Anti-Japanese Protests in Beijing

I decided to expand a little bit on my last post

In the past week, China has experienced a new wave of anti-Japan protests marking 81 years since Japan invaded China in conjunction with the protests over the ownership of the Diaoyu Islands. The protests have mostly been peacefully staged in front of Japanese embassies while riot police look on; however there have been reports that a Japanese owned factory in the Chinese city of Qingdao was set fire and burned to the ground. This incident led to the temporary closing of a many Japanese owned companies in mainland China. The day-to-day ramifications of the anti-Japan sentiment presently coursing through Chinese society have been interesting to note.

In the days immediately following the first wave of protests, two Japanese restaurants near my school reacted immediately. A sushi restaurant down the street removed the characters that said “Japan” from their restaurant sign and the restaurant owner decided this was a convenient time to remodel; in addition, Chinese flags sprouted up in front of the restaurant. I am not sure if the flags were put up by the owner to keep someone from burning the restaurant down in a patriotic gesture, or by locals to make a point. The Japanese restaurant in the first floor of my dorm building put plastic garbage bags over the characters that said “Japan” and the waitresses did not wear Japanese style clothing for a week.

All across Beijing, local convenience stores emptied their shelves of any Japanese goods, particularly Seven-Eleven who is owned by a Japanese entity in China. In the past week, convenience stories have mysteriously not stocked Pocky, Japanese green tea, or sushi. Also mysteriously absent have been the Japanese students living in our dorm. Usually present in large numbers in the lobby, they have not been seen in the past week other than transiting to and from class. In universities with large numbers of Japanese students, the gates have been closed and the guards will only let in known students of the university. Whether this is to protect the students or keep tabs on them I am not sure.

The anti-Japan protests from the past week are an event orchestrated by the Chinese government to distract the Chinese people from internal problems leading up the the Chinese change of power next week. Anti-Japan protests, or really any protest not directed at the government, spark a rush of patriotism in Chinese society, which is essential to the peaceful change of power. Up to this point in the history of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), there has only been one peaceful change over of power in 2002. As a matter of fact, in China's long history there has rarely been a peaceful change of power. Well aware of this, the CCP has used the Diaoyu Islands, always a controversial topic, to use Chinese patriotism to their advantage. However, the protests will only continue as long as the Chinese government believes them to be beneficial, and with the change of power quickly approaching, the government cannot afford any mishaps. As a result, the protests have already died down and the Japanese restaurants are already returning to normal business.  

Mountain Climb #2

Last weekend, I went out with the Beijing Peloton again. The weather was absolutely beautiful for riding and once again the scenery amazing. Much to my surprise, all of the roads I have been cycling on have been either new or in really good condition.

looks flat, right?

yup, definitely not flat

At the summit of the climb (which was definitely more than 10 km)

More stunning views!!

Not much to report in the way of pollution this week. The weather has been surprisingly clear and I have been able to see the mountains from my room almost every day!

As many people may have heard, there have been a lot of anti-Japanese protests in China over the ownership of the Diao Islands (Senkaku Islands in Japanese), which also coincided with the Japanese invasion of China 81 years ago. There have been major protests in almost every major Chinese city, complete with riot police. In addition to protests, there has been a major backlash against Japanese goods and restaurants in China. The two Japanese restaurants in my neighborhood closed and took down or covered up their signs. One of the Japanese restaurants had Chinese flags posted outside the restaurant, either put up by the owners to ward off protests, or put up by the locals to make a point.

-Steph

This is Why We Ride

Last weekend, I went on a two day cycling trip with the Beijing Peloton, a group of foreigners living in Beijing who explore the mountains surrounding Beijing on the weekends. We met saturday morning, packed the bikes into vans, piled into another van, and set off for the mountains. A two hour van ride later, we were at our starting point for the day. So begins the ride!

The weekend's scenery was some of the most amazing I have ever seen. Since I spent the majority of the weekend on my bike, I didn't get the chance to take too many pictures, but the pictures I did take were absolutely stunning.

Lunchtime! We stopped at a small village nestled in between two mountains for lunch. At this point, no one was too picky about the food, but the noodles were pretty good.

I was greeted by this view on the start of my ride Sunday morning. Unbelievable!!

