Winter sports like ice skating and skiing are still pretty new in China, but it’s definitely available. And recently, it’s been really cold in Beijing, so I decided to explore what winter in Beijing had to offer. I went ice skating on Houhai, a lake north of the Forbidden City (probably man-made), with friends a couple of weekends ago. It was packed with people, many of whom could not really skate. But the Chinese have come up with a hilarious solution for those people – recycled school chairs tacked on a little sled that people can sit on and get pushed around the ice. A lot of people simply just walk on the ice without skates too. And unlike ice skating in the States, there is actually quite a few speed skaters on the ice too, some of whom were really good. The ice is only resurfaced once a day so it’s pretty messed up by the afternoon. It was good, wholesome fun, but absolutely freezing (still can’t compare to Harbin!).
This past weekend, my friends Kumi and Morgan convinced me to go skiing. I haven’t skied in many years. Frankly, I’m terrible at it and terrified of slopes. Not a good combination. But Chinese people really do not know how to ski and the slopes here are short and easy. It really was a confidence booster to any bad skier. Definitely a good place to learn to ski – they have ski attendants whose sole job is to rush from fallen skier to fallen skier and pick them up. When someone knocked me over, my friend happened to be calling so the guy even helped me unzip my jacket pocket and hand me my cell phone. He then stood there waiting for me to be done. While I was taking this call in an awkward position lying on my back on the slope, another skier came too precariously close to me so another attendant ran over to guard me as well. After I was done talking, the two of them picked me up. Talk about service (which is usually horrible in China)! The only downside to the bunny slope was that it was super crowded and lining up to go on the lifts took forever. I think I only managed to make it up the hill 5 times in 4 hours. I also fell off the lift once and had to climb up the hill carrying my skis. While I had fun skiing, the equipment is just too heavy for me to ever love it. Maybe I should try snowboarding next time.
After skiing, we grabbed a super late lunch, attended a modern dance performance and then went ROLLER SKATING!! The rink was super ghetto and dark, but roller skating is definitely a sport that the Chinese excel at. While I teetered precariously in my roller skates, the Chinese were zipping by backwards and forwards with fancy footwork. And a Chinese guy came up to me to ask me for permission to “take your friends to play.” I was so confused until I realized he just wanted to drag them around the rink. The episode was hysterical since Kumi thought he was harassing me or trying to pick me up and kept shouting “leave her alone” and “get away from her” while the whole time, he was trying to pick her and Morgan up.
Our super active weekends have been awesome so we’re planning to go camping on the Great Wall and horseback riding on the grasslands when it warms up. But in the meantime, I’m leaving for India tomorrow! Unexpectedly got an email from a friend inviting me to a wedding in New Delhi, so I'm going to take part in my first Indian wedding. Should be an amazing 3-day affair. Then I'm traveling around Rajasthan, going to Agra to see the Taj Mahal and going to Varansi to visit one of India's holiest cities with a couple of friends, Jia and Sabrina. So excited!
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Cashmere and the Environment
Beijing has sandstorms each year as winter turns into spring, a problem that has been getting noticeably worse in recent years. Friends warned me about the phenomenon before I moved out here. The Clinton Foundation also has a Climate Initiative that is working actively in China in addition to our work on HIV/AIDS. My colleague there told me that in 2006, the sandstorms were so bad that each morning, you would wake up to a thick coating of sand over everything outside.
The answer to what was causing it surprised me - cashmere. Somehow the topic of cashmere and how its recent popularity as a luxury fabric is contributing to environmental degradation came up several times this past week. The demand for the product has led to the boom of the industry in Mongolia where farmers began to raise camels, sheep and goats with no concern to whether the land could support the burden of so many additional new animals. As the industry is unregulated and farmers are only in it for a quick buck, no one has been replanting the grasslands that are quickly being chewed up. As a result, Mongolian grasslands are slowly disappearing and converting to desert at an increasingly rapid pace. And as Spring winds blow, the sand gets carried from the Gobi desert all the way to Beijing, coating the city in a layer of powder. Meanwhile, the animals are starving and beginning to attack each other.
I've purchased some beautiful and amazingly soft Mongolian cashmere sweaters since arriving in Beijing. Now, I am reconsidering whether I will buy more cashmere, often referred to as "soft gold" here due to its value, in the future. Though I love it, it does make me feel guilty to be contributing to the problem. I guess we will see how it goes this Spring. Definitely not looking forward to the sandstorms, but I am already prepared with my silk scarf, which I acquired at the advice of friends (to cover and protect my face during the storms).
The answer to what was causing it surprised me - cashmere. Somehow the topic of cashmere and how its recent popularity as a luxury fabric is contributing to environmental degradation came up several times this past week. The demand for the product has led to the boom of the industry in Mongolia where farmers began to raise camels, sheep and goats with no concern to whether the land could support the burden of so many additional new animals. As the industry is unregulated and farmers are only in it for a quick buck, no one has been replanting the grasslands that are quickly being chewed up. As a result, Mongolian grasslands are slowly disappearing and converting to desert at an increasingly rapid pace. And as Spring winds blow, the sand gets carried from the Gobi desert all the way to Beijing, coating the city in a layer of powder. Meanwhile, the animals are starving and beginning to attack each other.
