I have too many pictures from Luoyang to put here, so I uploaded them to a Picasa web album--you'll be able to check them out better there.
Another girl on our trip took some really incredible photos, if you want to look at more; go here.
Our train ride was AMAZING. It was really fun to get to hang out with all the teachers, who are all (except one) Chinese girls in their twenties, so we could all be friends if given the chance--aka, our interactions not limited to those involving forced sentences using ridiculous vocabulary words, such as, "the company propagandized the item in the media in order to generate sales," or "women are restricted from entering the postman profession because of their inability to lift as many kilograms of mail," or, "The goal of the Women's Federation in Taiwan is to develop and promote female virtue and handicraft arts."
So we drank a bunch of beers on the train, and arrived in Luoyang on little sleep at 7 am. The first day we saw the temples, and at night partied with the teachers. The best part of the Buddhist temples was the Kung fu demonstration, where one monk placed two spear heads on his esophagus, then proceeded to bend the shafts of the spears in semicircles by leaning forward onto the spears; another monk bashed an iron bar over his head and it snapped into 5 pieces; and a third monks threw a pin through a pane of glass to pop a balloon on the other side. If I hadn't seen that with my own eyes, I would never have believed it. Their was only a little pin-hole in the glass, and he had thrown that pin from two feet away. Can somebody explain how that is possible??
The second day we saw the Longmen grottoes, which were incredible, then split up til it was time to take the train back. Some of us chose to hang out in a park, watch Sharon play the violin, and talk to Chinese who came around the stare at this crazy crowd of blond people and to listen to Sharon play.
We arrived back in BJ at 6 am Monday morning, after a truly exhausting weekend.
Friday, October 24, 2008
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Weather and Economics
Today was a really incredible day in Beijing. Yesterday was terrible; the pollution was so bad you couldn't see buildings a block away. No matter how much they tell me so, I will not believe it when the Chinese say this is "fog." It is smog, people--get over it.
At any rate, last night the wind picked up and then it started to rain hard. This morning when I woke up the sky was clear blue and there was still a 20-knot breeze out of the north (aka, Mongolia!). The air had that particular October quality to it, cold but not too much so, and even on the horizon where smog tends to collect, images were crisp. The mountains to the north and west were clearly outlined against the sky, and you could see the Great Wall! This doesn't happen so often.
* * * * *
Tomorrow we have "presentation lectures"--five minute speech and then 5 minutes answer questions. My topic is, why America deserves to fail economically. Main points of my argument: we are an economic empire that has taken advantage of our power and influence to get ahead. We have lived beyond our means for too long, never considering future consequences but only today's wealth. Without some thought for future stability, and with an indelible belief that our global hegemony will last forever, coupled with our excess consumerism and excess arrogance, perhaps we deserve what we get. If we are so stupid not too take some measure to preserve our prosperity and our influence, and then not to recognize when disaster is upon us, but blindly continue to believe that our empire can never fall, then perhaps we deserve to fail.
I think this will be a popular topic with the teachers, especially the part about exploiting others to get ahead (Cough*cough*). I hope they don't take me too seriously, although there's probably some grains of truth to what I say.
did i mention this is in CHINESE? why am I here??? Oh wait, because I can't get a job at home; there's no work because our economy is failing. So now I'm living in a city that's worse for my health than cigarettes, a million miles away, criticizing my country...A vicious cycle....
At any rate, last night the wind picked up and then it started to rain hard. This morning when I woke up the sky was clear blue and there was still a 20-knot breeze out of the north (aka, Mongolia!). The air had that particular October quality to it, cold but not too much so, and even on the horizon where smog tends to collect, images were crisp. The mountains to the north and west were clearly outlined against the sky, and you could see the Great Wall! This doesn't happen so often.
