Cloudy in Beijing Blogging about my time in China

Like summer

I was on a street corner the other day and I wiped my forehead. Sweat was on my hand. Strange, this is my first January where I've actually stood outside and felt hot.

After leaving Beijing, I'm in Taipei now visiting family for the next several days. It feels like I've entered into a whole new season. It's gotten around 70 degrees so far, with skies mostly clear and sunny. I'm not sure if I should be wearing a sweater or if I should just go for shorts and sandals instead. Such huge difference from Xi'an, where I often I find myself going to bed and cocooning my body in a blanket.

I've counted and this is my ninth time in Taiwan. I actually kind of didn't want to come since I've been here so many times and wanted to explore China more. But it's important that I come to see family, and plus my parents are paying for the plane ticket.

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I saw a ColdStone Ice Creamery this afternoon. Later I would buy some Nacho Cheese Doritos, along with a TIME magazine.

I haven’t seen or tasted such things since I left for America. Sure, China has its McDonalds, KFC, and Starbucks, all ironically high-class hang-outs, where the Haagan Dazs have waitresses dressed like retro-airplane stewardess.

But in Taiwan, the globalization is step or two further. At the supermarket they have Kellogg's Frosted Flakes. On TV, I can watch the Discovery Channel and CNN International. My cousins play a Nintendo Wii. There's a 7-11 next door to where I’m staying. I even saw a random plastic sign advertising Bailey's Irish Cream. Little things I could use everyday in America, but which I never see in Xi'an.

There is so much English here, on the shops, in the city subways, on all the signs, in the malls, on the hotel buildings. People here seem to obey the pedestrian traffic signals more, even when there are no oncoming cars. Today I visited Taipei 101, the tallest building on the island. Like a giant glass bamboo stalk, the skyscraper reminded me of how modern things are in Taiwan.

Now I understand why there's this feeling of regret when I saw how modern Beijing had become. It's ironic. People's lives are transforming to a new level of prosperity in China, yet part of me enjoys seeing unkempt streets, ugly concrete buildings, and crowded buses. For some reason I equate dirtiness, inconvenience, cheap and antiquated, all mildly negative things, with what I think the real China is. It has to be different, or it's not special anymore, just boring modernity.

Spring Festival

Today is the official start of the Spring Festival in China, the biggest holiday in the country. As I type this all I hear are the explosions of fireworks across my aunt’s apartment complex. It’s loud. Most sound like mortars going off, like the air just convulsed and bellowed. Then some disturbed car-alarm goes off.

In the morning I went with my uncle (my aunt’s husband) and Lisa to buy fireworks. He decided to go to the poorest area of Beijing, where the fireworks are the cheapest.

The ride first brought us pass a vast swath of bare land. Rubble —clobs of stone and brick — mounded all across it. There once were farms here, mainly just plain brick one-story homes. The few that still stand look lonely and old as if from another era, like they too will become another pile of crushed dirt.

My uncle told me developers had gotten rid of all the homes there to build new developments, likely more modern high-rise more apartments. “What about the farmers?” I asked. The land, he said, is usually leased by the farmers. Thus they can make a good deal of money from whoever builds there.

We then reached the poor neighborhood. What my uncle called “farm area” even as we were still within the city and no livestock or farmland in sight. The streets were crowded. Thick electrical lines strewn in the air across the alleyways. Outdoor markets with clusters of people surrounded in narrow corner ways. All the buildings are one-story or two, and old-looking. I wonder if this neighborhood will one day too change and become another piece of bare land ready for development.

I was surprised when my uncle bought an entire box of fireworks, heavy and large enough that I had to help him carry it to the car. Perhaps more fireworks than I’ve bought in my entire lifetime. Even more impressive was how he managed to easily barter his way to maybe a third or half the price of each firework he bought.

Later in the evening, we went to see my grand uncle, my grandfather’s brother to celebrate Spring Festival together. I’ve only met my grand uncle once before when I was in Beijing in 2004. A former doctor who taught at a university, he’s in his mid 70’s, retired and in good shape. He does remind me very much of my grandfather, especially, his voice, which sounds almost exactly alike.