I've purchased some beautiful and amazingly soft Mongolian cashmere sweaters since arriving in Beijing. Now, I am reconsidering whether I will buy more cashmere, often referred to as "soft gold" here due to its value, in the future. Though I love it, it does make me feel guilty to be contributing to the problem. I guess we will see how it goes this Spring. Definitely not looking forward to the sandstorms, but I am already prepared with my silk scarf, which I acquired at the advice of friends (to cover and protect my face during the storms).
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Food & Culture
Last night, I couldn't resist the temptations of sushi, one of the foods I eat only rarely here since it's hard to tell how safe it is to consume. Afterall, the States banned the import of all seafood from China unless inspected - not exactly a sounding endorsement for Chinese fish. It does make even an avid sushi eater think twice about eating raw fish.
The extensive menu at the restaurant featured horse carpaccio, something that I would be unwilling to try (even though it's a delicacy in Japan!) and somehow, the conversation turned to sharing "war" stories about the strange foods that we've been offered (and sometimes forced to eat) so as not to insult our hosts. So far, I've been given duck beaks (did not eat), camel meat (actually did try this one), donkey meat (passed on this one), and most recently, duck tongue (really expensive but avoided - really creepy looking), but one of the doctors who just moved down to Yunnan Province had some pretty funny stories about the things that she's had to deal with. Some of the areas we work in are really impoverished, but nonetheless, they try to treat us to the most expensive delicacies of their region when we visit, as a way of honoring their guests. That's why foreigners and guests are often offered things like the head of the fish or the head of the duck and chicken. They put the duck of the peking duck they carved up in front of you on a plate, to prove to you that it was whole. And it's supposedly supposed to be one of the best parts of the duck. Ironically, we find these things a bit unsettling during our meals.
So Michele was forced to try "dog" hot pot. It was offered to her and everyone was looking at her expectantly. Dog is eaten widely in China, especially down south in areas like Guangxi and Yunnan. In Yunnan, they also eat lots of bugs, including bees. They bring the honey comb with the insects still crawling inside (they're alive) and they remove the bees in front of you (to prove that they're fresh I guess) and then fry them. And one morning, a doctor took her to breakfast to try "tian ji fen si," (literally translates to chicken of the field noodle, a.k.a. noodle wth frog). Michele has had frog legs before, but underneath the noodle, rather than pieces of frog meat, was the whole frog, cooked. The doctor looked on expectantly and she had to try it.
I guess I've been pretty lucky so far. I spend a significant part of my time in Beijing, which is modern and has lots of non-scary foods. And no one has really pushed me very hard to try anything I'm uncomfortable with even when I traveled. And fish heads and chicken head and feet don't disturb me as much since I am Chinese and grew up with this culture (in Taiwan, you're supposed to offer food to the ancestors to get it blessed with the whole chicken - bad luck to have the head cut off). However, even though I consider myself a pretty adventurous eater (bring on the tartares, the sushi and the barely cooked steak!), I still feel queasy about being open to trying local delicacies. I guess our upbringing really does impact how far we are willing to go when it comes to new foods. The Chinese will refuse to eat raw beef and raw fish, but they're okay eating all sorts of weird organs. And because I grew up in NYC, the raw stuff is okay, but the tongues, organs and other weird stuff is not.
And after 5 months of mostly Chinese food, I'm craving Western foods. My local colleagues find my Western food cravings bizarre and thus, I'm relegated to eating Chinese still most of the time. Even pizza feels like a real treat...
The extensive menu at the restaurant featured horse carpaccio, something that I would be unwilling to try (even though it's a delicacy in Japan!) and somehow, the conversation turned to sharing "war" stories about the strange foods that we've been offered (and sometimes forced to eat) so as not to insult our hosts. So far, I've been given duck beaks (did not eat), camel meat (actually did try this one), donkey meat (passed on this one), and most recently, duck tongue (really expensive but avoided - really creepy looking), but one of the doctors who just moved down to Yunnan Province had some pretty funny stories about the things that she's had to deal with. Some of the areas we work in are really impoverished, but nonetheless, they try to treat us to the most expensive delicacies of their region when we visit, as a way of honoring their guests. That's why foreigners and guests are often offered things like the head of the fish or the head of the duck and chicken. They put the duck of the peking duck they carved up in front of you on a plate, to prove to you that it was whole. And it's supposedly supposed to be one of the best parts of the duck. Ironically, we find these things a bit unsettling during our meals.
