Empress Dowager Cixi, known as the dragon lady, diverted 30 million taels of silver from the Chinese navy, for expansion and reconstruction of the Summer Palace. Some believe this is a misconception, however, the navy sorely needed the money to rebuild after their losses in the 1894 first Sino-Japanese war and did not get it. Amazed at the grandeur, we walked the edge of Kunming Lake, photographed many of the wonders, including the marble boat, and ferried back on a festive dragon boat.

 We toured onward to the Forbidden City. Ornate tile-roofed buildings, mostly red and gold, were dotted throughout, along with large bronze animal statues set to guard their gates. Over six hundred years ago, Emperor Chengzu of Ming started construction of the City in Beijing. Completion came about 15 years later with the aid of around 100,000 skilled technicians and a labor force of millions. Twenty-four emperors lived there, the last being Puyi of the Qing Dynasty. He was two years and ten months old when he ascended the throne in 1908. He was the subject of the biography and movie, The Last Emperor. We walked some of the 720,000 square meter complex viewing courtyards and many houses. A 52-meter moat surrounds the walls.

Tiananmen Square, Beijing

Next, we scurried under a tunnel to the massive Tiananmen square, site of the 1989 protests, the 2008 Olympics and 2009 60^th celebration of the People’s Republic of China. First built in 1617, the square was expanded to four times the size and cemented in 1958, The 440,000 square meter expanse of concrete is the largest city square in the world A virtual tour is available on this website.

 After a fabulous Peking duck dinner Saturday night, we prepared to explore a Jade factory and the Great Wall of China on Sunday.

oh and yeah… my thesis is back on GO… Tennessee, here I come. Grateful… and I can’t wait

Never thought we’d have to admit to being beaten by a chicken, but we admit defeat. Despite the weeks of proximity, the supervised interaction, the very obvious displeasure of the other hens and our own frequent please, Neroli and Poppy have flatly refused to live together.

We’ve done everything we could think of, but there’s been no improvement. We’ve even let them fight on a couple of occasions, hoping that at least one would get enough of a victory that the other would concede defeat but no. I honestly believe that they would kill each other. God knows they’ve tried. And continue to try. The other hens don’t like it either – Ella in particular will launch herself at the combatants, shrieking and pecking. I’ve seen her drag Neroli by the wattle on one occasion. But it doesn’t make any difference that we can see – they will not tolerate each other’s presence.

To make matters worse, Frida is also now fighting Poppy. (And the converse: Poppy is no longer willing to be bossed by Frida.) We’re hoping that this particular battle is just because Frida is broody, and therefore bolshie. But … who knows?

We essentially have two choices:

1. get rid of one of them,
2. run two separate flocks.

It would be those two, wouldn’t it? Poppy and Neroli, the two we are most attached to. We talked about it a bit, but neither of us could face saying goodbye to either of our girls. So two flocks it is.

Yesterday we set up the Summer Palace alongside the garage. We store the house and run there anyway, so it’s not that big a deal to have it set up as living quarters. We’ll try to rotate the girls, so that they stay as close to being one flock as possible, and don’t start to get territorial. They’re perfectly safe in either run. And we’ll try to make sure they have some time mingling together under supervision.

Maybe Poppy and Neroli will eventually settle down. If they haven’t by winter then we might have a few problems – have to modify the house to keep the separation going (as the Summer Palace becomes the Winter Garden, and the LSA is left empty through winter).

Either way, there’s a certain comfort in not having to worry about it for a while longer.

And lots of cuddle time. With both our girls.

Apparently, a team of Chinese representatives have been touring major US museums, speaking with curators & dept directors, and seeking out objects stolen from the Summer Palace. That these representatives are not themselves curators or museum professionals is a sign of what the real motives of this mission are – the Times reports that the group is composed of members of the media, and of the Summer Palace’s propaganda department.

Uneasy Engagement: China Hunts for Art Treasures in U.S. Museums, New York Times, 16 December 2009.

Wu Zuolai, a professor at the China Academy of Art, is quoted in the article, pointing out that “the obsession with Yuanmingyuan ignores the plunder of older sites that are more artistically significant.”

“Chinese history did not start with the Qing Dynasty,” he said. “This treasure hunting trip is just a political show. The media portray it as patriotic, but it’s just spreading hate.””

Ignoring the fact that, as James Watt, head of the Met’s Asian division says, most objects looted from the Summer Palace are now in the hands of private collectors in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, the group focuses its attention on US museums.

How is this anything but a nationalistic project, aimed at promoting anti-imperialist & anti-American attitudes in order to bolster nationalistic fervor at home? The Times says it flat out: “…the quest, fueled by national pride, has been quixotic, provoking fear at institutions overseas but in the end amounting to little more than a public relations show aimed at audiences back home.”

The issues surrounding looting are complex, and I wouldn’t want to get into a whole discussion of all the issues right here; all told, I don’t think I can fully take one side or the other – the rights of museums in foreign countries vs the rights of home countries. Does the argument about having better facilities to better protect the artifacts (in a foreign country) count for anything? Liu Yang, a

researcher who was part of the delegation, seemed to admit as much, complaining that politics had upstaged scholarship. Even if he stumbled upon a palace relic, he said, he would be reluctant to take it back to an institution whose unheated exhibition space resembled little more than a military barracks. “To be honest, if you leave a thermos in our office, it gets broken,” he said. “Maybe it’s better these things stay where they are.”

Thankfully, the group hasn’t found any illicit artifacts at major Northeast US museums. Our museums and their collecting policies have been defended. The Chinese populace & government will never admit to their mission being deflated or defeated, and the American people, it would seem, will never see the museums as being vindicated, continuing to see them in a negative light as looters and storehouses of stolen objects. But, I think this ended about as well as it could have.

Here is our second video from Beijing detailing the sites we visited with Pacific Delight Tours. The next video will be from our cruise on the Yangtze.

are viv + i?
“ni hao ma… (again)” this time from beijing, china!

having aready been to the southwestern part of china, we had an opportunity this time to visit the northeastern part… the capital of china:  beijing (a.k.a. “peking” or “the forbidden city“).

ni hao ma... welcome to "the great wall of china"!

to be honest, i really wasn’t looking forward to going. i was hoping we could rest/stay longer in hong kong before our next scheduled trip to japan.
but having gone, all i can say is: (besides being mind-numbingly COLD…) beijing ROCKED!
of course, vivien was responsible for this (as she has/is/will continue to be the reason all things in my life ROCK )!  it was awesome seeing her switch gears from speaking cantonese to mandarin. she navigated us through the streets as if we were locals! what an incredible skill it is to be multi-lingual!
**SIDE NOTE: upon our return, i’m gonna get miss rosetta stone and learn some mandarin (maybe i’ll also have to look into mandy and pandy)! as is evident, china will continue to develop its global presence and will be a (if not “the“) dominant presence/force in the next 10-25 years. and Lord willing, we hope to return (and hopefully i’ll be fluent in mandarin!).**

upon arrival, i really wasn’t sure what to expect. i remember being somewhat fearful of beijing/china. growing up as an army brat and having lived in germany before “the wall” came down, i remember when watching tv shows, instead of regular commercials pitching consumerproducts, we had to watch 30 second u.s. military spots on the evils of communism + to be wary of foreign enemies of the u.s. i guess this had a lasting influence on me, but ultimately it was irrelevant and unnecessary. what i found was that there was just so much to see/witness and experience in beijing! and the people…? they were SOOO kind and willing to help. it blew me away how warm they were (and how much they SPIT… and coming from a spitter like me, that’s saying A LOT)!
we started with tiananmen square. we were on the same street where history was made about 20 years ago! i remember every tv station in the world played and replayed the lone man in white standing up to the row of tanks coming down the street. weird to think how much has changed since then…
and with the government’s censorship/effort to block details of this tragic event, we were told by locals that many of today’s younger chinese don’t even recognize who is + the significance of “the tank man” and what transpired during the fateful summer of 1989.

the forbidden city in tiananmen square!

we proceeded to enter the forbidden city -  imperial palace from the ming dynasty to the end of the qing dynasty (roughly 5 centuries!). it was declared a world heritage site in 1987, and listed by unesco as the largest collection of preserved ancient wooden structures in the world… another words, this place was MASSIVE!

welcome...

entering the inner courts...

we strolled a few blocks over to a very happening street with shops galore! even saw a joint korea-china venture lotte shopping mall. after being numbed by store after store, we decided to head a few blocks to the famous wángfujing night market…
now THIS is what beijing is about!

not the fastest rickshaw, but the driver was ALWAYS smiling...

viv joining some friends welcoming all to the wangfujing night market...

right as we entered the initial entrance gate we were greeted by: live scorpions + seahorses (why aren’t there any good live scorpions + seahorses joint in seattle?!?! or for that matter… good pig brains?!?!)!

who wants some fresh seahorses + scorpions?!?? YUM!!!

poor things... they didn't know what hit them from behind (PS - it was the tip of a skewer)...

i mean... seriously... eating seahorses?! look how cute these lil' guys look!

when in china…

vivien "the scorpion destroyer" ng...

got a chance to visit the summer palace (a summer resort for empress dowager cixi. a “summer resort“?!?! zaang! ballaz! either that or the emperor got caught doing something bad…). sorry viv, the best summer palace i can offer is shared communal usage of the gazeebo @ greenlake!

