Xinnian kuai le!

Whew. It's been a busy two weeks – I'll start at the beginning. My parents arrived at their hotel last Friday night, upon which I whisked them to my school for a performance by Xinjiang students celebrating the annual Corban Festival. It started at 7 and went past 11 p.m., so we just stayed for the first two hours.

After we toured campus Saturday morning, we headed downtown to see Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. We killed time window shopping at Wangfujing before having a fabulous dinner at Li Qun Roast Duck Restaurant.

The weather was perfect for our visit to the Great Wall on Sunday, with clear blue skies. It was also warm enough to take off our coats once we started hiking along the top (photos here).

On Monday we visited the Lama Temple, then stopped at the Silk Street Market to haggle over hats and gloves before returning to campus for a Christmas pageant. There were choirs, dance performances and student bands, plus some Christmas carols from the foreign teachers. Mom and Dad were on their own while I attended a dinner with school officials and other foreign teachers.

We spent Christmas Day at the Temple of Heaven and Beijing Antique City. Brian and Tienie joined us for Christmas dinner at a local Korean BBQ restaurant.

After class on Wednesday, my parents and I trekked across the city to the sprawling Summer Palace. It was freezing and all the ponds and lakes had frozen over. On the way back we drove past the National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest, which is the main Olympic venue. Our taxi driver pulled onto the side of the freeway so we could get better pictures, and it turned out to be a popular spot – enterprising vendors were even selling Olympic souvenirs. We took the subway back to Tongzhou and met Brian for dinner at a Xinjiang restaurant, where we ordered meatsticks, naan and a giant lamb shank for Dad.

The next day we visited the Military Museum, which covers everything from the ancient dynasties to the Communist Revolution. In the evening we had dinner in Haidian with Niall and his parents, who were also visiting. Photos from all these places are here. I also have some photos of Beijing Christmas decorations.

Friday afternoon we flew to Chengdu, in Sichuan province (photos here). We were the only Westerners on the plane. At the baggage claim in Chengdu we watched with a sinking feeling as the last few bags circled around on the conveyor belt – Dad's was not among them. We spent some time filling out the necessary forms and took a taxi to our hotel.

We woke up early Saturday morning for the drive to Leshan (pop. 200,000). Carved into a sandstone cliff outside Leshan is the 71-meter Giant Buddha, which sits at the intersection of three rivers. Local residents built the Buddha 1,300 years ago because boats kept crashing where the rivers meet – and gave it full credit when the accidents ceased. More recently, however, scientists have determined that the Buddha's construction actually altered the riverbed to make it safer.

In the afternoon we visited the famous Qingyang Taoist Temple, then went back to the hotel for a few hours. We capped off the day by attending a Sichuan opera, which included acrobatics, musical performances, a hand shadow show, and of course the so-fast-you-can't-see-it face-changing that Sichuan opera is known for.

Sunday morning we rose early again to visit the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, which houses 67 cubs and adults. The three-month-olds lounging in the nursery – pandas can't really move freely until 150 days – were unbearably cute. Pandas have been around for 8 million years but they've evolved into placid herbivores, consuming up to 40 kilograms of bamboo a day. Because bamboo is so fiber-rich, however, they don't retain many nutrients and so have to keep eating.

After lunch, we went our separate ways at the airport – my parents to Shanghai, me to Beijing. We have today and tomorrow off, then it's back to class for a few weeks until the February break. 2007 is over already! Happy New Year (Xinnian kuai le!) and best wishes for 2008.

China Fun Fact: There are fewer than 1,000 pandas left in the wild.

News break

Niall directed me to this 1,700-word "special report" in today's China Daily on the Tibetan Living Buddha reincarnation. After laying out the five key points that govern the central government's role in the selection process, the article wraps up with these thoughts:

The religious rituals concerning the reincarnation of Living Buddhas of Tibetan Buddhism and the historical conventions formed during the administration over the reincarnation of Living Buddhas exercised by central governments... have become essential conditions in establishing the authority of the reincarnated Living Buddhas. They have also become the faith of Buddhist followers. The system and the implementation of it fully demonstrate national sovereignty and the authority of the central governments. It not only helped to improve national unification and solidarity and maintain social stability in Tibet, but also helped to boost the healthy development of the Tibetan Buddhism and consolidate its position in Tibetan society.

The government has stepped up its media offensive against Tibet and the Dalai Lama over the last few months as he visited the U.S. and other Western countries (see here for another example).