So Michele was forced to try "dog" hot pot. It was offered to her and everyone was looking at her expectantly. Dog is eaten widely in China, especially down south in areas like Guangxi and Yunnan. In Yunnan, they also eat lots of bugs, including bees. They bring the honey comb with the insects still crawling inside (they're alive) and they remove the bees in front of you (to prove that they're fresh I guess) and then fry them. And one morning, a doctor took her to breakfast to try "tian ji fen si," (literally translates to chicken of the field noodle, a.k.a. noodle wth frog). Michele has had frog legs before, but underneath the noodle, rather than pieces of frog meat, was the whole frog, cooked. The doctor looked on expectantly and she had to try it.
I guess I've been pretty lucky so far. I spend a significant part of my time in Beijing, which is modern and has lots of non-scary foods. And no one has really pushed me very hard to try anything I'm uncomfortable with even when I traveled. And fish heads and chicken head and feet don't disturb me as much since I am Chinese and grew up with this culture (in Taiwan, you're supposed to offer food to the ancestors to get it blessed with the whole chicken - bad luck to have the head cut off). However, even though I consider myself a pretty adventurous eater (bring on the tartares, the sushi and the barely cooked steak!), I still feel queasy about being open to trying local delicacies. I guess our upbringing really does impact how far we are willing to go when it comes to new foods. The Chinese will refuse to eat raw beef and raw fish, but they're okay eating all sorts of weird organs. And because I grew up in NYC, the raw stuff is okay, but the tongues, organs and other weird stuff is not.
And after 5 months of mostly Chinese food, I'm craving Western foods. My local colleagues find my Western food cravings bizarre and thus, I'm relegated to eating Chinese still most of the time. Even pizza feels like a real treat...
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Harbin - Ice City
After taking Kelly to Thailand where we enjoyed beautiful, hot weather, I took Kelly to the opposite extreme in Harbin, the capital of China's Heilongjiang Province, which borders Russia. Harbin is known for its artic temperatures and its annual ice festival - an amazing display of ice and snow sculptures. It was freezing cold, with sub-zero temperatures at night and teens during the day, although the wind made it feel much colder. I can easily say I have never felt so cold in my life. But the experience was definitely worth it (although at the time I did question whether I'd ever feel warm again).
Kelly and I grabbed some Northeast Chinese food before heading off to the Siberian Tiger Park. The park houses several hundred endangered Manchurian Tigers as well as lions, rare white tigers, an extremely rare liger (a lion & tiger hybrid that was an incredibly beautiful animal), cheetah and leopard. The goal of the park is to breed tigers and save them from extinction. You ride in mini-vans that take you through the park, safari-style. We got to see the cats up close. People bought live chicken to feed the tigers - a man in a jeep covered in heavy-duty chains would drive into the park and release the chicken and everyone would watch the tigers rip the chicken apart. There is no way that these animals will every be able to survive in the wild since they probably associate cars and people with food. The tigers and lions followed the jeep whenever it came into their area. They know that jeep = food. They're fed and don't really hunt for their food. Apparently you can buy a cow to fee the tigers too. It arrives in a dump truck with then tips backwards until the cow falls off. Since cows are expensive, we didn't see anyone buy a cow. But we did see the tigers get fed - both live chickens and chunks of raw meat.
After the Tiger Park, Kelly and I hit Zhongyang Dajie, or Central Avenue. We lived in the Russian neighborhood, and Central Avenue is the center of it. Beautiful Russian buildings lined the street, which also had ice sculptures in the middle. Since it was the official opening day for the festival, hordes of people, Chinese and lots of Russians, were out on the streets. We had Russian food at a cute Russian restaurant that also served as a little museum. Kelly tried this sugar-covered fruit candy served on a stick afterwards and promptly became addicted to it. We had it several more times afterwards.
After dinner, we visited Zhaolin Park right next to our hotel for the miniature ice-sculpture festival. There were castles and pagodas and sculptures all made out of ice. It was incredible.
The next day, we went up to the top of the Dragon Tower, the 2nd tallest tower in the world, and the tallest in Asia. The tower housed the most random mix of stores and displays, including a dinosaur exhibit, pets for sale and a touch exhibit (like the ones you would find in a science museum), a display of old movie posters and a Tang Dynasty artifacts exhibit. From the top of the tower (we could go up to 180m, 190m, 193m, 203m and 206m), we could see all of Harbin, but it was a gray, cloudy day. It was also super windy and cold up there!
We also visited the St. Sofia Church, a Russian Orthodox Church built in a Byzantine-style architecture. It was magnificent - totally not something you would expect to see in China. The buildings around it were knocked down and a beautiful European-style square was built around it. After that, we went to the Songhua River, which is frozen solid (over 1.5m of ice we were told) where we say people swim laps in a pool surrounded by ice. It was so cold (-12 degrees Celsius), yet these people were swimming. It was unbelievable. I felt cold just watching them.