I suppose tonight was a bit more special for me. This was my first time celebrating the start of Spring Festival in China. The festival is a two-week long holiday that marks the start of the Chinese New year. I’ve sort of marked the occasion in China with my parents and the local Chinese school, but it’s never really quite been in the pantheon of holidays I celebrate. I frankly had to wikipedia Spring Festival in order to remember when it was held and what it was about.

For most of the night it was us watching a national television program celebrating the day while fireworks crackled in the surrounding neighborhood. But near midnight we fired off some fireworks. So was the entire neighborhood. It was so loud that my grand uncle could barely hear me when I told him I wanted to go back up and grab my camera. There was smoke everywhere. These weren’t just the hand-held firecrackers people were lighting. These were the heavy-duty kind, the ones that are used in firework shows. Bright flickers of neon light shot through electrical powerlines above, over parked cars and bursting near windows up in my grand uncle’s apartment complex. They sure know how to celebrate with fireworks in China.

Tomorrow I’m off to Taiwan, to see my family there. I’ll be there for about ten days.

Modern China

I have to say, I do not feel like I'm in China anymore.

Today me and my Aunt's family drove around Beijing. But to me it was more like going through New York or Los Angeles. Had I really been here four years ago? I hardly recognized any of it.

In the summer of 2004, I was in Beijing studying Chinese. One of things I remember the most is the pollution. Back then Beijing was often covered in a depressing grey. Something in the air made my skin itch the longer I stayed in the open. Once I felt sick and exhausted after staying outside for more than three hours. Looking at that sky, and feeling its effects, it was easy to feel grimy, muffled and subdued wherever I walked.

I come back now and see something I can hardly believe. It seems like a fluke, but for three straight days now, the skies here have been a total blue. From one horizon of the city to the next, my vision is haze-free. Now I look up to the sky and feel clean, and even like I’m liberated somehow.

“The air is much better now,” says my Aunt's husband. “They closed down a lot of the factories because of the Olympics.”

We drove across the city, and I stared outside the car window. High-rise after high-rise, nothing different from any other major city where urban life is at its thickest. But I was struck by how modern all the buildings were. Like a legion of Western architects had their own field day, sprouting block apartments and glassy skyscrapers all across the city plane. “Development is moving very fast now,” said my Aunt during the car ride. “A lot of these buildings are new.”

Maybe it was the blue skies, but everything else also seemed clean; the streets, the cars, the sidewalks. It might have been the weather, but I saw very few bicycles and not one motor scooter on the ride.

We went to see the Bird's Nest, the Olympic stadium. It's vacant now, and slated for only one show this whole year from what I read. Tourists come and people offer to sell you souvenirs and or take your picture for a few.

We also drove by the CCTV building, another modern attraction that looks more like some sort of cubic design you would see in an Art museum. Later we found ourselves in a shopping mall that reminded me of the Chinese shopping malls in Los Angeles. The bathrooms in the Korean Barbeque restaurant had not only soap, but paper towels for you to dry your hands with. That's probably the first time I've encountered that in China.

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My memory of Beijing in 2004 is difficult to recall. I wrote some entries online, detailing how excited at was of all the leg space I had on my flight to Taiwan. I essentially blogged a bit of my experience, though apparently I slacked off as the weeks in Beijing went on. However when I first arrived I noted:

“For me, I don't find China very different. While my expectations were lower, coming from a Chinese background and just from a visit to Taiwan, Beijing’s atmosphere was no culture shock. It is modern here. Skyscrapers stack upon each other, reaching for the clouds. Globalism seeps into every Chinese diet, with Kentucky Fried Chicken and McDonalds on the top of the menu. Pockets ring with the sound of cellphone ringtones. Even a delivery boy can take a break and lay on his wooden cart while playing Snake on his Samsung.”

I also added this, which doesn't surprise me.

“Everything is new here, but at the same time everything is the same. Riding on my bike, all I see are streets lined with block-like apartments and office buildings. Everything looks manufactured. Traditional Chinese homes with their gated doors and shingled roofs are scarce. Lama temples are here and there, but are overshadowed by the surrounding fast-food restaurants and that glowing M on the Mcdonald's sign. Beijing use to have three entrance gates facing east, west, and south ends. Now only the south stands.”

