Friday, July 20, 2012

Struggles in Shanghai & The Forbidden City

Preface: This will be a really long post.


Part 1:
Lesson learned this weekend: Shanghai is crazy. 
If I was a true Beijinger, I would have already known this, but it took me being stranded without accommodations and having to deal with extremely unfriendly Shanghai-ers to learn this.
Let's start with some background info:
Beijing and Shanghai HATE each other. Think the LA-New York competition taken to the next level. These two cities cannot stand each other. In the eyes of Beijing, Shanghai is a sell-out city that sacrificed it's cultural relics for money and foreigners. To Shanghai, Beijing is a ruralistic "wannabe" city that only wishes it had the glory and money Shanghai has. Nobody gets along from the two cities, and people in China either like Shanghai or Beijing better. You absolutely cannot like both. 


Regardless of the warnings of my host mother talking about how awful Shanghai is, I decided to travel there for the long weekend. Shanghai is one of (if not the) largest city in the world, and I wanted to take part in that. Some friends from my program and I organized a group, and we took the bullet train to Shanghai (it takes 5 hours going nearly 200 mph). We got there around 10pm and went to check into the hostel we had booked. They asked for our passports and I realized I had forgotten mine. In China, not carrying your physical passport around is fine as long as you have a copy, secondary ID, and have registered with the Chinese police (all of which I had). I wasn't concerned, so I provided the copy of my passport, secondary ID, and police registration number to the person behind the counter. Then I heard it: "You can't check in here without your physical passport." Ridiculous. I calmly explained to the woman that Chinese law says otherwise, but she was firm. In Shanghai, foreigners cannot do ANYTHING without their passport. This includes buying tickets, staying in hotels, etc. I literally could not stay in ANY hotel in China. Oh dear. 
After panic-y calls to my parents and the embassy, I had determined that the only way I could check in was if the head consulate at the American Embassy, the Chinese Director of Foreigner Affairs in Shanghai, and a couple other really, really important people all came with me to the hostel. Seeing as it was by this time nearly midnight, I did not want to be the person to rouse them from their beds. The consulate on the phone (an incredible human being) offered his couch to me at the Embassy (USA! USA! USA!). 
So I went to the American Embassy, and passed through to where are the consulates live with their families. When I woke up, his wife (a really nice Japanese woman) made me croissants and orange juice. PS: Consulate housing is AMAZING. Literally some of the most beautiful houses I have ever seen. After breakfast, I bee-lined to the train station and went back to Beijing. According to the Embassy (who I called again in the morning), I'm not even supposed to be in Shanghai without my passport. Whoops. 
In the end. It was a really weird situation that makes me realize I am a Beijinger, not a Shanghaier. 


There is a funny joke that my Host Mom told me that has to do with the differences between Shanghai and Beijing (and Hong Kong, which is a whole different story).

"Aliens come to earth, and decide to land in China. 
Beijing says: Let's take the aliens to the universities to be studied, maybe we can learn something new.
Shanghai says: Let's take the aliens, and build a brand new museum in dedication to them. Then, let's build an alien shopping mall next to it. Then, let's sell tickets to see the aliens. It will be very expensive, and we will invite many foreigners. 
Hong Kong says: Aliens? I've never tasted that before. Perhaps it could be delicious?"
So much truth.

Anyway: Here are the photos from that half of the adventure. 


The Beijing South Train Station. HUGEEE. This is the waiting area. 

The cabin area of the Bullet train had a sign that showed the current speed. The top speed of the bullet train was 303 kph, the same speed as a Bugatti Veyron.

Strange hill-art as seen from the train.

Shanghai! There were lights everywhere. It was truly a western city.

 The Shanghai Hongqiao train station. Also, HUGEEE. 

Bonus:

Me self touring campus on a recent nice day. The lake behind me is really famous and is one of the most beautiful spots on campus/in Beijing. 

Me on the rooftop bar I've been dreaming about for a couple of years. The photo is really poor quality, and the only way to see anything was to make it black and white (also artsy!)


Part 2:
Since I have a couple days to myself in Beijing, I decided to go tour the Forbidden City. I had to cut through Tiananmen Square to get there and I witnessed my first instance of Chinese Police in action. I have no idea what happened, but I witnessed a Chinese police officer sprinting after a running Chinese woman. He tackled her, and the chase was over. I thought it was pretty exciting. Today also seemed to be "Look, it's a foreigner, let's take pictures with her!" day. I must have taken 50 photos with touring Chinese people. I didn't mind, but I felt bad for the Chinese teenagers whose parents were obviously forcing them to interact and take photos with me. 
The Forbidden City is literally ginormous. The height of the buildings, scale of statues, and the size of the compound itself is unreal. I thought I would be able to see most of the Forbidden City today, but after spending around 5 hours walking around, I hadn't even seemed to scratch the surface. I will need to return a couple more times to feel satisfied with that particular landmark (admission is cheap, 20 Yuan - around $5 - for students).

