world

The World Expo. WOW. All the posters reiterate the Expo’s slogan: Better City Better Life. The world expo is suppose to provide information about each country’s infrastructe, what they’re known for, and what they plan on doing in the future to “go green”; I guess not all the countries got that memo because some pavilions included nothing about their infrastructure and future goals where as others nailed it. The pavilions I visited include: Pakistan, Cambodia, Indonesia, Singapore, Australia, Sweden, Iceland, and Spain. I plan to go back in the next week or so to visit a few more including Germany, UAE, and the UK. The pavilions are huge and the architecture is like nothing I’ve ever seen before. I spent the whole day looking up with my camera glued to my eye. My favorite pavilion was Singapore’s. I think they captured the idea of the expo perfectly. On the first floor there was a food section, a clothes section, a video game racing section, and a music section. All these sections were exhibits exemplifying the best of what the country has to offer. On the next floor there was a huge video room where they played a 6-minute music, video, montage of Singapore showing their future plans and their current landmarks. On top of three skyscrapers in Singapore there exists a park called Sky Park, which is essentially a glorified roof top garden. To emulate that, the top floor of the Singapore Pavilion was a roof top garden that overlooked the expo. The expo is one of the main reasons for tourism to Shanghai right now. On an average day the expo endures about 260,000 people. On a holiday, upwards of 400,000, and on the day we went there were roughly 170,000 people. I’m not just making these up! The TVs on the subway provide an expo count daily and report it to the city. Even going on a day that had under the average number of people, we still had to wait in line for an hour for the better pavilions… like I said, the Chinese love waiting in line. Despite the heat and crowds rivaling Disneyland on the weekend, the expo was a great experience. I can’t wait to go back this week.

Inside the Australian Pavilion

The outside of the Singapore Pavilion

As September finishes up and October starts I’m hoping for a temperature change. I’m from California; I love the sun and the heat. But in Shanghai, the sun and heat also means humidity. I’m not a big fan on the rain, some would go as far to say that I melt in the rain, but when it rains here I love it. Rain means I can wear a shirt, shorts, and sandals and not be sweating. I’m also looking forward to familiar faces. Mom and Dena will be arriving on the 4^th of October. I’m excited to show them around the city, eat great food, and take a real hotel shower.

Chinese phrase of the week

Hao jiu bu jian 好就不见 (pronounced how-jio-boo-gee-an)

Translation: long time no see

Controlled Chaos

I’ve only been to a couple big cities but there is something about this one that is extremely different then the rest. Maybe it is the 21 million people, maybe it is the air, or maybe it is the water that is toxic to foreigners. But amongst all the chaos of honking on the street and cramming on the subway there seems to be a system for the madness. Getting off the subway is more of a challenge than getting on. The simply task of crossing the street seems like a game of frogger. Red lights are a suggestion for drivers; if it’s red it means check both ways, avoid pedestrians, and charge through. If street crossing were a sport in the next Olympics the Chinese would sweep the competition.

People Square

            Shanghai University does not have a gym as I previously thought but it does have ample basketball courts as well as a track surrounding a few soccer fields. I had no idea that the Chinese were so into sports. The first time I ran around the track I was in the middle of a thunderstorm. As I rounded the track I gazed upon the clouds in the distance with lightening striking through what seemed to be plump rain clouds. The way the lightening lit up the buildings was like nothing I’ve seen before. Running in endless circles, the impending rain and thunderous light gave me a motivation to keep running in the heat and humidity. For those of you who go to the gym on a regular basis you notice the people who get on the treadmill with all their makeup on and their cell phone attached to their ear. Those people exist here too! Both men and woman are guilty of the faux workout session. Some girls walk around the track wearing wedges or high heels paired with a sundress, you tell me how that is conducive to cardio. Some men wear full suits and pretend to speed walk in circles hoping to break a sweat. Although many Chinese walk the track, it amazes me how they can put down dumplings and continue to stay so thin. After a couple laps I met up with a few of my friends and kicked a soccer ball around. Once a goal opened up, we joined a few Chinese students for a pick up soccer game. It was a 9v9 game, which seemed more like a 6v10 game. Soccer requires communication among the players of the same team and a developed trust. That didn’t exist. The language barrier that existed between my teammates and me solidified the fact that learning/knowing mandarin is pivotal to success in China whether on the soccer field or ordering dumplings.  