And then this:

“I sometimes ask myself where is the "Chineseness"? It seems like its not really there. With all this modernity, it feels like something is lost.”

I feel that again now as I'm here in Beijing again. At the end of the day we come back to my aunt's apartment. The streets are uneven, inconvenient and covered with scraps of trash and shredded firework remains. There is brick, pale concrete in the buildings, and hardly an ounce of artistic design. It's frankly a bit unattractive. But strangely, this small place, out-dated and down, feels more like China to me.

At my aunt’s place

It's my second day in Beijing. So cold. I look outside and the vapid air seems to have made everything sterile. The temperature is maybe around 10 degrees Fahrenheit. Reminds me of my alma mater in Michigan during the winter and how the icy wind would freeze your ears if you happened to be out.

I've been living with my aunt, or my gu gu ??, who is also my father's cousin. They have an apartment, in an older part of Beijing built a few decades ago. The building and the surrounding complexes are inlaid with brick and concrete, some rusted metal caging the windows on the lower floors. Not much luster, a lot of brown and grey. The builders clearly did not think so much of exterior design, just walls with rows of windows, and functionally plain. The cobbled streets here are uneven, narrow enough that one car can only enter at a time, and cratered with cracks; I worry if I run over it I'll trip and fall. The leaveless trees and plants all are barren from the weather. Makes me feel like I'm living near an old factory.

My aunt seemed to be a bit unsure of how I would adapt to their home. “It's small,” she said several times as I walked in for the first time. She has seen pictures of my parent’s house in Oregon, a very large three-story house, built in the woods in Oregon.

But I like their 2-bedroom apartment. Its old exterior belies the fact of how inside it's a typical 21st century home. Inside their living room, they have a large HD TV, which also happens to be a flat screen. Later I connect my computer into their high-speed Internet. The next day I use their futuristic shower; basically a sleek circular pod with shinny nobs that seems like it would be more suitable in a sci-fi movie. I feel cozy and warm inside, white walls all around, with plenty of art on them, as I sit and drink from a tea cup I place on a glass table nearby.

My aunt has a 9-year old daughter. And she's very fun to be with. Her English name is Lisa, but her Chinese name is Zhang Ziying. She told me she received the English name as part of her English class with her foreign teacher. All the students who didn't have a name had to basically draw out a name from a list.

It's very funny and cute. I'm an only child. But Lisa calls me ge ge ??, or older brother. Usually with my cousins they all just call me Michael, but with a Chinese accent. However Lisa, has decided to call me ge ge, since I'm an older cousin of hers, and thus a kind of brother to her. At one point, I called her mei mei, ?? or younger sister, sort of fumbling the words as they came out of my mouth.

Today I helped her with her homework. That was pretty interesting. I'm a 24-year-old and I'm having trouble completing the homework of a 3rd grader. The homework was her Chinese language homework. I realized that a lot of what I've learned is more language for practical situations, not really literature. So I was at loss when she first said if I knew the ugly duckling story; she said it by its Chinese name — chou xiao ya ???. I also realized that my writing abilities aren't as good as I thought, in that in trying to actually write the words with a pencil, the words for some reason or another were not coming up. Easy word like pencil, qian bi ??, or brush, shua ?, or even the first part of happiness, xing fu ??. Words I can easily type in the computer or recognize when reading, but a frustrating challenge when trying to handwrite them. One unique feature of the Mandarin language is that the pronunciation of the characters has little to do with the actual formation of the characters. It's funny, I've studied Chinese nearly all my life and yet if I went to elementary school here, I'd probably fail it. Then it jokingly occurred to me I should probably just enroll myself into the third-grade here.

Like me, Lisa is also an only child. Really, most children across China have no siblings due to the government's one-child policy. My Aunt worries this may affect her development as she grows up. Many parents are concerned a new generation of spoiled children will come as a result. I wonder about this as well. My college students that I teach are part of this generation.

But I guess at least for the next few days Lisa will have an older brother, and I will have a younger sister. I think I like it this way better.

At Starbucks…

I think I just saw a crime take place.

I was sitting at the Starbucks next to the window. Suddenly a man runs out of the store, followed by a woman several steps behind. I thought that maybe they were together, but the young man continued sprinting, leaving the woman behind. Then three Starbucks staff members rushed out, trying to follow.