viv welcoming you to her... i mean... "the" summer palace.

viv + i noticed the striking resemblance between this famous (and incredible good-looking) buddha and i...

saw both the jinyuan (largest in china) + the place mall (which boasts the world’s largest lcd tv @ over 6,000 sq. m.! beats this kid’s setup hands down!):

i'm thinking viv got the hint what i want for christmas!

after eating scorpions + seahorses, we decided to splurge on dinner @ the BALLA green t house!

but none of the shopping malls in beijing (or anywhere in the world for that matter) compared to the experience we had at the infamous: silk street market! this place was WILD!
packed inside this 5 floor building (including a basement), were more little booths/shops than you could imagine or your brain could even process. the place was SO cramped with shops and each shopkeepers wanted your money! you literally couldn’t walk more than 3-4 feet before being swarmed, grabbed at, pulled and mauled by the shopkeepers.
now… if you can handle this kind of thing (which i really can’t), then this IS your place to bargain and get some cool stuff. and we were so lucky to have a family friend of viv’s come along. he had a reputation of making shopkeepers cry and angry (and sometimes both) with his bargaining skills.
his rules of bargaining?
1. NEVER give or reveal your price until the shopkeeper guesses it and
2. do NOT bargain unless you’re serious about buying it.
thanks to him viv + i have a ridiculously cheap priced north face backpacks (which will come in handy in new zealand + australia)! sure it says, “the morth face” but who cares… 

mutianyu – a section of the great wall. truly an awe-inspiring moment to step foot on this landmark! because it was so cold, viv + i almost had the great wall to ourselves for the entire day. during the peak summer seasons, there are scores and scores of visitors there and nearly impossible to take a picture w/o having some step in front of the camera. another cool feature of mutianyu, they have a toboggan ride you can take down to the visitor’s base area… definitely worth taking!

viv welcoming you to the "mutianyu" great wall of china!

almost there... just another 5 minutes...

this shows how whooped we felt after climbing all the stairs... and it was MORE than "just another 5 mins"!!!

viv finding out the huskies won the apple cup. oh yeah... and that we were at the great wall!

after climbing to the top of the wall, what better way to get down than via toboggan... WHEE!

and what would a visit to beijing be without seeing the architectural marvels of the olympic park?

at the entrance of the beijing olympic park...

running to the bird's nest (with my "the morth face" backpack)!

michael phelps, michael schpelps! look at that perfect form!

and some more random pics of our amazing beijing adventure:

how cool is that? our hotel reminded us what day of the week it was!

pretty much all of asia's got the public transporation thing down pat...

nothing beats sweet potaterz (in the best slingblade voice) from street vendors!

mah-johng being played in the streets by the locals... the grandmas were the most brutal playaz!

ah-ha! the key to eating mickey-d's + staying slim = ride your bike there!

a typical night (and day for that matter) in downtown beijing = TONS of traffic!

zai jian 再见 (for now)…

for more reading:
- where in the world… (part 4)
- where in the world… (part 3)
- where in the world… (part 2)
- where in the world… (part 1)

After just one week in cold China, I (Carly) have developed a yucky cold.  It was only a matter of time really wasn’t it?!  Dave seems to be doing ok and hasn’t caught one… yet!

We have been really enjoying our time in Beijing.  Before coming, admittedly, we imagined a horrible, overcrowded, polluted city.  Nevertheless, we have had a great time in this clean, friendly city.  We have used taxis, buses, tubes and trains and have found them all to be quite easy to use.  From what we’ve been told, Beijing was cleaned up a great deal for the olympics and since then all signs have the English equivalent written on them.  We even tackled the tube during rush hour and found it simple to use.  To order food, you have to point at the menu, rather than try to speak, but that’s not exactly a hardship! 

The highlight of our visit has to be the Great Wall, but we are going to devote a whole post to that later, so I’ll tell you about the other things we’ve been up to!  The Forbidden City was definitely worth braving the cold for.  It’s a large area, right in the centre of Beijing.  We have seen many, many temples on our trip and were getting a bit ‘templed out’.  However, this one greatly impressed us.  There are various little ornate buildings that emperors have used and a great big moat surrounding the whole area.  Nearby is Tiananmen Square, the largest city square in the world.  In the middle, you can see Chairman Mao’s mausoleum and loads of Chinese tourists queuing up to go and see him.

We have also taken a trip across to Olympic Park.  We had heard that it looks really good when lit up at night, so we went for when darkness fell.  However, an ice-cold wind was blowing and after waiting for ages (and walking around a warm shop several times), we gave up and got back on the warm tube!  It was nice to see the huge stadium and swimming cube anyway.

We thought we ought to do the tourist thing and see as many temples as they have, so we headed across town on a local bus to the Summer Palace.  This was nice and set on a hill, so you can take a walk to the top and have a look around the area.  I remember having a nice hot chocolate!  We also visited the Lama temple, which is another intricate building.  I know I’m sounding templed out and we were beginning to feel that way, despite the amazing history of this city.  Don’t worry, the Great Wall totally sorted us out and restored our enthusiasm for tourism.  It was brilliant, but I’ll let Dave tell you about that in a new post soon. 

Time flies indeed. About this time a year ago, I was on my way back from London after my six months stint. This time, I am on my way back from a holiday in Beijing. Weeks seem to go by quickly when one indulges in work. 

After eleven months of work and countless hours of frustrations, I still crave for novelty and excitement. Only for the past eleven months, I was hugely deprived of such. The first quarter of the year was just passing time to look for something I really wanted to do. Total waste of time. Just when I thought I found myself a proper path to take, I realised how wrong I was. Big deal about working for a MNC. Work, it is just a disappointment. Never in my wildest dream have I imagine that white collar workers can be so ignorant, absolutely stupid and ridiculously incompetent. I took about four months to get a clear picture of my job scope, including the time it took me to grasp the gist of this industry as a whole. Two intense months of rage at the workplace. Thereafter, work has been pure boredom. All three lousy qualities plus the lack of motivation I see around me makes me wonder if I will be jaded like them in years to come. Because honestly, tapping my staff pass and swinging that door open every morning makes me more sick of the workplace than I felt the day before. Perhaps, I can blame it on the nature of the industry. Downright and clearly, not me. I like doing sales, I definitely do. But all the work and effort I put in, this job just doesn’t seem worth it. The good news? I need my working experience to get a better job. No pulling of strings and no begging. Counting on myself. Bloody rut I am in. Jesus.

Lately, I have been feeling so restless, it has been difficult to even remotely thrill me.

Then, I came to Beijing and life seems quite on track again. I guess I have been too absorbed in trying to get out of the mundanity of it all. 

So, I am glad I made this trip to Beijing. I remember that life is not all about work. It is about living, about finding pleasures in life.

I hereby present you with the eight treasures of Beijing, known affectionately as Jing to the locals.

1. Forbidden City

Just in front of the Tiananmen Square stands the magnificent Forbidden City. It contains former imperial palaces. As you may guess, the name derived from the fact that the palace was forbidden to everyone except the members of the imperial family and their servants.

2. Tiananmen Square

The biggest square in the world, it is most famous for the 1989 shootings of the unarmed pro-democracy protesters. Numerous similar strikes also took place there. The National Museum of China and the (must see) embalm body of Mao Zedong are within the vicinity. Don’t mind the fog please.

3. The Summer Palace

The Chinese version of Marie Antoinette’s Petit Trianon, Empress Dowager Ci Xi actually embezzled money to expand and reconstruction her massive playground.

4. Beijing Zoo

Three buildings of wholesale clothing, this is a far cry from Wangfujing which houses the big names. Suppliers get their goods from this place so you get cheap stuff! Get off Beijing Zoo station and you find yourself in cheap clothes haven.

5. Pangjiayuan

An encompassing flea market, you can find bric-a-brac, sovenirs, paintings, furnitures, and books. Be prepared to haggle! We managed to get a few books, an antique pipe and some Mao stuff.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

6. Wangfujing

The famous shopping street in Beijing, you can find almost every brand here. (Although I do not remember seeing a Louis Vuitton!) The entrance to the Snack Street can be found here too. However, if you venture far enough, you will find another row of snack shops selling a greater variety of snacks.

7. The Great Wall (Baidaling)

The highlight of my trip; I almost lost my life there. The steps and slopes were crazy steep! On my way down, I slipped but thankfully managed to strike a balance within the split second. If not, my R.I.P will read – Doranne Loke, 23, died climbing The Great Wall of China.

8. Songzhuang (Artist Village)

Said to be the most famous and contain the biggest community of artist in Beijing, it is located in Tong Zhou District. Unfortunately, we lacked the time to make a stop over. Still, I think everyone should go there!!

I will write more next time. Gotta unpack now and prepare for reality tomorrow. Until then, I leave you with happy me -

Love,
Doranne

Mariessa, Tom and JJ in Tiananmen Square

After a delicious buffet breakfast (with really good coffee) we were picked up at the hotel by our Pacific Delights tour guide Tom. He started off our tour of Beijing with Tiananmen Square and the enormous Forbidden City, which is the largest Palace complex in the world. Although it is November, and pretty chilly, these world famous attractions were packed with visitors from China and around the world. Apparently it is like this every day as thousands of people flock to experience the incredible history and scale of the Forbidden City…

Tom not only showed us the popular tourist attractions, but we also had a chance to experience some of the best local noodles and even have lunch at the home of a local family in the old town (Hutong) neighborhood. While there, we met a cricket champion, and of course we were under the impression that the British sport was very popular in China, but to our surprise we soon discovered that they meant cricket fighting champion!

