Shanghai

Shanghai – the Paris of the East; my home; the city I love. After my summer program ended, I flew out to Shanghai. The flight was less than two hours and I arrived before noon on Saturday. Immediately I went to visit some family friends for a surprise lunch, yes the Oved’s were quite shocked that I showed up on their doorstep but it was fun seeing them. After that, I went to Liat’s house. Liat is a childhood friend whose house I stayed in for the two weeks I was in town. I already miss her so much. She’s the best. We had way too much fun together! After two months of intense Chinese learning I finally had a break in a place I call home. Needless to say, I rested, slept a lot, and had an amazing time. I caught up on a lot of films including Harry Potter (thank you Liatie for tagging along even if you didn’t want to see it). I went shopping in the markets. I went to see an exhibition on Gaudi (like I mentioned this year is the year of Spain in China, so throughout China there are many exhibitions taking place – I also saw one exhibition in Beijing). I went to the Urban Planning museum where they had a special exhibition on the World Expo which was very red. For the first time ever, I rode the metro in Shanghai, which was nicer and less crowded than the one in Beijing. I visited the Yuyuan Garden, which had a facelift since I moved from Shanghai in 2001. There is even a Haagan Dazs and KFC inside the Garden shopping district. I also went to the Bund – what can I say. This place never ceases to amaze me. I walked along the Bund around 5pm all the way until the end because I was waiting for it to get dark. Finally at around 7pm they started turning on the lights and as I was walking along the bridge where on one side I saw all the European buildings from the 20s and 30s and on the other side of the river I could see modern, developing Pudong, it was just too perfect. If you ever go to Shanghai, you have to go to the Bund or as they call it in Chinese “Waitan.” In addition to just refreshing my memory, I also met with many people. I met my two ayis, which translates to “aunties,” -the two ladies who played a very important role in my life while I was growing up in China. One is Nina, who cooked for my family. Nina has a little girl called Paulina. I visited Nina twice at the house where she is currently working where I ate fantastic food; I also went one Monday afternoon to her house to have lunch with her and her daughter. Paulina and I later played Chinese sticks for a while. My other ayi, Xiao Zhen, took care of Annika and I. Xiao Zhen and I met on Nanjing Xilu where I used live in Shanghai Center and went to have lunch together at a good restaurant called the Spot. It was really nice to see both of my ayis again because they influenced me in many ways: they taught me how to play Chinese poker, they helped me with my Chinese, they helped me with my schoolwork, and they took excellent care of me while my parents were away. I am so grateful that they were a part of my life and I was able to spend some time with them in Shanghai. Every time I go back to Shanghai I always call them, and now that I’ll be in Beijing who knows I might see them sooner than I expected. I also met with Elan Oved and his family, very close family friends. I saw the Ohana’s who are also close family friends. I visited the Jewish community, I didn’t recognize any faces. Expats – always coming and going. I also saw the Johnson’s – well half of them. I spent some time with Isabella, Samuel, Sra. Lucy and Bill Johnson. I also grew up playing with his girls and our families have stayed in touch for years. It was a very heart warming experience to go back to Shanghai, feel at home, and spend some time with the people who made my life in Shanghai so wonderful. Plus I got to meet some new people. I met a lot of Liat’s friends and became close to my two new favorite buddies: Nick and Magnus. Nick will be coming to Beijing in October so I’ll see him soon, and I hope Magnus comes to visit me as well. Nina’s new employers are also extremely kind and had me over twice for dinner. How nice! My two weeks in Shanghai were amazing; it was very difficult to come back to Beijing.

