Beijing!

After I took an intense history class in Xi’an and said goodbye to my Xi’an friends, I took off by overnight train to Beijing, the capital of the People’s Republic of China. It was great finishing that history class, but I can safely say that I have every dynasty and most important figures memorized in China’s 4000ish year history. I still keep in contact with the friends too.

I actually read the Analects of Confucious and gave a 25-minute presentation on him and his writings. I loved it. It was very interesting and I actually saw a lot of Confucian ideals in Christianity. There was a big difference though. Confucianism glorifies man and his ability to achieve greatness through his own effort, whereas Christianity emphasizes man’s inability to do anything without Christ.

He was actually 6’4” and was an expert at chariot driving and archery. Dispose of your preconceptions!

So my first overnight train ride was a fun experience. I ended up watching Airplane! with some friends and two Chinese men in our berth. They didn’t understand a lot of the humor, but when they did, they thought it was hilarious. We emphasized the fact that these aren’t the only kinds of movies we watch, so as not to further any American stereotype of bone-headedness. We then played Chinese chess, which the Chinese find very impressive that we know how to play. It was actually required in one of my culture classes to learn and play the game competently and it has definitely helped further some friendships with the Chinese! I then attempted to sleep amidst the bumping and rattling, but overall it was a calm and nice ride.

My experience in Beijing was similar to my previous experience I had a year earlier when I came to China in January 2011. The big difference was that when I saw the historical landmarks, they had more meaning to me since I had learned about them in class. I made more connections, felt more knowledgable and was able to appreciate much more of Beijing. For each of the places we went, I’ll give a small tidbit of historical context to show off my history skillz!

SUMMER PALACE

Fact: The first summer palace was SACKED in the second Opium Wars in 1856-1860. They made a new one. It’s too bad, because that place was really decked out.

GREAT WALL

Fact: It was built by the first emperor of China, Qin Shi Huangdi. Modern-day Chinese have mixed feelings about him because he successfully united China, but was gratuitously harsh.

TEMPLE OF HEAVEN

Fact: It was built during the Ming dynasty in the 1400s, which was also the time that China ruled the seas with the Treasure Fleet. It was epic.

SPIRIT WAY

Fact: I can provide zero facts because it was raining and I was starving. I faintly remember many statues on a pathway. It’s all a blur.

TIANENMEN SQUARE

Fact: Most known for the incident in 1989. It’s also most known for having some of the most intense government surveillance than anywhere else in China. They can hear any and every conversation! I bought a small Chinese flag so as to appease.

FORBIDDEN CITY

Fact: Also built during the Ming dynasty. There’s a whole building devoted to tea drinking for the old Emperor and his guests. I could get in on that.

Next up: SHANGHAI!

- Kev

Xi'an was nice.

So after my trip to Guizhou, we took a flight up to ancient capital city Xi’an in Shanxi province.

Xi’an is much different than Xiamen for a few reasons.

Noodles. Only noodles. If there was rice, it tasted slightly artificial. The noodles were good though! And Xi’an is known for a certain type of noodle that is the most complicated Chinese character, and only so for shock value I think. It’s like a lasagna noodle but beefier.

COLD and DRY. Good and bad. Good because when we hang up our clothes to dry, they’re ready-to-wear in less than a day, whereas it takes about three days in Xiamen. Bad because cold weather makes everything more difficult, especially for the Chinese students, who have to lug around giant thermos jugs filled with hot water in order to bathe. We got to stay in the international dorm on XISU’s (Xi’an International Studies University) campus that was more like a hotel room. It felt unfair, but I’m thankful!

Polluted. On a good day, there was some sun shining through, but for the two and a half weeks I was there, it was mostly smoggy. There’s a tall tower that can be seen from around the city, and we used it as a pollution meter. That means that if we could see it, then it was a relatively clean day.

Now it may sound like I’m definitely partial to Xiamen, which I definitely am. But at the same time, I met some of my favorite people in Xi’an.

After biking a giant wall that surrounds the city, and after accidently getting into a random film crew’s shot a few times, I met 雒康康, or Luo Kangkang. I decided to randomly talk to him while he was overseeing the production of a video for a local bank because they had cameras and I was curious what they were doing. We ended up talking about his studio and the fact that I study media and after trading contact information we ended up meeting again with his friends.

Throughout my time in Xi’an, they took me out to dinner a couple times and to a coffee bar. They also invited me to see the studio, which ended up being an apartment-turned-studio kind of thing, which was still awesome. They even drove me around town and offered to drop me off at the train station the day I left.

Kangkang is partnering with another film producer later this year to produce a full-length film and he promised to email me when it’s finished.

Here are my new friends from this experience. I don’t have a picture of the three guys I hung out with who are Kangkang’s friends, unfortunately.

So despite Xi’an being not quite Xiamen, I had one of the most amazing times there. Oh yeah, I also saw the TERRACOTTA SOLDIERS.

- Kev

A trip to Guizhou...

A while back I left Xiamen with the group and flew to one of the poorest provinces in China. We went to Guiyang, the capital of Guizhou province, and then a little further out to spend about four days at a beef cattle ranch way up in the mountains.

It was considered a service opportunity for us in China, as we helped a family at one of the only beef farms in Guizhou. This trip, although comprised of solely manual labor, was one of my favorite parts of my experience abroad in China!

Not only did I get to see the beauty of rural China, but I was also inspired in a way I never had before.