We continued on over the next few days to the Summer Palace and to the Temple of Heaven, which is very popular among senior Beijingers as they gather in the mornings to play cards, Chinese checkers, badminton, Tai Chi and dance.

Stay tuned for our videos about Beijing and next blog about our experiences at the Great Wall and the Yangtze river cruise.

Here are just a few examples of my “Portraits of Strangers,” ranging from summer of 2008 to the present.  These drawings will give you an idea of what I’m talking about, and also serve to form the basic conditions of future collaborative PoS projects.

June – August 2008 in New York City and Florida: In the beginning, I did not draw the portraits using a continuous contour line, but was more concerned with exploring live drawing.  I used a Japanese style Moleskine as my sketchbook, because its concerto style enabled me to create drawings that ran into each other.

September – December 2008, studying at Fudan University and travelling throughout China:  I used watercolor in China because I was inspired by…

“True virtue in a life is lived like water.” -Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu (or, The Way and Its Power by The Father of Taoism)

“Life starts with ocean; humans, as lords of creation, grow on Earth.” – from the Shanghai World Expo 2010 “The Wings of Human Dreams”

I also decided to do an oil painting of this woman I spoke broken Mandarin to at the Summer Palace in Beijing, because oil paints were very cheap back in Shanghai, and I had never done one before.  I put numbers on the bottom that recall the phone numbers scrawled all over the walls and sidewalks of China, advertising for a variety of services.  These numbers evoke a mugshot, how we’re statistics, just a drop in the ocean.

January – May 2009, studying Film and Television on Boston University’s London Program:

Clockwise from top left: man I saw twice on the tube; woman behind me in line for Ryan Air reimbursement tickets after our flights were cancelled and spent the night in Stansted Airport; man also waiting for the bus in Positano, Italy; Brits on the tube; women in Venice, Italy, eating at the same restaurant as my friends and I.

All the players, drawn by various Coney members and myself

These photos (not taken by myself) are from the game “Guess Whose Portrait?” which I designed to be play-tested at a PlayDay in March 2008 facilitated by London-based group Coney.  At the time, I was helping out with some of their projects through my internship at Solar Associates.

If you want to play your own version of  “Guess Who”, there’s no need to go out an buy it…just assemble some family or friends and draw each other’s portraits.  Collage, or photographing are okay too.  Then paste the portraits on paper, get some cardboard and cut slits into it for the cards to stick into. Et voilà! You have created a personalized “Guess Whose Portrait?” game.

I suggest you don’t draw two portraits of everyone, though, but instead photocopy one portrait for both game boards.  We ran into a bit of a problem since the two drawings were often drawn by different people and used different colors, or someone had taken off their sweatshirt, hat, etc. so the portrait was very different.  As a result, you couldn’t win the game!

]]> http://mytriptobeijing.wordpress.com/2009/11/15/day-2-video-summer-palace-and-fragrant-hill/ Sun, 15 Nov 2009 15:22:44 +0000 Marvin Lee http://mytriptobeijing.wordpress.com/2009/11/15/day-2-video-summer-palace-and-fragrant-hill/

Which animal do you think APS students love?

Day 1 (27th Nov 08)

After the press photo-taking session, the delegates were divided into two buses and off we go to the Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) for catch the flight with AirAsia.The return air tickets were not too expensive mainly because we gained sponsors from university, private companies and donations from the public. After 7 hours of bumpy ride in the bus, we finally arrived at LCCT. If you have extra time before boarding, there are a bundle of facilities that will buy you some time off. Do check out the eateries (Mc D’s, Coffee Bean, KFC, Mary Brown, The Chocolate Boutique, Old Town), duty-free shops, convenient stores (7-eleven), foreign exchange counters and most of all……”space” for people like us to shoot a few syok sendiri photos.

  Ladies, just smile and wave

Day 2 (28th Nov 08)

I’ll confess: as beautiful and interesting as China was, I found myself more interested in the people than in the landscapes and buildings. The art and architecture of Asia has always been interesting to me, but the character of the people is something you don’t find as easily in books or libraries.

One of the really cool things about Beijing is how active the parks are. You’ll see people grouping together for dancing, activities, or just exercising, at almost any hour of the day. Even at sightseeing locations like the Summer Palace, there were people throughout the space enjoying the environment and the scenery.

I caught a shot of a calligraphy artist doing his thing, and he was just one of several capturing the mellow waters and cooling breezes of the artificial lake near the Summer Palace.

Enko Photography – event, portrait, and artistic photographers in Portland, Oregon

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Today is a sleep-in, restful day.  I slept till 7:30 and then had a leisurely breakfast with Mom and Grandpa in the hotel.  We are now editing pictures and waiting to have lunch with Wang Ning, whose law office is a couple floors down and in the next tower from our rooms.  Last night, Joe came in with a graduation gift of 500 yuan from Wang Ning, which I will use to buy presents without regret.  Now I have to go back two days and write out all that’s happened.  Deep breath.

Two days ago, we woke in time for our usual 6:30 breakfast and organized our day with list-making and map-marking.  We decided to take the morning to wind down a bit, so Grandpa and I headed down to the pool.  We signed up inside the spa lobby and were handed towels and locker keys – neat little plastic stretchy wrist bands with a magnetic disc that magically clicks open the locker upon contact.  I changed into my suit and rinsed my feet in the little foot bath on my way into the pool area.  I was testing the water with my toe (frigid) while waiting for Grandpa, when a little Chinese woman ran over all in a panic and asked where my bathing cap was.  Now, I have dealt with picky German swimming pools bent on ridiculous rules, but I had never been in a hotel pool where I was forced to wear a swimming cap.  In fact, I’ve never put on a swimming cap in my life, because… I don’t swim, I wade.  From my quick observation, this pool was most definitely designed for wading – no lanes, steep grade, asymmetrical shape.  I tried a short protest, but she insisted that I buy one (and Grandpa too, as he had just arrived and gotten the same demands), so we pulled on our caps and took some quick splashy laps before deciding it was time to get a move on with the day.

On the way to the subway station, we took a walk around the back alleys to look for some street food snacks.  We bought some moon cakes at a bakery and then Mom and Grandpa found a street vendor selling roasted sweet potatoes off the back of his bike.

Grandpa chows down on a freshly roasted sweet potato.

We took the subway to a terminal where we thought we could transfer to the airport line, but it turned out that the Airport Express line is a whopping 25 yuan (sure, that’s like $3, but when you’ve been paying 2 yuan per entrance, it’s an outrage), and we were not falling for that.  Instead, we went outside to hail a taxi to take us to the art district I’d been aching to see.  It took a while to find a guy who would go by the meter, as most wanted to charge us 150 yuan for a short distance that cost 20 yuan by the meter, but finally we climbed in and drove out to Factory 798.

Mom and I pose next to the sign for the new art district in Beijing - an old factory area where the old warehouses have been turned into studios and galleries.

The trip was well worth it – the set-up along the streets of galleries and museums in what used to be old factory warehouses, was very well done.

Alleyways leading between old factory buildings are dotted with tiny studio spaces and larger warehouse galleries.

I even found some new Fanta flavors (a favorite activity of mine when visiting new countries – my favorite being Fanta Limon in Spain) – apple and peach.

The old factory ceiling is left intact, but bright windows provide nice light for the paintings on display in the large gallery area

We had a lot of fun visiting different art media – photography, paintings, sculpture, installations – and ate lunch at the Timezone 8 bookstore.

Mom and Grandpa stand in front of an art installation in the CCCA museum.

A mom yells something in her daughter's ear over the roar of wind machines blowing on painted flags depicting sick and orphaned children.

After wandering around the complex for several hours, time was running out to visit the Olympic Village before dark as we had planned, so we hailed another cab.  During the drive, the driver’s cell phone rang to the tune of “As Long as You Love Me” by the Backstreet Boys and Mom and I shared a little chuckle at the American pop culture that the Chinese deem worthy of importing – even ten years later.

Mom ponders the architectural soundness of all the Olympic structures that were thrown up almost overnight. They seem to be fine - and visually impressive to boot.

I take the lead in the torch-carrying procession of Olympic-color clad wire women.

The Olympic Village was packed – I imagine with people still on vacation – and I got my first modeling offer.  An eager, giggling teenage Chinese girl approached me waving her camera, so I went to take it out of her hand – thinking she wanted me to photograph her with her boyfriend in front of the Bird’s Nest.  Instead she waved her arms saying “No! Picture!”, which I eventually interpreted to mean that she wanted her picture taken with me.  I smiled complacently as she held tight to my arm and kicked myself later for not taking a picture with our camera as well.