Kelly and I went to see the baby Beluga whales and polar bears at the Harbin Polarland Aquarium (in part because it gave us a bit of time to warm up) before heading to see the snow sculptures on Sun Island. The snow sculptures were incredible. The snow was packed so tightly that it might as well have been ice. Many of the snow sculptures were still not finished, so we saw sculptors chiseling and shoveling away at the snow. It was amazing to see. We went directly to the Harbin Ice and Snow World afterwards where we saw the big ice sculptures. The built Porsches, a Church, Greek Temple, Chinese pagodas and more, all entirely out of ice. And everything was light up at night. It was beautiful. However, by that time, I had already freezed into a block of ice and didn't try to go down the ice slide or seriously explore the buildings built of ice (you can climb them, go inside, etc.).
Before heading back to Beijing via our first overnight train experience, we had more Russian food. The Borsche was wonderful since it warmed us up. The overnight train was an interesting experience. It had 4 beds per small little room and each bed also had a little tv attached. Ear phones are provided. So I watched Armageddon on tv and then parts of Shaolin Soccer before sleeping. It was much nicer than I had expected.
Back in Beijing, Kelly was tired of visiting tourist sights so she left Beijing this morning without going to see any of the main Beijing sites like the Forbidden City and the Temple of Heaven. I guess she'll just have to come back again...
Kelly and I grabbed some Northeast Chinese food before heading off to the Siberian Tiger Park. The park houses several hundred endangered Manchurian Tigers as well as lions, rare white tigers, an extremely rare liger (a lion & tiger hybrid that was an incredibly beautiful animal), cheetah and leopard. The goal of the park is to breed tigers and save them from extinction. You ride in mini-vans that take you through the park, safari-style. We got to see the cats up close. People bought live chicken to feed the tigers - a man in a jeep covered in heavy-duty chains would drive into the park and release the chicken and everyone would watch the tigers rip the chicken apart. There is no way that these animals will every be able to survive in the wild since they probably associate cars and people with food. The tigers and lions followed the jeep whenever it came into their area. They know that jeep = food. They're fed and don't really hunt for their food. Apparently you can buy a cow to fee the tigers too. It arrives in a dump truck with then tips backwards until the cow falls off. Since cows are expensive, we didn't see anyone buy a cow. But we did see the tigers get fed - both live chickens and chunks of raw meat.
After the Tiger Park, Kelly and I hit Zhongyang Dajie, or Central Avenue. We lived in the Russian neighborhood, and Central Avenue is the center of it. Beautiful Russian buildings lined the street, which also had ice sculptures in the middle. Since it was the official opening day for the festival, hordes of people, Chinese and lots of Russians, were out on the streets. We had Russian food at a cute Russian restaurant that also served as a little museum. Kelly tried this sugar-covered fruit candy served on a stick afterwards and promptly became addicted to it. We had it several more times afterwards.
After dinner, we visited Zhaolin Park right next to our hotel for the miniature ice-sculpture festival. There were castles and pagodas and sculptures all made out of ice. It was incredible.
The next day, we went up to the top of the Dragon Tower, the 2nd tallest tower in the world, and the tallest in Asia. The tower housed the most random mix of stores and displays, including a dinosaur exhibit, pets for sale and a touch exhibit (like the ones you would find in a science museum), a display of old movie posters and a Tang Dynasty artifacts exhibit. From the top of the tower (we could go up to 180m, 190m, 193m, 203m and 206m), we could see all of Harbin, but it was a gray, cloudy day. It was also super windy and cold up there!
We also visited the St. Sofia Church, a Russian Orthodox Church built in a Byzantine-style architecture. It was magnificent - totally not something you would expect to see in China. The buildings around it were knocked down and a beautiful European-style square was built around it. After that, we went to the Songhua River, which is frozen solid (over 1.5m of ice we were told) where we say people swim laps in a pool surrounded by ice. It was so cold (-12 degrees Celsius), yet these people were swimming. It was unbelievable. I felt cold just watching them.
Kelly and I went to see the baby Beluga whales and polar bears at the Harbin Polarland Aquarium (in part because it gave us a bit of time to warm up) before heading to see the snow sculptures on Sun Island. The snow sculptures were incredible. The snow was packed so tightly that it might as well have been ice. Many of the snow sculptures were still not finished, so we saw sculptors chiseling and shoveling away at the snow. It was amazing to see. We went directly to the Harbin Ice and Snow World afterwards where we saw the big ice sculptures. The built Porsches, a Church, Greek Temple, Chinese pagodas and more, all entirely out of ice. And everything was light up at night. It was beautiful. However, by that time, I had already freezed into a block of ice and didn't try to go down the ice slide or seriously explore the buildings built of ice (you can climb them, go inside, etc.).
Before heading back to Beijing via our first overnight train experience, we had more Russian food. The Borsche was wonderful since it warmed us up. The overnight train was an interesting experience. It had 4 beds per small little room and each bed also had a little tv attached. Ear phones are provided. So I watched Armageddon on tv and then parts of Shaolin Soccer before sleeping. It was much nicer than I had expected.
Back in Beijing, Kelly was tired of visiting tourist sights so she left Beijing this morning without going to see any of the main Beijing sites like the Forbidden City and the Temple of Heaven. I guess she'll just have to come back again...