Also making the news here: China to play greater role in World Bank, South Korean presidential election kicked off, Asia all the rage as world of sports heads East, and Jamie Lynn Spears says she's pregnant (side note: Hello, she's 16!!).

Unrelated but also of note is this article about America's shadowy think tanks, with Karl Rove (or possibly CIA head Michael Hayden) gazing out menacingly from the Xinhua news magazine's cover.

China Fun Fact: English words that come from Chinese include silk, kowtow, typhoon and gung-ho.

Xuě

Traffic laws in China are lax at best; outside the city center, for example, red lights are more of a suggestion ("Hey, you might want to consider stopping here, you know, if you feel like it") than a hard and fast rule. Coming back from an Indian restaurant last night, Brian and I had to exit the subway and jump in a cab because our line closes earlier. Unfortunately it was on a frontage road going away from Tongzhou, so the driver followed the highway briefly before making an awkward U-turn to the right. It took us a minute to realize he was going up the off-ramp. That's when we decided to put our seatbelts on.

When I looked out the window this morning there was snow, which continued throughout the morning. You all know how I feel about snow. It's like watching the Roadrunner try to ice skate. But it made for some pretty pictures.


China Fun Fact: Mine accidents claim almost 20,000 lives each year, including more than 100 workers killed last week by a gas explosion at a mine in northern Shanxi province.

Looong weekend

Well, we're becoming quite the experts on Beijing duck, since tonight we had dinner at the popular Da Dong Roast Duck restaurant with a woman I met at Alvin Ailey last month. Having a native Chinese speaker at the table meant we got all the right foods (as opposed to our usual point-and-order method, which has resulted in some odd combinations that probably had restaurant staff doubled over laughing in the kitchen). In addition to the bird and fixings, we had duck feet, duck liver, tofu, spicy chicken and cabbage, with papaya porridge and a fruit plate for dessert.

My students are both taking the SAT on Saturday, one in Macao and the other in Hong Kong, since there were no spots left in Beijing. One student is already in Macao, while the other went home yesterday before flying to Hong Kong tomorrow. Since neither will return to class until Tuesday, it seems I have the next few days off.

China Fun Fact: The Chinese economy grew 11.5% in the third quarter, compared to 4.9% in the U.S.

Reading Rainbow

Nothing too eventful lately. Thursday was Thanksgiving, of course – or was it really on Friday? – so we observed it by going out for duck again. In the spirit of Thanksgiving excess we ordered not one bird but two, and there were no leftovers.

Twice over the weekend I went to Beijing International Book City, the largest book warehouse in Asia and possibly the world. Fortunately it’s nearby, just a 30-kuai cab ride outside my already very suburban neighborhood. Despite offering books from more than 800 domestic and international publishers, the place was curiously empty. Brian observed that the Chinese government might be less concerned with turning a profit on the world’s largest book center than with advertising the fact that it’s in China. It only opened on November 8, however, so maybe more customers are on the way.


The English-language section included literary classics, popular fiction, political memoirs, textbooks, SparkNotes and Far Side collections. The selection of children’s books – including the Berenstain Bears, the Magic School Bus, Beatrix Potter and Goosebumps – was more extensive than what I’ve seen in most bookstores here or at home. Other books on the shelves: The Art of War, The Wealth of Nations, Gossip Girl – sharp drop in cultural value there, I know – Shopaholic, Harry Potter and the very thick Chinese-English Dictionary for Mechanical Engineering. You get the idea. Where we really cleaned up, though, was in the DVD section. I walked away with Casablanca, Woman of the Year, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and three Looney Tunes volumes, while Niall bought a Hitchcock box set – 34 films for $25.

China Fun Fact: Not so much fun as depressing - Mongolia's street children fight for survival.

Quack quack, gobble gobble

Thursday night I attended a media panel hosted by Danwei, an excellent Chinese media blog. It included representatives from GroupM, Google and Edelman as well as Mei Fong from the Wall Street Journal's Beijing bureau. The idea was to explain each company's recruiting process. The advice we heard from Mei Fong was consistent with everything else I've heard: There is no set path into journalism, develop specialized knowledge, don't go into it for the money, etc. Except for her, the speakers were mediocre. Mostly I wanted to check out Beijing's aspiring young journalist crowd – which as it turns out is no different from similar crowds anywhere else in the world, albeit slightly better traveled. Plus, we got goodie bags.