The entrance to the Olympic National Stadium - affectionately nicknamed "The Bird's Nest"

Mom and Grandpa dodge photoshoots and starry-eyed tourists to walk over to the Bird's Nest

The subway ride back to the hotel was an adventure.  Not realizing at this point that subway tickets are station-specific, we had bought an extra one, which Grandpa attempted to use at the entrance gate.  The angry little cartoon X beeped obnoxiously for several tries until he went to the booth to complain, while we waited on the opposite side.  During his hand-gestured discussion with the ticket booth operator, which lasted a good 10 minutes, it seemed that the entire Olympic Stadium emptied itself into our little subway station, all pouring through the gates no problem.  They proceeded to smush themselves against the sliding glass doors along the platform, making sure to keep us at a two-train wait.

At the hotel, I took some much-needed Zyrtec and closed my eyes for a bit before hitting the streets for supper.  We started out down Wangfujing Street – the big shopping street somewhat reminiscent of Time’s Square with its towering neon signs – and searched down side streets for a make-shift food vendor market, which both Grandpa and Uncle Joe remembered.

Walking down Wangfujing Street at night in search of food.

In the few years that had passed since their last visit, it seems that the “snack street” had given way to chain restaurants and shoe stores, but we did eventually find a side street with some outdoor stalls, selling assorted insects, dumplings, skewers, wraps, etc.

Crispy, crunchy grasshoppers and caterpillars on skewers await customers braver than me.

We walked past the scorpions and snakes to pick up a more palatable mu-shu pork wrap.  Joe was disappointed in the touristy set-up and walked on to eat at the post office again.  We, on the other hand, made the mistake of stopping at an even more touristy restaurant and paying too much for bad service and mediocre food.  That’s what we get for being sucked in by lights and glitzy decorations.

After dinner, we walked a block over to our much-anticipated foot massage.  Grandpa left to go explore the area, and Mom and I treated ourselves to a 70-minute massage by some very talkative, but not English-proficient, Chinese men.  They started by massaging our shoulders and backs while our feet soaked, then spent the next 60 minutes stuttering out questions about our origin and purpose in Beijing while rubbing our feet.  They asked us if we’d ever been to Las Vegas.  We laughed, shook our heads, and drank our Oolong tea.

Grandpa came and sat with us near the end and tried to explain his family history, but I think they ended up thinking his father was an assassin rather than a minister.  Our rejuvenated legs took us back to the hotel and to sleep.

Yesterday morning was another early start.  A car had been arranged to meet us at eight – Jing-Jing’s driver would then take us to the Great Wall at Badaling.

The bathroom is the first necessary stop after the long drive out of the city to the Great Wall

Mom takes a breather hiking up the super-steep steps to the first guard tower on the Great Wall.

A Great Wall paraphernalia vendor leaves his tea to steep in a guard tower window.

The wall really does stretch on forever in all directions and it’s extremely steep.  It is, of course, a photographer’s playground and I blamed my frequent stops along the climb on the need to take a picture instead of admitting to my seizing leg muscles and stinging lungs.

The Great Wall at Badaling

We went up and down one side out of the “base camp,” enjoying the interesting translations of warning signs along the way.

... what?

After the equally long hike to the parking lot, we finally found our driver and car and piled in to drive to the Summer Palace.  On the way, we stopped at a restaurant outside of Beijing and had the best food yet – corn soup, scallion pancakes and delicious tender juicy Jaozi.  I ate my heart out and practically rolled into the car, only to walk it all off at the Summer Palace – the imperial retreat stomping grounds.

Lotus grows rampant on the lake at the Summer Palace.

Musicians strum out some traditional tunes in the Long Corridor of the Summer Palace

We walked around the grounds, enjoying the tourists and breathing in some more fresh air.  People throughout the park were playing cards and eating corn on the cob, as if it were any old park where you would spend an afternoon before running errands and making dinner, instead of a tourist trap that charges an entrance fee to everything they can get away with.

At one side of the park, steps descend into a replication of the town of Suzhou – a watery village that hugs a canal.  There were a few people wandering in and out of shops, but compared to the rest of the park – and Beijing in general – it seemed like a colorful ghost town.

A young couple walks along the canal in the miniature "Suzhou" village at the Summer Palace.

We decided to take the boat across the lake to exit from the other side.

A dragon-shaped ferry boat crosses the lake from the Summer Palace grounds to an island in the middle of the lake.

A girl looks into the water from the bridge over the Summer Palace lake.

A quick break at the hotel and then we met Grandpa’s old Merck pal, Zhou for our ping-pong outing!  We went in the basement of what resembled a Chinese YMCA and watched sweaty, middle-aged men whack a tiny white ball at each other with amazing speed and accuracy.  They were all dressed in sporting clothes of course.

A member of the SB Table Tennis Club practices with a partner in the basement of a community ping-pong club.

Dinner was eaten across the street at a Mongolian Hot Pot restaurant, which was an adventure in chopsticking for me.  A hot pot is placed in the middle of the table and filled with boiling water, which stays heated from a hot coal brick burning in the middle of the metal pot.  An array of raw meats, vegetables and spices then fill the rest of the table space, and each person dips the raw stuff into the boiling water, making sure to twirl the meat or veggie with his or her chopsticks until thoroughly cooked.

Huo Guo - A pot filled with boiling water, in which meat are dipped and cooked, creating a broth. Meat is eaten as it is cooked. After the broth is fully-flavored, vegetables and Tofu are added and eaten like a soup. We were directed to this restaurant by Yongdong Zhou, a friend of Grandpa's from Merck.

We had great dinner conversation, and I learned that everyone really does hold my grandfather in just as high a regard as I do, as Zhou recounted happy and complimentary memories of the time he spent with Grandma and Grandpa when they lived in China.  We went to bed happy and exhausted from a day of marathon walking and eating.

The American and I went to the Summer Palace (Yihe Yuan) today. The complex is just on the outskirts of Beijing, now connected to by the newly opened Subway line 4.

The site and the gardens (which were added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1995) were used by the Chinese emporers since the Jin Dynasty (1115-1234) but got their current shape in the 17th century. I have to say, this is one of my favourite places in Beijing, even though it was quite busy on this sunny Saturday afternoon.

the peterhof letniy dvorets (peterhof summer palace) is regarded as the russian versailles. this photo was taken outside of the palace, inner gardens and outer gardens. it was actually outside of the boundaries, closer to the wild in a more natural setting. it was here where i found this other window as i observed a different perspective of the sky.

Beijing, Tag 2.
Schon früh morgens trafen sich die ersten beim Frühstück wieder um voller Motivation Beijing zu entdecken. Meine Gruppe entschied sich für den Summer Palace.

Ein wunderschöner hügeliger Park mit vielen Tempeln, geprägt von verschiedenen Dynastien und dem Buddhismus. Nach dem entspannenden Rundgang wollten wir uns eine Riksha-Tour zur nächsten U-Bahn-Staion leisten.

Und so sind wir dann in die erste Touri-falle getappt. Die ein-kilometerlange Strecke kostete jeden von uns 4€. Im vergleich – ein Taxi bis ans andere Ende der Stadt hätte uns das gleiche gekostet.  Aber was wäre ein Urlaub ohne wenigstens einmal abgezockt zu werden. Ich habe sowieso eher hier das Gefühl, dass ich hier die Chinesen abzocke. So auch am Abend. Unser Hostelleiter hatte uns eine Adresse für einen guten Club geben, worauf sich dann die ganze Klasse auf den Weg gemacht hat. Mit der U-Bahn waren wir schnell in dem „Party-Bezirk“, der gefährlich nach einer Kiez-Kopie aussah. Wie es sich für uns Kommunikationsstudenten gehört sind wie dann auch gleich ins „Propaganda“ gegangen. Ein echt netter Club, der sich über vier Etagen erstreckt. Das Beste hier waren jedoch die Preise. Der Mojito für umgerechnet 2,40 – die GUTE Mischung.  Als der Barkeeper dann noch die Karten austeilte mit denen wir die ganze Nacht für die Hälfte trinken konnten war die Party schon im Gange. Ein Getränk wurde nach dem nächsten Bestellt und wir fingen fast an „mit fuffies im Club“ zu schmeißen. Eine tolle Nacht!
Der nächste Morgen war weniger Toll, wieder standen wir früh auf der Matte – „wer saufen kann kann auch China angucken“. Nach einem ausgiebigen Frühstück im Restaurant ging es dann zum Silk-Market einkaufen. Hier setzte sich die Dekadenz der Europäer weiter durch. Die Levi`s Jeans wurde liegengelassen, weil der Händler sich nicht auf 5€ einigen wollte und der Armani-Anzug wurde so grade für 35€ mitgenommen. Hier auf dem Markt musste ich feststellen, dass Chinesinnen ein Fable für blaue Augen haben, fast jede Händlerin hat mich darauf angesprochen. Die Versuche, das als Vorteil bei Preisverhandlungen zu nutzen, scheiterten allerdings kläglich.  Trotzdem hatte ich wirklich Spaß durch die Gänge zu schlendern und mich von jeder Ecke anschnacken zu lassen: „You needa T-Shiirta, look very good quality“.

