Sunday, July 1, 2012

New Discoveries and an Old Favorite

During the six months in which we lived in Beijing, I was determined to see every site in my guidebook.  We designated one day a week for "field trips", and as a result, I got to see pretty much everything on my list, some places multiple times.

Now that I'm back in the city, it's become a bit of a challenge to find sites that are new - at least to me.  Last week, I stepped up to the challenge and made my first trip to 3 new sites and one old favorite, outlined below.

Discovery #1:  Ritan Office Building (Ritan Shangwulou or  日坛商务楼)


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The non-exciting exterior of Ritan Office Building


I first came across Ritan Office Building in a guidebook written in 2008.  It promised that despite its drab exterior, one could find a mecca of authentic fashion bargains, including Marc Jacobs, Diana von Furstenberg, and BCBG among others.  I was intrigued, but because we lived so damned far away, I only made one attempt out to search in 2010 - during which I totally missed the building (I may or may not have been distracted by the authentic German restaurant down the street).

Last week, bound and determined to see what all the fuss was about, I took the subway down to Yongan, bypassed the Silk Market, and headed north in search of bargain fashion.  The guidebook wasn't kidding about the drab exterior.  Situated near the south entrance to Ritan Park and across the street from the Vietnamese Embassy, one could easily pass by the rather unremarkable gray building.  Luckily, they have a sign.  

Inside, I was surprised (and I'm not sure why) to find myself in a dimly lit office hallway with no indication of high fashion to be found.  A turn down the hallway took me to a series of small offices in which the treasure was buried.  Like many small stalls in China, there were a fair amount of cheaply made fakes (Hint: If it has a Chole label and a 100RMB price tag, something's up).  Next door to the fakes and cheaply made blouses, however, were the very products that earned Ritan its fame. 

In one stall, in which I found BCBG and Lily Pulitzer (both of which appeared to be of good quality and had the tags slashed out - often a sign of the real thing), I tried on a fabulous pair of what I was pretty sure were Marc Jacobs (again, the tag was slashed) black ankle length skinny pants.  The salesgirl who I had been chatting with since walking in (all in hopes of getting a good deal if I decided to buy something...and to practice my Chinese) suggested I slip on a pair of heels with the pants, after which I fell madly in love with the reflection of my newly lengthened legs (this is coming from a girl who HATES trying on pants).  


While I suppose I could never know the exact origins of the pants, the fit and stitiching indicated that there were worth it - and so I engaged in about 5 minutes of bargaining in a desparate attempt to score the pants.  I managed to talk the girl down from about 130 USD to 83 USD, but in the end, I let the pants go, reasoning that it really wasn't that great of a deal (after all, I could just go buy a pair of pants at a mall like a normal person with a receipt and all for that much).  Although I ended up empty-handed, I feel confident that an entire day devoted to shopping, along with some hard core bargaining (and possibly a native Beijinger doing your bidding) could result in some pretty sweet finds.

If you go:  There is no crowd, so get ready to enjoy some quiet(er) shopping.  Don't buy anything with a tag still in it (a sure sign of a fake) and pay attention to quality, stitching, pattern matches, and seams.  Be prepared to bargain!   

Getting There:
Take subway line 1 to Yougan, get off at the exit to the Silk Market, exit the Silk Market and walk north.  Take a left on Guanghua Lu and walk past the British Embassy.  Look for the gray building with a sign on your right, across the street from the Vietnamese Embassy.


Discovery #2 - Beijing National Stadium and the Watercube...4 years later



The Bird's Nest...4 years later

Although we spent half of 2010 living in the former Olympic Media Village, a mere few miles from the famed Bird's Nest, I never actually paid a visit to one of Beijing's newest landmarks.  The other day, inspired by the (relatively) cool weather and the free admission (clarification:  you have to pay to go inside both the National Stadium and the Watercube, but it's free to look around outside) we made the trek southward to check out the site of the Olympics...about 4 years too late.

Google Maps suggested we go by bus and walk, which took a grand total of about an hour - not too bad considering our two mile walk to the bus stop.  A bored looking security guard waved us through a gate (the baggage scan and metal detectors have been disabled since the games) and along with a large crowd of Chinese tourists, we were inside.


