Great Wall and Satire

It's been a while since I've updated. I don't really have too many exciting or worthwhile experiences to write about. I mean, I obviously do since I am in China; however, it's just I don't think many people would find my everyday experiences interesting. Anyways, last week was semi- interesting. ACC often arranges activities for us and we go to them in order to get a taste of Chinese culture - as if living in Beijing isn't enough. They arranged for us to see a play.

The play was a two man show. It was entitled "A Two Dog's View of Life." It was very avant-garde and I think it was meant to be absurdist theatre. The Beijing accent was very heavy and I'd be lying if I told you that I understood everything. The play was rife with puns, slang, and a variety of different impersonations that I didn't really get. It's always difficult to understand the comedy of another culture - the true representation of a culture seems to manifest itself in the form of comedy. Anyways, the parts that I did understand were quite funny and it was a good performance. The actors were quite talented and I was entertained for a good two hours. Here are some pictures:


The next adventure was our trip to visit the Great Wall. It literally was a dream come true. I remember as a child reading books about the Great Wall and ancient China. It was incredibly exciting. We went to one of the "prettier" sections of the Wall. It's called "Simatai." The weather was perfect - not too hot and not too cold. We started the climb. It wasn't too tiring, however, many of the steps were uneven so that provided for some near slips and falls. However, the scenary was spectacular that day.

It's interesting to live in a city like Beijing where the juxtaposition of Chinese and Western Culture is so apparent. However, this was a place that was authentically Chinese, rich with history and definitely a cultural experience.


When in Rome do as the Romans do. So, when in China pose like all of the Chinese people do!


My one pensive shot. It was a lot to take in.

Then I did one of the coolest things I've done so far. I ziplined across the gorge. It was pretty exciting. I mean, how often do you get to zipline on the Great Wall of China? That's what I thought. It was incredible.


Getting suited up (a terrible picture, by the way. But, I only have one.)


My friend on the other side took this. It's pretty amazing.

So, that was last week. This week is pretty much study and study hard. Next Wednesday through Sunday we're on Spring Break. My friends and I are going to Shanghai and Hangzhou. I am really excited and will definitely have some more pictures from that trip. But, I should head to bed. Miss you all!

--Aaron

Sichuan!

The past week has pretty much been one of the most amazing experiences here. It pretty much summed up the reasons why I came to China: to see and experience new things and be touched in a completely different way. This trip to Chengdu has certainly done all that and more.

After my midterm and my two oral exams we were off on our 25hour train ride. It, somehow, didn't feel like 25 hours. The beds were actually really comfortable and it was an enjoyable ride. The views were pretty spectacular. From the train you can really tell how diverse the geography of China actually is. We went from mountains with snow on the top to valleys full of the most amazing yellow flowers I'd ever seen. Here's a picture of our facilities:


We arrived in Sichuan at 6pm on Saturday. We took a bus to our hotel and had dinner there. It was absolutely delicious. One of the cooler aspects about China is that you can always differentiate a region by its food. For example, in Beijing (the north), it's colder here so people eat more noodles and soup-type dishes. However, Sichuan (the southwest), the region is warmer. So, more rice is eaten and the food is quite a bit spicer. The spices are used to preserve the meat, thus causing your palette to, sometimes, suffer under the extreme heat. I love spicey food so this was a welcome change.

Chengdu is a lovely city with a very strange accent. It's always an interesting mark on language learning when you can begin to hear the subtleties in pronounciation. It's also interesting because Chinese culture is truly rich and deep. Each region has its own norms and mores that set it apart from the neighboring regions.

In Chengdu our first stop was to see pandas! I was incredibly excited! Chengdu has the largest research and breeding facility of pandas. We went really early in the morning in order to see them feeding - at any other point of the day they would be sleeping. We were warned with this sign before entering:


The pandas were all really cute and looked like so much fun!


However, the cutest pandas were the panda cubs! They weren't outside, but were behind glass. The pictures aren't terribly good, but I feel their cuteness transcends the bad lighting.


And here's one of some of my friends:

Our next visit was to the visit Le Shan. This is home of the Grand Buddha which is 71 meters high and carved into a cliff face overlooking the Dadu and Min rivers. It is the largest of the ancient Buddhas in the world. The project was started by a monk in 713BCE. What is really cool about the Buddha is that they constructed it with a water-drainage system inside to prevent weathering. I also remember seeing this Buddha on the Discovery channel when I was younger. It was a surreal experience seeing it in real life.


The following day was an incredible adventure: mountain climbing. We woke up bright and early and packed a change of clothes and some snacks. We were off to Emei Shan. Emei Shan gets a steady stream of Buddhist pilgrims that come to pray at its many temples. The monastaries hold somber monks, the tinkle of bells, clouds of incense, and firewood and lumps of coal that obscure your view and engulf you at the same time.

