beijing (part 4): treking through history -- epic last days in

The last 2 days in Beijing

On Saturday, I opted out of going to the Great Wall with my teacher and a couple classmates. Instead, I decided to SLEEP IN. Although that was as an epic fail, because I woke up at 6am, wondering WHY I was awake, and tossed around in bed until 8am --when my classmate woke me up fully by telling me he wanted to eat brunch. I told him to give me a few, so I could shower and get ready. By 9am, we were all ready, so me, Tim and Wes took a taxi to get to GuoMao (huge skyscrapers, fancy hotels, expensive shopping area). In a hotel, there's a restaurant that served buffet breakfast. IT WAS THE MOST EXPENSIVE BREAKFAST I EVER ATE IN MY LIFE. The 3 of us = 717 RMB, which is about $113.7.  No doubt it was good. They make anything you want and it's all fresh. Not only that, but they make fresh juice, and smoothies upon request.

Yes, the green juice is cucumber juice :)

After munching down breakfast, I took the subway to meet my uncle. We went to the Old Summer palace, a place I've been to in 2002, but haven't been back since. So I thought it'd be interesting to go. It was bigger than I remembered, but then again the last time I was there we only went to a small section of it.

So basically this entire place comprises of the Old Summer Palace. It's even bigger than the Forbidden City. The Old Summer Palace was destroyed in 1860 when European soldiers set the entire place ablaze. Only a few things remained, including the Xi Yang Lou, which are buildings constructed in the European Style -- since those were made of stone and not wood.

so pretty

One of the ruins, a partially destroyed bridge

Labyrinth

Labyrinth

Very pretty and would be prettier if it were during spring or summer. I'm glad I got this chance to go back to see it again.

That night, we had a MIIS alumi event which we all attended. It was for the 25th anniversary of the Chinese Translation and Interpretation program. It was nice meeting new people, eating and having fun. Oh also, my friend with whom I had studied abroad with was passing through Beijing that day before transferring to Taiwan the next day. So he managed get ahold of me via public telephone at the airport, got a one-day visa. I was scared that I might not find him (since he doesn't have a cellphone), so I gave him step by step instruction on how to get out of the airport. Then afterwards, I raced out of the event, took the subway to get to the transfer station. Lo and behold, he was the second person to get on the escalators.

And there he is, having his first meal after the flight. It was such a coincidence that this happened, but I'm glad it did.

So there goes a week in Beijing. Intensive, stressful, fun and awesome. Being it my first professional experience, I think it went pretty well!

Cheers to the next upcoming adventures. I'll never know what God has in store for me next, but I'm happily following Him wherever He'll take me.

beijing (part 3): (报告NOW）baogaoNOW

Thursday March 22^nd,

Another day of learning, and more to see. Today, we all took the subway and went to Tsinghua university, getting a mini tour of the campus and doing our presentations along with other graduate students from this university overseen by our professor and a professor of Tsinghua. Our teacher told us that this presentation would be a warm-up for Friday’s official presentation. Nonetheless, I think most of the students were nervous, including me. I could hear it in my voice when I was presentation. Argh. Again, I felt like we should have had more time to interact with the students. I mean it was nice that everyone presented on his or her topic of research and what not. It felt like more of a thesis presentation…..which was kind of strange for me, since I don't really have something very specific to focus on at the moment. Also, after each groups’ presentation, there was a discussion. I was actually kind of offended by what the professor from Tsinghua said to me as some of the other students were as well. I think that it would have been more beneficial if we had gotten to talk to the students one on one, more interaction, so that the discussion could have been more flowing, easier and relaxed.  By the time the presentations were over, most of the students were tired. Wes, a fellow classmate of mine turned to me and said in a british accent “ I can’t get off my ass.”

