Fireworks are set off during Lunar new Year to attract the attention of good spirits and to frighten the evil spirits away. Any evil spirit left in China right now would need to have a talisman against the blasts, for they are everywhere. They go in bursts, sometimes small firecrackers that sound like pop guns, sometimes large fireworks displays that sound more like howitzers or landmines.
This evening after yoga class it took me half an hour to walk the two blocks from the yoga studio to the bookstore. Granted, some of that time was used admiring the beautiful displays of light but most of the time was used avoiding exploding things on the ground and burning papers falling from the sky. At one point I turned down a side street and had to quickly find shelter when I saw some well-dressed men lighting the fuse to a large box of fireworks - I spent the next couple of minutes huddled around the corner of a nearby building, hands over my ears, looking down to avoid getting anything in my eyes while the two guards standing next to me watched the display, with hands over ears, and stomped on small pieces of paper that were still burning when they touched the ground. At one point one of the guards gave me an all-clear signal, then looked up and immediately signaled for me to put my hands back to my ears. We laughed as the boom went off and more burning paper rained down.
The yoga teacher tonight led the class in English and in Mandarin, giving direction in first one language, then another, all punctuated by explosions. During the class she commented that tonight would be the last night of fireworks. The displays of light have been fun but I'm looking forward to being able to look up as I walk around at night.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Tui-Na Goodness
Tui-Na, for those of you who are uninitiated, is a Chinese form of massage that helps tight muscles to loosen and tense people to relax. It's very popular for people to have done regularly and there are places that offer it on almost every block, some fancy and some not. Between spending time in the office and exploring Beijing last week, and there being a week-long holiday for which most people leave the city to go to their home cities and spend time with their families, I had not been able to have a massage until last night.
The building where I am living right now is part of a high-rise complex of five buildings with a courtyard garden in the center. There are two buildings that face the street and they have businesses on the ground floor - real estate agents, a restaurant, a dry cleaner, and a day spa called Chlitina. I'd walked past the spa earlier in the week and seen the pictures of a woman having a facial. Unfortunately it was closed for Spring Festival until last night. On my way home I took the path by the building and saw with glee that it was open. The comfortable sofas and light interior (albeit all coated in shades of pink) beckoned. First I went home to drop off my grocery bags and change out of my work clothes, then I went back and walked in to what I'd been waiting for all week.
The first thing that I had to do was explain what I wanted. This involved my saying 'tui-na' several times, with different tones. When I've seen it written there were never any tonal marks so I didn't know which of the four tones to use for each syllable. After several attempts the women who worked there all smiled "Tui-Na, yes, yes" and I relaxed knowing that the most stressful part of the evening was over.
The next order of business was for me to take off my shoes and put on slippers to walk upstairs to the massage room. My feet are a European size 41 and the first three pairs of slippers the attendants brought out didn't reach my heals. Finally they found a pair pair of leopard print slippers with a Hello Kitty logo embroidered on them that almost fit me.
The massage room upstairs was well heated and had two massage tables draped in sheets and soft towels. It was nice to feel perfectly warm for once, a rarity in the cold Beijing winter. After we walked into the room the massage therapist, Wei-Wei, made motioned for me to disrobe. Usually when I'm getting a massage the massage therapist will leave the room while I do this. Not here. After each item of clothing came off she nodded for me to continue. When I was down to my underpants she brought out a package of gauze paper panties for me to wear. My first thought was "What the...?" but they soon made sense.
After I lay down on my stomach on the table she covered me in towels and then began. She started by warming oil and spreading it over my back. As she kneaded and pulled my sore muscles the tensions of the last week started to drop away. It was good. As she moved on to my legs and my arms she used more oil - my wind and cold battered skin greedily absorbed it all. Any fabric touching me got oil on it (hence the paper panties) but most of it went right into my skin. After making all of the muscles in the back of my body relax Wei-Wei told me to turn over so that she could begin on my front - arms, legs, belly. The loud explosions of firecrackers right outside the building became distant as I relaxed completely.
By the time the one hour session was done I could barely move. Wei-Wei brought me warm tea while I contemplated getting dressed and walking across the courtyard back to my building. It would be bared 100 steps, I decided I could do that. Before venturing back out into the cold I sat in the reception area and drank some more tea while chatting with Wei-Wei. It turns out she spoke more English than she'd let on at first. She's from Harbin, a city about 30 hours away, and moved here last year. Now she lives about half an hour away from here by taxi but only goes home once each week - for her one day off. While at Chlitana she stays close by when not working (10:00-22:00 are the business hours). It's a very different life than any I could imagine. She didn't get to study much English in school so she studies on her own, with books and movies, knowing it can help her have a better life.