Being above the tree line in the mountains was stunning. The air was REFRESHING, especially in contrast to city life.

The government gave all of this land to the family for free since the soil is highly acidic. They decided to use it for cattle much to the disapproval of others. The Chinese tend to coddle their livestock, leading them to be unable to handle the intense cold being on a mountain. But, after interbreeding Australian cattle with the Chinese cattle, they made a breed that has the best of both kinds! They now profitably produce beef in a country that tends to overproduce pork. Also, with blueberries very uncommon, they’ve decided to make use of the acidic land for blueberry fields since the soil is perfect for their growth.

Kevin lost in China.

Now I mostly dug up fence posts, put them in another field that will be used for the blueberries and made/laid cement for their bases. This was physically taxing, especially in the freezing wet, fog-ridden weather, dodging cow pies every which way. But I also found it very satisfying as I began to see a finished product throughout the four straight days.

Some may see this is as a strange result, but for some reason this rural experience has given me a genuine desire to grow something. Be it vegetables in a small plot outside of my future apartment or house, or a strange acquirement of a dairy farm amidst a city-job in my future. Sure, the latter is seemingly impossible to upkeep, seeing as how the farm and city-job can’t be in the same location, but I can dream. I never would have imagined myself as someone who would glorify farm life, but seeing this family who had no previous knowledge of farming achieve such a great deal through production of food inspired me. I’m a nerd.

- Kev

I'm still here!

Click for a bigger picture!

Taste of DOWNTOWN.

Xiamen University is about a 6-minute bus ride away from downtown Xiamen. Downtown Xiamen is one of my favorite places in the city. Here’s a short video of downtown at night using the wonderfully low quality Blogspot video.

Why downtown is great:

1. My favorite Taiwanese food vendor is found in a back alley. A local had to show me.

2. There are tons of people. After studying at a coffee shop downtown named Deep Coffee, I met two Thai sisters who own the place and I’m helping them learn English while they teach me and a friend Chinese. (They deserve a separate blog post which is soon to come)

3. Shops are everywhere. From super high end with Mustangs inside to the hole-in-the-wall restaurant or knock-off brand clothing lines.

4. Downtown at night is BRIGHT.

5. Exploring random streets makes me feel adventurous.

6. Xidi Coffee Street – high-class/socialite Chinese! (It also deserves a separate blog post)

The ease of getting to and from downtown makes the experience all the more satisfying. To get around town (and even to class sometimes), I bought a Xiamen bus card.

This baby is the traveler’s bread & butter. And that super awesome salmon-colored 100 yuan bill?! Not worth much actually.

So yeah, a quick scan is all it takes because it functions as a debit card. It’s cheaper for bus cardholders (0.80 yuan instead of 1.00 yuan)! The amount I use the thing, though, I’ll have to add some money soon for sure.

I’ve learned to read some of the bus destinations on the front of the buses so as to make sure I’m going to the right place. I look for Xiada, the shorthand for Xiamen University, and specifically the Chinese character for "da" because it looks like a man stretching his arms out. It has a falling tone and means "big". In this case, "da" is short for "daxue", or "big study", or "university". Yep, something just clicked, eh. Chinese is beautifully practical.

PUBLIC TRANSITTING LIKE A BEAST IN CHINA,

Kev

Zhōngshān (JOE-NG-SHAWN) Park (PARK)

A quick video of Zhōngshān Park:

One Saturday, I encountered an elderly man. I never caught his name. I never saw him again. But, he gave me the true welcome to China that I think I’d needed.

I went to go see a concert at the park downtown. A stage and plastic chairs were all set up in a small plaza. I found a single empty seat on the left side of the audience, right next to a small, old man with beady and aged eyes. He was wearing traditional Chinese garb, and when I sat down, he had to double take. Upon seeing me, he reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a cigarette for him, but also for me. He offered it and I beamed, but I rejected it with a “xiè xiè”, or “thank you.” He wasn’t offended; more for him I suppose. He then began trying to converse with me in his broken English. He attempted telling me about the music, and how it was a traditional Chinese song. We sat there, enjoying the strums of an ancient instrument. I left with a thankful “zài jiàn”, or “see you at another time.”

Being white and blue-eyed, I’m always just a foreigner. I’m tragically conspicuous. Today I wore my hood up, not just because of window-rattling wind speeds, but it made me feel less… Lithuanian. The idea of never being able to truly fit in, even after someone has had decades of language and culture studies, is disheartening.

My attempted glass-half-full mindset certainly doesn’t ignore benefits, however. The “you’re one of us” welcome was actually due to the fact I was a foreigner when I sat next to him. Strange that the feelings of acceptance were a result of what I try to hide from.

- Kev

I can see Taiwan from here.

I live by a beach. Although it’s been rather cool every day, people still love the beach, and so do I.

On the way to the beach, there are random vendors selling fresh food, coconuts, Xiamen maps for Chinese tourists, and sugary-fruit kebabs (I om-nomed a seed and hurt myself but I made sure no one could tell so as not to lose face). They also sell hats with wings on them, and when I asked my Chinese friend, Shelly, about the significance of them, she said, “Can’t you tell they’re just cool?!” I’ll probably end up buying one.

Once at the beach, plastic shovels are sold for the young families that bring their children to the beach to play. Single bikes with one to four seats are available for rent, which I have to dodge while I make my way to the bus to head around town.

The people at the end of this video may have been warning me they were BOOKIN' IT BEHIND ME.

On a side note, I had this for lunch today:

- Kev