Totally engaged in the presentation

I offered to accompany my friend to the office for international students so she won’t have trouble getting back to the hotel. Tsinghua University is really, really big. Possibly bigger than UC Davis. One of the students who took us to the office said that the uni is really pretty in spring and summer.

our boyfriends, apparently

So I thought I’d have time to fix my presentation that night. After getting back from dinner and whatnot, I found myself to be extremely tired. Although I had fixed most of it already and made it more coherent, I could not keep my eyes opened. So around…9pm, I sleepily told my roommate to wake me up in 2 hours so I could work more on my presentation. She agreed. There was another student in the room, but I was knocked out before he even left. My roommate took a loooong bath J and saw me still sleeping, so decided not to wake me up and let me sleep. I woke up around 2am wondering why I was sleeping with my head at the opposite end of the bed. It took me 5 mins to realize that that was the way I slept at 9. I figured I should probably actually crawl into my bed, which is exactly what I did and promptly fell back asleep.      

Did I also mention that in weather.com....the weather for Beijing today is: Smoke. ahaha.

And now, for the day of doom: Presentation at the Carnegie endowment at Tsinghua. 

Friday March 23^rd, 2012

And now, the day of doom, or so I thought. Friday morning was spent at the Insitute of Contemporary International Relations research. Rumor has it that these people work for the government and will secretly collect info for them. I spent that morning, mostly in a daze because I was just so tired, as was everyone else. After struggling to get through the morning, we “mingled” with the researchers. Everyone keeps telling me they’re impressed with the fact that I’ve kept up with my Chinese despite immigrating to the states at an early age. I thought they should be more impressed with all my American classmates who spoke awesome Chinese.

doing his mini presentation

Steven, paying attention

Oh, did I mention that almost everyone got sick or is getting sick? I was having a really sore throat and a slight headache. For lunch, some of us, including me opted to have porridge and veggies, something light. Afterwards, we went to a café called Tens Years After Cafe. There is a coffee also with that name, and I was wondering, so…they take ground coffee that’s been kept for 10 years and then brew it and serve it to us? Ahaha, it’s actually just the name. Angelica and I shared a tiramisu, and our professor had a black forest cake.

Fooood

                                     

porridge

Also it was super windy that day, and our conference room was on the 12^th floor. Great views, just the wind was really loud. I think most of us were wondering: WHY ARE THERE SO MANY EXPERTS AND PROFESSORS HERE?! That was one of the reasons others and I were nervous for this presentation. But nervous or not, the presentation was going to happen. I did it and managed not to screw up or make myself a complete idiot in the process. Our group only had 2 people, Wes and me. Wes’ presentation was hilarious. During discussion time, I didn’t think many people would be interested in asking me many questions since my topic was very broad: The governmental relationship between Russia and China. I mean, the presentation is 5 minutes long, which isn’t a very long time to discussion something this big. But nonetheless, many people asked me questions, which I was able to answer to the best of my abilities. My professor said that I did a very well J hehe. Thank God the presentations were over. FINALLY. Many people were like, we should go out or something. The funny thing is that even though we were done, we were all too tired and brain dead to do anything but stay in our hotel and rest. My classmate and I opted to go to tea downstairs. Good choice, and very relaxing.

I feel official

I did get to interact with some of the experts in this topic later on and got to speak a bit of Russian with the Russian expert there J He said I have a great pronunciation and that if I really want to go to Russia and keep learning Russian, I should go to Carnegie-Moscow. That would be awesome, if it happens!

All in all, this week was a great learning experience. I learned a lot, seen a lot, heard a lot and had fun.

Here’s to the next adventure, wherever it may be, or whenever it may be.

beijing (part 2): found in translation

March 20^th, 2012

Second day of the program. I think the jetlag is still going through its rounds in most of us students. I keep falling asleep during all the car rides. And I’m really tired right now, so I’m really trying to finish writing this before I pass out on my bed.

Anyways – I forgot to mention one thing yesterday. In the afternoon at CACDA, there was a guy there with red sunglasses that looked exactly like the late North Korean leader. It was kind of uncanny.

Ok, this morning was pretty interesting as we were able to visit the Ministry of Foreign Affairs today. All three participates from the Ministry were visiting scholars at MIIS. One of the ladies there talked super fast. One of them asked us to tell them about our topic – which sounded a like thesis to me, as if I were going for a PhD…. Not yet! I’ve just barely begun my Master’s. And speaking of our topic..I really need to get on with my presentation practice. Everyone’s like “oh, I’m not worried about your speaking skills.” And I’m like, “….”  