This is perhaps the best 99RMB I've spent so far. It is going to be part of my weekly routine.
The building where I am living right now is part of a high-rise complex of five buildings with a courtyard garden in the center. There are two buildings that face the street and they have businesses on the ground floor - real estate agents, a restaurant, a dry cleaner, and a day spa called Chlitina. I'd walked past the spa earlier in the week and seen the pictures of a woman having a facial. Unfortunately it was closed for Spring Festival until last night. On my way home I took the path by the building and saw with glee that it was open. The comfortable sofas and light interior (albeit all coated in shades of pink) beckoned. First I went home to drop off my grocery bags and change out of my work clothes, then I went back and walked in to what I'd been waiting for all week.
The first thing that I had to do was explain what I wanted. This involved my saying 'tui-na' several times, with different tones. When I've seen it written there were never any tonal marks so I didn't know which of the four tones to use for each syllable. After several attempts the women who worked there all smiled "Tui-Na, yes, yes" and I relaxed knowing that the most stressful part of the evening was over.
The next order of business was for me to take off my shoes and put on slippers to walk upstairs to the massage room. My feet are a European size 41 and the first three pairs of slippers the attendants brought out didn't reach my heals. Finally they found a pair pair of leopard print slippers with a Hello Kitty logo embroidered on them that almost fit me.
The massage room upstairs was well heated and had two massage tables draped in sheets and soft towels. It was nice to feel perfectly warm for once, a rarity in the cold Beijing winter. After we walked into the room the massage therapist, Wei-Wei, made motioned for me to disrobe. Usually when I'm getting a massage the massage therapist will leave the room while I do this. Not here. After each item of clothing came off she nodded for me to continue. When I was down to my underpants she brought out a package of gauze paper panties for me to wear. My first thought was "What the...?" but they soon made sense.
After I lay down on my stomach on the table she covered me in towels and then began. She started by warming oil and spreading it over my back. As she kneaded and pulled my sore muscles the tensions of the last week started to drop away. It was good. As she moved on to my legs and my arms she used more oil - my wind and cold battered skin greedily absorbed it all. Any fabric touching me got oil on it (hence the paper panties) but most of it went right into my skin. After making all of the muscles in the back of my body relax Wei-Wei told me to turn over so that she could begin on my front - arms, legs, belly. The loud explosions of firecrackers right outside the building became distant as I relaxed completely.
By the time the one hour session was done I could barely move. Wei-Wei brought me warm tea while I contemplated getting dressed and walking across the courtyard back to my building. It would be bared 100 steps, I decided I could do that. Before venturing back out into the cold I sat in the reception area and drank some more tea while chatting with Wei-Wei. It turns out she spoke more English than she'd let on at first. She's from Harbin, a city about 30 hours away, and moved here last year. Now she lives about half an hour away from here by taxi but only goes home once each week - for her one day off. While at Chlitana she stays close by when not working (10:00-22:00 are the business hours). It's a very different life than any I could imagine. She didn't get to study much English in school so she studies on her own, with books and movies, knowing it can help her have a better life.
This is perhaps the best 99RMB I've spent so far. It is going to be part of my weekly routine.
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Fig Yoghurt
My local Carrefour grocery store has a respectable dairy section (read: similar to what I've seen in some large suburban U.S. groceries, with a variety of different cheeses). The yoghurt flavors include some things I expect (i.e.-berries, kiwi) and a few surprises: red bean, soy bean and fig.
The fig is yummy. I just had some for breakfast with granola and a banana.
The fig is yummy. I just had some for breakfast with granola and a banana.
Walls
Beijing is full of gated communities with high walls and nattily uniformed guards standing next to gates that pull across entryways. They can be inconvenient when you want to cut through an area to get somewhere else but I'm already used to them.
It may, however, take awhile for me to become accustomed to the security mechanism that prevents me from reading what I've written here after I've hit the 'publish post' button. The phenomenon which Peter Cohen recently referred to as "China's OTHER Great Wall" also blocks BBC news (and Wikipedia). The Economist, Le Figaro, Granma, Al Jazeera, the New York Times, El Pais and even CNN are accessible so I can still get news from all over the world.
