07-21-13 | PIB Mid-Term Break - A Trip to Chengde

After an intense first semester and a 4-hour long final exam, 10 PIB students filed onto a train at Beijing Station to Chengde (承德), a small city north-east of Beijing where China's last dynasty of emperors spent their summer vacations in a mountain resort (bishushanzhuang) and held meetings with neighboring countries.

PIB gives all students a 3-4 day long weekend between the first and last four weeks to relax and see some China outside of Beijing. The trips are all planned by the students themselves, unlike Harvard's program which I believe offers week-long "social study" projects to various set locations. Though a bit short, PIB's break allows students to freely explore places like Shanghai, Qingdao, Xi'an, Datong, and Chengde.
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The view from one of the platforms at Puning Temple

Our group spent two days in Chengde, arriving Friday afternoon and leaving Sunday morning. We stayed at the very nice not-so-expensive (only) hostel in Chengde, whose owner picked us up from the train station and gave us a map and recommendations on what to do in the city.

Our group spinning prayer wheels, which in Tibetan Buddhism
has the same effect as saying the inscribed prayer. These
also included helpful arrows to help those of us who don't read
Sanskrit spin them in the right direction.

We were a little dubious of this elephant's eyes

The inside of Puning Temple, with a stage for entertaining
visitors. I keep thinking those things are clotheslines

The view from the top of the Red Platform at the Little Potala Palace

 From then we toured three temples on the outskirts of Chengde, including Putuo Zongchengzhi temple (built in the style of the Potala Palace in Tibet), Xumi Fushou Temple, and Puning Temple (which contains a very very large wooden Buddha with a thousand arms and a thousand eyes. Actually each hand of each arm contains an eye, which I thought was interesting. No photos inside of course). At Puning Temple, I burned some incense in very awkward fashion. 

View from the bottom of the Red Platform at Little Potala Palace

Another view from the top of Puning Temple

Joe Package's Stewed Meat (lurou)

The restaurant that we went to for dinner that day had fantastic menu translations. We spent a while wondering who Joe Package was. 

"Mr Tat's Wing" We're
guessing he's friends with Joe Package

You can order "The Crabs"

We spent the next day wandering the Mountain Resort, which takes up an enormous part of the city. Apparently the emperors took all the flat ground in the otherwise mountainous area, walled it off, and over 90 years built a huge resort. The result was visually amazing the day we went, with the sun throwing off a dry heat over the many small lakes, buildings, and gardens. Needless to say I took a lot of pictures.

Spinning the water wheel.

 In the morning I visited a small shop selling name charms near a waterwheel. When we returned at the end of the day, despite my wearing sunglasses and this really peculiar rainbow paper hat, the salesman walked up to me and, pointing, said "I know you!" He was amazed that we had been there from 8AM to (eventually) 5:30PM, although I would say that one could definitely spend an entire day in the Mountain Resort.

The entrance fee was 120RMB, but although we had heard that student discounts wouldn't work, we managed to get in half-price anyway. I suppose the lesson is that it can't hurt to flash your Beijing Normal ID card (it's actually a lunch card) at all of these places.

A part of our group split off early and got a bit lost wandering huge, hilly forest that wraps around the main area, while my friend and I explored each island in sequence. In the afternoon, we regrouped, walked around some more, and ended the day with some boating around the lakes (unfortunately our motor boat had some weird engine issue and was quite slow).

Sometime during the day, a college professor from Chengde Normal University came up to us and asked us if we were foreigners. She was giving a survey about the state of Chengde's public toilets. Foreigners were unusually rare in the park that day. One of us asked how she'd known we were foreigners (most of us are Chinese American). "Did you hear us speaking English?" In the end it was our accented Chinese that gave it away - she thought I was Japanese.

All in all, it was heartwarming to see a teacher go to such lengths, apparently to satisfy the curiosity of her students, to find out what foreigners thought of Chengde's toilets - about their cleanliness, convenience, and artistic design. I actually think Chengde's toilets are pretty nice.

Older Chengde residents dancing downtown

Guinea pigs and a dwarf rabbit outside a pet store

We also visited the local beer garden for lamb barbecue of dubious origin. Aside from lamb we tried sugared bread, as well as BBQ cicada pupae (which has the texture of a shrimp shell on the outside and weird tofu on the inside).

Essentially what I wanted to get out of this long weekend were mountains, water, and history. (山，水，和历史). I'd say that Chengde meets these criteria without being too far away, and might be a good PIB midterm trip for those who'd prefer a relatively inexpensive trip and a relaxing break from the big city.