Passend zum Sonnenuntergang hatte ich mich mit Aryan zum Fotografieren des „Bird-Nest“ verabredet.  Sieht schon toll aus das Ding.  Viel Zeit hatten wir leider nicht im Olympic Park, da schon um 21:35h  unser Nachtzug nach Shanghai ging.
Der Pekinger Bahnhof ist eine weitere Attraktion. In Europa ist es normal, vorm Zug anzustehen. In Beijing stehen die Leute an um in den BAHNHOF reinzukommen. Verrückt. Die Zugfahrt war sehr angenehm. Ich habe mir auf der fahrt „Public Enemies“ angeschaut, der meiner Meinung nach mehr durch seine Kameraführung und seine Schauspieler als durch die Story glänzt.

Jetzt komme ich grade vom ersten Rundgang durch das Zentrum von Shangahi. Man sieht sofort, dass es einem größeren westlichen Einfluss unterliegt, sieht ein bisschen aus wie New York, Bilder sollen folgen.

Bis später.

there is still hope.
the only tulip in the whole garden with an injured stem. it faces up: still nice and healthy.

Kat taking one of many photos at the 颐和园 Summer Palace

I can’t actually remember what I was doing on specific days but fortunately I am an adept stapler (if that makes sense… basically I am keeping ticket stubs and the like in a notebook).  By the way, this gets really long:

• On the evening of the 4th, Kat and I sought out Russian food and we ended up at a place in Dongzhimen called Traktirr Pushkin.  I thought it was a decent meal, but it was substandard for Kat who has standards for such things.  When I got back to Ben and Verena’s, they were watching Twilight with Jake and I caught the last half hour or so and it was absolutely ridiculous.  Later, we watched The Proposal.
• October 5th: I got up relatively early and returned to the Summer Palace with Kat.  It was busier than when I first visited but it is the Golden Week.  We had lunch in Wudaokou and returned to Ben’s before going for Peking Duck with Ben, Verena, Jake, and Lorelei (who is in town from Shanghai) and her friends Cedric and Philippe.  We ate at Dadong which is supposed to be one of the best places for 北京烤鸭 roast duck in the city and while it was very good, I think I’ve had duck of equal or better quality in Toronto with less hype.  The accompanying dishes were all right.  Later, drinks in 三里屯 Sanlitun and the rest of them went clubbing at Destination but I went back to Ben’s and caught up on Desperate Housewives.
• On the 6th, I finally moved to Kat’s where I stayed the rest of my time in Beijing.  I met her at Miss Me Coffee & Cake where she spends most of her time after work, studying for her CFA.  That night, we went to see Zhang Yimou’s production of Giacomo Puccini’s Turandot at the Bird’s Nest with her roommates.  I enjoyed what I could of the opera itself and was very impressed with the tenor who sang the part of the Prince (and I have some thoughts on the production itself in the Bird’s Nest that I plan to write later), but omigood the family sitting across the aisle from us was sooooo annoying.  I basically had to tell them to shut up, except without words, because my Chinese ain’t so great yet.  I accepted mild chatter and eating-noises because we were in a stadium and people were clearly explaining to each other what was going on, but this family (a grown son and his parents) were literally just chatting: awful.
• The next day, Kat and I got our hair cut at a place just outside her apartment complex.  I think it went well.  This wasn’t one of those loud music-blaring salons that are so common, but I relatively low key one.  I insisted on skipping the first one we saw because of the crazy hair the staff member standing in the window had, and then we skipped the second one.  We ended up at the third because it had recognisable brands in the window.  Afterward, we had lunch with Michele (one of Kat’s roommates) and I think we just killed time meeting up with Ben, Verena, and her IR friends at Lush for trivia night.  The night ended again with dessert and the novelty of dining on swings.
• At this point, I’m having trouble distinguishing Thursday and Friday, but one of those days, we just hung out at Kat’s cafe and the Sculpting in Time in Lido and basically chilled out.  When we got home, we weren’t sure what we would do about dinner, but Kat’s other roommate Cameron had their fellow English teacher Brian (who I met on the plane), his Chinese girlfriend, and her friend over and they made dinner and it was yum.
• On the other day, we set out to the art district 操场地 Caochangdi.  It was really cool, and maybe that’s another post, but I hope to go back again, especially when it isn’t the holidays and when most of the galleries aren’t closed.  We did see a few cool exhibitions though.  After that, we made our way to 押宝路 Alien Street to look for better Russian food but somehow we ended up at the other location of Mirch Masala.  After that, we head to the Drum & Bell District to a 疆进酒吧 Jiangjinjiu Bar to check out something advertised as, “Panjir Uighur folk band make the sounds of Xinjiang heard in the alleys of Gulou.”
• Saturday was my last day in Beijing.  Kat and I went to 五道口 Wudaokou to have lunch with Ben at BLCU; said goodbye to him and Jake and later Verena.  Succeeded at buying some long underwear at Uniqlo (and wish I bought some more, because they’re comfy) but failed at finding any good ankle boots (apparently my feet are too big for China).  I bought some sandwiches and returned to Kat’s to chill out and get ready to leave.  Brian and Corey (also from the plane) were there for a little bit, and then Kat walked me to my taxi which got me to the station with perfect timing.  The driver was very friendly when we started talking during the crazy traffic jam close to the station.
• Sunday morning I got back and all was chill.
• Monday we went back to school and I think it went well.  I remembered thinking the day before that I return to spending about 7 RMB per meal on weekdays eating in the school cafeterias (as opposed to 30-50 RMB eating out in Beijing) but of course Marco texts me to say that a bunch of people are going out for Arab food again at the restaurant where we celebrated my birthday and we ended up spending almost 70 kuai per person.
• Yesterday was similarly chill except that we had our first (optional) evening class.  At first I thought, o no, but I actually liked the opportunity for a study hall sort of time to focus and work.  Li Laoshi will be there Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday evenings from 7pm and I plan to make every Tuesday and Thursday as long as I can stand the cold.  Also, I met a friend of a friend of Jenny’s who will be going to study Spanish in Beijing so that the government can post her to a Spanish-speaking country to teach Chinese.  She seemed interesting and I hope to keep in touch.

Long: Over the last decade, there has been a growing underground movement of mainland Chinese film directors who have been creating  films that, in the eye of the Chinese cultural boards, are not “appropriate” and too controversial.  As we all know, the Chinese film rating agencies are notoriously tough on what gets shown in media, no exceptions. Generally known as the “6th generation”, these films are much harsher in their depictions of a modernizing China and it’s people. Does that mean that this is the end of Zhang Yimou and films such as “Heroes” or “House of Flying Daggers”? Not quite. Due to heavy censorship law, most of these 6th Generation directors have either been banned from making films in China or have even been forced out of the country altogether (ie. Li Yang for the absolutely brutal “Blind Shaft” and “Blind Mountain”). Right after “Summer Palace” was screened at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival, Lou Ye received a 5 year ban from film making. Now with that out of the way…

I first came across Lou Ye in his second feature film, “Purple Butterfly”, which by Chinese standards was a fairly big budget movie starring Zhang Yiyi. Though the plot was an overwrought and convoluted mess with interweaving story lines and characters that barely graced each other, aesthetically, it was and still is, one of the most beautiful films I have ever seen, a boiler pot film noir dance through occupied China at the dawn of the Japanese invasion. It was cinema love at first sight, sense, story, plot be damned.

“Suzhou River”, his first film, had elements of the hypnotic pacing of “Purple Butterfly” but was placed within the simple plot device of a man looking for a lost lover. In terms of scale, being a first feature film, the bar for “Suzhou River” was set much lower than “Purple Butterfly” which worked to Lou Ye’s favor. Surreal in tone and mood, “Suzhou River” came across as a lucid dream. I can say without any shred of doubt that this rivals Wong Kar Wai’s “Fallen Angels” and “Chungking Express” and I fully recommend  watching it if you can find it.

With these two precedents, I expected big things for “Summer Palace”, though I tried to keep my expectations low despite the massive amount of press hype that it received at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival. I wanted to really love this film but unfortunately, I was left frustrated. It was both, as sublime as “Suzhou River” and as frustrating as “Purple Butterfly”. It had the potential to be one of the best mainland Chinese films I had ever seen but, for reasons I will get into later, it lost its way half-way through and ended up being 40 minutes over it’s effective running length. The first words out of my mouth as the credits rolled by, “I’m not sure if we actually watched the final cut of the film.”

At it’s core, “Summer Palace” is the coming-of-age story of Yu Hong, a country girl who finds herself accepted into Peking University. She leaves behind a childhood boyfriend for life in the city. It’s a fairly standard trope.  At the university, moody andn introverted Yu Hong meets Li Ti, a classmate, who is the opposite in terms of personality. Li Ti introduces her to her boyfriend Ruo Guo and his friend Zhou Wei. Sex and passion and early twenties angst is exchanged freely among the dingy dormitory rooms.  Looming in the background is the social upheaval of a 1980s’ China, ultimately leading to the events of Tienanmen Square. It’s in these scenes that Lou Ye is at his best, just as he was in “Suzhou River”: small self-contained and claustrophobic worlds where it’s the emotions that are epic in nature and not the events themselves.

The actors, the writing, the performances, come together seamlessly here. The writing and narration from Yu Hong’s perspective is especially strong. I’m not a fan of monologues or internal narrations, but it is handled well here. There is an emotional weight that keeps the film grounded. Though slow in pacing, the cinematography keeps things moving. It’s frenetic, claustrophobic and even hysterical at points in keeping up with the characters. There’s a resonance from scene to scene and when it finally culminated in the Tinamemen Square incident, it came as punch in the gut in terms of move making.

