Fragrant Hills (cause I promised)

you have to admit thats really cool

The weekend before I left for my trip to Guizhou and Sichuan, I decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather and spend most of the weekend outside.

Friday after school, a few friends and I decided to go to Tiananmen Square to see the flag lowered. The guards have a whole ceremony that they go through every day at sundown and sunup, and since the sunrise ceremony is really early, we decided to go to the sundown ceremony. We got to Tiananmen a little early, so we ended up waiting for a long time. The whole ceremony takes a really long time to get started, so we waited even longer. The guards spent a long time preparing to take the flag down so by the time they actually lowered the flag, we were ready to go. While we were waiting, I talked to a few Chinese people who were also waiting. They were really surprised I actually spoke Chinese, like many Chinese people. I ended up having a nice conversation with them about Beijing. It was good to know my Chinese level is good enough to carry on a conversation. Very reassuring.

The next day, I got up early and went with a friend to the Fragrant Hills, a park in the hills (surprise) about an hour's bus ride outside of Beijing. We had heard that the flowers were supposed to be the best on that weekend, so we went early to avoid most of the crowds. Well, it almost worked, but not so much. We arrived at 8:30 and the park was already crowded by American standards. Unfortunately, that means it was practically empty by Chinese standards. By the time we left at 12, the park was as packed as Cedar Point on a busy day during the summer. Way too many people.

We spent most of our time just wandering around taking pictures of flowers and people. The flowers were just blooming. The park was covered with colorful flowers and blooming trees, a great recipe for many many pictures. We brought a picnic for lunch and were eating beside a man made lake when we noticed a two Chinese people taking pictures near us. One of the guys was coming closer and closer to us, and we just waved him over and posed. That was fine until he came back with 10 of his friends. Without hesitation, they threw their arms around us and took pictures. We did really know what to do other than smile and wait until they left. When they finally left, we couldn't help but burst out laughing. Only in China.

So, thats it for my last weekend in Beijing before my trip. enjoy the pictures!

Guizhou and Sichuan (2 week trip)

Our village welcoming committee

super cool rice patties

going fishing with the villagers

note the satellite dish

village welcoming committee II

our super cute sister

planting rice, Chinese style

next shower: 2 days

Buddha dog meditating on the mountain

thats our sister, mad at us for abandoning her

Cooking school in sichuan

vegetable carving

gotta love Chinese advertising

if you want to know more about the moon bears, check out the website.
www.animalsasia.org

Well, I am finally back in Beijing after my 2 week trip in central China. My trip was, as usual, AMAZING! but I am still happy to be back. Unfortunately, that was my last trip in China this year, so apologies if the rest of my posts are on the boring side.

We started off the trip with a 26 hour train ride to Guizhou, a providence in central China. The train ride was not too bad, a good chance to catch up on some much needed sleep and to just rest for a few hours. I met a few interesting people on the train ride. Unlike our last train ride, we were split up a little. Each little bunk area has 2 rows of 3 beds. My 2 friends and I had one row and 3 Chinese people had the other row. For the first hour or so of the trip, my friends and I sat on our bottom bunk and they sat on their bottom bunk and we just started at each other. Then, they figured out we could speak Chinese, so we had a short conversation. It was short mainly because we had trouble understanding their heavy southern accent and they had trouble understanding our botched pronunciation, but they were friendly enough to make the train ride bearable.

I also ran into a little kid who wanted me to teach him American card games. He came over to my bunk area with his dad and asked if someone could teach them American card games. I had nothing else better to do and was ready for a challenge, so I went for it. The kid was probably 5 or so and really cute. I decided I would teach him Go Fish because its the only card game I can remember playing at his age. So, I dove into the task of trying to teach him Go Fish. At first, I struggled a little bit getting my point across, but I got more confident with time and the kid eventually got the hang of the game. He then proceeded to beat me soundly at 5 consecutive hands. Not fair at all. the kid's dad decided to teach me a Chinese card game in return. At first, I didn't understand at all, but eventually I got the hang of it. The game was a mix between poker and war, kind of. Its a little complicated, but the game was fun when I eventually got the hang of it. the only drawback was the little kid was also really good at this game. sometimes, life just isn't fair.

Once we got off the train, we stayed in a hotel overnight in a small city called Kaili and then spent 8 hours the next day on the bus to go to our first village stay of the trip. We only stayed in 2 villages this trip, but I liked them both. During this trip, SYA encouraged us to integrate more into village life. As a result, they planned less for us to do and we had more down time to spend with the villagers. On our first day in the village, I went fishing with a few villagers. They keep fish in the rice patties not in use, to be caught at their convenience. We hiked for about an hour to get to the particular rice patties, then we had to clear off the algae on top of the rice patties. I quickly realized I was not going to get anywhere by perching on the edge of the patty, so I stripped of my shoes and socks and got right in. Me and a few other SYA kids had a great time squelching around in the mud and trying to catch fish. One of the farmers even let us try plowing the patty with an ox. Not exactly as easy as you would think. We ate the fish we caught for lunch. The villagers just went in to the woods and cut some sticks, put the fish on the sticks over the fire and waited. The fish was actually pretty good, but a little difficult to eat.