I consider myself fairly knowledgable around the subject of Chinese history, especially about the history surrounding the Forbidden City. However, I was lost with a lot of the references made on signage, and many buildings I had never even heard of. I'm 100% against getting a tour guide, but I might download a self-tour from iTunes and put it on my iPod. 
There is a lot of information I have about the photos I took, so I will go into that with each photo. I will also try to briefly touch on some of the historical significance (sorry if it gets boring).

午门
The main entrance: "Wumen" which translates to "Meridian Gate."
This is the largest building in the Forbidden City, and was the ceremonial gate. Receiving prisoners of war, important officials, and events to celebrate holidays all happened here. 

Part of the Golden Water River that runs throughout the Forbidden City. In total, it runs around 2,000 meters. It was multi functional as rain collection, fire protection and of course, decoration. 

太和门
"Taihe" gate - The Gate of Supreme Harmony. The giant courtyard I'm standing in for this photo, and that is visible in the photo is called "The Sea of Flagstones." Soliders, foreign delegations, and groups bringing new concubines into the Forbidden City all stopped here for inspection. During the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), the Emperor would used this building to handle state affairs, meet officials, and issue imperial edicts. The first Qing Dynasty Emperor ascended the throne here. It's been burnt down several times, with the most recent rebuilding in 1894. 

More pictures of The Gate of Supreme Harmony.

The Lions in front of The Gate of Supreme Harmony are the largest in the Forbidden City. As discussed in a previous post, the two different lions - when combined - indicate Imperial Power. 

Tourists are not allowed to travel directly through The Gate of Supreme Harmony, and instead directed through one of two gates. I chose "ZhenDuMen" (which I cannot for some reason write in characters here) - "Gate of Moral Standards."

This gate was built in 1420 during the Ming Dynasty. It has held several different names over time, most recently "XuanZhiMen" (Gate of Law Promulgation) in 1562. However, it got it's final name in 1645. It was burned down in 1888 it was burned down, but was rebuilt shortly after. It was one of the places were imperial guards on duty lived. 
In the Forbidden City, they had the plaques you can see in the photo around many of the buildings. It talked about what the building was, and why it is important. 

The backside of The Gate of Supreme Harmony. 

The highly decorated steps that descend from the Gate. These steps were only for the Emperor. Even today, these are the only parts of the Forbidden City that are still fenced off. 

The Hall of Supreme Harmony. The is the building that is always in the photos and movies. The Emperor's enthronement, imperial wedding and title conferring all took place here. It is the first of the three major court halls in the outer court. It is also known as the Hall of Golden Chimes. It was first constructed in 1420 during the Ming Dynasty, and has since been rebuilt numerous times due to fire caused by lightening. The current building was built in 1645. It is one of the largest wooden structures in Beijing. It was built on top of a three layer white marble base, which you can see in the photo. The imperial throne is inside this building. 
To put it into perspective: The Hall of Supreme Harmony was originally built 72 years BEFORE North America was even discovered. 




中和殿
Hall of Preserving Harmony. This was basically a waiting room fro the Emperor. In this building he would prepare himself for important events (i.e. naming Crown Prince, choosing the Empress, etc).

It was impossible to take a good picture because of where tourists were allowed to stand. However, this is the Emperor's throne. 

乾清宫
Palace Of Heavenly Purity. Originally constructed in 1420, it was rebuilt in 1798 during the Qing Dynasty. During the Ming and Qing dynastes, the emperor would live and work in this palace. During the Qing Dynasty, after the death of an emperor, his coffin would be kept in this hall during the memorial ceremonies to prove that he had died peacefully. 

This palace also housed the secret "Heir Apparent Box," a system set up by the first Qing emperor. Behind the board inscribed "Zheng Da Guang Ming" (The big gold and black  on above the throne) was a box containing the name of the emperor's successor, written by the emperor himself. After the emperor passed away, the secretly appointed prince would ascend the throne. 

The Forbidden City is covered in beautiful and intricate artwork such as this. 

坤拧宫
Hall of Earthly Tranquility. This was the palace where the Empress lived. The middle section is a living area, while the left and right sides are bridal chambers. Emperor Kangxi, Emperor Tongzhi, Emperor Guangzhu and Emperor Puyi all lived in this hall after they married.

The living quarters. 

The bedroom. 

Bridal chamber/bedroom. 