Beijing vs. Shanghai
-If I had to pick, definitely Shanghai!!!
-In Shanghai, you can actually see the sky. Most of the time the sky is blue. Unlike in Beijing, where it is usually gray.
-Shanghainese are well-packaged. They don’t spit on the streets as much, they dress better, and they just seem to be more civilized. Beijing is like Shanghai ten years ago when I first lived in China. Shanghai at that time lacked the “culture” it has now. Shanghai is just a lot more Westernized and as a result the locals have it together better than the chaotic, disgusting, unhygienic Beijing scenes I encounter on a daily basis.
-Shanghainese are nice – I know, I know, many people say the opposite, but to me at least they are. I feel that in Beijing people are actually more arrogant because they know they live in the capital and as a result believe they have a higher status. I feel that in Beijing even if just one tone is off the Beijingers do not want to listen to you or help you. On the other hand, all the Shanghainese are really willing to help and are very impressed that any foreigner can speak Chinese. I guess I’m bias anyway, but I definitely vote for the Shanghainese!
-Shanghai is so rich in culture – don’t get me wrong, Beijing is the cultural center of China BUT if you want to see the interaction and mélange of East and West Shanghai is the place to go. You can visit the Old City, stroll around the Bund, and visit the French concession. While I was wandering I came across these houses/buildings that actually looked French. So being the explorer that I am when it comes to old architecture, I went inside. I wanted to cry. The floor still had the French tiles from the 20’s and 30’s when the houses were built. The staircase still had the same design from when it was originally constructed. I got the same feeling I get when I watch the Titanic – I’m so sad to see the glory, richness of the past gone. The Chinese have no idea of the significance of where they live. Where one family used to live, now live eight Chinese families. They spit on the tiled floor as if where nothing. This one house I went in had four stories of just beautiful wooden carvings and wooden floors. Now on the hallway of each floor there is a mini-kitchen. I was shocked, China, come on, really? Show some respect for history, for culture, for society. It is really hard for me to visit these places because I love architecture and to just see the lack of respect and appreciation the Chinese have for the places they live in, especially an ancient French mansion. I guess you can’t blame them because they don’t know any better, but still how can they do that? I’m glad that these buildings still exist because that’s how I know about Shanghai’s foreign past, but at the same time I also get very upset when I visit.

The End of ACC (my summer program)

Yes, the end of my program finally arrived on Friday, August 17th. Hooray! I did it; I finished! No more language pledge, no more classes, no more waking up early. The final day was interesting... to say the least. In the morning we took our finals and then I started packing like crazy because I was leaving the next day. We went out to lunch with a friend that was leaving that evening. After lunch I continued packing like crazy - I took one suitcase to Shanghai, but prepare yourself for this: I left one suitcase, one carry on, one huge box, and one plastic container in Beijing. Jimmy, my savior, picked up my boxes and stored them for me while I was going to be in Shanghai. By 4pm, I was all packed up and ready to attend the closing ceremony for ACC. Minor detail, I was giving the closing remarks for level four. I prepared and I did it, but it was really at the last minute in between packing my things. Finally I could relax. After the closing ceremony, where I was given my certificate of completion, we all went to have Peking Duck. It was great. It was my first time in Beijing. You dip the duck in a sauce then roll it up in a "pancake." Delicious! We also had many other dishes: mushrooms, vegetables, fish (which I don't eat in China because all the rivers are polluted), fruit, pork, duck soup, and fried ice cream balls? (it was a sort of dessert dish). After the wonderful meal, people socialized in the dorm. I went to the gym. Yes, I am a hard core work out person. I used my two-month gym membership until the very last day. After that we all went to the Bar Street to dance and have fun for one last time together. The teachers even came out to party. I have to admit, it was weird to go clubbing with them and the dance room would have been less crowded for sure, but at least they enjoyed themselves. They really tried to dance, but I just don’t think Chinese bodies can dance to Shakira (it was funny to watch). I slept probably three hours because I left early for Shanghai the next day...ah Shanghai.
Some last thoughts about ACC...
-I'm glad I did it. At the beginning I was scared of level four (the weekly exams, weekly orals, weekly essays, daily tests), but I'm proud of myself for finishing it
- I feel more comfortable with my Chinese. I can read more, write more, hopefully even speak better with my tones on target
- ACC staff was really supportive and great to work with. Even until the end, they were guiding us. My teacher was correcting my tones on a piece of paper right before I gave the closing remarks
- and just like in a movie review (haha) I do recommend this intense language program for anybody who doesn’t mind being targeted/attacked/made feel really bad about their level of Chinese every five seconds. My tones were really off so I got corrected about twenty times for the same word, a pretty easy word too, but now I can correct myself and I know I improved.

Prince Gong's Garden and Hutongs

On Friday, August 10, we did not have our weekly test. Instead, we were allowed to explore Beijing. I decided I wanted to go and see the Hutongs, the traditional Beijing homes found in the alleyways. It took us about an hour to get to the Houhai Hutongs, the area where we were visiting. Hutongs are spread throughout Beijing; the ones we visited were near Beihai Park in a pleasant area. I spent about two hours strolling the Hutong area and speaking with one of the locals. This Hutong fieldtrip would be part of my final exam so I had to investigate what it was like to live in these homes. Not all the people who lived in the Hutongs were so eager to talk. After my second try, an elderly lady welcomed me into her home and answered all my questions. The living conditions in the Hutong are very poor. There is a public restroom for about 15 families and there are no showers. It is very crowded and dirty. The lady I spoke to had been living in the same Hutong for about 40 years and was just very unhappy with her life. She told me that meat is too expensive to buy so she only eats rice and vegetables; she has to lock her doors because it is getting very unsafe; there are a lot of people from the country moving into the Hutongs and Beijing people don’t like them; the government repairs the outside appearance of the Hutongs but not the inside (trying to make the city pretty for the foreigners who are coming next year for the Olympic games). One thing that I did not do while I was in the Hutongs was go on a rickshaw ride; there’s always next time. She was just not a happy camper! After spending about two hours strolling the Hutongs, I had lunch in Houhai by the lake and then went to Prince Gong’s Residence. On my way to his residence I signed up to be an Olympic volunteer. Although I already filled the online form, I filled out the paper form – who knows, maybe that will help. They took what seemed a thousand pictures, and then I got a sticker. Cute!