It was a drizzly day. We all knew that the trek up the mountain would certainly be wet and miserable. It was a grueling experience. We started the trek up at about 11:30am.

You can tell by the picture how poor the weather was. It was rainy and cold. However, for some reason we kept going. Through rain forest terrain, winding and snowy steps we climbed. The air was so much cleaner here, but you could also feel it getting thinner with every step. We climbed all day stopping only to rest and eat.


Climbing to the top of a mountain is something I've only seen in movies. This mountain, especially, with its religious significance and its meaning was special. Listening to the rain fall through the trees or the snow softly falling to the ground was amazing. I've never heard silence like that. It was the kind of experience that lends itself to inner-thinking and the probing of sensitive issues. The core ideals of Buddhism seem to be embodied here and they invade your thoughts. The sense of solitude you feel while making this journey is immense. It's easy to see why millions of people trek up Emei Shan in search of peace, enlightenment, or some form of a God.

By about 8:30 that night we almost reached the summit. We were two hours shy of it, so we spent the night on the mountain. It was not in a Buddhist monastery like I had envisioned, but at this point during the hike any type of bed would have sufficed. In order to rise at 4am the next morning, we were in bed quickly. We hiked the rest of the way in the dark to watch the sunrise from the summit.



The sun creeped over the clouds quickly illuminating everything. Watching this event made everything I had just done, worth it. We finally reached the summit after watching the sunrise. Every muscle in my body ached, I was tired and hungry but, my spirits were high. Then we finally saw what was at the top of the mountain:


Seeing this magnificent gold monument built to honor the Buddha and his many manifestations was humbling and fulfilling at the same time. It was rewarding on a physical, mental, and emotional level.

Peering over the edge and breathing in the crisp, clean air was a pleasure. It's hard to not be touched by this experience in a variety of ways. This journey calls for me to write eloquently, if not poetically, about what I've seen and done. However, I feel I could not do it justice. I've yet to ascertain what this all means to me. It's staggering and maintaining perspective has always been important to me. So, I'll save that for another time.

Upon returning to Chengdu, we experienced a lot more. One aspect being food. Chengdu is famous for its Huoguo, which is "Hotpot." Essentially, you have a big pot in the center of the table and you order meats and vegetables that you cook youself. Its absolutely delicious. As I mentioned before, Sichuan food is spicey and Huoguo is no exception. In fact, its the spicest of all of the Sichuan delicacies.


You can see all of the peppers and spices. It was so good and incredibly satisfying. A teacher took us out with her two friends. It was such a great dinner.


All in all, It was a lovely Spring Break and now back to school. I'm back in Beijing and classes resume on Monday. It'll be hard getting back into the swing of things, but I'll manage. We have three more weeks and then another break. This time its our decision to do what we'd like. Shanghai, anyone?

-Aaron

Tianjin, Karaoke, etc...

Sorry it's been a little bit. I apologize to those of you that routinely check this. I've been pretty busy these past few weeks. Well, where shall I begin?

Two weeks ago my friends and I were itching to leave Beijing. Sometimes, the monotony of this program and our intense study schedule just gets us down. So, we thought a change of scenery was in order. We heard about this town that is about 100 miles south of Beijing. It's called Tianjin. We booked train tickets and were off. Traveling by train here in China is incredibly convenient. It's reminiscent of the train system in Europe. We went with the super-bullet trains that topped about 200mph. It was incredibly cool. It was also really nice to see some of the Chinese countryside on the way to Tianjin. We arrived and walked around and saw some interesting things. I didn't realize this but Tianjin is a largely Catholic city. Many Jesuits have settled in Tianjin and have set up parishes. It was interesting to see this juxtaposition of Catholic orthodoxy and Chinese influence. The churches were quite nice.

It was a very nice day excursion and I'm glad that we did it. I'm sad to report that Tianjin wasn't the most interesting of cities, so I hope that our next weekend excursion is a bit more...exciting. However, it was a good foray into the Chinese rail system.

Well, then the time came. Yes, the dreaded Chinese haircut experience. Most of you know how hesitant I was of having my haircut in China. However, it had to happen. It was getting too long and really annoying. So, after reviewing vocabulary and staking out (what I deemed) a suitable locale, I went for it. So, I walk in and the "shampoo girl" took my coat and then proceeded to slam me into her chair and begin to vigorously wash my hair. She then told me to wait and the very hipster-like man would cut my hair. He came over to me and I somehow, rather clumsily, managed to describe to him how my hair should be cut and what it should look like. He nodded and seemed to understand. Then he was off to work. He talked to me in Chinese and I couldn't really understand him all that well. His "Beijing accent" was quite pronounced which made it difficult to have a substantive conversation. Once he was done, the "shampoo girl" washed my hair again and then I paid (20kuai=4 US dollars).