While the buildings appear to be decently maintained (unlike the poor Friendlies outside of our old apartment - see the 2010 Facebook pics), aside from taking pictures and listening to the 2008 Olympic theme song blasted over the loudspeakers, there isn't a whole lot to do.  Up close, the Bird's Nest has some architectural intrigue, so it's pretty cool to walk around and get views from different angles. Although the Watercube looks great when it's lit up at night, it's essentially just as the name implies - a cube.  We got a chuckle out of some of the ridiculous poses tourists were making in front of the structures, snapped a few of our own pictures, and imagined what it looked like 4 years ago.  While it certainly isn't the most exciting site in Beijing, it was a pretty nice way to kill an afternoon.


The Bird's Nest is pretty cool up close.


TV transmission tower

4 years already!?

The Watercube is cooler at night, but it's hard (impossible?) to predict when it will be lit up.


Tourists in matching t-shirts.  Totally.  Do.  Not.  Get.  It.

If you go:  Don't expect to be overwhelmed.  It's cool to see famous buildings and reminise about good ol' 2008, but that's about all you can do here, unless you're in the market for some overpriced Friendly memoriabilia.  Skip the interior tours, pass on the overpriced McDonald's, snap a few pictures, and consider it checked off the list.

Getting There:
Take subway line 5 to Datunlu.  Take exit A1 (southwest) and follow Da tun lu west.  Turn left to go south on An li lu until you come to Huizhong bei lu.  Take a right, again heading west and you'll see the stadium.


Alternatively, take subway line 8  to the Olympic Sports Center stop and follow the signs. 






Discovery #3 - Purple Bamboo Park (Zi zhu yuan or 紫竹院) 



We've spent a decent amount of time hanging out near Minzu Da Xue (Central University for Nationalities or 民族大学) and the Beijing Dance Academy (and the AMAZING streets of dance stores surrounding it), but we somehow managed to miss the huge park directly to the south.  After stuffing ourselves with pizza (see below), we decided to walk to the subway connection to line 13.  On the way, we quite literally stumbled upon one of Beijing's 7 largest parks (I know.  Top 7 largest parks?  Who keeps track of that?).


Living up in the 'burbs, I'm often disappointed at the lack of romanticized old Beijing charm (hutongs, tai qi, tea ceremonies) I see on a regular basis.  A popular hangout since the Ming dynasty, with a history dating back to the third century, Purple Bamboo Park (mistranslated on several signs to "Black Bamboo Park") had the lao Beijing feel I crave from architecturally charming bridges, winding paths through lush bamboo, strains of traditional instruments, and plenty of older folks practicing tai qi and qi gong.  Once home to the Ming dynasty Temple of Longevity, the park is now home to three lakes, bridges, flowers, trees, and plenty of bamboo.  The shady paths were a welcone respite from the heat, noise, and crowds.  While a sign suggested an admission of 5 RMB (under 1 USD), no one was in the ticket booth, and so we (along with plenty of other Beijingers) strolled the grounds for free.  Although there's not a lot going on the in area, it's certainly worth it to take a break and check out the park if you happen to be in the neighborhood.





Purple bamboo!?  This looks green to me!


Lots of Old Beijing charm


If you don't want to shell out the money to see the Old Summer Palace, the lilies at Purple Bamboo Park are just as pretty...plus there's no crowd!

If You Go: Supposedly, there's a 5 RMB admission.  There's also a pleasant lack of drink, food, and ice cream stalls (maybe this has something to do with why it was so clean?), so bring your own water if it's hot.

Getting There: Take subway line 4 to Weigongcun.  Take Exit D (southwest) and continue south on Zhong guan cun.  Take a right and head west on Wan Shou Si Lu, and the park is on the left.


The Old Favorite:  The West Pizza




Maybe not as big as wheel, but still really awesome

I've had my fair share of pizza in Beijing, and West Pizza is by FAR the best.  While the American chains (Pizza Hut, Papa John's) seem to have their own take on what constitutes "cheese," West Pizza is one of the few places that gets it right.  Located just outside the west gate of the Central University of Nationalities (Minzu Da Xue) and a short walk form the National Library, West Pizza isn't necessarily close to anything, but we'll gladly make the trek over when we've had enough noodles and gai fan.  

West Pizza doesn't just get pizza right.  They also have pasta,  a decent salad, sandwiches, reasonably priced cocktails, and draft beer (!).  If that doesn't get you excited, then allow me to mention the country western decor, jukebox with American music and....beer pong.  It feels a little like your old college hangout.  It tastes a little like home.  And at 35-40 RMB  for a small pizza  (6 slices) and 10 RMB for a mini-pitcher of Yanjing beer, it's a decent bargain in a place where I've seen a crappy cheese-less pizza go for 20USD.