Cheers,
令鑫

07-16-13 | Week 3 pt2 - Delicious Menu Translations, An Awkward Houhai Bar, and Being Chinese-American in Beijing

Okay I am going to try using this post-by-email feature that blogger has because going through VPN is just not happening anymore. Good news is that my sick is going away pretty quickly it seems, maybe this afternoon I'll actually be able to make use of my 400rmb gym membership. (Most PIB students go to Pulsation Fitness, which seems to be the only nearby option if you need a treadmill, weights, etc. although there are a few outdoor weight machine things and tracks open to students.)

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Last week's Chinese Table had us eating at this innocuous two-story restaurant on campus. The English translations on the menu were absolutely marvelous though, including classic dishes such as "Demolition of Flesh and Blood," "Dishes Beef," and "That Autumn Eggplant." Also, "Red Army Liver," and "Dismantling of Chicken Legs." If that weren't sassy enough, they also include a fine-print message on each page reminding guests that "the pictures on the menu are for your reference only, please taste the real food."

Demolition of Flesh and Blood

That Autumn Eggplant

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Houhai

This Friday afternoon, after all tests and important work, some friends and I went to Houhai for a visit. It was a nice if slightly foggy day and on the lake were small electric boats that visitors had rented and were driving. Watching them bump into things as the sun set somewhere out in the distance made for a pleasant walk.

This dog thing though. 

I love cylindrical animals

After sundown saw yet another one of my awkward linguistic slip ups. As more and more people began to crowd the streets, we finally sat down on the roof of a bar. Each of us ordered a minimal amount of alcohol to justify our existence there, and each time the waiter would arrive to ask if we'd like anything else, I'd just reply "I think we're okay." So when the waitress came and asked us something, I thought she'd meant if we'd like to order anything else, to which I replied "I think we're okay." Her asking "what do you mean you're okay?" and seeing the look on her face let the awkwardness quickly sink in -- she'd wanted us to pay.

Houhai at night.

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Awkward encounters like these, though minor, seem to nicely reflect what it's like to be Chinese-American here. On the streets of Beijing, everyone assumes you're Chinese. Haven't-even-boarded-the-boat Chinese. Nobody asks to have their picture taken with you, or wants you on their TV show (these things actually happen). Bus operators look at you funny when I can't read schedules. And you can't always explain my (lack of) background, that you grew up in a mostly-white neighborhood in a suburb of New York and almost exclusively spoke English at home.  

But of course I can only speak for myself. There are a lot of other huayi students in my classes (well of course since I'm in the Chinese-American track but also at PIB in general), and plenty of them speak, write, and read a lot better than I do. A few probably rightly think this kid should spend less time whining on his Beijing blog and more time doing his homework. 

But as Zhou Laoshi (the author of our textbook) said, your commitment to learning a language is often longer than your marriage, especially in the United States. And everyone needs a good reason for studying Chinese (because it's hard). Up until college, I didn't think there was a point in my studying Chinese. Even though I could barely spin a sentence in Mandarin, it seemed that the linguistic proficiency (among other things) got assumed in the shape of my eyes, and that it was never going to be "impressive" if I became fluent in this language.

In the end, (and this is something of which I sometimes need reminding) it's not about what's impressive. Whether or not you're a huayi, I still think it's worth it. It's worth it to experience China in Chinese, to get to know your relatives beyond language barriers (for those to whom this applies), or even just to develop the alternative perspective that a second language brings. It's worth it to get out of the American bubble (sort of like the Yale and Princeton bubbles but larger and with fewer salmon-colored pants), and take a look at the rest of the world.

And there are advantages to being a Chinese American in Beijing. Whether you grew up in a bilingual household or lost your command of Chinese by age 3 (me), it is easier to pick up a language if you spoke it even a little as a kid. You have a feel for the grammar from those pre-12-language-sponge days, a bit of vocab, and a family's worth of people to practice with. You don't get stared at on the streets or accosted for pictures. It's a different perspective, but a worthwhile one as well.

Blah blah blah,

令鑫

07-13-13 | Third Week in Review pt1: 798 Art District

It's finally happened. I'm sick. Not the usual kind of sick that everybody here gets involving a lot of time on the toilet, but the kind of coughy phlemmy sick that comes with a chronic headache and a desire to stay in bed and hand in tests without looking them over. (As a side note, I think the prevalence of stomach-related disturbances in China accounts for how liberally people talk about having diarrhea here. You 拉肚子, I 拉肚子，and pretty much everyone else).

I haven't been sick like this since the beginning of freshman year when our fencing coach informed us that sickness was a product of mental weakness. It's okay though; I'm drinking this Ginseng root dry mix thing.

Speaking of fencing, I don't think I've ever seen an ad like this. I think it's for a mechanical pencil?

Last week, we went to the 798 Art District in Beijing (north of Sanlitun) to view the galleries. Taking the bus there was a bit of a nightmare. First we lost Wen Si and then we found out we took the wrong bus. When we finally got to the place, it was nice although not as lively as I had imagined. Perhaps if we had walked through the entire complex...