We had pork at lunch in the dining hall on Friday – my favorite! Don't know why I felt the need to share that. Speaking of food, last night we had our first Peking duck, a fitting substitute for turkey this week (although many American restaurants around town are offering full Thanksgiving dinners).

China Fun Fact: Marriage-age men outnumber women by 18 million (122:100) in the countryside.

China Road

On Monday I attended a book talk by NPR correspondent Rob Gifford, whose book China Road chronicles his two-month journey along Route 312 (similar to Route 66 in the U.S.) from Shanghai to the Kazakhstan border. The event, held at the Beijing Bookworm, was packed with journalists and Sinophiles, so much so that many of us had to listen to the audio from the next room.

“My experience in China” books are a dime a dozen, but it’s a good concept and Gifford made an interesting presentation. He read one passage that took place in 2005, around the time the Brad Pitt-Angelina Jolie movie Mr. & Mrs. Smith was released. He’s walking along the road in a small town when he comes across two young Chinese men, who strike up a conversation. He asks them what they do for a living and is caught off guard when they show him their product samples and tell him they’re the Gobi Desert representatives for Amway. He later accompanies them to a meeting aimed at recruiting more Amway salesmen. I couldn’t really afford the book, so here’s a loosely paraphrased excerpt:

Ren Wei stood up in front of the room. He thanked everyone for coming, thanked Teacher Hu and finally thanked Our Foreign Friend, Mr. Smith. I wasn’t sure what to think. Perhaps they thought every foreigner was named Smith, or perhaps, even in the Gobi Desert, they were confusing me with Brad Pitt. The 20 or so people in attendance continued in turn, each one thanking Ren Wei, Teacher Hu and Mr. Smith.

Then Teacher Hu rose to speak. “My grandchildren will remember my name,” he said earnestly, “because I will change our family’s fortunes. I will make money. But I will do more than that. I will give back to society, maybe build a school – because we all have a duty to give back to society, dui bu dui?”

“Dui, dui, dui,” the crowd nodded approvingly.

Teacher Hu continued to build momentum, articulating the Chinese Dream: “You can have the car, the apartment, the respect. You too can succeed. You too can be empowered. Don’t settle for cha bu duo. Don’t settle for ‘more or less.’ You deserve better.”

The book is filled with anecdotes like that. Gifford concludes that China can continue to pursue its current political and economic course in the short- to medium term, but risks imploding if it experiences an economic shock or other adverse event that interrupts its astonishing growth. As long as people’s lives are improving every year, even marginally, they will tolerate China’s shortcomings; otherwise, the whole system could come crashing down. The example Gifford cited was Indonesia, which put up with Suharto for 30 years but swiftly toppled him after the 1997 Asian financial crisis.

In the long term, however, China faces larger problems. Chinese universities are churning out 5 million graduates each year, but even its booming economy can’t employ them all. University graduates are working as street sweepers in some cities. What happens when you have an educated and underemployed population? This does not portend well for the CCP.

China Fun Fact: According to World Bank figures, China has lifted 400 million people from poverty (less than $1/day) since 1978.

Qingdao

Going to Qingdao and back in 48 hours (photos here):

Step 1: Take the overnight train Friday night. After the first couple hours, this was no fun at all and I don’t recommend it – especially since we had seats and not bunks, the lights never went off and despite it being an eight-hour overnight trip it was still standing room only. The hours between 3 and 5 a.m. were especially tough.

Step 2: Check into the hostel and crash for a few hours, then meet up with the rest of your group. There were eight of us total: me, Brian, Niall, three teachers from Zhengzhou that Brian and I met in Shanghai (Anna, David and Edmund) and two Japanese teachers at their school (Yuko and Kaoru).

Step 3: Walk through the market, where you can not only find scorpion, but choose which live scorpions you want skewered in particular. There are bowls crawling with them.

Step 4: Eat.

Step 5: Visit the Tsingtao Brewery. Qingdao, which was under German control from 1898 to 1914, is known for three things: seafood, Taoism and Tsingtao Beer.

Step 6. Since Tsingtao runs so freely, purchase individual one-liter plastic bags filled directly from kegs. Insert straw.

Step 7: Hike up to the Qingdao TV tower, which changes color but isn’t really worth paying for the view from the top when it’s just as good from the base.

Step 8. Eat.

Step 9. Upgrade to 2.5-liter bags.