Monday, January 7, 2008
Xi'an
Xi'an was the capital of ancient China and has over 3,000 years of history. It's one of those cities you're supposed to visit if you come to China. This is where China was unified for the first time under Emperor Qin Shihuang during the Qin dynasty and where the famous Terracotta Warriors found in his mausoleum are located. It's also the only major Chinese city with it's city walls intact. Thus, Kelly and I made the trek out to Xi'an on New Year's Day as part of her China trip.
We arrived in Xi'an and met up with my former Chinese professor from Harvard. He was born and raised in Xi'an and was visiting his family in Xi'an over Christmas/New Year's break. He took us out to lunch at Xi'an Hotel, where we sampled a bunch of local Shaanxi Province snacks (called "小吃", which literally translates to little eats). Then we visited the Bell Tower, the Drum Tower and the Big Wild Goose Pagoda. Afterwards, Kelly and I walked down one of the streets in the Muslim Quarter where the Hui Minority are located, and ate at a restaurant there. Unfortunately Kelly did not feel well, so she could not eat anything except a bit of soup and porridge.
The next day, we went with a small tour group to visit the major sites - the Tang Dynasty Winter Palace and the Mausoleum of Emperor Qin Shihuang and the Terracotta Warriors, which are all located about an hours drive outside the city. The Winter Palace was a replica of the former Winter Palace, located at the foot of a mountain and fed by natural hot springs that supplied water of 43 degrees Celsius. Only the Emperor, some of his officials and his favorite concubines could use the bath houses and pools built there. We also learned about the famous beauties/concubines of the Tang Dynasty. The most famous was a fat lady with a beautiful face called Yang Guifei who had a skin disease. The other 3 women all had flaws too - one had small earlobes, another narrow shoulders and another big feet, all considered unattractive features. None of them were perfect.
The mausoleum is just a huge mound of earth, disguised as a hill, with trees planted over it to hide the tomb. The tomb has still not been opened so there's not much to see here because there are dangerous levels of mercury gas inside the chambers. They believe that lots of jewels and artifacts are still buried in the ground. 1/3 of the population was employed in the building of the tombs and all the things that went into it since they believed in the afterlife. In addition, lots of princes and princesses, all the concubines that did not have kids and a lot of the artisans and slave builders were buried alive down there. The emperor was known for his extreme cruelty. Thus, this was also the shortest Chinese dynasty at 14 years long.
About a kilometer away in multiple pits are the terracotta armies and horses. There were foot soldiers, archers, generals, horses and chariots. When they were found, only one statue was intact. All the others were in pieces. The warriors we see on display have been carefully pieced back together. Every warrior has a different face. They were originally colorful but exposure to the air made them lose their colors within three days. Thus, many of the terracotta warriors still have not been excavated and probably won't be until they figure out how to maintain the colors. There are thousands of them, even though you can only see a few hundred. It was really impressive.
That night, we went to an old Xi'an restaurant to have a very traditional meal of "yangruopaomo". It's mutton and bread in a rich broth. You have to break the bread into small pieces by hand - the smaller the better. It actually takes a while to do and makes your hands really tired. Then the restaurants puts in broth and meat. It was really tasty, so well worth the effort.
On our last day, we visited the Shaanxi museum that walked us through the history of Shaanxi Province and Xi'an. It was the center of the Chinese empire for some of the most properous dynasties in China, including the Han and Tang dynasties during which the Silk Road was active. China did not used to be closed off to the world and trade with the Persian empire was active during this time. In fact, polo was a popular sport during the Tang dynasty! Many of the emperors were good polo players, a sport they adopted from the Persians. After the museum, we went to visit the city walls. Unfortunately we did not have time to ride a bunch around the city walls, which are 14 km in perimeter. Lastly, we stopped by the Great Mosque, but it actually just looked like a Chinese temple. We quickly grabbed lunch before heading back to Beijing. We had "ruojiamou," which some people refer to as Chinese hamburgers, and dumplings in a sour soup. Both are Shaanxi specialties.
Xi'an was extremely polluted - much worse than Beijing. Smokestacks right in the city and outside spewed smoke into the air, blocking all sunlight from the city, making the entire city look gray. It was also colder than Beijing. We stayed in a new hotel right on Dong Dajie (East Avenue) inside the city walls, which was located near the Drum and Bell Towers. However, the heat in the hotel, which could not be controlled in the room was not enough to ward off the frigid winter air. We were glad to be back in my warm apartment when we got back to Beijing. A day of respite before heading to Harbin up north, near the Russian border...
We arrived in Xi'an and met up with my former Chinese professor from Harvard. He was born and raised in Xi'an and was visiting his family in Xi'an over Christmas/New Year's break. He took us out to lunch at Xi'an Hotel, where we sampled a bunch of local Shaanxi Province snacks (called "小吃", which literally translates to little eats). Then we visited the Bell Tower, the Drum Tower and the Big Wild Goose Pagoda. Afterwards, Kelly and I walked down one of the streets in the Muslim Quarter where the Hui Minority are located, and ate at a restaurant there. Unfortunately Kelly did not feel well, so she could not eat anything except a bit of soup and porridge.