Just the same as the political climate, the relationships acted out between these characters are volatile and swing wildly from euphoria, longing, hate, remorse, and ultimately regret and resignation, with affairs happening upon affairs. And just as it was with America in the 1960s and 70s, when social values are are being upended, sex is always the first manifestation. “Summer Palace” is heavy on sex.  I thought it was getting a bit excessive towards the end, but it is not gratuitous and is presented in context.

The film commits its most fatal mistake. Lou Ye does the unthinkable for a director of his caliber. He inserts a time-lapse and flashes forwards a few years later. This is a no-no in Film School 101. And not only that, the development of the characters, quite a substantial part, is explained to us through on-screen exposition. Yes through epilogue style text, Final Fantasy style. Personally, I was taken aback: it was a slap in the face.

More promiscuous sex ensues and more affairs. Other characters suddenly appear and disappear. In the first act, where the relationships between characters build within close proximity of each other, it works great. But thousands of miles removed, forlorn looks into the distance and sullen faces in the cold, I got the feeling that the film was trying a bit too hard to push it’s emphasis on the alienation, emptiness and confusion of it’s character. The youthful energy that had driven the film was gone and a plot-cram was underway. In trying to portray the confusion and aimlessness of its characters, “Summer Palace” also ends up being aimless and confusing. Not to mention that it succeeded in burning me out emotionally with it’s complete bleakness.

I’m all for emotional brutality in films. Sometimes it’s necessary. There was one day where I had sprained my ankle and was bed-ridden for a day. I watched “Million Dollar Baby”, “21 Grams” and “Mystic River” back-to-back-to-back and made it through the night without commuting suicide. But the second act of “Summer Palace” absolutely goes for the tightening of the noose.

I think there were plenty of cuts and edits that could have been made for “Summer Palace” to be the film that it could have been, but considering that “Summer Palace” was a labor of love (allegedly auto-biographical) for  for Lou Ye, even risking his career to see the film through, restraint was not in the cards. I wanted to love this “Summer Palace”, but ultimately, it shows itself to be too ambitious for it’s running time. If you are in your mid twenties and feeling lost in life or burned from a previous relationship, it’s worth a watch.

Akhirnya abis kita BF jam 9 pagi aie2 itu jemput pake mobil sedan tua, gak tau merk apa heheh kita dapet harga 400 yuan buat nganter ke great wall sama ke summer palace dan tar dia tungguin kita di tempat parkir. Temen adek gw gak mau ikut..hahah males kali yah nemenin…yah gak apa2 lah jadi kita pergi aja tanpa dia…

Perjalanan lumayan makan waktu lama, kita kan tinggal di pusat kota…dan tembok besar itu di pinggiran kota…sampe sana kita yang kaga ada sejam, cuman foto2 terus udah balik lagi kemobil untuk perjalanan selanjutnya…aie2 itu aja sampe bingung cepet amat…kita blg cuman foto2 aja sih heheh…lagian gw udah pernah kesana juga dulu…yah gitu2 aja kan, gw bukan yg suka manjat sampe puncaknya dan dapet sertifikat hahahah..tp katanya sekarang bisa naik kereta gantung..gak tau juga deh belom nyobain…tar kalo eksana lagi deh baru nyobain

Ini dia foto kita berpanas2 di tembok besar….

Dari Great Wall kita lanjut lagi ke Summer Palace (Istana Musim Panas) di tengah kota…terkenal dengan kapal lautnya yang terbuat dari marble dan terkenal sebagai taman yang besar…trus ada jembatan dengan lobang ada 17 biji hehehehe.

Seperti biasa cuman sebentar foto2 aja, malah kapal marblenya kaga ketemu…mana rame banget banyak tur2 lain…akhirnya abis foto2 yah masuk lagi ke mobil…oh iya pas kita sampe depan pintu masuk ada polisi kaya mau razia2 mobil gelap (yg kita sewa) jadi aie2 itu pesen kita tar bilang aja bahwa kita emang kenal dan temenan bukan yg gw nyewa jasa…gw sih oke2 aja hehehe….

Sebetulnya rute 400 yuan itu untuk anter kita dari tembok besar sampe istana musim panas aja…tapi karena kita mau ke tempat lain dan sampe malam, jadi gw nego sama si aie, gw mau ke IKEA, mau ke Hard Rock Cafe Beijing, mau ke kantor pos beli perangko buat koleksi, mau ke tempat belanja murah kaya mangga duanya dia (Xiu Suei Market) kalo kaga salah inget, intinya banyak bule disana…harus pinter2 nawarnya deh..jual dr kw 1 sampe kw jelek heheheh mau baju, tas, jam tangan, baju anak2 semua yg merk2 gitu tapi tembakan hahaha, terus terakhir kita minta rute ke Wang Fu Jing…dia ada sejalanan isinya mall semua yah kalo di Singapore kaya Orchard Road..

Hasil akhir nego dengan rute yg gw paparkan diatas adalah nambah 100 yuan, jadi 500 yuan..okelah gw pikir…dr pd gw ribet cari taxi, terus mau naik bis kaga tau rutenya..bahasa mandarin orang Beijing aksennya aneh…penekanan pake leher…jadi bukan bahasa mandarin nasional (Pudong Hoa) yah umpama bahasa inggris ada aksen amerika, aksen british, dll…yah ini juga sama tiap kota aksennya lain2…nah untuk aksen nasional yah pake bahasa mandarin yang puding hoa itu…lucu yah…kalo di indo kan emang ada bahasa batak, jawa, sunda, dll tp kalo ngomong bair pd ngerti yah pake bahasa indo…nah kl ini semua sama bhs mandarin aksennya aja yang lain2 heheheh…musti tajemin kuping deh..

Foto2 di dalam Istana Musim Panas yang gede bangettttttttt..tapi kita gak keliling semuanya….habis males dan lagi juga udah pernah hahahah..

Dari situ gara2 udah laper kita minta anter ke rute2 yg tadi disebut diatas, tentu aja dia yang autr aja karena dia yang tau jalan paling enak kemana dulu…pertama2 ke kantor pos beli deh perangko kebanyakan yah yang olimpiade gitu belinya deh hehehe…

Barangkali si aie2 itu bingung yah, biasanya kalo wisatawan ke sana minta anter ke Tembok Besar, Istana Terlarang, Istana Musim Panas, Temple of Heaven…kok yang ini ke Hard Rock Cafe, IKEA, Kantor Pos hahahhaa. Lalu gw bilang aja sama aie itu, dulu gw udah pernah kesemua tempat itu…

Dari situ kita ke IKEA sampe dia bengong tanya gw IKEA (I Cia)  yang jual peralatan rumah itu kan? Gw blg iyah…maybe dia mau make sure aja jangan sampe udah anter jauh2 kaga taunya salah hahahah…nah disana dong baru kita lunch paket2 dia yang murmer tapi murah dan banyak porsinya…disana kaga beli apa2 mau bawanya juga susah jadi yah liat2 aja cuci mata

Si aie abis kita ke mobil bingung kok kaga beli apa2, gw blg aja tadi lunch…dan dari sini mau minta ke HR…dia anterin kita tapi nyasar bo…kurang beken HR di sini soalnya disini semua tempat jalanan atau apapun pake lafal mandarin, jd kalo mau kemari sebaiknya tau nama tempat itu dalam bahasa mandarin, dan tau nama jalannya dimana, kalo perlu bawa tulisan mandarinnya biar si driver taxi atau org2 bisa baca…krn kl nanya pake bahasa inggris sampe bego juga dia bengong…

Karena nyasar gw lgs SLI ke adek gw suruh dia ngomong lgs ke aie2 ini alamatnya dimana, after di jelasin adek gw baru deh dia nyetir kesana..trus dia bengong…tempat ini bener..gw blg iyah..trus dia manggut2…gw bilang aja kalo lain kali ada yang mau minta anterin kemari jadi kan tau.

Disana seperti biasa beli shot glass (dulu gw mau beli dia kaga ada stok lagi abis) jadilah beli kaos2 oleh2 , beli shot glass…sampe abis 1000 yuan…hiks…sampe ada bule tanya…(gara2 kita bayar pake $) huahahaha dia bilang are you american???? no…Japan??? no….So..where??? Others….. tambah bingung deh tuh orang hahaha (dia bingung)gara2 kita keluarin $ gepokan gitu yg belom di tuker ke yuan (ada sih stok yuan) tp buat belanja barang palsu hahahaha kan disana harus cash…kl pake $ rugi bandar…

Kelar langsung gak buang waktu pergi ke Xiu Sue Market…dia ada berapa lantai gitu, per lantai udah di set pakaian pria, pakaian wanita, jam tangan dan tas, aksesories, dll. Kita lihat2 aja trus yang beli jam tangan titipan branded kw 1 huahuahua jadi borong 6 biji campur2 rolex, tag heuer, longines, dll

Banyak banget bule2 yang cuman bawa foto tanyain ada yg model ini kaga…makanya kudu pinter2 nawar, trik nawar di sana kaga blh main langsung potong kaya nawar di mg 2 yg ada dia kaga bakalan jual itu barang ke kita…nanti dia bakal teriak ke seluruh lorong itu kalo kita mau beli barang jangan ada yg jual ke kita, karena nawarnya keterlaluan..misalnya neh hara baang dia buka 1000, kita tawar 250 nah dia pasti marah2 kita dikatain gila walaupun betulnya itu barang bisa kita dapet dengan harga 150…

Biasanya gw triknya suruh dia turunin harga dulu karena gw mau beli serius dan tolong kasih gw harga paling rendah..dari situ tar kita nego2 sampe dapet harga sepakat…gitu trus baru bayar, jgn lupa cek barang dulu yang di beli jangan sampe ada yang cacat segala…anyway jam palsu itu sampe sekarang masih oke2 aja heheheh

Barang yang di cari udah dapet, balik lagi ke mobil…si aie itu komplen ke gw elo orang dari tadi minta kesana kemari kesana kemari tapi kaga ada yang di beli..(mungkin dia merasa rutenya pindah2 jadid ia kesel) gw blg aja gw ada beli tapi gw taro tas jam tangan gw….