Getting ready at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Lunch was an easy affair, with lots of veggies and noodles. I stopped by a pharmacy to pick up some throat drops as it was starting to feel uncomfortable. The lack of sleep and stress from the past couple of weeks has been taking a toll on my immune system. It doesn’t help that I haven’t been working out in quite a bit. I’ve also been having stress dreams – which also doesn’t help my sleep quality.

NOMNOM

Yes, that's couchsurfing for you

The afternoon activity was at the Center for American Studies in which the Professor discussed the issue of nonproliferation and China’s stance on that particular issue. Oh and I’ve been told twice today that I don’t look Chinese…..  @___@ Seriously? The answer I’ve been getting is either I’m from out of the country or I’m an ethnic minority. Actually it’s kind of fun to mess with people’s minds.

Alright – I am going to make this short and go to sleep (and maybe, just maybe, not need caffeine tomorrow?)

Here’s to the 3^rd day  --- 

March 21^st, 2012

We’ve hit the middle mark of the program! Even though we didn’t have too much on our plate today, most of everyone was wiped out. On the car ride from our hotel to 798 Art area, almost everyone fell asleep during the half hour ride. This morning, we got to go to the Center for Chinese reform to meet with General Pan. What really amused me were the two statements made by the General. He said that Americans are really…stupid and that America is like a kid that can’t grow up. It amused me to no end because in some ways, what he said was rational. The general just said that instead of spending money outside the country, we really should be using that money to fix internal problems, to finance education, to fix infrastructure or social programs.

It was actually a warm bottle

You know you want some birthday cake flavor

 So I had a bottle of coffee this morning, then proceeded to have a shot of espresso in the afternoon, followed by a cappuccino. My caffeine addiction shall be the death of me. I really need to go on a detox when the semester is over in May. It doesn’t help that even though this week is spring break for us, we’re not really on break. I’m still lacking in the sleep department and my entire body is sore from being tired. I feel like a creaking door hinge that needs to be oiled. @_@ Just another symptom of all the working piling up. I have a test next week. Lovely, ain’t it? Not only that but I also have a paper due. I’ve already pushed back the deadline…so it would be nice to actually get it done.

Today’s afternoon program, I really enjoyed. Contemporary art is a growing interest I have, so looking at all the things was really interesting. I picked up a few things for myself and friends. Also, in the shops today, one person told me that I looked extremely Korean…that the vibe I give off is…Korean. Another sales person told me I look like I’m a foreigner, or from Hong Kong. Seriously, what’s with the last trip to China and this one? Somewhere between 2010 and now, I’ve changed? Maybe it was my trip to France that gave me a different vibe? I don’t know.

I got to climb on this structure

My friend says Wes, the guy in shades behind me looks like a creeper XD

I walked by myself today during the 798 Art Area, and I found myself enjoying my solitary walks. Ear buds in, music on, makes me feel like I’m back in France again. Being alone makes me contemplate, and I find myself praying or just having a conversation with God. I like it.

I’ve been eating enough to last me for about a month, I think. When I get back to the states, I really need to get back into shape. The money that my grandmother and uncle gave me can help me pay for a gym membership. I’d love to get back into playing the piano again but I don’t have one in Monterey. Perhaps I’ll bring my guitar back. My best friend keeps telling me I should invest in a punching bag. Maybe.

I’m learning a ton of new things here…it feels like an intensive course for nonproliferation and I like it.  A lot.

  

yet another jetlag

Another trip over and gone. As much as I love to travel, I'm glad to be at home in Monterey where I can get back to my studying, language classes, spending time with my roommate, and plotting my next move (to take over the world, of course). But before I can settle back in comfortably into my usual daily life, I have to get over yet again, this lovely thing called jetlag. And tomorrow is daylight saving time, just another hour to add to my jetlag. Hurray.

Speaking of studying and school, I finally got my certificat d'etudes politiques! It came in the mail while I was in China, and I was very happy coming home and seeing a nice big envelop.

A couple things I noticed or realized during my trip to China.