The next day, we went with a small tour group to visit the major sites - the Tang Dynasty Winter Palace and the Mausoleum of Emperor Qin Shihuang and the Terracotta Warriors, which are all located about an hours drive outside the city. The Winter Palace was a replica of the former Winter Palace, located at the foot of a mountain and fed by natural hot springs that supplied water of 43 degrees Celsius. Only the Emperor, some of his officials and his favorite concubines could use the bath houses and pools built there. We also learned about the famous beauties/concubines of the Tang Dynasty. The most famous was a fat lady with a beautiful face called Yang Guifei who had a skin disease. The other 3 women all had flaws too - one had small earlobes, another narrow shoulders and another big feet, all considered unattractive features. None of them were perfect.
The mausoleum is just a huge mound of earth, disguised as a hill, with trees planted over it to hide the tomb. The tomb has still not been opened so there's not much to see here because there are dangerous levels of mercury gas inside the chambers. They believe that lots of jewels and artifacts are still buried in the ground. 1/3 of the population was employed in the building of the tombs and all the things that went into it since they believed in the afterlife. In addition, lots of princes and princesses, all the concubines that did not have kids and a lot of the artisans and slave builders were buried alive down there. The emperor was known for his extreme cruelty. Thus, this was also the shortest Chinese dynasty at 14 years long.
About a kilometer away in multiple pits are the terracotta armies and horses. There were foot soldiers, archers, generals, horses and chariots. When they were found, only one statue was intact. All the others were in pieces. The warriors we see on display have been carefully pieced back together. Every warrior has a different face. They were originally colorful but exposure to the air made them lose their colors within three days. Thus, many of the terracotta warriors still have not been excavated and probably won't be until they figure out how to maintain the colors. There are thousands of them, even though you can only see a few hundred. It was really impressive.
That night, we went to an old Xi'an restaurant to have a very traditional meal of "yangruopaomo". It's mutton and bread in a rich broth. You have to break the bread into small pieces by hand - the smaller the better. It actually takes a while to do and makes your hands really tired. Then the restaurants puts in broth and meat. It was really tasty, so well worth the effort.
On our last day, we visited the Shaanxi museum that walked us through the history of Shaanxi Province and Xi'an. It was the center of the Chinese empire for some of the most properous dynasties in China, including the Han and Tang dynasties during which the Silk Road was active. China did not used to be closed off to the world and trade with the Persian empire was active during this time. In fact, polo was a popular sport during the Tang dynasty! Many of the emperors were good polo players, a sport they adopted from the Persians. After the museum, we went to visit the city walls. Unfortunately we did not have time to ride a bunch around the city walls, which are 14 km in perimeter. Lastly, we stopped by the Great Mosque, but it actually just looked like a Chinese temple. We quickly grabbed lunch before heading back to Beijing. We had "ruojiamou," which some people refer to as Chinese hamburgers, and dumplings in a sour soup. Both are Shaanxi specialties.
Xi'an was extremely polluted - much worse than Beijing. Smokestacks right in the city and outside spewed smoke into the air, blocking all sunlight from the city, making the entire city look gray. It was also colder than Beijing. We stayed in a new hotel right on Dong Dajie (East Avenue) inside the city walls, which was located near the Drum and Bell Towers. However, the heat in the hotel, which could not be controlled in the room was not enough to ward off the frigid winter air. We were glad to be back in my warm apartment when we got back to Beijing. A day of respite before heading to Harbin up north, near the Russian border...
Friday, January 4, 2008
December in Beijing and Thailand
December was a crazy month. Between work, the stomach flu, business school applications, January's visit (the first friend to visit me in Beijing!) and getting ready for the Thailand trip, life was pretty overwhelming. But b-school apps have all been submitted and I survived the stomach flu. I think Jannie had a good time in Beijing (despite the fact I was a sick hostess) - took her to some of my favorite restaurants in Beijing, including Pure Lotus (Vegetarian), Middle 8 (Yunnan food), and Dintaifung (Shanghai/Taiwanese). We even went swimming. Jannie attempted to teach me how to tread water in preparation for Thailand. She wasn't very successful, but I think I'm slowly getting better at it (but will still drown probably if the water is too deep).
After trying to make it to the Thai beaches all summer and failing, I finally made it to the Thai beaches in December! Since I submitted my b-school apps before leaving for Thailand, I was able to enjoy a worry free vacation. I met Kelly and Nan in Bangkok and we flew to Phuket together. Jannie joined us there. We stayed at the Hilton Phuket by Karon Beach. The resort was gorgeous and the Karon beach was awesome - soft white sand and clear blue water. The weather was fabulous as well (absolutely no rain!). We went to the much busier Patong Beach about 10 minutes away also to jet ski, which was fun. We also spent one of the days going to Ko Phi Phi with stops on Monkey Beach and Maya Beach. Beijing is cold and nasty, so it made me appreciate the warm weather and beautiful beaches and ocean even more. Having Nan with us also made everything easier since she spoke Thai.