If you go:  The longer you can hold out before going, the sweeter your experience will be.  Wait until you can no longer stand to look at another bowl of la mian, and come prepared to fall just a little bit in love (this is also one of our Beijing date night spots!).


Getting there:     Take subway line 4 to Weigongcun.  Take Exit D (southwest) and continue south on Zhong guan cun.  Cut across Minzu Da Xue, entering from the east gate and exiting from the west gate.  Turn left, and look for the side on the side of a building.

Happy tourist-ing!

Monday, June 25, 2012

Back to Beijing

Once again, I'm faced with the fact that I'm just not much of a blogger.  I can't seem to make myself sit down and type a post in one sitting.  Usually when I write, I end up typing a couple of pages, then editing the pages, then thinking about what else to write, resulting in several long not-quite-posts and no actual posts for the blog.  As we say around here, "Zen me ban? (What's to be done?)"  Someday, I'll have a novel out of this.

Since my last post, we've returned safely to Beijing.  The weather is incredibly humid, but we were lucky enough to have a real thunderstorm (just like the Midwest!) last night that cooled things off a little bit.  Before I get too far into our adventures in the city, let me give a quick update on the past few weeks.  Over the last few weeks we...

-Traveled the Silk Road - Urumqi-Kashgar-Hotan-back to Kashgar- back to Urumqi-Turpan (I skipped out on this one to spend a day editing an article in the air-conditioned hotel!)-and back to Urumqi.  Keep in mind Xinjiang is about three times the size of France, and check out the red lines on the map!


-Logged two flights (both delayed at one of the world's most uncomfortable airports), a 26 hour train ride in close quarters with three strangers (I have a separate post about this special circle of hell in the works) and an 8 hour bus ride (after which we turned around and took an 8 hour car ride back the next day)

-Got caught in a dust storm in the desert (that was actually pretty cool)

-Spent the night in a hotel with armed troops in the lobby (that was actually kind of scary)

-Spent about a week in a hotel, whose slogan "Tomorrow, we will do better!" was all too true 

-Did several loads of laundry in a hotel bathtub (keeping in mind I mean a bathtub in western Chinese hotel...add some mold and a leaky faucet to that picture in your head)

-Braved many a Chinese breakfast buffet (I love Chinese food, but I have a Western appetite at breakfast)

-Attended a Uyghur wedding in Urumqi with lots of dancing

-Palled around the desert looking for a sign (a literal sign, not a metaphorical sign) that we never found but we are certain exists

-Ate more lamb than I ever thought possible

-Met up with old friends, made new friends, and felt pretty lucky that I know so many amazing people halfway across the world

-Took a ton of pictures

-Drank a lot of tea

-Discovered Texas Cafe, probably the most awesome restaurant in Urumqi

-Watched my husband be ultra productive and

-Generally, had an awesome time.

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Journey to the West



Since I last posted, we've journeyed to the west - and by west, I mean the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China's western most province. From where I'm writing right now in the city of Kashgar, we are actually closer to Iran than Beijing! Bordering Russia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikstan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India, the region is home to most of China's Uyghur ethnic minority population. Although we traveled to Xinjiang in 2010 to attend a wedding in Urumqi (the provincial capital) and visit Turpan, a grape producing oasis, this time, we're hitting up some of the major stops along the Silk Road, including Kashgar and Hotan.

While access to internet is limited, hotels are, well, what you'd expect from western China, and the weather is hot and hotter, it's been absolutely amazing. Not only is the physical landscape vastly different from China's eastern coast, but the local Uyghur culture, strongly rooted in Islam, is quite a change from the packed subways of Beijing. As major stops along the Silk Road, to say the cities we're visiting are rich in history is quite an understatement.

Today we spent some time walking around Kashgar's Old Town, a maze of alleyways and mud buildings, some of which are hundreds of years old. At present Old Town is being bulldozed and new housing is being built to replace the ancient buildings, The reconstruction of Old Town is, for some, a contraversial issue, but luckily for all of you, I don't have time to examine all sides of the complex argument right now (remember, limited internet!).  For today I'll just say I'm glad we had the opportunity to visit such a historical place, and I'll leave you with a few pictures.

Stay cool and hug your ac.

Id Kah Mosque, Kashgar (the largest mosque in China)

Fabric at the Sunday market in Kashgar (guess who bought some fabric?)