For once, I can't see the mountains because of smog, but because of actual clouds!

Post ride lunch... noodles seem to be really popular in the rural areas surrounding Beijing... not that I'm complaining!

Over all, the weekend's ride was a very challenging and rewarding experience. My first experience with Beijing's mountains was an incredible experience, and I hope to be able to get out of the city again. 

One of the most interesting things on this cycling trip was the chance to explore rural China on the seat of a bike. I had the chance to see, smell, and experience the rural areas surrounding Beijing. It was an interesting clash between the luxuries of a first world country (the luxury of an expensive sport) and people who cannot afford to eat meat weekly. The local people I interacted with on my trip were rural farmers who made a living selling fruit and bottled water to tourists and probably make less in a year than you spend every month on gas. 

Pollution Update!!

September 7: 180

September 11: 29

Everyday weather in Beijing, such as wind and rain, can clear up the weather for a day or two, but then it usually goes right back to unhealthy levels.

-Steph

As some of you may know,  you need a VPN to access some important websites, like Facebook and blogger, in China. Not willing to give up such western necessities, I purchased a VPN before leaving for China; however, I thought it would be cool to route all my internet traffic though the Netherlands. Unfortunately, I did not consider the consequences of this. As of right now, all of my oovoo adds are in Dutch (kind of cool and slightly less annoying), I automatically get routed to blogger.com/fr (for some reason?), my spotify commercials are also in Dutch (definitely more cool), and google is always in Dutch (very annoying). I finally changed settings so my internet traffic is routed through CA, but it seems that its too late... I guess this semester is a multi-national experience?

Pollution Update!!

The pollution has been getting steadily worse this week. As I am writing, the pollution has peaked above 200...

September 5: 124
maybe mountains in the distance? trick of the light?

September 6: 185
aaannnddd we're back

I finally decided to put my bike together because of a planned two day biking trip two hours outside Beijing with the Beijing Peloton Cycling Club. Looking forward to clear skies :)

Ready to go on adventures...

...but in the mean time, the world's most expensive drying rack!

Until next time!

-Steph

This week I set out to find the one professional cycling store in Beijing. Unfortunately, the store's location in the east of Beijing and my location in Western Beijing are not close and not very convenient via public transportation. Monday afternoon, I decided to venture across Beijing in an attempt to locate the store solely using public transportation. My first step was the 701 bus, which would take me to the western side of Beijing and near a subway line that would get me as close as possible to my desired location. Taking a bus clear across Beijing is no easy feat and took me about an hour, but along the way I just stood out of the way and observed everyday Beijing life. Something that impressed me the most was the willingness of people to stand up and offer their seat to children or the elderly without any hesitation whatsoever.

Finally reaching western Beijing, I discovered that I actually did not need to take the subway and walking would be faster. My route took me through a mostly residential neighborhood where foreigners are not common. I received a lot of stares, navigated my way through a few construction sites, and finally found the bike store. Total time en route: an hour and a half. I decided to take the subway back to my school because rush hour traffic would make the bus back an absolute nightmare.

Most people take the subway traveling to and from work in Beijing, but subways runs about every minute or so during rush hour so you can get where you are going, as long as you are willing to be squeezed into a subway car with barely enough room to breathe. Three subway transfer and another bus ride later, I was back at school. Total time: 2 hours. Total cost of my trip was RMB 4.8, or less than $1. China is truly an amazing place.

Pollution Update:

 September 3, 2012: 18

September 4, 2012: 42

Well, its that time of year again. Classes started today accompanied with the usual onslaught of homework and frantic mornings. Yup, panic on the first morning. Shaping up to be a good semester so far! 

Made the prerequisite trip to the Forbidden City this past Sunday, as arranged by my program. Luckily, both the pollution and crowds were less overbearing than usual due to a rainstorm in the morning. 