I am pleased to announce that I am happy with the final product. It's quite nice and short enough without being too short. I don't want to post pictures because that would be vain and myspace-esque. Yes, I realize that I dedicated a substantial portion of this blog entry to a haircut and that in-turn makes me vain. However, irony aside, posting pictures would be a little too much.

My next adventure is one that you all should have been there for. So ACC gives us language partners that we can meet once a week and we help each other. They help us with our Chinese and we help them with their English. Unfortunately, I didn't get to sign up for the program because I missed the date. However, my neighbor did get sign up. His language partner insisted that he accompany her and her friends to a Karaoke bar. Now, I don't know if many of you know that (generally speaking) Asians love karaoke. I don't really know why. They're pretty intense about it, but it is incredibly fun. So, my neighbor asked his roommate and me and my roommate to accompany him to help diffuse the awkwardness of this situation. We said we would go with him and we invited a few more people and before we knew it was a party!

So, we met them and then headed to a karaoke bar. It was incredibly modern and well decked out. We ordered snacks and proceeded to begin. After some Chinese songs (which none of us knew) and then a round of "My Humps" by the Black-Eyed Peas we all loosened up and the fun began. It was incredibly...interesting. Ashlee Simpson, Avril Lavigne, Destiny's Child, Britney Spears, Rihanna, and Kelly Clarkson all made an appearance. Not to mention some Elton John, the Beatles, and the Eagles. I, of course, was lead vocals on a majority of the songs. :)

I believe this was Rihanna's "Take a bow."

I'm not too sure what this was. It might have been "Sweet Home Alabama."

This week is set to be pretty intense. We have a mid-term at the end of this week and an oral exam. Not to mention regular school work. However, on Friday afternoon we are leaving for Sichuan province and the lovely city of Chengdu. I am incredibly excited. However, we're going by train. A 25 hour train ride. Really? Yes, people, China really is THAT big. It takes us 25 hours to get from Beijing to Chengdu. I'm not too sure of the mileage, but I am sure you all can estimate. Good thing I still have my sleeping pills.

Now this trip is incredibly exciting on so many levels. First off, this is where pandas live! Yes, real, live, giant pandas! I can't wait to pet one!! Now, should one somehow make it into my luggage and return to the US with me...do not be alarmed. I will lovingly tend to it.

The other level: I am going mountain climbing. By this, I mean legit mountain climbing with things such as: North Face gear, hiking boots, leggings, and sleeping in a Buddhist Monastary. We have the option to climb and my friends and I have decided to climb to the top. I've never done anything like this before and who knew that while in China I would go mountain climbing. I certainly didn't, but this is an opportunity I can't pass up. However, you all know me so there will be awkward stories full of expletives and my stupidity and clumsiness. Nonetheless, this is something I've always wanted to do. So, next week is going to be an awesome week. No class, pandas, and mountain climbing! Not to mention we get to see a completely different part of China. Words cannot describe my anticipation.

However, I have to get through this week. Somehow, I'll make it. I miss you all dearly right now. Somedays, you just want a feeling of familiarity which is rare to come by here in China.

Off to study! I'll update when I get back from Chengdu!

-Aaron

Chinese Acrobatics and Host Family!

As part of the program we are given host families. These aren't families that we stay with; we just periodically have dinner with them and get a taste of a "typical" Chinese culture. Honestly, I like this way a little more because it avoids terribly awkward situations one might have while living with a host family. Anyways, so the first time I met my host family was for a "mixer" type deal and then New Year's Dinner at their home.

Their home was an apartment, of course, and was quite lovely. The food was delicious, albeit a little strange, but delicious. So, it's custom in China to drink. And when I say drink, I mean DRINK. China has the most disgusting, horrid, potent alcohol one could ever create. It is called Baijiu. This means "white liquor." It is, essentially, Chinese vodka. I remember back at UGA my first Chinese teacher describing baijiu. We asked him if he liked vodka and he responded, "It's not bad, but a little watery." I was confused as to what he meant but I now understand. Baijiu is like rubbing alcohol. It is awful. However, it is cheap. Its about 6kuai for a bottle which is 1 american dollar.

So, at my host families home they poured me a shot of baijiu. Now (sorry mom and dad), I had tasted it before so I knew what to expect. So, in typical UGA-fashion I tipped the shot to the back of my throat and swallowed. Everyone laughed at me. Why? Because they drink this shot slowly. So, he poured me another one and I had to drink it slowly. It was absolute torture. Three shots later, I knew I was going to get drunk and tried to tell my host father, "no that's enough." However, he responded, "we have the same liver," and poured me another shot. Really? Needless to say, my Chinese significantly improved and it was a great time. We're having dinner again next week but this time at a restaurant. However, I was informed that just because one is at a restaurant this does not preclude the ordering of baijiu. It might be a rough dinner.