Step 10. Wake up and enjoy an American breakfast with eggs, toast, ham, bacon and hash browns, which is astonishingly cheap compared to Beijing prices.

Step 11. Follow that up with sushi.

Step 12. Say goodbye to Zhengzhou friends, who are leaving on an earlier train; walk along the beach and visit the Qingdao aquarium.

Step 13. Eat.

Step 14. Skip the overnight train in favor of the vastly more expensive (but worth it just this once) six-hour bullet train, which is amazing: there’s room to stretch out, the seats recline and staff serve you bottled water from Tibet. Seriously, Amtrak could learn a thing or two. The Western-style toilet is still gross, but that’s train travel everywhere in the world.

China Fun Fact: In 2006, Tsingtao Beer brewed 460 million tons, yielding $4 billion in revenue and $84.5 million in profit.

Mini-break

It's been quiet on campus this week since students are taking exams, so my life has been quiet as well. On Tuesday Niall, Brian and I went to see Ang Lee's World War II drama Lust, Caution, with the most graphic sex scenes excised by the Chinese film board (or as Brian put it, "a little more caution, a little less lust"). I went downtown early so I could stop at the train station; while on the bus a student from my school sat down next to me and struck up a conversation, upon which every head turned to stare at us. He was recently on exchange in Virginia, where he studied at George Mason University and his host family dutifully took him to their church every week. He graduates high school this year and plans to take the SAT and TOEFL. This is the third student I've met who wants to attend New York University. 4,000 schools in the U.S. and everyone in China wants to go to the same one.

This weekend we're going to Qingdao, a Taoist town on the Yellow Sea (Olympic sailing will take place there). Unfortunately we got stuck with seats on the overnight train, so we leave tonight and arrive at 6:45 Saturday morning, but at least we'll be up bright and early! We're meeting up with some friends who teach in Zhengzhou.

YouTube is back, by the way.

China Fun Fact: China has 106 billionaires (the U.S. has 946).

Mid-terms

November already! Hard to believe. Students have mid-terms this week (some as many as eight), which means no class Wednesday, Thursday or Friday. We'll probably take the opportunity to travel somewhere, but where and how remain up in the air.

This afternoon I went for a badly needed haircut and then to the bank -- mundane activities, I know, but in China they become mini-adventures. At the bank I withdrew all the money from my WITT account, including my airfare reimbursement, and deposited it into my own account; 12,000 yuan in 100-yuan bills makes a tall pile. The first time I deposited a few thousand yuan I felt self-conscious carrying so much money -- that is, until I saw people come up to the counter with stuffed gym bags. On the way back I stopped in at a massage place to check out the prices, and ended up staying for a 30-minute back massage which cost RMB 25 (about $3). This may become a weekly indulgence.

Photos from the CCTV Tower this weekend are here.

China Fun Fact: The U.S. and China have agreed to establish a direct phone line between their respective defense ministries, the first China has ever opened at that level with another country.

Defrosting

The heat is on! The heat is on! I don't know why it's on so early, but it's not for me to question. What a glorious day.

China Fun Fact: The second round of Olympic ticket sales, releasing 1.8 million tickets, was suspended earlier this week when high demand crashed the booking system. The ticket Web site reportedly received more than 200,000 requests per second in the first hour. Sales resume Monday.

Eight Big Temples

Weekend wrap-up: On Friday I went to see Alvin Ailey, the modern dance company from New York. The ticket cost more than I usually spend in a week, but it was so worth it. I first saw AAADT with Maura and Laura last year in D.C., and wasn't about to pass up another opportunity to see them perform.

Saturday was mostly for sleeping, but in the evening Brian and I went to a nearby Pizza Hut for dinner. Now, Pizza Hut in China is not like Pizza Hut in the U.S. It's upscale dining, like the scene in Demolition Man where city officials invite Sylvester Stallone to a fancy dinner at Taco Bell. Picture this: You're sitting at your table, waiting for your 93-yuan Meat Supreme pizza, surrounded by middle-class diners seated below vegetable murals and next to ceramic Italian chefs slightly altered to look more Chinese. This is also the only place in town with Halloween decorations, including anime-style witches and pumpkin costumes for the staff. The theme from Ghost and this song drift in the air on a repeating (and very short) playlist in order to set the mood. It's surreal.

What had been a damp and foggy weekend abruptly changed course on Sunday, producing an amazingly bright and clear day (for Beijing), so Niall and I went to Badachu to visit temples and see the autumn leaves (photos
here). It's a steep hike up the Western Hills, where eight temples ascend the mountain, but the views are rewarding.