We spent a total of 2 days and nights in the first village. The people there are very sociable and welcoming, and they love ceremonies and rituals. They had a huge ceremony to welcome us into the village involving pouring the local alcohol down our throats whether or not we wanted it and feeding us the local specialty, spicy fish, as we walked into the village from the bueses. Interesting experience. I think the alcohol was a plot to discourage us from drinking any more of the stuff, and let me tell you, it worked. The alcohol tasted exactly like rubbing alcohol smells. I am not a fan and I spent the rest of my stay in Guizhou avoiding villagers wielding bowls filled with alcohol. Much harder than you would think. they are very insistant.

After 2 days in the first village, we got into a bus and drove 7 hours to our next destination. We stayed in a hotel 1 night then headed to our next and last village. This village is pretty isolated from the rest of the world and the roads are bad, so we hiked in. the hike was very enjoyable because the mountains were absolutely gorgeous. I have never seen more beautiful mountain scenery in my life.

The residents of the second village were more insistant with their liquer, if thats possible. they had 3 or 4 stands situated around the village with old ladies ready to pour alcohol down our throats. Eventually, I developed a good tactic to sneak around them. I just waited until they were occupied with another poor soul and snuck around. worked most of the time. I ended up liking this village much better, mainly because of the stunning scenery. every chance i got, i went hiking and took pictures of the mountains.

The family my friend and I stayed in was really cool. first of all, our little sister was so cute. She particularly enjoyed going through our bags and dumping them all over our beds just because she could and we would let her. She was really adorable and we took to carrying her with us everywhere we went around the village. She had us well trained. Our little brother was also adorable. I think our mom put him in charge of us because he became our own personal guide to the village and was always watching out for us. Did i mention he was 10? really cute. I went our with my host mom one day to plant rice. she had a good time laughing at my poor techinique, but she eventually was satisfied with my rows of crooked rice seedlings. i guess years of practice help.

We also spent 2 days and nights in the last village. The second day we were there, it rained all day so I spent most of my day inside playing cards, talking with my family, playing with my little sister, and holding the kitten we found. Not too bad of a day, if you ask me. could be worse, right?

I am going to miss staying in villages, but I am not going to lie, showers are ceratinly a nice perk to staying in a hotel. the hike out of the village was along a different path and we were treated to mroe amazing views of the mountains. the hike out was a little longer, but enjoyable because of the scenery.

For the rest of the trip, we stayed in cities. The first city we stayed in was Guiyang, the capital city of Guizhou. they city is a pretty decent size and known for good night markets. I will remember the city for good bubble tea and cheap t-shirts, but thats just where my priorities are. The weather was really nice and we had a whole day to ourselves, so i spent a lot of time exploring the city. The city, like any Chinese city, is really interesting to wander around because of the variety of people and shops. However, I was happy to leave because the pollution was almost unbearable. Unfortunately, Beijing is the only city in China with significant pollution restrictions so Guiyang was a little unbearable at times.

Our last stop of the trip was Chengdu, the capital city of Sichuan providence. To get from Guiyang to Chengdu, we rode a train over night, a mere 12 hours. Not a bad trian ride at all. the best part was its short length.

We spent about 4 days in Chengdu doing many cool things. We spent the first 2 day there attending a cooking school, the most well known one in China. We had a great time learning to cook a few Chinese dishes and carve vegetables into cool shapes. As you can imagine, attending cooking school definately has its perks. First and foremost, it is important to understand that this cooking school is known for its Sichuan specialty, but they still have other classes. My favorite being western desserts. I did not attend this class; rather, i made friends with anyone who did. By the end of our 2 days there, all of the SYA kids knew when the baked goods came out of the oven how to get them into our possession. It wasn't too hard because the students were only too happy to get our opinion of their food. Naturally, that required more than just a taste. shame.

Besides getting to try delicious desserts, we also learned to make some specialty Sichuan dishes. We were taught in Chinese, just to make the learning process more interesting. First, a chef would show us the ingredients and how to make the dish, then we would try to make the dish with the help of students at the school. I wrote down all the recipes, but unfortunately, some of the ingredients will be hard to find in America, but that doesn't mean I am not going to try.

On our second to last day in Chengdu, we visited a moonbear sanctuary. China has a lot of legal (unfortunately) moonbear farms where they are kept in cages and used for their bile, an important ingredient in Chinese medicine. The sanctuary rescues bears and rehibilitates and heals them. If you want more info, check out the website above. We got a tour of the sanctuary and got to meet the woman who started the project. The bears are really cool and look just like really big black bears with a while patch on their stomachs.

I got back into Beijing late last night (friday April 24). I had another really amazing trip, but i am happy to be back in Beijing.

Still catching up...

Honor the God of Strawberries!

the rows upon rows of straberry greenhouses. I tried to convince my teacher to leave me there and come back for me in a week, but he would have none of it.

t
strawberry flower

YUM!!

Spring is here!

the lanterns at Ghost Street

Tree planting! Dad will be so proud...