I'm sure I'll get used to it.
It may, however, take awhile for me to become accustomed to the security mechanism that prevents me from reading what I've written here after I've hit the 'publish post' button. The phenomenon which Peter Cohen recently referred to as "China's OTHER Great Wall" also blocks BBC news (and Wikipedia). The Economist, Le Figaro, Granma, Al Jazeera, the New York Times, El Pais and even CNN are accessible so I can still get news from all over the world.
I'm sure I'll get used to it.
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Xin Nian Yu Kuai!
It's Spring Festival here in China. Fireworks are going off everywhere. They are sold at temporary stands put up on sidewalks all over the city. Last night the sky was lit up with multicolored blossoms of light and this morning we can hear blasts going off in all directions. I'm told this will go on for about a week.
Yesterday I met up with a college student who interns at a finance firm in Shanghai with the former colleague of a friend. She's home in Beijing to celebrate the holiday with her family. She came out to meet me at the program I'm doing here and invited me to celebrate with her and her grandparents at their home last night. We took the subway to the eastern part of the city, then a bus, and after a ten minute walk arrived at the housing complex for retired military personnel where her grandparents lived. The buildings were decorated with red lanterns and banners, and the driveways were full of cars of visiting family members. Everyone had children or grandchildren visiting and it was fun to see all of the people bundled up warm and walking around. The fireworks were banned inside of the complex so it was safe to walk without worry that we would be struck by an exploding firecracker.
The young woman's grandfather, Lao Lei, was a military artist before his retirement and he is still creating and showing his work in galleries. After we were shown into the living room, with some of his paintings and enamel works hanging from the walls, and our coats were off we sat down and he brought out several books of his work to show me some of his sketches and paintings. Many of the works were breathtaking and he knew enough English to understand my appreciation without his granddaughter's translation.
Dinner was had at table. Many small dishes were laid out around a boiling central pot, around which little plates of needle mushrooms, fish and shrimp balls, cabbage and noodles were placed for cooking. Also on display were sliced eggs; the whites were a translucent black and the yolk was a dark green-grey. These were the first thing offered and I was wary. My first bite was very small but they tasted very similar to regular boiled eggs so I was able to enthusiastically finish it. After this contents of the various plates were put into the boiling pot to cook while we drank peach nectar, talked and ate. The fish balls are something I've enjoyed on various other travels and in New York's Chinatown and they are always yummy. At first different things were dished out onto my plate, then I was encouraged to take things directly from the pot with my chopsticks. One trick to not spilling was to hold a spoon in one hand underneath the food as I moved it from the pot to my plate.
After dinner we returned to the sofa to watch a CCTV special celebration for Spring Festival and to look at photos of my trip to Morocco last fall - my new friend had said earlier that she would like to go to Casablanca one day. They enjoyed looking at pictures of my trip and of my family. The pictures of my sister and me on camelback were especially popular. Grandfather laughed when I told them that the French word for camel is 'chameau' - it sounds like the Mandarin word for desert.
Today I am off to explore a new part of the city.
Xin Nian Yu Kuai!
Yesterday I met up with a college student who interns at a finance firm in Shanghai with the former colleague of a friend. She's home in Beijing to celebrate the holiday with her family. She came out to meet me at the program I'm doing here and invited me to celebrate with her and her grandparents at their home last night. We took the subway to the eastern part of the city, then a bus, and after a ten minute walk arrived at the housing complex for retired military personnel where her grandparents lived. The buildings were decorated with red lanterns and banners, and the driveways were full of cars of visiting family members. Everyone had children or grandchildren visiting and it was fun to see all of the people bundled up warm and walking around. The fireworks were banned inside of the complex so it was safe to walk without worry that we would be struck by an exploding firecracker.
The young woman's grandfather, Lao Lei, was a military artist before his retirement and he is still creating and showing his work in galleries. After we were shown into the living room, with some of his paintings and enamel works hanging from the walls, and our coats were off we sat down and he brought out several books of his work to show me some of his sketches and paintings. Many of the works were breathtaking and he knew enough English to understand my appreciation without his granddaughter's translation.