Gara2 dia ngomong gitu gw blg ferry dong apa kita tar ke wang fu jing naik taksi aja deh si aie udah manyun..dr pd dia ngomel2..ya udah setuju deh kita minta dia anter kita ke hotel aja dan langsung bayar dia 500..trus mungkin si aie2 itu gak enak sama kita kali yah…jadi dia bilang mau dopr kita di hotel taro barang belanjaan trus dia akan anterin kita ke Wang Fu Jing nanti kita pulang sendiri…okelah kalo gitu…

Di sana gak bisa beli apa2, sampe sana juga udah malam, trus kita belom makan…cuman sempet liat2 toku merchandiser olimpiade..lucu2 loh dari pin, gantungan kunci, perangko, boneka, mug, topi, dll. Sayang aja mahal jadi gw kaga beli….kaga taunya nyokap gw beli ngeset itu boneka hahahah…

Gak lama makan malam…eh hujan mengguyur dengan deras….seperti kemaren pulang2 susah cari taxi yang ada jalan kaki ke hotel again!!!! Duh serasa butuh pijet refleksi deh…malam2 sampe hotel malah mandi beres2 koper…padahal pegel dan encok banget…besok pagi harus terbang ke Senchen neh….

Summer Palace

If I lived in Beijing, I would probably spend a lot of time at the Summer Palace. It’s in the northern part of the city, and is basically a gigantic public park with a lake in the middle. We had no idea how majestic and truly huge the park would be before we went, and luckily we had our walking shoes on. One thing Beijing has really done right is their parks (and their public bathrooms that accompany them.)

For someone who lived in the congestion and busy-ness of Beijing everyday, this park would be like heaven. For someone who was just visiting such as myself, I found it to be a little too touristy, with a large focus on shops, vendors, and these cute headband things with giant flowers that all the girls were wearing. I wish I had gotten a picture, but I’m more of an architecture snapshot person, I feel weird about nabbing shots of strangers without their permission.

Our guidebook informed us that we could take a boat from downtown Beijing to the Palace, and although this was once a plan, our hostel staff informed us that, “the mountain did not love the lake enough, so it is not possible.” Which I’m taking to mean there wasn’t enough water to pull it off.

We spent almost all of the third day in Beijing just walking around the lake. I took a nap at one point, as many folks were doing, on some rock piles, and lost Michelle, my travel partner. Being the kind of travellers we are, this wasn’t a big deal, we just finished the tour at our own pace and met up when the park closed at the front gate. It’s so nice to travel with level-headed people for once.

There were tons of little bridges and connecting archways, and each one had it’s own name and unique design over the arch. I believe this one is Quan Yin, the Chinese Goddess of Compassion (her name is romanized in many different ways, so you might recognize her name in a different form.)

The palace at the top of the hill is the Buddhist Incense Pavillion, which housed a very old Buddhist statue at the top that I was not allowed to take a photo of. It was a gorgeous building, and yes, I did climb all those stairs.

A view of Beijing from the top.

Duck Tongues in Abalone Sauce
Summer Palace, Hong Kong

An impromptu pay-back lunch found a friend and me deliberating on a convenient, yet pleasing place for a quick lunch on my last day in Hong Kong.

Lung King Heen, where I had a pretty successful meal the week before, was fully booked. And Yan Toh Heen, one of my friend’s favorite dim sum houses, was too far for him to travel on a lunch break.

Highly seasonal hairy crabs, he said, were available at Summer Palace, the two Michelin-starred Chinese restaurant at the Island Shangri-La Hotel in Hong Kong, near his office. And, indeed, the website stated that they would be available from September 1 through the end of October.

Summer Palace, Hong Kong

Unfortunately, when I arrived, there were no hairy crabs. The season, I was told, was not to commence until the end of September.  They quickly amended their website.

So, we settled on an assortment of dim sum, and ordered a couple of dishes from their main menu.

As far as large Chinese restaurants go, Summer Palace is quite beautiful, I must say. Not to over-generalize, but places that turn a high volume tend not to focus so much on aesthetics and the trappings. Not so in this case.

The overall color scheme here is lacquer, red, and gold on a field of plush blue carpet.  Not atypical at all in this cultural context, the decor did seem to have an extra glow and gloss.  The doors to the restaurant, for example – a floor-to-ceiling, gold-plated network of carved branches crowded with Dogwood blossoms – was stunning.

Pickled Daikon and Carrots
Summer Palace, Hong Kong

I should make it clear that Summer Palace is no palace. Compared to the behemoth, multi-level restaurants in the city (and the big Chinese metropolises), it’s a small venue by Chinese standards. The tiered dining room is populated with about three to four dozen tables of various shapes and sizes encircling a faux gazebo of sorts. Wide avenues run between them.  A handful of private party rooms skirt the edges.

By Western standards, it’s a sizable room, especially so for a Michelin 2-star (but really, there is something terribly exceptional about Chinese restaurants and the Michelin rating, as my friend and I discussed).

Steamed Pork Dumplings with Crab Coral
Summer Palace, Hong Kong

The restaurant was nearly empty when we arrived at noon. By half-past that hour, the place was at least three-quarters full.

Per the usual custom, an assortment of pickled vegetables arrived along with a dish of chili paste. In this case, the pickled vegetables appeared to be dices of daikon and carrots tossed with sesame seeds. I’m not convinced, however, that it was daikon, as they were slightly sweet and lacked that mustard-like shot in the crunch, suggesting that it was actually jicama. I wasn’t really paying attention.

The dim sum here are surely of the fancier kind.  It runs on the pricey side as well.  We ordered the following dishes, which arrived in quick succession (CLICK HERE to see all of the dishes from this meal):

Duck Tongues Glazed with Abalone Sauce
(HK$75)

Steamed Barbecue Pork Buns
(HK$ 48 for 3 pieces)

Steamed Pork Dumplings with Crab Coral
(HK$ 60 for 4 pieces)

Steamed Shrimp Dumplings with Angel Loofah and Conpoy
(HK$48 for 3 pieces)

Steamed Fresh Shrimp Dumplings
(HK$60 for 4 pieces)

Pan-Fried Rice Rolls
With dried shrimp and X.O. sauce. (HK$ 65)

Steamed Barbecue Pork Buns
Summer Palace, Hong Kong

What sets Summer Palace’s dim sum apart from your garden variety dim sum house is the attention to the craftsmanship and ingredients.  Everything here is done with textbook precision.

The steamed buns were fluffy and light, harbouring a more-saucy-than-meaty char sui filling. I particularly appreciated that these were reasonably sized (I hate it when steamed buns come out the size of a grapefruit. I mean, that’s a total killjoy for a meal that’s premised on small-bite grazing.)

Steamed Fresh Shrimp Dumplings
Summer Palace, Hong Kong

The dumplings, as well, were all very good.

“Steamed Pork Dumplings with Crab Coral,” otherwise known as sui mai, were much more shrimp than pork (probably pork fat mixed with mixed shrimp; the pork only contributing moisture and flavor). They were plump and had a very good bounce, something I rarely find in a sui mai. The crab coral was negligible, simply a garnish.

The skin on shrimp dumpling is always a tricky thing: if you eat them too quickly, you’ll burn your mouth. Wait just a few seconds too many, and they become a sticky, mastic mess. I’m not convinced that there’s a happy median.

Steamed Shrimp Dumplings with Angel Loofah and Conpoy
Summer Palace, Hong Kong

The wrappers on the “Steamed Shrimp Dumplings with Angel Loofah and Conpoy” became a sticky mess after a few seconds. They really need to be eaten right away. The filling, however, was quite good – a mix of shrimp and conpoy. I have no clue where or what the loofah was in these dumplings. We guessed that it must have been the haze of green that glowed through the wrapper.

The green-tinted wrappers (not sure what they used to tint them green) used for the “Steamed Fresh Shrimp Dumplings” held up a bit better than the wrappers on the “Steamed Shrimp Dumplings with Angel Loofah and Conpoy.” The shrimp inside were plump and properly steamed.

The “Pan-Fried Rice Rolls” were awesome.

Pan-Fried Rice Rolls
Summer Palace, Hong Kong

I never get anything this good in the U.S. These tightly rolled pieces of rice noodles (tsong fun) had been pan-fried such that the outside sported a deliciously crunchy crust. The insides were soft and just a touch sticky, as they should be. What amazed me is that for the duration of our meal, they didn’t turn cold, hard, or gummy. Neither did the pan-fried crust go limp. Slicked with a touch of X.O. sauce, it was like a carb-fiend’s dream.