Since Kelly managed to convince the people at Air Asia to switch our flight to the next morning, Kelly and I were able to go with Nan to Natalie's (our other Thai friend who is half Brazilian, half Thai) house for Christmas Eve dinner. Dinner was such a lovely affair. We all got dressed up for the event. Natalie's family lives right outside Bangkok in a gorgeous house which was beautifully decorated for the holidays. Her mom (Brazilian) cooked everything. Since they don't celebrate Thanksgiving in Thailand, she still wanted to have a gathering of family and friends to give thanks, so there was even a huge turkey and honey-cured ham. It was delicious. We also tried Brazilian dessert and an amazing passionfruit flavored mousse.
Kelly and I flew to Chiang Mai Christmas morning and visited the major sites there over the next 3 days. We went to Doi Suthep to one of their most holy temples. It was really beautiful. We also visited Doi Inthanon where we saw a couple of waterfalls, the highest point in Thailand and the King and Queen Pagoda. Of course, we also rode elephants (was fun but what a bumpy ride!), an ox cart and went on a ride on a bamboo raft along the river. We had lunch at this pretty outdoor restaurant with a great view of the river. We also visited the Night Bazaar (a night market) and the big Warorot Market by the river. My favorite thing in Chiang Mai was the cooking class Kelly and I took. We learned how to make Tom Yum Soup, Pad Thai (one of our favorite Thai dishes even though most Thai people don't actually eat it), Som Yum (Payaya Salad), Glass Noodle Salad, Penang and Red Curry, Spring Rolls, Chicken with Cashew Nuts and Mango Sticky Rice (Thai food anyone?!). The food actually turned out really well. I'm excited about trying it at home sometime, although it would require fish sauce, oyster sauce, lemongrass and kaffir leaves (I think that's what they are called - they're so fragrant and really do a lot!).
After Chiang Mai, Kelly and I went back to Bangkok. We stayed at the Royal Orchid Sheraton right by the Chao Praya River. We met up with Nan. Nan took us to a Pad Thai restaurant (that's all they serve pretty much but they do it so well!). The food was so good, even though it was all just variations of pad thai. Need to work on my pad thai so it tastes just as awesome. I got a haircut and Kelly permed her hair. Major makeover!
We had fabulous food throughout our entire trip. In Phuket, we ate at this hilltop restaurant overlooking Phuket Town. The restaurant was a simple, cute outdoor place that served really delicious Thai food. We had really good Tamarind Prawns, Glass Noodle with Seafood, Fried Fish with Garlic and Pepper. In Chiang Mai, Kelly and I found Ginger & Kafe. The Thai food was delicious and beautifully presented. The restaurant was a part of a store (Ginger) that was like a smaller and cuter version of Anthropology. The restaurant itself was whimsically decorated. We both loved it. We also ate at the restaurant of a famous cooking school called the Wok where we tried Khao Soi, a traditional north thailand noodle in curry dish. It was really tasty. In Bangkok, Natalie and Nan took us to a Thai restaurant where we ordered a feast of crispy fish with sweet and spicy sauce, shrimp balls, chicken with cashew, pineapple fried rice, salty crispy fish salad and a bunch of thai desserts. We also got french pastries from Lenotre - a really good french bakery. And of course, we could not end our Thailand trip without paying a visit to Mango Tango - Kelly's favorite dessert place. We had mango sticky rice with mango ice cream and mango pudding. The mangos in Thailand are just awesome.
Kelly and I arrived in Beijing to find out that we had missed 2 of the most polluted days in Beijing. The pollution index was a whooping 421 out of 500 (so much for blue sky days) on Thursday the 27th and maxed out the scale at 500 on Friday (they stop measuring). The sky was basically black. On a bad day in NYC, it's 72. Beijing defines blue sky days as 100 or under on the scale and they claim to have had over 250 in 2007. A significant number of blue sky days falls between 95 and 100 which is still pretty polluted. But the pollution has been okay since we got back.
I took Kelly to a Xinjiang restaurant with Mary and Jia. Mary did all the ordering of course (hooray for Uyghur speaking person!) so we had a fabulous meal. For New Year's Eve, Kelly and I went pearl shopping, got ourselves facials, then had a Chinese-style banquet with a group of people at Dadong Roast Duck Restaurant where we had a ton of peking duck. We celebrated New Year's Eve at a house party which was a fun way to send off 2007. Hope 2008 will be a fun and fabulous year.