Dinner was had at table. Many small dishes were laid out around a boiling central pot, around which little plates of needle mushrooms, fish and shrimp balls, cabbage and noodles were placed for cooking. Also on display were sliced eggs; the whites were a translucent black and the yolk was a dark green-grey. These were the first thing offered and I was wary. My first bite was very small but they tasted very similar to regular boiled eggs so I was able to enthusiastically finish it. After this contents of the various plates were put into the boiling pot to cook while we drank peach nectar, talked and ate. The fish balls are something I've enjoyed on various other travels and in New York's Chinatown and they are always yummy. At first different things were dished out onto my plate, then I was encouraged to take things directly from the pot with my chopsticks. One trick to not spilling was to hold a spoon in one hand underneath the food as I moved it from the pot to my plate.
After dinner we returned to the sofa to watch a CCTV special celebration for Spring Festival and to look at photos of my trip to Morocco last fall - my new friend had said earlier that she would like to go to Casablanca one day. They enjoyed looking at pictures of my trip and of my family. The pictures of my sister and me on camelback were especially popular. Grandfather laughed when I told them that the French word for camel is 'chameau' - it sounds like the Mandarin word for desert.
Today I am off to explore a new part of the city.
Xin Nian Yu Kuai!
Monday, February 4, 2008
Beijing in Winter
I arrived Saturday afternoon to a cold and grey city. It's the middle of winter and everyone is bundled up. My flight went well, customs and immigration were quick and painless, and I found the person meeting me fairly quickly. We had to wait for several other people to arrive before we could go into Beijing so it was around 8pm before I saw my new apartment. It is on the 11th story of a building in the south of Beijing, inside the fourth ring (Beijing is divided by 'rings,' concentric circles going out from the center of the city) and not far from the China World Trade Center. After arriving I had to go to Carrefour to buy bedding but I was tired from the long trip and didn't have the energy for exploring at that point. The bed is much firmer than I'm accustomed to sleeping on but it was a welcome respite after 24 hours of travel.
On Sunday I woke up early and relaxed. At 8am I went out for breakfast with a colleague - he ordered a fried egg and ham while I ordered the congee (rice porridge) and a yummy hot chocolate-like drink. When the congee arrived I was surprised to see that it had meat, so we switched part of our meals. After that we slowly wandered north, making our way to the Sanlitun neighborhood and Worker Stadium and walking past multiple Starbucks and Kentucky Fried Chicken outlets and a Hooters restaurant so that I could attend my yoga class at Yoga Yard. The class was taught by a young woman from New Zealand, and there were students from Wales, Hong Kong, India and other parts of the English-speaking world. It was a wonderful way to stretch out, shake off the airplane trip, and start to find my bearings in my new city.
A woman from the class directed me to a nearby English-language bookstore afterwards so that I could pick up a good local map. The Bookworm has a literary festival planned for March. I'm looking forward to attending.
That was followed by a slow wander south, broken up by a leisurely lunch of green leafy vegetable cooked in a garlic sauce and some steamed rice. Picture menus are wonderful things to have when you aren't literate in the local language. After leaving the restaurant I aimed myself back towards the apartment. A few times I attempted to ask for directions. Right now that means showing someone a piece of paper with my destination written in Chinese characters and saying "ching ching, na li?"(please, where?) in a very friendly tone. One time a guard didn't know the address so he showed it to a cabby. The man proceeded to give me detailed directions which I didn't understand, until I heard the word 'lu' (for 'street') and realized that the several syllables before lu were the name of the street where his hand signals indicated I should turn. When I repeated it back he got very excited, nodded and started talking even faster. I thanked him and moved on, finding the street and making the turn and ecstatic that we'd been able to communicate with each other.
My biggest frustration so far is powering my MacBook. I'm wary of plugging anything in after have my surge protector blow twice. Today I went to a shopping mall in the center of Beijiing called Oriental Plaza in search of the Apple Experience store listed in the Insider's Guide to Beijing. The store is actually called "Lifestyle Experience" and they are an authorized reseller. I used my MacBook charger to pantomime that I needed one that would work here. It took a few moments, and some laughter, but then they realized what I meant. Unfortunately they sold me a charger for the U.K., not China. I'll be returning it. Back at the office I was able to plug my charger into a surge protector/adapter that allowed me to finally use my computer. My apartment doesn't have Internet and the neighbors have passwords on their accounts so I suspect I'll be spending lots of time at cafes with Wifi connections.
After finding the Apple vendor I did some exploring with colleagues and we walked past vendors selling scorpions on a stick while going down an alley off of a main shopping street. This city is an interesting blend of international city and Chinese culture.