                                                                Wall in Old Town, Kashgar
 

  

Monday, June 4, 2012

What I've Been Doing

...so posting regularly has been a little more difficult than I anticipated.  In an attempt to pack light, we decided to bring one laptop on the trip, which, at the time, seemed like a great idea.  Since we arrived though, I've been taking two online classes, my husband's been able to get in a few hours of work online, AND he ended up translating two articles within about a week.  In other words, when we're home, someone is ALWAYS on the computer!

While I have a longer post in the works, I thought it might be interesting to let everyone in on what we've been doing over here.

For most of this trip, we are staying with friends in Beijing who have a spare room in their apartment and are generous enough to let us use it.  Our temporary home is on the way, WAY north side of the city.  Find the Olympic Stadium on a map of Beijing.  That's north, right?  Now go further, almost to the end of the subway lines.  That's us! 

As a result of our location, a typical day involves a lot of time devoted solely to travel.  Today, we made an entire 10 hour day out of a lunch date and a short interview.  Yup, that's Beijing.

On a typical day, we wake up, check email, Skype with our parents, and catch up on the news (for one us, this means checking in to see if the NBA's on).  If needed, I do a little work for my classes or my husband does a little work on the computer.  We have breakfast with those little packets of instant Nescafe, as coffee hasn't really caught on in our neighborhood yet (there is a Starbucks and a McDonald's about a 40 minute walk away though, so my addiction is still going strong) and get ready for the day.

Most days center around interviews or meetings with old friends/ professors of my husband's.  Both usually involve lunch...and are held somewhere at least an hour away from us.  The rest of the morning is devoted to walking/riding the subway.  On one hand, it's a bit of a pain in the ass to travel all around the city everyday.  On the other hand, it's awesome because I'm walking about 10 miles a day, and can therefore eat all the rice, noodles, and ice cream I want.  It's not a bad trade. 

Sometime in the afternoon, we usually realize that we need real coffee, and so we'll head off to the nearest coffee shop to get our fix, write up notes (him), and practice language (me).  If we don't have anything scheduled for the day (which has been rare this trip), we go out and do something touristy (we just saw a pretty sweet exhibit at the National Museum) or he works while I go do a little shopping.  We usually have dinner wherever we end up to avoid rush hour, and in the evenings, it's more homework, language study, and tv.  It doesn't sound that exciting when I type it all out, but this is what a research trip is like.  

And now for some pictures:
I swear, we live on the most crowded subway line ever.  This is a slow time of day.

I caught a blue sky over our neighborhood!


 The entrance to our neighborhood (population 300,000 and growing strong) at night, courtesy of the husband.
Field trip day at Tiananmen, also courtesy of the husband

...and now it's time to share the computer again.  ;-)

Saturday, May 26, 2012

I think this might finally become the blog I actually stick with!  Exciting words, eh?  When we booked our tickets for this summer's short trip to China, I wasn't planning to blog, but after hearing that my family actually read (and enjoyed!) reading about our adventures (and sometimes misadventures) the last time around, I decided a new blog was in order, as it appears Yahoo has deleted my previous blog (poor little guy!).

We've been back in Beijing for 3 days, kicking off a short 6 week research trip for my husband (the title's inspiration).  Although I last left Beijing in December 2010, it seems as if not much as changed - the noodles are still tasty, the subway is still crowded, and despite my best efforts, I still manage to butcher the Chinese language like the antagonist of a B-grade horror movie.  Meh.  I try.

Although I once famously told my husband in the early days of our courtship that I "really had no desire to go to China", I've since changed my ways, and today, I feel very fortunate to have the opportunity to spend so much time getting to know what I believe to be, at present, one of the most interesting countries in the world.  Love it or hate it, China has a tendency to lead one to a sort of life-long obsession that comes from a deeper place than just exoticizing the other.  In the past century, the rapid pace of change (despite what I just wrote above - more on that later) has developed China into a place that is truly unlike anywhere I've ever been.  For instance, the other night, as we rode from the airport to our friends' apartment on the new airport shuttle bus (a bargain at 16 RMB per person!), the contrast between the scenery on the two opposite sides of the bus windows was a dissertation waiting to happen.  To our right, we passed a line of rather shabby, hastily constructed low buildings, illuminated by the glow of neon lights, housing cheap barbecue restaurants, where patrons sat outside drinking beer and tossing their wooden skewers into the road.  To our left stood a rather gaudy, but state of the art shopping complex that wouldn't have been out of place in any suburban community in the US.

What to make of it all?  Well, that's for us to find out together...and what happens when you marry a sinologist.