1. I could never live for a long period of time in China as much as I love it.

2. If I ever had to live in China, I'd live on my own, and not with relatives

3. The pollution has gotten worse.

4. There are more cars than last year.

5. Relatives that I haven't seen/spoken to for a long time, please don't contact me. There's a reason you don't know that I'm back. There's also a reason why I haven't talked to you either. Especially for those of you who want money from me. Do I look like a money tree?

6. Shenyang isn't actually that big. I use to remember it being bigger. To be fair, I was a kid way back when.

7.  Apparently, to many Chinese people, even though I have impeccable Chinese, I look like a mongolian, Russian, or Korean ethnic minority. The other ridiculous and random comment is that I look like someone from the Middle East or Pakistan.

8. I'd probably never fit in a proper Chinese society, after being raised in America, and being very independent.

9. Relatives, who tell me I don't look like the standard skinny Chinese girls--- I will probably sock you in the face the next time you tell me that.

10. Yes, because I'm a girl, I need to find a guy asap, and get my life together, according to many Chinese people. And the conversation usually goes like this:

Person: So how old are you?
Me: ..23.
P: You look so young! Do you have a boyfriend?
M: ..no
P: Why not? Don't be so picky!
M:.... ?
P: Women need someone (meaning a guy) to depend on.
M:...yeeeeah...no.

Also, I don't care that you're rich and well-off. I don't want to hear you bragging about how much something costs, or giving me something and telling me, oh, that was so-and-so dollars.

Overall, I liked my trip to China.

Here I am, slowly recovering from jetlag. I start work in 2 weeks, and school in 2 months! I can't wait.

last day in Beijing

Today, I went to the Capital museum in the morning. I think the Chinese government did quite an impressive job renovating this museum; the building and the content are quite nice. The only thing is that most of the descriptions are in Chinese, and only in Chinese. There are very few descriptions in English.  But overall, I found the museum quite informational, filled with interesting facts. They were also doing a temporary exhibition on the Ming Dynasty on Emperor Wanli and artifacts from the 13 Ming Tombs. This is a very interesting emperor. He became the emperor around the age of 10. His mother, the empress Dowager and a person of an important rank called Zhang Juzheng helped him govern his country. So when this Zhang person died, he decided to do things his way. Finally one day, he decided that going to work every morning to meet with his ministers was boring so he stopped going to work for 20 years. Oddly enough this was the time when the Ming Dynasty flourished the most in terms of its economy, culture, and literature.

The second floor consisted of a timeline of the history of Beijing from 221 AD to the present. There was also a separate room talking about the communist revolution in 1949. On the other side of the wall, is the timeline of the world. So, this was a quite interesting exhibition.

After the museum, I went to see the Bird’s nest, where they held the opening ceremony of the 2008 Olympics. I also visited the place where they held the swimming competition, where Michael Phelps won 8 gold medals. There is also a water park there, which I’m sure I would have leaped into the water had I brought my swimming suit.

Saw a whole bunch of these people walking around

After that, I went shopping, but I really couldn’t buy any more stuff because I can’t put it into my suitcase anymore.

So there goes my few epic days in Beijing. I’m going to drink some wine with my aunt. Here’s to the next voyage, wherever it may be in the future, or the near future. It is back to the states, back to studying and my daily life. 

so much learning in so little time

Ok, I have one more full day in Beijing and a half day on Wednesday.

Yesterday, after arriving at Beijing, I headed to the Tiananmen square. We made it just in time for the taking down of the flag, so my uncle and I stayed to watch that. 

Soldiers marching in to take down the flag. Traffic was stopped in all directions

Tiananmen square in its splendor

After that, we went to the DaShiEr, streets filled with traditional Beijing food and cultural things. There’s a old silk store, and right across the street is the traditional shoe store. My aunt bought a pair of shoes for me there. It’s quite comfortable. After that we just wandered around the streets, with my aunt and uncle occasionally buying me something to eat.