* * * * *
Tomorrow we have "presentation lectures"--five minute speech and then 5 minutes answer questions. My topic is, why America deserves to fail economically. Main points of my argument: we are an economic empire that has taken advantage of our power and influence to get ahead. We have lived beyond our means for too long, never considering future consequences but only today's wealth. Without some thought for future stability, and with an indelible belief that our global hegemony will last forever, coupled with our excess consumerism and excess arrogance, perhaps we deserve what we get. If we are so stupid not too take some measure to preserve our prosperity and our influence, and then not to recognize when disaster is upon us, but blindly continue to believe that our empire can never fall, then perhaps we deserve to fail.
I think this will be a popular topic with the teachers, especially the part about exploiting others to get ahead (Cough*cough*). I hope they don't take me too seriously, although there's probably some grains of truth to what I say.
did i mention this is in CHINESE? why am I here??? Oh wait, because I can't get a job at home; there's no work because our economy is failing. So now I'm living in a city that's worse for my health than cigarettes, a million miles away, criticizing my country...A vicious cycle....
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Luoyang
This weekend, IUP (that's my school) is taking EVERYBODY to Luoyang, a city in Henan province, south of Beijing. (When i say everybody, i mean 30 students and 30 teachers, plus assorted boyfriends/girlfriends, husbands/wives, and even CHILDREN. mother of god).
Anyway, Luoyang in the center of the Yellow River valley and was one of the seven ancient capitals of China. (the capital for 9 dynasties over 1500 years!--that's 96 emperors!)
A famous characteristic of Luoyang is the Longmen grottoes, a UNESCO World heritage site. It's an enormous complex of caves (over 1350) with over 100,000 Buddhist statues carved into the rock. This carving began in the 4th century and continued through til the 10th century. Basically, this stuff is REALLY OLD, but unfortunately, the massive amounts of air pollution are rapidly causing much of the carving at the grottoes to deteriorate. The quality of the art there is quickly diminishing as air pollution worsens and eats away at the living rock. It's good to have an opportunity to see this really neat cultural center now, before its UTTER DESTRUCTION!!!!
Additionally, and more importantly any Jackie Chan and/or Jet Li fans, Luoyang has the Shaolin temple, where Kung Fu was INVENTED! Apparently, kong fu was first developed at Shaolin Temple as a form of gymnastics to combat the immobility of meditation. Monks observed animals and carefully imitated their movements. Over time, kong fu turned into a mechanism of self defense.
Get this: Shaolin monks are enormously disciplined, and since childhood train everyday from dawn to dusk. Only after 20 years of training can someone consider himself proficient in kong fu. Some of the training they undergo daily includes: 1) for hand strengthening, thrust hands into bags of beans repeatedly, and then bags of sand when that gets too easy; 2) for fist strengthening, punch a brick wall repeatedly; 3) for leg strengthening, run with bags of sand tied to the knees; 4) for head strengthening, repeatedly strike the skull with bricks.
Go do that everyday for 20 years, and then you will be able to do the following:
1) break iron bars with your head and concrete slabs with your fists
2) balance on one finger
3) take a sledgehammer blow to the chest
4) hang from a tree by the neck
Apparently we will be able to see these feats when we go.
All 60 of us are taking an overnight train there and back (9 hrs each way). Sweet.
Anyway, Luoyang in the center of the Yellow River valley and was one of the seven ancient capitals of China. (the capital for 9 dynasties over 1500 years!--that's 96 emperors!)
A famous characteristic of Luoyang is the Longmen grottoes, a UNESCO World heritage site. It's an enormous complex of caves (over 1350) with over 100,000 Buddhist statues carved into the rock. This carving began in the 4th century and continued through til the 10th century. Basically, this stuff is REALLY OLD, but unfortunately, the massive amounts of air pollution are rapidly causing much of the carving at the grottoes to deteriorate. The quality of the art there is quickly diminishing as air pollution worsens and eats away at the living rock. It's good to have an opportunity to see this really neat cultural center now, before its UTTER DESTRUCTION!!!!
Additionally, and more importantly any Jackie Chan and/or Jet Li fans, Luoyang has the Shaolin temple, where Kung Fu was INVENTED! Apparently, kong fu was first developed at Shaolin Temple as a form of gymnastics to combat the immobility of meditation. Monks observed animals and carefully imitated their movements. Over time, kong fu turned into a mechanism of self defense.