Much of China has been blanketed by snow and ice but Beijing has not been touched by the storms. It's cold here, but it's the beginning of February and that is expected. The streets are packed with people wrapped up in winter garb, both western style winter coats and traditional padded cloth coats. Street vendors selling hot boiled corn, baked sweet potatoes and other warm treats offer a delicious way to warm up while eating a snack. There are also many 'meat on a stick' options but they aren't nearly as appealing.
Right now I'm sitting in a cafe/restaurant called IS Coffee, with coffee and tea drinks and a small food menu, about a mile from my apartment. They have wifi and a very friendly and helpful staff. My computer ran out of power while I was typing this and a waiter was nearby. He noticed me looking for a plug, went into the back and came back with a surge protector so that I could plug in. That level of service is a great way to inspire customer loyalty.
On Sunday I woke up early and relaxed. At 8am I went out for breakfast with a colleague - he ordered a fried egg and ham while I ordered the congee (rice porridge) and a yummy hot chocolate-like drink. When the congee arrived I was surprised to see that it had meat, so we switched part of our meals. After that we slowly wandered north, making our way to the Sanlitun neighborhood and Worker Stadium and walking past multiple Starbucks and Kentucky Fried Chicken outlets and a Hooters restaurant so that I could attend my yoga class at Yoga Yard. The class was taught by a young woman from New Zealand, and there were students from Wales, Hong Kong, India and other parts of the English-speaking world. It was a wonderful way to stretch out, shake off the airplane trip, and start to find my bearings in my new city.
A woman from the class directed me to a nearby English-language bookstore afterwards so that I could pick up a good local map. The Bookworm has a literary festival planned for March. I'm looking forward to attending.
That was followed by a slow wander south, broken up by a leisurely lunch of green leafy vegetable cooked in a garlic sauce and some steamed rice. Picture menus are wonderful things to have when you aren't literate in the local language. After leaving the restaurant I aimed myself back towards the apartment. A few times I attempted to ask for directions. Right now that means showing someone a piece of paper with my destination written in Chinese characters and saying "ching ching, na li?"(please, where?) in a very friendly tone. One time a guard didn't know the address so he showed it to a cabby. The man proceeded to give me detailed directions which I didn't understand, until I heard the word 'lu' (for 'street') and realized that the several syllables before lu were the name of the street where his hand signals indicated I should turn. When I repeated it back he got very excited, nodded and started talking even faster. I thanked him and moved on, finding the street and making the turn and ecstatic that we'd been able to communicate with each other.
My biggest frustration so far is powering my MacBook. I'm wary of plugging anything in after have my surge protector blow twice. Today I went to a shopping mall in the center of Beijiing called Oriental Plaza in search of the Apple Experience store listed in the Insider's Guide to Beijing. The store is actually called "Lifestyle Experience" and they are an authorized reseller. I used my MacBook charger to pantomime that I needed one that would work here. It took a few moments, and some laughter, but then they realized what I meant. Unfortunately they sold me a charger for the U.K., not China. I'll be returning it. Back at the office I was able to plug my charger into a surge protector/adapter that allowed me to finally use my computer. My apartment doesn't have Internet and the neighbors have passwords on their accounts so I suspect I'll be spending lots of time at cafes with Wifi connections.
After finding the Apple vendor I did some exploring with colleagues and we walked past vendors selling scorpions on a stick while going down an alley off of a main shopping street. This city is an interesting blend of international city and Chinese culture.
Much of China has been blanketed by snow and ice but Beijing has not been touched by the storms. It's cold here, but it's the beginning of February and that is expected. The streets are packed with people wrapped up in winter garb, both western style winter coats and traditional padded cloth coats. Street vendors selling hot boiled corn, baked sweet potatoes and other warm treats offer a delicious way to warm up while eating a snack. There are also many 'meat on a stick' options but they aren't nearly as appealing.
Right now I'm sitting in a cafe/restaurant called IS Coffee, with coffee and tea drinks and a small food menu, about a mile from my apartment. They have wifi and a very friendly and helpful staff. My computer ran out of power while I was typing this and a waiter was nearby. He noticed me looking for a plug, went into the back and came back with a surge protector so that I could plug in. That level of service is a great way to inspire customer loyalty.
Friday, February 1, 2008
I'm Off
The last several days have been a whirlwind of seeing friends, packing, putting things into storage and selling or giving away things I'm not keeping. It's been a quick exit from a city I love.
I'm on my way!
I'm on my way!
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