Posing in front of the entrance. The thumb makes it artsy

798 used to be a (I think Soviet) factory

Some semi-traditional Chinese watercolor

 

Some street art

More semi-traditional art from the same gallery

I wish I had some pictures of this oil painter whose name I don't know. His work is essentially bright colors in large works with plenty of detail. This is hardly descriptive, but I remember a couple of paintings - one of America with every national symbol you could think of cramped into one painting (statue of liberty, bald eagles, the moon landing, the founding fathers, and the milky way galaxy in the background for some reason). There's a similar (larger) one of China.

The Silk Market

Afterward, we headed (by taxi this time) to the Silk Market, which is a multistory shopping mall that actually reminded me of the Galeries Lafayette in Paris, except everything is fake and everybody is trying to rip you off. The entire time, I wondered if foreigners actually bought things at the 10x markups they were being sold for.

I must admit I bought a few things there. When I got back, I think I gave Zhen laoshi the impression that I like spending loads of money... I personally think I'm pretty conservative in that respect.


Anyway, that was Sunday of the previous week. Everything else, including 3-day weekend planning, gorgeous Chinese menu translations, and freaking out waitresses will get put up at some point when I don't feel like dying.

Cheers,
令鑫

07-06 | The Great Wall, Tienanmen, Beijing Opera House, and Marco Polo Bridge - Week Two In Review

Before I arrived in Beijing, I had assumed PIB was going to be devoid of any scheduled excursions or activities other than the 5 hours of class each day, but the scary warning in the PIB pamphlet (essentially, you will not have time for sightseeing) belies the multitude of things that go on here outside of the classroom (even more so if you're willing to do some planning). Apparently PIB is actually even better at HBA at scheduling speakers and things like that. These two weeks have seen 2 calligraphy lessons, an international affairs speaker, and a talk on Chinese art.

This week's Chinese table was ridiculous.
Somehow we ended up with so
much food that we couldn't fit it all on
one table, so in addition to all of
this there are two dishes
that are not pictured.

Here's that sushi restaurant I absolutely love for their
buy one get one free offer...

Our concert ticket. 

Obligatory picture with the Chairman

Some art at the Opera House

Some friends and I went to this place to bargain for
running shoes among other things. If you tell them you
come from America they'll double your prices.
If you don't look Chinese you'll probably want to ask
for a 50-60% discount to start... 

Rain.

Drinking milk tea at the Nanluoguxiang Hutong in Beijing

The Great Wall. It pretty much looks the same no matter
where you are, but since we went out into the
countryside, there were hardly any other people. 

As for excursions, we've visited the Great Wall, and today we toured a WWII museum as well as Lugouqiao (the Marco Polo Bridge). Afterward, we visited Tienanmen, took some pictures, and then watched an orchestra perform with traditional ethnic instruments at the Beijing Opera House. They played quite a few arrangements of western songs, including this one Russian piece that sounded exactly like the Tetris theme. 

Deng Laoshi (left) I cannot believe you did that :(

Marco Polo Bridge (Lugouqiao) The lions have been
repeatedly restored over the many years the bridge
has been in existence, so they're all different.

At the Marco Polo Bridge WWII museum. Some stories
don't get told enough. 

Posing with Traditional Beijing Yogurt as well as
Zhen Laoshi

PIB Yalies. The Beijing Opera House in the background
is colloquially called the "Birds Egg" for obvious reasons.
The entrance is underground, and all that water flows over
a clear ceiling. This we found out after walking around the
entire perimeter of the damn thing. 

They were very strict about taking cameras, but not cellphones.
It was really a great performance, especially the Tetris. 

The Light fellowship sends out email blog prompts every week, and the last two have been "what are your goals" and "what kinds of cultural missteps have you made." Language-wise, my current goal is increasing my vocabulary (which is not-so-great). Surprisingly I think I've gotten that speaking thing down all right. Personal goals include seeing more of Beijing, planning a day trip somewhere, and doing more of that 交流 thing. 

As for missteps, apparently half of the teachers here thought I had a lover in China. A got a tone wrong in one of my individual discussion sections, so "why I want to study Chinese" switched from "getting to know my relatives (qin1 ren2)  in China" to "getting to know my lover (qing2 ren2) in China." No wonder all the teachers were like, "that Ed Kong he's so liberal and open." 

In other news, I walked into a Subway the other day, and some kids from a Boston College exchange program or something saw my Tshirt, and started asking me with large eyes and slow English whether I went to Yale, to which I couldn't help but break the language pledge to tell them that I live in America and that English is my native language. The sad thing is that most Chinese people on the street assume I'm local, and when I can't read bus schedules they look at me really weird. On the other hand, I get slightly-less-outrageous pricing when bargaining. 

Anyway, it's 3AM and tomorrow we're going to the 798 Art District. 

Cheers,

孔令鑫