China Fun Fact: A Chinese couple is awaiting approval to name their child @, arguing that the English pronunciation "at" sounds like the Mandarin "ai ta," which means "love him." Also, there are now almost 3,500 people in China named Ao Yun ("Olympics").

I'm sorry, can you say that again?

Almost everyone I've spoken to in the past two weeks has heard me complain about having no heat. Bad news on that front. I had assumed that, like many schools/apartment buildings do, the school was waiting to turn on the heat in order to save money. When I asked my students about this, they said the heat usually comes on in early November. No problem, I thought. I can wait another week or so. But that's not the whole story.

Today we had a visit from Cliff, who works in the head office. A new teacher is arriving soon to replace our temporary teacher, and Cliff came to discuss the transition with the academic dean. Before the meeting, we sat down with him in the kitchen to discuss how classes are going and someone (probably me) mentioned being cold. Then Cliff dropped this little bomb on us: No one in Beijing has central heating until the relevant government office says so. This year he thinks the designated day is November 23. It's like this in every city in northern China, while cities below the Yellow River just don't get heat at all because it's (usually) warmer there.

Cliff actually had to explain it twice because I wasn't sure I heard him right the first time. "Wait," I said. "Am I understanding this correctly? There is no heat for anyone in Beijing until someone in some central office flips a switch?" I've lived here for two months, and I think this is the first time I've come across a concept so foreign to my experience and worldview that it actually blew me away. I still can't wrap my head around it.

So where does this leave me when I'm getting up for class at 6:30 in the morning? Well, I'll check to see if my electric air conditioner has a heating function. Some rooms around campus have space heaters, and I can see why.

China Fun Fact: China has more than 300 million smokers.

Birthday

On Saturday the school celebrated its 140th anniversary, and we were invited to attend. Preparations had been underway for quite some time -- when we came back from break there were new bilingual signs posted around campus identifying the buildings and their histories, and potted flowers started appearing on campus a week ago.

It had been a long week, and while I wanted to see what this celebration was all about, I wasn't looking forward to getting up early on Saturday. Nonetheless, I set my alarm for 7:15 so I could take my time and have a leisurely breakfast before meeting the academic dean outside our building at 8:30 or so. Instead, I woke up to find that I had turned off my alarm, rolled on top of it and continued sleeping until 8:05. I jumped out of bed, got dressed and went upstairs to wake Brian, who had also slept through his alarm. We met our dean outside on time, rushed and bleary-eyed. Like, I still had sleep lines on my face. But it was a nice day and I began to wake up soon.

The dean paired us with two Chinese English teachers, Allison and Melody, who translated so we would know what was going on. The two-and-a-half-hour ceremony took place in the gym, where it began with students reading congratulatory letters from the Beijing Ministry of Education and other schools. After the principal spoke, distinguished alumni crossed the stage -- including the school's oldest alum, at 102 years old. They also presented the school's first Chinese principal (the school was founded in 1867 by American missionaries, and its first four principals were American), and we watched a video about the school's history.

Then came the performances, which ranged from teacher and student choirs to an accordion quartet playing "Jingle Bells." My favorite, however, was dancing by students from Xinjiang, a northwestern autonomous region that borders Mongolia, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Pakistan. Xinjiang, which has significant natural gas resources, is home to the ethnic Uygur people as well as a separatist movement. The movement has met with repressive tactics by the Chinese government, which has used the war on terror to aggressively pursue Uygur separatists as "Islamic terrorists." 150 Xinjiang students come to the school each year, and they tend to stick together. Theirs was the last performance, and it felt more Middle Eastern or Russian than Chinese. The teacher next to me said the people in Xinjiang are born singers and dancers.

The ceremony wrapped up with speeches by Beijing's vice-mayor and officials from the Beijing Ministry of Education, followed by lunch. In the afternoon the school was supposed to take us to see the Grand Canal, but when I called the coordinator she said the canal had no water so we couldn't go.

In the evening Niall, Brian and I went to Grandma's Kitchen, an American restaurant downtown that's about as authentic as it gets. The menu features meatloaf, country-fried chicken, apple pie, onion rings and all-day Western breakfasts. It felt a little ridiculous being there, but we had probably the best burgers we'll find in town, except maybe at upscale hotels.