The Royal Gardens. Concubines would often entertain themselves in the gardens as they wandered around playing music or gossiping. 

The Golden lions represent the severity of the emperor's law. 

A famous tree in the Forbidden City. The exposed root is said to look like a crouching tiger. 

I have over 200 photos just from today's adventure, and I'm obviously not going to post them all. These photos are just some of the highlights that I had today. 






Thursday, July 12, 2012

Observations in China

I'm near the midpoint in my study abroad program, and I've been in China long enough to have started noticing things about Chinese culture that are unique to say the least. There are the obvious observations (it's HOT, it's HUMID, I can't breathe...), but there are also some things that most people wouldn't be able to pick up on without being in China for an extended period of time. I've listed some of the more interesting ones below:


  • There are Blue Sky Days, and there are Clear Sky Days. I assumed that they were the same. And when you experience your first Blue Sky Day in Beijing, It will be the same thing. The ability to have the sky be a color other than dusty gray equals clear. However I've noticed that this is not necessarily true. The last couple of days, Beijing has been fortunate enough to have the sky be some shade of blue, for at least the morning hours. This is a lie. If it's not blue all day, then the smog just hasn't overtaken the sky yet. The mountains visible in Beijing's horizon are my indicators as to what kind of day it actually is. On most non-cloudy/smoggy days, they are visible at varying levels of clarity. Some Blue Sky Days they are foggy in the distance, but on Clear Sky Days the mountains are a striking feature in the distance that is absolutely beautiful. Today was in my opinion the most clear sky that Beijing has had during my time in China. There were summer clouds in the sky, but in the distance the outline of the mountains was so clearly distinct I thought for a second I was back in the Pacific Northwest.
  • Beijing isn't humid. By Portland, Oregon's standards, Beijing is a tropical hell where humidity awaits you outside your air conditioned room. While in my opinion, it is incredibly humid, everyone in China, along with the other international students from the East Coast and Florida all disagree with me. Beijing is more humid than many places in the United States, but it is quite agreeable by Chinese standards, and is apparently really, really dry according to my friend from Florida. 
  • Chinese people have one of two expectations of the language skills of all foreigners. 1) Your Chinese is impeccable, or 2) You speak zero Chinese. In the case of the first assumption, I've had experiences where Chinese people will immediately begin speaking dialect Chinese at me, with little regard to the look of confusion on my face. With the second assumption, the Chinese people will blatantly, and often rudely, talk about you very loudly while standing next to you. The best thing you can do to these people is to interject into their conversation with a comment in Chinese. It's hilarious to throw them off, and will usually stop them from gossiping about you. 
  • China has no observable traffic laws. Similar to most other developed nation, there are traffic signals, crosswalks, and painted lines in the road. In China, these mean nothing. The light is red? You can still go, just make sure to honk the whole way through to warn oncoming traffic you don't care. Crosswalks mean nothing. Pedestrians walk wherever, whenever. Buses will NOT stop if you cross the street. They WILL hit you. Be warned. However, the worst of all offenders in China are the motorbikes. They drive on the sidewalk (which is perfectly legal in China, along with parking on the sidewalk), honk at anything that is near there vicinity and play chicken with buses, cars and people. 
  • Beijing is HUGE. It is so huge in fact, that Beijing has no "downtown." Beijing IS downtown. There is no progress in building height like in many cities. Every single building is a skyscraper. I actually can't think of any buildings I've recently seen outside of campus that are not multi-story. Also, the city is expanding vertically and horizontally at a rate that makes my head spin. Cranes and construction is EVERYWHERE. New apartment complexes, office buildings, malls and arenas are in constant demand; Beijing is more than happy to accomodate those requests. It's often difficult for me to describe how big Beijing is, but someone in my program helped me put it into words. Every city in the US has a recognizable skyline. Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, LA, New York, even Shanghai has a skyline. Beijing has no skyline. There is no part of Beijing that is a true "downtown" area that could be a skyline. Because Beijing is one big downtown area, it's impossible to take one big picture of the skyline. Plus, once you developed the image, it would be out of date. Things change so quickly here, it would be unrealistic to even attempt. If that isn't enough, on most days, it's impossible to see beyond the nearest couple of skyscrapers just because of the level of air quality. 

  • On the topic of construction in Beijing, Beijing has some crazy weird buildings. The two craziest ones I've seen are the IBM building and the CCTV (Chinese NBC/ABC/CNN combined) building. 
The IBM building. 

The Digital Beijing building. It was the IT center for the Olympics, which is why it was designed to resemble a microchip. I call it the Tron Building. 