Get this: Shaolin monks are enormously disciplined, and since childhood train everyday from dawn to dusk. Only after 20 years of training can someone consider himself proficient in kong fu. Some of the training they undergo daily includes: 1) for hand strengthening, thrust hands into bags of beans repeatedly, and then bags of sand when that gets too easy; 2) for fist strengthening, punch a brick wall repeatedly; 3) for leg strengthening, run with bags of sand tied to the knees; 4) for head strengthening, repeatedly strike the skull with bricks.
Go do that everyday for 20 years, and then you will be able to do the following:
1) break iron bars with your head and concrete slabs with your fists
2) balance on one finger
3) take a sledgehammer blow to the chest
4) hang from a tree by the neck
Apparently we will be able to see these feats when we go.
All 60 of us are taking an overnight train there and back (9 hrs each way). Sweet.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Monday, October 13, 2008
Olympic Sailing Site!
Qingdao was actually a really neat city, with strong legacy of being a former German colony; much of the architecture from that period remains, giving the city an oddly European character in some parts (ok, maybe that's a stretch, but it might have a European character if you used your imagination and also squinted your eyes when you looked at everything so you couldn't really see what you were looking at). Everywhere there were Beijing 2008 logos, and TONS of big pictures all over the city of the sailing events. Below, a Beijing 08 logo with a Tornado (the catamaran class at the Olympics).
Qingdao is one of the four major ports of China and also a MAJOR naval base. You could see tons of container ships coming in, as well as a number of naval ships.
Beaches of HUMANS!!!!
And THEN we went to the Olympic site, which was cool to see (although no boats left). I liked that it was open to the public for a very low entry fee so people could enjoy the water and the skyline.
The skyline LOOKS pretty, but don't be fooled; it was actually HIDEOUS and neon and flashing and totally garish at night.
Qingdao is one of the four major ports of China and also a MAJOR naval base. You could see tons of container ships coming in, as well as a number of naval ships.
Beaches of HUMANS!!!!
And THEN we went to the Olympic site, which was cool to see (although no boats left). I liked that it was open to the public for a very low entry fee so people could enjoy the water and the skyline.
The skyline LOOKS pretty, but don't be fooled; it was actually HIDEOUS and neon and flashing and totally garish at night.
Qingdao Beer Festival 08
Two weekends ago we took the train to Qingdao (the city SE of Beijing where the sailing Olympics were held) to go, not to the Olympic site, nor to any cultural and historic places of interest, but to an international beer festival. Seriously, this is a big deal, people. GERMAN BEER. GOOD BEER. REAL BEER. It's not available here.
So, 6 hours by high speed train (you could have told me I was in Europe and I would have believed you; the train was brand new and gleaming and traveled at 170 km/h), and we're there.
The "beer city," as it was called, was really what we'd call a fair or a carnival: rides and stalls and games and snacks. Oh, and huge tents all over the place selling beer and providing live entertainment (Korean popstars, fire breathers, etc).
Qingdao beer was cheapest, and came in bags. They didn't really get the concept of pouring beer on a slant so as to reduce the foam....
Somebody had a frisbee? So we drank out of that alot.
Chinese people were REALLY psyched about us white kids, and we barely bought ourselves beer for two days straight; we were constantly toasted and given beer, drinking with Chinese of all ages and types, even children as young as THREE (I kid you not!)
Too bad we missed our train back on the third day because nobody could quite make it out of bed in time to get to the train station before that train blasted the hell out of there.
So, 6 hours by high speed train (you could have told me I was in Europe and I would have believed you; the train was brand new and gleaming and traveled at 170 km/h), and we're there.
The "beer city," as it was called, was really what we'd call a fair or a carnival: rides and stalls and games and snacks. Oh, and huge tents all over the place selling beer and providing live entertainment (Korean popstars, fire breathers, etc).