 Crazy clear day at the Forbidden City

Oh my....
sometimes it really pays off to have your camera handy

 Hot pot to celebrate the start of classes!
Hot pot is kind of like Chinese fondu, only vaguely healthier and much more fun

I decided to start keeping a log of the pollution in Beijing to show everyone how bad it can really get. I use the official pollution count published by the US Embassy, which continues to exist despite the best efforts of the Chinese government. A pollution count of 0-50 is healthy, 51-100 moderate, 101-150 unhealthy for "sensitive groups" (begin to moderate outdoor exercise), 151-200 unhealthy (severely moderate outdoor exercise), 201-300 very unhealthy (don't even bother putting on your running shoes), and over 300 is classified as "crazy bad" by the US Embassy (as in go outside at your own risk). The first few days in Beijing were rather depressing, but recently we are experiencing unusually amazing weather. Needless to say, I'm not going to get used to it!

September 2, 2012: Official US Embassy Pollution Count: 6 (!!!)

Looking forward to exploring more of Beijing this weekend with my roommate and friends from my program. Lots has changed since I have been here (3 years ago) and Im looking forward to getting to know the newer Beijing. Lucky for me, the best parts of Beijing have not changed (I have already gotten a few people hooked to bubble tea :) ).

Hello everyone!

Back in China once again! I've just spent the last 4 nights at the Hilton in Wangfujing and I'm headed to my new home for the semester, Capitol Normal, this afternoon. So far, I've accomplished a failed trip to the embassy and a quick trip to 798, the art district and one of my favorite places in Beijing. I will start posting pictures and more interesting posts once I get situated in my new dorm!

-Steph

我对中国的印象

Just something I wrote for a local Chinese newspaper.

我对中国的印象

Ever since I was a small child, I was fascinated with everything Chinese: the food, the language, and the culture, so when the opportunity to live in China for nine months of high school came knocking on my door, how could I refuse? I packed up my bags, said good-bye to my friends and family, and set off to see another part of the world.

When I first arrived in China, I had no idea what I was getting myself into living with a Chinese family. I had to remember to take off my shoes at the door, how to use a Chinese washing machine, and how to make dumplings, among many other things. I also experienced the stranger, to me at least, sides of Chinese culture. My host mom insisted that I drink hot water because cold water would make me sick. At first, I resisted and snuck water bottles into the apartment, but by the end of the winter, I was drinking hot water from a glass jar along side my host family. Perhaps not the most glamorous aspects of Chinese culture, but definitely the most rewarding. I truly learned how Chinese people live their day-to-day life, not just how they celebrate holidays, although I learned that too.

At first, I was not familiar with even the basics of Chinese culture, in particular in regard to guests. I quickly discovered that in China, it is considered absolutely unacceptable for a guest (in particular) to leave the table unless doubled over in agony from eating too much food. Despite being an active part of my host family-- I lived with them, ate with them, argued with them about the day’s news, and asked them for help with my Chinese homework-- I was still treated like a guest when food involved. If my host mom thought I looked the least bit hungry, she came knocking on my door with yogurt or fruit in her hands, telling me dinner would be ready in a few minutes. During dinner, she would always encourage me to eat more until I could not possibly put another dumpling in my mouth. And then the Chinese New Year arrived. To this day, I do not know how I consumed so many dumplings, although the fact that my host mom made the best dumplings may have helped. As the year progressed, I learned new ways to politely decline more food, but my host mom was always one step ahead of me. This unspoken game between us ultimately led to my defeat, also known as consumption of way too much food.

Despite still being a guest at the dinner table, in all other respects, my Chinese family treated me like a daughter. They made sure I was home for curfew, helped me with difficult Chinese homework, and made sure they knew where I was all the time. When 猪流感 (swine flu) showed signs of emerging in China, my host family acted quickly. One night after dinner, my host mom sat me down with a map of Beijing and pointed out all the areas I was no longer allowed to go, in particular areas where potentially infected foreigners gathered in large numbers. In addition to curtailing where I was allowed to go, the night before I was to return to American, my host mom asked me to consider staying in China so I would not return home, catch the swine flu and die. I know that she was acting out of love and concern for my well being, but I had to ignore her advice and return home before my American mom flew over and escorted me home herself.

I came away from this experience having learned how to live in a new culture. The most important lesson for me was learning how to just go with the flow until I learned how I was supposed to act, for example to eat until I could not put another dumpling in my mouth or to avoid certain parts of Beijing in fear of the swine flu. In this situation, it was expected I would keep eating until I was full or there was no food left. By the end of the year, I can say that I, as well as my stomach, developed a very intense appreciation for the very different Chinese culture.

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.