And the “Duck Tongues Glazed with Abalone Sauce“, a rare treat. were nicely done as well. Glazed in a rich abalone sauce, the gelatinous skin-like meat slipped right off of the feather bones of these nobby rods.

After the dim sum had been cleared, the one large dish we ordered – “Velvet Pioppino Mushrooms with Squid“
(HK$148) – from the “Chef’s Recommends” menu, arrived.

Summer Palace, Hong Kong

The velvet pioppino (a.k.a. hon shimeji) mushrooms were sauteed with thin slices of squid. What is amazing is that the squid was so tender that, texture-wise, it blended in seamlessly with the slippery, silky mushrooms. This was a display of technical brilliance, both in concept and execution.

Flavor-wise, this was a rather one-dimensional plate. But I can’t blame the chef for not injecting more flavor as the delicate flavor of the pioppini was highlighted. I also enjoyed the thick slices of ginger that had been stir-fried with the mushrooms. They were so fresh and tender that they had the texture of water chestnuts.

Steamed Diced Lobster Dumplings
Summer Palace, Hong Kong

Curiosity found us ordering just one more dim sum item for sport. Beautifully wrapped, sadly, the “Steamed Diced Lobster Dumplings,” with water chestnuts and Chinese celery (HK$48 for 2 pieces) weren’t particularly memorable otherwise.

We joked that every Cantonese restaurant in the city promotes their “Mango Soup and Sago Cream” as a house specialty. It was no different here.

From a list of about a dozen sweets, the “Mango and Pomelo Soup with Sago Cream” (HK$50) was the only one that Summer Palace endorsed as being particularly special.

Mango and Pomelo Soup
Summer Palace, Hong Kong

Predictably, this one was particularly special only in the sense that it was well-made and served in a gold-trimmed crystal bowl.  I only had a spoonful.

I rarely get durian in the States – it’s never fresh. So, I was delighted to see “Durian Pudding” (HK$50) on the menu.  I had to get it.

A gelatinized pudding served chilled with a maraschino cherry meteor cratered on top for a dramatic, if not comic presentation, it boasted an unapologetically bold durian flavor. It scratched my durian itch beautifully.

I believe my proper Singaporean friend’s descriptor for the “Fried Taro Stuffed with Chocolate” (HK$48) was “WRONG.” I thought he was being a little prejudiced.  I couldn’t let this one go untested.

Durian Pudding
Summer Palace, Hong Kong

Think dim sum fried taro balls – the ones with the impossibly lacy and flaky shell with a warm, purplish, mashed taro and pork interior – sans pork and a chocolate ganache core.

I think the concept was fine. But the execution was poor. The chocolate ganache filling had clearly burned in the frying process; it had curdled, and seized (is that like stop, drop, and roll?) into a thick, lumpy paste. The ethereally lacy and flaky crust and the taro part of these balls was good, however.  I prefer the savory, porcine version better.  But it wasn’t on offer on their regular dim sum menu.

It’s a shame that I couldn’t have experienced more of Summer Palace’s main fare – a dim sum lunch is hardly a fair basis on which to evaluate this restaurant’s potential. But wanting to keep things relatively light, dim sum was the only sensible thing to do. Next time, I’ll have to return nearer to the Autumn Moon Festival, when I can have my hairy crabs and snakes.

Fried Taro Stuffed with Chocolate
Summer Palace, Hong Kong

Our service at Summer Palace was probably the most attentive and polished of all of the higher-end restaurants I visited on this trip. The clientele here seemed to be mostly suits and foreigners (probably the only two species who would be willing to meet these prices at lunch), not surprising given the restaurant’s situation in a luxury hotel next to financial centers.

Oh, and one last note: my gwailo double Perrier order (330ml each) landed me with a HK$120 (about US$18) tariff. My friend and I choked, just a little, when we saw that on the tab.

Summer Palace
Island Shangri-la Hotel
Pacific Place
Supreme Court Road
Central, Hong Kong
+852.2877.383

Bangkok should be dubbed “the city where two worlds collide.” I say this because I mean it in every way, and for lack of a better term, Bangkok is two-faced.  On the one hand, you’ll encounter the ritzy shopping malls with posh stores parading each and every corner. Fendi, Chanel, Salvatore Ferragamo, you name it and it’s there. You’ll also ride the Sky Train – an MTR type transportation above the sky – but it’s only for the wealthy Thais and tourists since it is too expensive for locals to ride.

And of course, on the other side of the coin, you have the poverty-ridden Bangkok. Once outside these shopping malls and on the streets, you’ll find street beggars with missing limbs, blind people singing with a microphone, young children whose parents make them beg for money all day. That’s the “other” side to Bangkok.  No sparkly shopping mall floors; filthy streets instead.

It’s a reality that cannot be avoided while in Bangkok. And although you may wish you could help them or do something about it…it is what it is.  It is still a developing country, and there is hope for the future.

However, I assure you that the Thai people are friendly, beautiful people. Though the poverty and street beggars may scare some, Bangkok is an amazing place to visit because there is so much beauty to the people, places, and things in this city.

BANGKOK: THE 11

1. Weekend Market
It is only open on Saturdays and Sundays from 8 am – 6 pm, but I suggest you get there as early as possible because you literally need the entire day to cover all bases. I shopped for 7 hours, but by the end of the day, I was itching to stay there longer but it was closing time! The Weekend Market is a huge flea-market type venue with everything: clothing, furniture, jewelry, food, and more. But here’s the best part: if you’re a teenager/young adult, you will find many boutique stores with one-of-a-kind clothing for inexpensive prices! I’m talking about $5 for a cute, trendy dress! For these, you MUST go to TENTS 4 – 6!

2. Rajawongse Clothier – Custom Suits for Men
http://www.dress-for-success.com/

President Bush, First Lady Barbara Bush, and Jesse & Victor

President Bush and his entire family, along with many US government officials come here to get custom suits and dress shirts. It is quite famous, and the owners – Jesse and Victor are extremely friendly Thai – Indian. Mostly American and European businessmen come here, and it gets packed during the evenings! For two custom-made suits, three dress shirts and three ties, it costs around $800 USD. What a deal! Just remember it takes around 5 days to make, and it requires multiple fittings.

2. Always Drive in Metered Taxis

Don’t get ripped off. Some taxi drivers try to give you a set price from location to location, and it may seem cheap, but if you tell them you want it METERED, it will be even cheaper! The starting flat rate is 35 Baht – so make sure this is the start price.

3. Ayutthaya Ancient Ruins

Ayutthaya

It will be best to hire a driver and English tour guide for this because it is an all-day trip. Ayutthaya is the ancient capital of Siam (the former name of Thailand), but today it is known for its ruins and ancient temples. You’ll drive from place to place and visit many sites such as Wat Chai Mongko (giant bronze reclining Buddah), and more.

This is part of the Ayutthaya area, and it is a beautiful, picturesque summer palace of the ancient King Rama IV. It’s filled with luxurious guest houses, greenery, lakes and shrines. Still today, the Royal Family comes here to relax.

5. Wear the Appropriate Clothing When Visiting Temples/Palaces

Wearing a traditional Thai sarong at the Summer Palace

For most temples in Thailand, your shoulders must be covered out of respect. There are guards before you enter, and they will not let you in if you don’t do this. For the Grand Palace in Bangkok, your shoulders and legs must be covered – but they give you free sarong and pant rentals.

6. Baan Khanitha – Thai Restaurant
This an upscale Thai restaurant that specializes in seafood, so be prepared to fork out $40 or more per person. Try the scallions – the most delicious I’ve ever tasted in my entire life!

7. Khao San Road (Backpacking District)
This area is filled with, well, backpackers galore. Restaurants, hostels, shopping, internet cafes – you name it and it’s here. It’s fun to lounge around the coffee shops or try out the street foods because it definitely has the “backpacker vibe” – chill, laid-back and friendly. Spend an afternoon here and lounge around the area!

8. Grand Palace in Bangkok
The Royal Family lives here, and it’s like visiting Buckingham Palace. It’s massively large, exquisite architecture, and tourists galore! It will take half a day to walk around the area because there are several temples and sights to see – but if you speed walk through the area, it can be done in two hours.

9. Pick the Right Time to Visit
Bangkok is extremely hot and humid during the summertime. It is so hot that I almost fainted in Ayutthaya, despite the fact that I was drinking water all day! All of the locals say the best time to visit is in November, so you might want to keep that in mind. But if you’re a student traveler like me, the summertime is your only chance! It’s still worth the visit.

10. Wat Arun (Temple of Dawn)

Wat Arun (Temple of Dawn)

You can take the taxi boat here, and it is nestled along the banks of the Chao Praya River. It’s called the Temple of Dawn because it’s near the beginning of the river, and when travelers or foreigners would enter the river, it was the first thing they saw!

11. Take the Taxi Boat on the Chao Praya River
The taxi boat is an interesting form of transportation in Thailand, and it’s beautiful during sunset (great for photography). Just jump on the boat, and take it to Wat Arun – or anywhere else you’d like to see along the river.