Going back to Tongzhou, there were so many people in line at the transfer station that Brian and I didn't get on the first train, but we were first in line for the next one. Passenger volume has jumped by up to 46 percent since Line 5 opened and the city lowered the fare to 2 kuai, and it was bad enough before. Boarding a subway train in Beijing is like playing musical chairs, but with more pushing, shoving and scheming -- seniors and pregant women be damned. Every seat is filled in two seconds flat. Then everyone crowds in until absolutely no one else can fit, leaving the rest on the platform -- and that isn't even necessarily during rush hour.

So we were standing at the edge of the platform with a fairly solid line forming behind us, but as soon as the train pulled in, the line dissolved and everyone started pushing forward. The doors didn't open right away but the pressure from the crowd behind us kept increasing, literally crushing us against the car doors. Once the doors opened, we practically fell in as everyone rushed in behind us. Despite being first in line, Brian and I barely got seats. One guy ended up sitting in my lap, and tried to squeeze between us before giving up. In short, getting a seat was not worth fighting the crowd.

On Sunday Niall and I went to see a photography exhibit at Dashanzi, an art district housed in a former factory. The place is a maze of alleys lined with tiny galleries, and it's teeming with foreigners who sit outside the cafes sipping expensive coffee and discussing representations of trauma in abstract art or how to use new media to romanticize the mundane. It was nice for an afternoon, but it's not really my scene. We wandered through a few Chinese and Japanese contemporary art exhibits, then headed somewhere cheaper for dinner.

China Fun Fact: As of April 2007, China had 58 Subway restaurants. Canada has more than 2,000, the U.S. has almost 21,000 and the U.K. has 870.

The Great Firewall of China

So... Blogspot is working again, but now it's YouTube (nooooo!!!) that's been blocked. What is that, like a trade? I'm willing to put up with blocks on blogging sites (so long as I can post), but taking away my YouTube is going too far. Are you listening, Chinese censors?

I've seen two common theories for why this is happening. One is the ongoing 17th Communist Party Congress, which began on Monday in Beijing. YouTube stopped working Wednesday night. But it's more likely that it has to do with YouTube recently launching Chinese-language versions for Hong Kong and Taiwan. If no one can access regular YouTube, they'll have to use the new version -- thus driving up advertising revenue. The congress ends on Sunday, so hopefully the site will be back online by then. Otherwise, where am I going to watch clips of cats playing the piano and totally unhinged fans in hysterics over Britney Spears?

As far as I can tell (and please correct me if you have updated information), there are now official YouTube bans in the UAE and Iran, with previous short-lived bans in Morocco, Thailand, Turkey and Brazil. The Defense Department has banned YouTube at its military facilities in Iraq (you know, claiming to fight for those unalienable rights while selectively denying them to U.S. citizens), although it's still available on public computers there. When will governments realize that technology has made it impossible to control the information people access? They're fighting a losing battle.

China Fun Fact: Three million people rode Line 5 during its first week of operation.

Le weekend

More sightseeing this weekend -- this time it was the Temple of Heaven, now conveniently located along the new Line 5 subway (photos here). Saturday evening Niall, Brian and I went to the street food market at Wangfujing, where about 100 vendors have set up shop. There were more foreigners here, including an American couple pushing a stroller through the crowd with their three blond kids. They weren't moving very fast, however, because everyone wanted to stop and touch the white children.

The market had everything from meat sticks to fruit to dumplings, plus one or two stands with crickets, scorpions, centipedes, etc. For all we hear about Chinese people eating freaky things, however, the only people ordering these items were Westerners.

The Singapore Film Festival arrived in Beijing this weekend, so on Sunday we saw I Not Stupid Too (2006), Singapore's second highest-grossing film ever and the follow-up to 2002's I Not Stupid. It's about the communication gap between children and parents/teachers. The director (who also appeared in the film) spoke before and after, but the only thing I understood was that the movie would be shown at a different theater later in the week.

I saw this in China Daily last week and thought it was interesting.

China Fun Fact: Beijing is the 20th most expensive city in the world.

Extra credit

Today I observed an English class taught by a Chinese teacher. Cindy, the teacher, used PowerPoint to introduce a unit on poems -- the first example was "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star." She discussed rhyme, rhythm and different types of poetry, including sonnets and limericks. One limerick was about a woman from Corfu who wanted to visit Peru, but was too large to get on any train or airplane. Cindy went on to explain (it sounds mean, but she's actually such a nice person) that in America all the bathrooms have special stalls with railings for all the overweight Westerners. Then the class, which had about 50 students, listened to a dialogue twice before the 40-minute period ended.