            Everyone laughs when I tell them the name of my blog is “feast in the far east” (I have to give credit to Scott LaCava for coming up with the name but it fit me so well I had to use it) As you all know I live for food. My black hole of a stomach allows me to experience copious amounts of food that rivals any competitive eater; although the difference between a competitive eater and me is that I actually enjoy the food. First, I’d like to express the fact that real Chinese food here is beyond cheap. Secondly, I want you to know that there are many authentic Shanghai restaurants surrounding my campus that I visit on a daily basis; I’m pretty sure the owners know me by my order, now if I could only figure out how to pronounce what I want instead of pointing at the picture. The place I go between classes is a five-minute walk from my dorm room, it’s a Kabob place that makes the most delicious burritos and pita pockets. For all of you that love pita pit, come here for the best gyro you’ve ever had with a Chinese spice that is indescribable. Next to the heavenly gyro place lie handmade dumplings, steamed and fried. We all know that anything fried taste better (but is worse for you) but these things are tantamount to a hot and fresh Krispy Kream doughnut. The crispiness combined with the cotton candy lightness of the dough creates a foodgasim you’ll probably never experience. Among all the chaos surrounding these street vendors they maintain consistent quality in their food. Did I mention that I’m paying 6.5rnb for lunch ($1USD for lunch and roughly $3USD for dinner) Chinese food here is cheaper than anything but if you try to get international food you’re paying prices comparable to the US.

Yang's Fry Dumplings: Heaven

            Eggs and Cheese? Yes please!. This morning I found a breakfast burrito place…Chinese style. For those of you who have experienced the Frank’s breakfast burrito I’d like you to come take on this delightful breakfast. I’ve been jonesing for an egg breakfast since my arrival and I refuse to eat a McGriddle despite their deliciousness. This little man on the street has a tiny fridge and a big griddle where he mixes a Chinese dough (which he turns into a pancake like tortilla) then adds bacon, eggs, and cheese. Once cooked a garnish of lettuce and spices tops of the burrito and he wraps it up in a little paper. 8RNB ($1.25USD). Pure happiness.

Shanghai Skyline

     It amazes me that the Chinese eat Chinese food for breakfast lunch and dinner. I’ve been here since the 23^rd of August and to be honest I’m pretty sick of Chinese food. Unlike Americans how we eat a different kind of food for every meal, the Chinese eat their own food for every meal. I can’t even begin to tell you how much I miss fruits and vegetables. There are a few farmers markets down the street from my university but I’m scared to eat the fruit that lays out in the street all day; it’s difficult to tell what is quality and what is leftover from the previous day. The farmer’s markets close to my school include live ducks, catfish the size of a yardstick, fish (dead and alive), squid, chickens, prawns so big you couldn’t open your mouth to fit one, and a few things that are unidentifiable.

On our way to the white party

Chinese Phrase

(these phrases are missing their tones because I can’t add them in Microsoft Word, the tones are what makes this language hard to learn/ understand)

“Zhe shi shenme”- What is that!?

..this is a very helpful expression while dining, to bad I can’t understand what they say in response

Culture Shock: Hello Shanghai

Wei Ni Hao Shanghai, wo jiao Jared. WHOA! The amount of people here walking around easily surpasses the amount of people at Disneyland on a holiday. Speaking of Disneyland, Shanghai is very similar in the sense that there are lines everywhere, the rides consist of ferries and metros, and there are insanely large buildings and lights that surround them. The difference, nothing is in English except for the names of the stops off the metro. I generally have a rule that when I travel I wont eat at a restaurant that has pictures of its food; here, I will only eat with a restaurant with pictures otherwise ill end up eating horse heart or monkey liver. It’s really overwhelming to be here. I spent the entire walk tonight looking up at the millions of lights blinking, sliding, disappearing, and reappearing. The shear amount of people is stunning. We took the ferry across the bund tonight (only 2RNB!). We are herded like cattle and when the boat arrives the gate rises and people literally sprint to find a seat for the 10 minute ride. Same story for the subway. If you don’t get on it’s your fault. You have to be aggressive and you cannot be afraid to throw some elbows.
The sun doesn’t exist here but it’s hot as hell. If you look up through the thick smog you might get a glimpse of the sun but doubtfully. The air here is nothing short of disgusting. The overcast humidity traps in the heat and it doesn’t escape until shortly after midnight. Oh, did I mention that it pours at night intermittently with a few bolts of lightening here and there? I still can’t decide if the weather here is better or worse than Seattle. August 31st: woke up, first time I’ve seen a blue sky since I’ve been here, my guess is it wont last past noon.


Chinese Word of the Day
“Jiaozi”
Translation: Dumpling

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Street

Hello all! As many of you know by now I’m half way across the world in China. I spent my first week in Beijing and now I’m in Shanghai where I will be for the remaining months. Although I just arrived in Shanghai I have copious stories to tell you about my Beijing adventures.