Now, before I talk about the CCTV building, let me talk about Chinese fireworks (you'll understand why shortly). They are UNREAL, in the really cool, but totally unsafe way. But as long as people are careful, there is no problem. China has huge firework displays every year at New Year, with little to no problems. Here is a quick video that sums up Chinese fireworks when used incorrectly:



Now the CCTV building. On fire. 


Whoops. Literally right after it was finished, some Chinese New Year fireworks burned a significant portion of the building down, and the building next to it (also a part of the CCTV complex) completely to the ground. Apparently in the excitement of building a building so cool, the engineers forgot to add a sprinkler system. Nice. The fire occurred in 2009, and everything has since been rebuilt. But the company will forever be mocked by all Chinese people. Here is what it looks like now, and looked like before that little incident, and during construction. 



  • Another observation, which was kind of obvious, but still shocking, is how incredibly cheap everything is here in China. For example, I visited a friend in East Beijing last weekend, which was about an hour subway ride away. I was forced to take a taxi back (subway stations can close whenever the guards want to go home, not the actual closing time of the station). From East Beijing to my house in Northwest Beijing, it took around 40 minutes, and ended up costing 42 kuai. I was distressed, but after doing the calculation, it cost $7. Ha! Not bad! I can eat lunch every day for 8 kuai, including a name brand drink, which equates to $1.20. When I return to the states, I will be sooo distressed with how much things cost. China is so inexpensive to live in. In fact, it's easy to become stingy. I already get upset if I have to pay 15 kuai for a meal, even though that's less than $3. There is American expensive (foreign stores and companies), and there is China expensive (everything else). I've adapted so well to this kind of monetary level. 
  • Chinese babies don't wear pants. Well, they do, but not the kind American babies do. In China, because diapers are American expensive, most families cannot afford them. This has been a cultural phenomenon for so long, that baby clothes sold in Chinese stores now just don't bother to sew together the crotch. If a child feels the need to relieve themselves, they just squat and do it right there (sidewalk, shopping centers, restaurants, etc). I have seen more baby genitalia then I ever, ever needed to see.

Those are my observations as of now. The long weekend is next weekend, and I'm trying to finalize my plans. Hopefully it will be fun!





Monday, July 9, 2012

Midterms Week



It's Midterms Week... :(
Luckily, we had a bunch of fun activities last week that helped alleviate the pressure a little. The optional art classes started last week, beginning with Chinese Painting. There were two classes taught by an amazingly talented artist who showed us different techniques and then set us loose on our own work. Those two classes only reaffirmed the knowledge that am truly an untalented artist....

On Friday, there was Chinese Opera face painting and Chinese paper cutting. For the face painting, the guy showed us what the basic lines were for the face painting and then had us paint each others faces. It was really fun, but it took a lot of scrubbing to get off. 
That evening, my Host Mom took me to Wangfujing, or the Night Market in Beijing. Most people have heard of it/seen pictures. It's the place that sells scorpions and sea horses to eat. I had psyched myself up all day to eat a star fish, but when I got there, I totally freaked out. I ended up just eating beef on a stick and the most delicious candy/fruit combo I've ever had.

Also, earlier in the week, Beijing was lucky enough to experience not 1, but 2 blue sky days IN A ROW. It was magic. I also worked on my domestic skills and learned how to bake a cake in a microwave. Most people in China don't have ovens, so everything has to be cooked in a microwave or stove top. 



If you look carefully, right in the center of the photo (rising form the trees) is the famous temple from the Summer Palace. Blue Sky Days truly transform Beijing.

Dan's excellent job on my Chinese face painting halfway through. The scribble on my forehead is an interpretation of the Chinese character for Tiger (虎). The teacher went around and drew that on all our foreheads since none of us have that level of skill. All I could think of during this was the scene from Lion King when Rafiki paints Simba's forehead. Hahahahaha

The completed look of our painting. Dan (left) painted my face and I painted Dan's. I'm kind of proud of my handiwork. 

Us with the teacher.

I felt ridiculous smiling with such a serious face painting. 

Outside Wangfujing (the Night Market) was a giant Chinese Olympics jacket. Olympics fever is beginning to spread...

Tucked in between HUGE megatrons and sky scrapers is the entrance to Wangfujing. 

Me at the entrance with some super creepy statues. 


This is the market that is always on TV shows in the states. It is where you can buy scorpions and all other kinds of nasties. 



More food put on display for foreigners. This is all a giant joke in China. Chinese people don't actually eat any of this. It exists to attract tourists and foreigners; the technique obviously works. 

China... sometimes....




Me in the kitchen of my homestay attempting to make some cake. 



This was the most delicious candy I've ever had. It was caramelized grapes. YUM!!