Strawberry picking! (but mostly eating)

wow, that city is HUGE!

the famous CCTV building from a distance.

the Forbidden City from an interesting angle.

Tractor ride!

national pride

such is life, right?

Green? must not be in Beijing...(hint: I am not)

Chinese style grave.

cousin bonding

Pandas!

the Beijing Duck's (Beijing's basketball team) mascot. not kidding.

Hair cut!!

warning: this is not a bad quality shot. this is a building down the block on a day with pretty bad pollution. yay pollution! my poor lungs...

So, tomorrow I am leaving on my last trip. :( anyway, the purpose of this blog is to give you an idea of what I have been doing for the last few weeks because I have been too busy/lazy to update my blog. Sorry about that.

On of the first weekends, me and a few friends went to the Beijing Zoo (动物园). The weather was pretty nice (as in not cold enough to turn our fingers blue) and the sky clear (as in we could see down the block). We had a good time wandering around for a few hours. The coolest and most amazing animal was, of course, the pandas. They had the best exhibit in the whole zoo. We decided to go and see them because they were only in Beijing for the Olympics and are going back to Sichuan soon. The pandas were putting on a show for the crowd by being playful. Some of them were sitting with bamboo in their paws and would whack the other panda and then take a bite, then whack the other panda. We decided they must be siblings. Anyway, all the other animals were pretty depressing. They had small cages or exhibits and did not look happy at all. To avoid this depressing scene, we went to the aquarium for the rest of the afternoon.

One friday night, I went to a basketball game. Apparently, Beijing has a basketball team, the Beijing Ducks. This was the biggest game of the year, rivalry wise, against Shanghai. However, in the end, Beijing swept the floor with Shanghai. It was a little pathetic. In Shanghai's defense, Beijing has a few former NBA players. More than a little unfair, but a good gig if for them. The basketball court was all the way at the end of subway line 1, a real troop, but worth it in the end. I had a good time watching the game. Thankfully, the game did not drag on as long of NBA games do, so I could stay for the whole game and be home in time for curfew. I couldn't decide if the people organizing the game watched too much NBA, or too little in relation to the "cheerleaders", and I use the term loosely. Either the organizers understood that the purpose of the cheerleaders was NOT cheerleading, or they just did not get the concept of dancing. Either way, it was painful to watch. Fun stuff.

Last weekend was the beginning of super nice weather. On Sunday, I went park hopping, literally. First, I started at Ditan, then made my way to Jingshan, arguably the best park in Beijing, and certainly has the best view. You can see the whole cityscape of Beijing laid out before you on all four sides. pretty cool. for dinner, my friend and I went to the Ghost Street, famous for the red lanterns and lined with Chinese restuarants. Pretty cool.

last Saturday was 清明节, or grave sweeping, kind of like the Chinese version of Day of the Dead. everyone goes to the village where their ancestors are buried and cleans off their graves and offers sacrifices. Most of the family comes, so, of course, it turns into a Chinese style party, or lost of smoking and eating. My extended family was pleasantly surprised to learn I spoke passable Chinese and I passed a nice afternoon telling them all about life in America. One family member felt obligated to teach me about life in the countryside and gave my cousins, sister, and me a tractor ride. probably not too safe judging from all the smoke coming out the back of the tractor, but fun none the less.

During my favorite conversation, we were driving back to Beijing and someone asked me how the driving laws in China and America are different. Well, for starters, you definately cannot do exactly what we are doing now...(driving on the shoulder to pass someone). They were surprised to learn how strictly the speeding laws are enforced in America (i know, i know, not that strict, but compared to China, very strict, believe me.) Lets just say i am glad I still am not too clear about how fast i am going in kilometers/hour. i don't think i really want to know. That night, I all but collapsed into bed, tired from a long day.

Last monday, I did not have school (score!). SYA organized a joint project with the local highschool. It was optional, so there were only 30 kids or so, mized American and Chinese. We went about an hour outside Beijing (by bus) to go plant trees! yay! just like at home! I had a fun time planting trees with my Chinese partner. the soil is really dry and hard, but no problem for an experienced tree planter! My Chinese teacher went around and graded everyone's tree planting, and we got an A plus. Yes!! After a quick lunch, we went to go pick strawberries (can this day get any better?). Let me tell you, these are the most amazing strawberries EVER! They are really sweet and juicy, and I definately picked more than I ate. they taste a lot like wild strawberries back home, but are the same size as store bought ones (yay pesticides and fertlizer!). All in all, a pretty good day, I would say.

This weekend. unfortunately, I was not intelligent enough to bring my camera to the coffeehouse, so i have no pictures. I will update when I get back, if i remember.

So, my trip. a little preview. Tomorrow, we get on a train to Guizhou, a 28 hour train ride. not too bad, our longest is 32 hours. time skip...we eventually end up in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan, known for spicy food and hot weather. We get to go to a cooking school for 2 days, so excited. i already wish we could stay longer. Anyway, I get back on friday April 24. We are flying back from Chengdu to save time. See you all in 2 weeks!