I later found it was indeed a xiaotou ??, or a thief. An hour later a Starbucks staff member told me to watchout for my coat I had laying nearby since apparently there are many xiaotuo at the store. I remember looking at the thief's face as he ran out. He was young, maybe 20, 21. No emotion at all, only a listless look, like this was just business.

I've been lucky so far, and haven't fallen prey to them yet. Another foreign teacher I know hasn't been so fortunate. Apparently he has had two bicycles stolen from in just a year and half. "They say that you are a true Chinese when you have two bikes stolen from you," he added.

Terracota

I think my expectations were too high.

I went to see the Terracota Warriors today, boarding a bus, and heading to the outskirts of Xi'an. They've been called the eighth wonder of the world, touted as one of the greatest archeological finds during the 20th century, and been featured in different movies, both Hollywood and Chinese. No doubt there the must-see attraction in Xi'an.

What's unique about seeing the ancient statutes is that most of them still stand in the excavation sites where they were found. The government instead decided to build a museum around each of the three major sites. So while a few of the statutes are behind glass exhibits, most stand upright beneath the ground in long dug-up trenches.

My thoughts: It's hard to imagine, that you're looking at something more than 2,000 years old. An entire army, sculpted with armor, swords, bows, even horses. But looking down at them from the museum walkways it was hard to appreciate them. Just stone figurines, though all built supposedly built uniquely different, from my distance the sight of them seemed plain and monotonous.

I was told in the past, visitors could actually walk down into the trenches, and stand inches away from the statutes. I wish I could have gone then.

I thought to myself, China's first emperor, the man who ordered their construction, must have been bat-shit insane. Such an undertaking. And yet I could look down into the trenches and see piles of broken remains of statutes, pots, and other artifacts. Crumpled dirt.

What I enjoyed the most about the attraction was not actually in the museum. Outside the area are a range of beautiful hills. Though it was cold, the sky was nearly clear. Living in Xi’an I hardly ever get a chance to see nature. So yes, looking at hills is more interesting an army of ancient statutes built 2,000 years ago.

An unbelievably long winter break

One difference between Chinese colleges and American colleges: The winter breaks are much longer.

From the start of January to the end of February I will have no classes to teach. Two months of free-time. Crazy.

I think it's a good idea. Make the winter break longer, in exchange for making the summer break shorter. Both are about two months long. That way students and teachers will be well-rested for the next semester.

I however, am not sure what I'll do with all that time. I haven't even really thought that much about it since teaching has been overwhelming my schedule and thoughts.

Go to Beijing maybe? Go To Shanghai? Go to Taiwan to see family? Maybe go to the west to Tibet or Xinjiang? Or the city of Taiyuan, where the Kan family came from? Maybe just go somewhere warmer.

For now, all I know is that I want to see more of Xi'an. I feel like I still don't know the city that well. And I still haven’t seen the Terracota Warriors.

Food-poisoning

I think it may have been the orange drink I had this morning.

Or it could have been the noodles I had last night. But God, I feel like shit.

I was suppose to hold four classes today. But I barely managed to get through one. I canceled the rest. My stomach is killing me.

People often say you have to watch what you eat in China. The sanitary standards aren't always up to par with American restaurants. I don't really see dishwashers at many of the "hole-in-wall" restaurants I eat at, although I do see government certificates on the walls. Sometimes I see a server wipe the sides from a bowl of noodles with some rag and then drop the food right in front of me. Where has that rag been?

Most every morning I go eat this "Chinese egg burrito wrap" from a woman with a portable black stove hauled on by a bicycle. It's my favorite food, but she wears no plastic gloves when she makes them and I don't see how she can wash her hands. Once I paid attention to those hands; something like black soot was around the edges of her fingers.

Sometimes I go to the convenient store to pick up a pack of Oreos. I then look at the plastic to see white numbers showing a date that passed by two months ago. Is this the best-buy date or the expiration date? I stupidly buy them anyways and eat them, only to feel my bowels rumble an hour later.

I think these terrible stomach pains are passing. But I wonder, what other things are lurking in my body. Ugh.....