After trying to make it to the Thai beaches all summer and failing, I finally made it to the Thai beaches in December! Since I submitted my b-school apps before leaving for Thailand, I was able to enjoy a worry free vacation. I met Kelly and Nan in Bangkok and we flew to Phuket together. Jannie joined us there. We stayed at the Hilton Phuket by Karon Beach. The resort was gorgeous and the Karon beach was awesome - soft white sand and clear blue water. The weather was fabulous as well (absolutely no rain!). We went to the much busier Patong Beach about 10 minutes away also to jet ski, which was fun. We also spent one of the days going to Ko Phi Phi with stops on Monkey Beach and Maya Beach. Beijing is cold and nasty, so it made me appreciate the warm weather and beautiful beaches and ocean even more. Having Nan with us also made everything easier since she spoke Thai.
Since Kelly managed to convince the people at Air Asia to switch our flight to the next morning, Kelly and I were able to go with Nan to Natalie's (our other Thai friend who is half Brazilian, half Thai) house for Christmas Eve dinner. Dinner was such a lovely affair. We all got dressed up for the event. Natalie's family lives right outside Bangkok in a gorgeous house which was beautifully decorated for the holidays. Her mom (Brazilian) cooked everything. Since they don't celebrate Thanksgiving in Thailand, she still wanted to have a gathering of family and friends to give thanks, so there was even a huge turkey and honey-cured ham. It was delicious. We also tried Brazilian dessert and an amazing passionfruit flavored mousse.
Kelly and I flew to Chiang Mai Christmas morning and visited the major sites there over the next 3 days. We went to Doi Suthep to one of their most holy temples. It was really beautiful. We also visited Doi Inthanon where we saw a couple of waterfalls, the highest point in Thailand and the King and Queen Pagoda. Of course, we also rode elephants (was fun but what a bumpy ride!), an ox cart and went on a ride on a bamboo raft along the river. We had lunch at this pretty outdoor restaurant with a great view of the river. We also visited the Night Bazaar (a night market) and the big Warorot Market by the river. My favorite thing in Chiang Mai was the cooking class Kelly and I took. We learned how to make Tom Yum Soup, Pad Thai (one of our favorite Thai dishes even though most Thai people don't actually eat it), Som Yum (Payaya Salad), Glass Noodle Salad, Penang and Red Curry, Spring Rolls, Chicken with Cashew Nuts and Mango Sticky Rice (Thai food anyone?!). The food actually turned out really well. I'm excited about trying it at home sometime, although it would require fish sauce, oyster sauce, lemongrass and kaffir leaves (I think that's what they are called - they're so fragrant and really do a lot!).
After Chiang Mai, Kelly and I went back to Bangkok. We stayed at the Royal Orchid Sheraton right by the Chao Praya River. We met up with Nan. Nan took us to a Pad Thai restaurant (that's all they serve pretty much but they do it so well!). The food was so good, even though it was all just variations of pad thai. Need to work on my pad thai so it tastes just as awesome. I got a haircut and Kelly permed her hair. Major makeover!
We had fabulous food throughout our entire trip. In Phuket, we ate at this hilltop restaurant overlooking Phuket Town. The restaurant was a simple, cute outdoor place that served really delicious Thai food. We had really good Tamarind Prawns, Glass Noodle with Seafood, Fried Fish with Garlic and Pepper. In Chiang Mai, Kelly and I found Ginger & Kafe. The Thai food was delicious and beautifully presented. The restaurant was a part of a store (Ginger) that was like a smaller and cuter version of Anthropology. The restaurant itself was whimsically decorated. We both loved it. We also ate at the restaurant of a famous cooking school called the Wok where we tried Khao Soi, a traditional north thailand noodle in curry dish. It was really tasty. In Bangkok, Natalie and Nan took us to a Thai restaurant where we ordered a feast of crispy fish with sweet and spicy sauce, shrimp balls, chicken with cashew, pineapple fried rice, salty crispy fish salad and a bunch of thai desserts. We also got french pastries from Lenotre - a really good french bakery. And of course, we could not end our Thailand trip without paying a visit to Mango Tango - Kelly's favorite dessert place. We had mango sticky rice with mango ice cream and mango pudding. The mangos in Thailand are just awesome.
Kelly and I arrived in Beijing to find out that we had missed 2 of the most polluted days in Beijing. The pollution index was a whooping 421 out of 500 (so much for blue sky days) on Thursday the 27th and maxed out the scale at 500 on Friday (they stop measuring). The sky was basically black. On a bad day in NYC, it's 72. Beijing defines blue sky days as 100 or under on the scale and they claim to have had over 250 in 2007. A significant number of blue sky days falls between 95 and 100 which is still pretty polluted. But the pollution has been okay since we got back.
I took Kelly to a Xinjiang restaurant with Mary and Jia. Mary did all the ordering of course (hooray for Uyghur speaking person!) so we had a fabulous meal. For New Year's Eve, Kelly and I went pearl shopping, got ourselves facials, then had a Chinese-style banquet with a group of people at Dadong Roast Duck Restaurant where we had a ton of peking duck. We celebrated New Year's Eve at a house party which was a fun way to send off 2007. Hope 2008 will be a fun and fabulous year.
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