The flight over to China was long and acted as a wake up call. I got to the terminal and began meeting students who traveled all over the country to fly on the group flight. I instantly realized that the program was divided into two groups, Cheng du and Shanghai. A majority of the kids on the group flight were going to Cheng du but everyone was going to the Beijing Tour. Although all the kids were scattered on the flight it was exciting to meet everyone. I got on the plane and was excited to begin my Chinese adventure. After hour 9 I started to think about what I was getting myself into. I looked up at the screen where there was a map of the world and a little plane symbol, which indicated we were near China. I watched the plane trot across the dotted line on the dull lit screen and the feeling of anxiety surfaced as I thought about everything I was leaving behind. I started to feel lost in every definition of the word. My Ipod was on shuffle and the song “we no speak Americano” came on which acted as a gentile reminder that I’m about to enter a country that doesn’t speak the language I do.


The first day:
To start the tour of Beijing off we spent the morning of our first day at Tian’anmen Square and the Forbidden City. Tian’anmen square was less exciting then I hoped, just a lot of people and construction. The Forbidden City on the other hand was like nothing I’ve seen before. The sheer colossal size of the palace shocked me. We walked into the first courtyard, which could have easily been the location of the Super bowl. The edges are surrounded by walkways and places to sit; the doors are red, wooden, and monumental. From the courtyard you could go left or right or straight. We explored the sides first before moving onward. As we strolled through the left gate we came about a stray cat that wanted a friend. It followed us for the majority of the day but was kicked out of the wall painting room as we walked in. Needless to say we explored every nook and cranny and then continued forward to the next courtyard. The second was bigger than the first and we haven’t even entered the inner city. Anyways, the Forbidden City is filled with interesting sculptures, trees, and rocks, all which were amply photographed. Right outside the gates to enter and exit vendors line the streets selling anything you need, and everything you don’t need. Because the tap water here to dirty, bottled water is sold everywhere for 2-3RNB (50 cents American). Next we went to the Temple of Heaven, which was not comparable to the Forbidden City, but it was beautiful nonetheless. The temple was used by the emperor and empress to pray for a good year and harvest. They prayed through sacrificial ceremonies. By this point everyone was hot and tired but we refueled and traveled to the Pearl Market.
Everyone knows how persistent a car salesman is, they do not compare to the vendors at Pearl market. You want to know why China is the 2nd in the world economy? They have the best sales tactics. As you walk down the endless rows of useless consumer goods the woman spit out every English word they know to catch your attention and then they grab your arm and pull you into their store. You can’t even stop to look at a product because 3 sales woman will surround you and harass you. When you do stop to buy something the experience is long and drawn out. I needed a dress belt so I shopped around and found one I needed. Initially 780RNB (roughly 115USD) I persisted on paying no more than 50RNB (7.5USD) They type numbers into a calculator and claim “special price for you” then you retaliate and hit them with a low ball number, I started at 30RNB and she thought I was joking. As this game goes back and forth they knock off 100RNB by every 30 seconds you spend with them. When I got her down to 100 I persisted to only pay 50. At that point she reduces the price in increments of 5RNB. I just walked away and then she chased after me and said “okay okay 50 50.” I got a real leather, fake Armani belt for 7.5USD, I love China.

The Forbidden City

Day Two:
The night before we all went out as a giant group of 30 kids to a western bar around the corner of our hotel. In this place, which we later realized was the front of a hostel, they serve 3L of beer in a tube for 45RNB (7 USD). The DJ played American hits and we were the life of the party there. Next to us in the bar was a group of adults from Holand. As the YMCA came out of the stereo everyone in our group got on the tables and started singing loudly. The Holand people watched, and copied, soon we had everyone in the place doing the YMCA. During our flash mob, a crowd of 20 Chinese people outside watching us make a fool of ourselves. Epic night.
That morning we had to wake up at the ungodly hour of 830 to depart for the Great Wall of China. You can imagine everyone on the bus moaning and groaning for 2 hours. If you were wondering why nobody messes with the Chinese, it is because climbing the great wall is a strenuous task, especially if you had to carry weapons and armor. The portion of the wall we traveled to and ascended was in a mountainous region. None of the steps are the same size and the travel up to the top is literally vertical. I’m surprised at how many people made it to the top, a majority of the public got up the first 20 steps and stopped at the first barracks. The view from the top was unrivaled. The show the Biggest Loser should shoot its next episode at the Great Wall. I’m sure if anybody did that climb everyday they would have a rock hard ass.