Last night was a really exciting night! We all went to a Chinese acrobatics show! This was probably one of the coolest things I could have seen. It's also really interesting on a cultural and historical level because you realize that these same routines they are doing were routines created during the dynastic rule of China. Now there have been slight modifications with more advanced technology, but they still operate without nets or safety harnesses. The core principles of story telling and grand thematic elements of good vs. evil and duality are still present.

I have some pictures but they didn't turn out that well because the show was also accompanied with laser lights which gave it an awesome effect in person. For pictures, not so much.




Preparing for the flip!
Mid-action. Please note the blurred figure in the upper left-hand corner as that is someone flipping into the chair.
Tradtional Chinese plate-spinning!
Please not the girls that are standing on the platform is being supported by one girl balancing the platform on her head while plate spinning! Absolutely incredibly.


In other news, I'm doing well. The program is hard and demanding. However, I can definitely feel some improvement in my Chinese. At times, this is really demanding that I don't think I can take it, but my friends and I have made some "American" traditions that keep us sane. Before I left for China a good friend of mine told me that I should find one "American" thing while in China and when things get rough to go get that "American" thing and think of home and then forget about it. This is probably the best advice I've recieved. My one "American" thing are Oreoes! They are a tad expensive here but worth it. Plus, whenever I listen to Taylor Swift I think of UGA and Athens. haha. I think thats appropiate.

My time here has been rewarding so far and it's amazing to start to learn another culture intimately. We've been learning some interesting idiomatic expressions that seem to capture Chinese culture. For example, "luanzhongyouxu" which means "finding order in the chaos" and "renshanrenhai" which means "huge crowds of people." Sometimes, I'm amazed at the Chinese language.

Also, we have a field trip in about 3 weeks. We're going to Sichuan and Chengdu! Hello pandas!

--Aaron

Chinese New Year!

Chinese New Year is probably one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. I guess I can give you all a little background on the new year. The Chinese New Year is set in sync with the lunar calendar which gives it a different time frame and year. I'm not too sure exactly what that means, I went to this lecture on it but it was all in Chinese, so I am just regurgitating what I heard and what I could understand. Anyways, as most of you know there are 12 Chinese zodiac symbols and they each represent some aspect of human nature. This year is the year of the Ox. Which in Chinese means prosperity and success through means of hard work. Well, with grad school applications, scholarships, job applications, and various other things...this is enormously reassuring.

Anyways, what was really amazing were the fireworks and the festivals. Beijing lifts the ban on fireworks in the city for New Year. Fireworks here are believed to ward off evil spirits. This is absolutely incredible. I did some research and in Beijing proper there are 12million people, in the entire municipality there are 18million. So, in the span of 48 hours from New Years Eve to the end of the first day of the New Year, there are non-stop fireworks. It is absolutely incredible. Furthermore, imagine other places like Hong Kong, Shanghai..etc. This is just so enormous that I don't think I'm doing it justice. This is definitely something that I will never forget.
Most of the students went to the bridge near our school to watch the fireworks and celebrate the New Year. Here are some of the pictures.

All of the parks and the shrines also have festivals going on. Chinese New Year is also a time for prayer and for honoring one's ancestors. These pictures were taken at Di Tan Park which is a temple to the Earth and they have elaborate rituals and prayer services that start the first day of the New Year.
Chinese lanterns are everywhere and I love it. Red is a lucky color here.
This was one of the coolest dance shows that I have seen. I'm not too sure what its purpose was (you kind of get used to the Chinese mindset where EVERYTHING has a purpose and some significance).
Standing in front of Di Tan Park.
We also went to this amazing antique market in Beijing. It's the largest in Beijing and was amazing. I know where everyone's souvenirs are coming from!
Traditional Chinese vases.

There was also a wedding! This was incredibly exciting to watch the wedding party parade through the market in traditional wedding attire.
Today, I am going to explore some more parks. This is the first day of the New Year and everyone goes to pray at these many shrines. I am really excited to see these types of rituals and maybe even join in one! Hey, when in Rome do as the Romans do. Besides, being here and watching how Chinese people celebrate is amazing and an experience I will never forget. I wish I could describe it to you accurately and you all could have been here experiencing it with me.

I could wax philosophically on what it means to have the chance to, essentially, begin the New Year again, but I'll save that for later. I'm sure most of you know what this means to me anyways. I've only been here 3 weeks so far. It feels so much longer and so much has already happened. I still have a massive amount of homework to begin working on. I'll save that for tomorrow, though.

新年快乐！

-Aaron