Prince Gong’s Residence
In the mid 19th century, Emperor Xianfeng gave his half brother, Prince Gong, this residence. It is one of the larges private homes in Beijing. Prince Gong is well-known for having negotiated with the British during the second Opium War. Prince Gong agreed to the terms of the Treaty of Tianjin, handed large amounts of silver and part of Kowloon to British Hong Kong. In exchange, the British did not interfere in Beijing and supported the Qing against the Taiping Rebellion. We are actually not allowed into the Prince’s home, but we are allowed to see the garden. The garden is full of winding paths, rockeries (taihu rock structures), water, and buildings. All these elements form part of a traditional Chinese garden. For example, a visit to a Chinese garden should be an engaging and surprising experience. You have to walk around, look through the walls, the windows, the gates, etc. You must actively participate in the “garden experience.” You can also admire the interaction between the solid structures such as the buildings, pavilions, and rocks and the water (huge pond). I was also very excited to visit Prince Gong’s home because in my Art History class I also studied Chinese gardens. It’s always rewarding to see first hand what you’ve studied for months in a text book. One of the garden’s highlights is the theatre almost in the middle of the garden. Although I did not go inside, I was able to sneak in a picture of the ceiling which is beautiful.

Yonghegong Lama Temple - Incredible!!

One of my family friends, Tiana Kamen, was in town for a few days in Beijing so Jimmy Hu, my new best friend, took us to this place. Jimmy is actually Tiana's family friend, but is soon becoming one of my good friends. He is a local who went to Beijing University where I'll be studying and lives near where I am studying for the summer. Jimmy owns an advertisement company and drives everywhere. He has taken me out a few times to eat and meat his friends (he is actually helping me store my luggage while I go to Beijing). Bottom line, Jimmy is amazing. Jimmy took Tiana and her friend and I to this temple. It is a must see! Count Yin Zhen used to live here until he became emperor Yongzheng and moved to the Forbidden City. His home became the Yonghe Palace, but in 1744 it was converted to a Lama Temple for Mongolian and Tibetan monks. Today, it is known as one of the most famous Tibetan Buddhist complexes outside of Tibet. Many of the sculptures are covered in drapes - to me it just looked like decoration but Tiana (who has been to Tibet and seen similar statues there) told me that the statues are actually covered because they portray sex or murder scenes, so the Chinese cover those sections with drapes. Funny huh, censorship is still around. The Lama temple has many halls with statues which you can walk around and see. The complex is beautiful: the decorations, the incense, the praying, the spirituality of the place. This temple also has the tallest Maitreya Buddha statue carved from a single block of sandalwood (there is a Guinness Book of World Records plaque outside the hall). If anybody comes to visit me in Beijing, I will take them here because the architecture, the statues, the buildings are all so beautiful. Thank you Jimmy for taking us here!

Out and About in Beijing

I've attached random pictures that I have taken of Beijing. Some are pieces of artwork from the 798 Art district, others are of Chaoyang District where I live now. Three of the images are of Wanfujing (the first ones)- a wide road where no cars can go by and you just walk and shop. Next to it there is a small eating area where I saw they sell starfish and spider-looking things on a stick that you can eat... yummy. When I feel the urge to have diarrhea I'll try it, but for now, I'd rather be safe. One day I wanted to go to the Forbidden City because the weather was beautiful. As soon as I got off the metro and walked around Tian'anmen Square that was about it for me. The weather was too hot. I'm going to wait until the weather cools off to visit the Forbidden City. That day I walked around the Square and the Forbidden City. There is another picture of the National Musuem in Beijing. One Saturday I went to see the exhibition called "From Tiziano to Goya." The Musuem had a special exhibition on Spanish artists that was very beautiful. This is the year of Spain in China so throughout the country there will be special Spanish-related exhibitions taking place.