Qingdao beer was cheapest, and came in bags. They didn't really get the concept of pouring beer on a slant so as to reduce the foam....
Somebody had a frisbee? So we drank out of that alot.
Chinese people were REALLY psyched about us white kids, and we barely bought ourselves beer for two days straight; we were constantly toasted and given beer, drinking with Chinese of all ages and types, even children as young as THREE (I kid you not!)
Too bad we missed our train back on the third day because nobody could quite make it out of bed in time to get to the train station before that train blasted the hell out of there.
Watch the Smog Rise Over There
Last night, I was studying at a cafe (yes, you heard me, a cafe, where they sell coffee, and paninis, and salads) with some other IUP students. It was Sunday night, and everybody, far from being rested after a relaxing weekend, was beat from 2 days of partying. People started going home early.
At 9:30, I left to go home to bed. At 12:30, I was still not asleep. At 1:30, I think I finally stopped watching the clock.
Monday at lunch, my friend Alex said, "God, last night, I just tossed and turned for 4 hours. I couldn't fall asleep for the life of me."
Another friend agreed, "Yeah, I was exhausted but slept so restlessly. I went to bed at 9 and hardly slept."
I said: "Me too! There must have been something in the air! I lay awake for 3 or 4 hours before I finally fell asleep."
Eunjee called me half an hour later. She said I woke her when I left in the morning at 7, but it was ok since she had been sleeping poorly anyway. She said, "I lay awake forever and then when I finally fell asleep I kept waking up! And, then today, in class, all of my classmates kept falling asleep at their desks! Everybody said they hadn't slept much. I swear, there's something in the air!"
Everybody was using the same words to describe this odd phenomenon. The only conclusion we came to was that there really IS something in the air. Something like, oh, I don't know, massive quantities of industrial exhaust and car fumes. We've had two days of (relatively) beautiful weather, and then last night nobody slept, and then today the air was so thick and hazy it looked like you could cut it with a knife. A friend tried to convince me it was "fog" but I'm not buying it. I've seen plenty of fog, and this shit is not the same. It is nasty and makes you want to choke.
Air pollution is normally measured in micrograms/m3. In New York City, the average level is around 10 micrograms/m3 on any given day. In Beijing, 200 micrograms/m3 is standard, and many days it is much worse. I've heard that living here is about as equivalently bad for your health as smoking 5-7 cigarettes a day.
Apparently not sleeping is the least of my problems.
At 9:30, I left to go home to bed. At 12:30, I was still not asleep. At 1:30, I think I finally stopped watching the clock.
Monday at lunch, my friend Alex said, "God, last night, I just tossed and turned for 4 hours. I couldn't fall asleep for the life of me."
Another friend agreed, "Yeah, I was exhausted but slept so restlessly. I went to bed at 9 and hardly slept."
I said: "Me too! There must have been something in the air! I lay awake for 3 or 4 hours before I finally fell asleep."
Eunjee called me half an hour later. She said I woke her when I left in the morning at 7, but it was ok since she had been sleeping poorly anyway. She said, "I lay awake forever and then when I finally fell asleep I kept waking up! And, then today, in class, all of my classmates kept falling asleep at their desks! Everybody said they hadn't slept much. I swear, there's something in the air!"
Everybody was using the same words to describe this odd phenomenon. The only conclusion we came to was that there really IS something in the air. Something like, oh, I don't know, massive quantities of industrial exhaust and car fumes. We've had two days of (relatively) beautiful weather, and then last night nobody slept, and then today the air was so thick and hazy it looked like you could cut it with a knife. A friend tried to convince me it was "fog" but I'm not buying it. I've seen plenty of fog, and this shit is not the same. It is nasty and makes you want to choke.
Air pollution is normally measured in micrograms/m3. In New York City, the average level is around 10 micrograms/m3 on any given day. In Beijing, 200 micrograms/m3 is standard, and many days it is much worse. I've heard that living here is about as equivalently bad for your health as smoking 5-7 cigarettes a day.
Apparently not sleeping is the least of my problems.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