You’re probably wondering why the title of this entry starts with “Crouching Tiger”. The Chinese people sit, wait, and hang out, by crouching. It’s incredible how low they can go without touching the ground or falling over. They start at a young age and develop their skills as they grow older. It took me only until my first visit to the hotel’s bathroom to figure out why they crouch that way. The bathrooms are literally holes in the ground surrounded by porcelain in which one would crouch and shit into. Because I’m here to assimilate into the culture and learn the Chinese way I will have you know I have begun my practice in the art of the Crouching Tiger. And No, I haven’t used a squatty potty yet, I’m sticking to the western tradition and using a normal toilet (which exist in very few places but you can always rely on up scale hotels!).
That night we went to the theater to watch an Acrobatic show. Circus de Soil has nothing on these Chinese teenagers. If anything they recruit solely from China. For 2 hours they hopped, swung, jumped, dove, balanced, spun, ran, and flew. I’ve never seen anything like it. There was one scene where a man balanced on something that resembled an Indo board. Then two girls climbed on top of him like they were climbing a tree and then balanced a table on their shoulders. Then a second man climbed up the human tower and balanced another indo board on the table. Then he flipped bowls on to his head 1, 2, and 3 at a time. Needless to say it was unreal.

Day Three:
Day three we went to a place called Summer Palace where the emperor would watch operas and walk through gardens. For those of you who have been to Barcelona and more specifically Park Guell, you would appreciate this place. Half of it is filled with huge temples and stages and the other half is a giant park and pathway where people hang out, eat, and relax. From the top terrace, the view overlooks a giant lake filled with boats as far as the you can see. I realized this is what I want my Summer palace to look like. This place was full of nature, water, and people. Everywhere we go is full of people. The subways are packed to the brim, the streets are unwalkable, and the restaurants are filled with noodle suckling people.
After the summer palace we went to the Silk Market which was similar to the Pearl Market except the vendors are more aggressive and you can literally get lost in this 5 story mega mall. Starting on the basement level the sellers are comparable to the ones at the Pearl Market, the occasional grab and shot of Enlgish words but nothing serious. As you travel up each level the salesmanship and aggressiveness increase. The silk market is known for its quality silk products and custom tailoring suits. This one lady wouldn’t let one of the kids go until he bought something, that was only on floor 3. Although everything is fake, the Chinese put in a surprisingly amount of time in their fake products. I bargained for a Bell & Ross watch that only ran me 15USD. Haggling is part of the culture here; if you pay full price for anything you’re an ignorant, white sucker.

Day Four:
Day four was a free day. It was nice to sleep in for once but we still got up relatively early to go explore the city. There is so much to see in Beijing it would take a year to really figure out where you’re going and what there is to offer. We started the day at a hole in the wall massage place. This place has three chairs and 4 hard working people. I know what you’re thinking right now, and no, we did not get happy endings…we are saving that for shanghai ;) . For 35RNB (roughly 5USD) I received celestial pleasure in the form of a foot massage. After walking around all week a 1 hour foot rub was the perfect way to alleviate the pain. We then navigated the subway system to a walking street in Beijing. It was nice to not have to deal with traffic because cars don’t car about pedestrians here, they will run you over. The street was incredibly long and filled with endless stores with bustling music. We dipped into the mall adjacent to the street to get out of the heat. I know that the Mall of America is huge and has a rollercoaster in it but this mall was the biggest thing I’ve ever seen. It was like a 3D version of shoots and ladders. Escalators starting from the bottom floor reaching to the ceiling and then ones that stretched two floors. It was a game to get up one floor. The language barrier is more difficult than I thought it would be. As we tried to find lunch we got yelled at in Chinese and pushed around. Ultimately we gave up trying to eat in the mall and traversed to the street market next to the walking street.
When I say street market I really mean Insect Market. Yea that’s right INSECT. Today I ate Scorpion, gecko, tarantula, and centipede all on a stick. And then chased it with a fried banana Ahh nom nom nom. We were there on a mission to put Andrew Zimmerman out of business. Surprisingly they all tasted the same, salty, crunchy, and disgusting. The people I was with also ate the delicacy known as cockroach. I refused to eat it and for a good reason, they spit that shit out after the first crunch. It was quite an experience to say the least. When we would buy one of the insects (which we could haggle for, they wanted to charge 50 for the tarantula but we got it for 10), a crowd would gather around and scream and watch while we ate the things. In my opinion, they should pay us for eating those insects but I guess it is a delicacy here. Because the small insects didn’t fill us eat we ate some corn and coconut milk which we found for really cheap in the street market.

Since we haven’t started classes yet and I’m noob to mandarin ive been doing my best to ask around and learn a couple of useful phrases. Once I start classes I will have a better understanding of the language and will hopefully be able to use it everyday.



Chinese Phrase of the week:
“Qing gae wo, yi ping pijiu”
Translation: Please give me one bottle of beer