Today:

The first destination was Tiantan: The Temple of Heaven. It was constructed in 1406-1420 under the Yongle Emperor of the Ming dynasty. Later on, the Jiaqing Emperor during the 16^th century expanded it. Today, it is a UNESCO world heritage site. 

constructed in 1530 during Jiajing's era, this circular mound was used to hold the ceremony for worshiping Heaven during the winter solstice. The steps of each leading flight, the slabs of each tier are 9, or in multiples of 9, symbolizing the 9 layers of heaven and emphasizing its supreme importance

The circular structure that the only the Emperor could stand on to worship to the heaven

The Imperial Hall of  Prayer

Stone step reserved only for the Emperor. The clouds symbolizing the bottom level. The phoenix is the next level. And the highest level is the dragon, symbolizing the emperor

This is known as the 70 year old door. During Qianlong's reign of the Qing dynasty, when he was 70 years old, he was getting too old to be walking the distance. So his advisors had people build this door as a shortcut. However, Qianlong was afraid that his offsprings would abuse this privilage, so he issued a decree saying that his offsprings could only used this door if they reached 70 years of age. Since Qianlong, this door has never been used since none of his offsprings who were Emperors lived to be past 70 years old.

After the Tiantan was Yonghe gong. Today, this is a Lama temple. It used to be residence of Yinzhen, the 4^th son of Kangxi Emperor of the Qing dynasty. When Yinzhen became Emperor, his reigning name was Yongzheng. Thus, his place of residence was called Yonghe (harmony and peace) Gong.

It's quite extensive. You have to get incense to pay hommage to the Buddha, if you choose to do so. 

I also went to the Confucius temple and the Imperial College Museum. Today, parents go to this place to pray that their child will do well at the college entrance exam.

Coming back to China this year has been a bit strange. I've been getting a lot of comments telling me I'm an ethnic minority. Some tell me I look like I'm a Korean , or Mongolian, or Russian ethnic minority. Other people tell me I resemble people from the middle east, or Indian or Pakistan. Huh, interesting, what interesting comments. 

A day and half til the states! Tomorrow's plan is the Bird's Nest, and the National Museum. 

Ciao!

  

a seaside adventure Oct 26th, 2011

I'm in Beijing! This post is an update from last Thursday. 

Another day out and about in China. This time, my uncle took me to Shan Hai Guan, a seaside city half way between Shenyang and Beijing. In Shan Hai Guan, you can find Tian Xia Di Yi Guan, otherwise translated to The first pass under the heaven.  This is the starting point of the Great Wall of China. Part of it was built during the Ming dynasty.  

We took the fast train in the morning that took a grand total of 2 hours and 10 mins (each way). I slept most of the way. I think I finally got over my jetlag. Last night, I stayed up with my cousin til 1:30am. She said she wanted to see a Japanese horror movie and asked me to watch it with her. We watched something called Contagious song. After watching it for an hour, we were totally lost and confused. The movie made no sense at all, and we fell asleep watching it.

what I ate at the train station: KFC. It was quite delicious

Anyways, after getting to Shan Hai Guan, my uncle went to do close some business contact that took a few minutes. After, we ate at this fancy restaurant right by the sea, and made our way to the First Pass under the Heaven.  In order to get it to, and climb up to the top, you have a pay for the ticket. The price for students is 30 yuan, and adults, 50 yuan. It was first built in 1381 under the Ming Dynasty, with towers for guards to protect the city. I guess I can say I’ve visited the Great Wall again, just not the one in Beijing. That’s ok, since I’ve been there twice already. I’d love to go there again, except it’s quite far from the city, so maybe next time.

First pass under the heaven

5000 years of Chinese history. There’s so much more to learn and see. Chinese history is quite impressive indeed. Maybe one day, I’ll be able to know all of China’s history by heart. That’ll be fun.

After taking the train back to Shenyang, we went out to eat at a place called Don Xpress, where you can get a card filled with money. Then you go inside where there’s a bunch of different places to choose from and you can order whatever you want. It was pretty good, and filled with Chinglish. Like this picture:

I’m sure that this is the best place for redemption. There can be no other place. My uncle doesn’t eat meat, but he ordered meat dumplings. He ate the outside, the bread part, but took the meat part out. I was like….you’re just going to leave it there? He said he’ll take the meat part to his dog at the office. What a kind thought. I guess he’s not wasting anything.

My cousin.. in her awesome...jacket

My train to Beijing is on Sunday at 8am @_@ Oh goodness.