After class Cindy asked me if I had any suggestions for her, as if I'd been teaching for five years rather than five weeks. I should have been asking her for advice. She showed me the textbook and explained that she's required to teach grammatical terms like noun clause and appositive, even though she doesn't think the students benefit much from it. I told her I had no idea what appositive meant. (I've since looked it up; for anyone who's curious, an appositive is a noun or pronoun that further explains or identifies another noun. For example, in the sentence "My dog Tiki has had a tick problem recently," "Tiki" is an appositive that further identifies "dog." Another example: "The sixth largest state in the nation, Arizona joined the union in 1912" -- "the sixth largest state in the nation" is an appositive. Isn't learning fun? Maybe I should replace China Fun Facts with English Grammar Fun Facts.)

China Fun Fact: If you think the four tones make Mandarin hard to learn, Cantonese has nine.

Changcheng

When we last left off, I was about to leave for Shanhaiguan with vague plans and little preparation. It had the potential to be a huge disaster. Well, it was fantastic.

Things didn’t look good when we woke up on Friday to pouring rain. Brian and I met Niall and his friend Kristi, who teaches English in Korea, at the train station and eventually found our gate. We found ourselves sitting next to probably the only other foreigners on the train, two guys who were also headed to Shanhaiguan with plans to camp on the Great Wall. There wasn’t much to see on the way there since it was so rainy and gray. The train moved slowly and stopped frequently, and it was a long six hours. (By the way, try using a squat toilet on a moving train.)

Shanhaiguan is about 200 miles/315 km from Beijing and, like everything else in China, has a long history. The area has had a human presence since the Neolithic Age, and Shanhaiguan itself (the name means “between the mountains and the sea”) was built in 1381. Throughout history the town has been a strategic military pass. Most recently, it experienced Japanese occupation from 1933 to 1945. In October 1945, weeks after the Japanese surrender, Shanhaiguan witnessed a clash between Nationalist and Communist forces.

Once we arrived in Shanhaiguan the first thing we did was buy return tickets, because in China you can only buy tickets one way. We had planned to stay one night and take the train back the next day, but there were no seats available until Sunday. If we had known this would happen, I think we all would have packed differently and perhaps thought to bring some key items (socks, underwear, hairbrush, toothbrush, etc.). Combined with the fact that our hostel had no shower, this would later make for a smelly trip back.

From the train station we went into town by taxi, whose driver insisted on taking us to a particular hotel outside our price range. When we explained that we wanted to look around and find another hotel, he first told us it was too dark and then, when we politely declined again and walked away, proceeded to follow us down the street in his car before finally giving up. After eating, walking around for awhile and having halting conversations with a few other drivers, we found a great place – four beds in a room for 35 RMB (less than US$5) per person per night.

Shanhaiguan is more popular with Chinese tourists than foreigners, and we were quite a spectacle. At lunch on Saturday a little girl came up with a notebook and asked me to write out my name (my autograph?). In the afternoon we visited the Great Wall Museum, then took a taxi to Jiumenkou, where a 100-m section of the Great Wall crosses a river. Fortunately the rain stopped not long after we got there. The place was practically deserted. We wandered through an impressive aviary and down a Great Wall tunnel before getting on the Wall itself.

Mao Zedong reportedly had a saying: “Bú dào Chángchéng fēi hǎo hàn” (“A man who has not climbed the Great Wall is not a real man”). In our case it was more like, “A man who has not taken 100 photos on the Great Wall is not a real tourist.” The clouds and mist gave the experience a reverent, eerie feel. (Photos here.)

The weather cleared up on Sunday, perfect timing for our visit to Laolongtou (Old Dragon’s Head). This is where the Great Wall meets the Bohai Sea, stretching more than 22 meters into the water. There were more people here, and we were disappointed to spot other foreigners for the first time all weekend. But I can hardly blame them. Built in 1579, Laolongtou rises over a flawless beach with minimal disruptions, save for enterprising businessmen taking tourists (including us) out for a spin on their motorboats. (Photos here.)

After lunch we returned to the train station, where we didn’t have to wait long before our train arrived. Actually getting on the train was a different story. When it pulled into the station we all lined up at our respective cars, but no one could get on because so many people were squeezing their way through the standing-room-only crowd – luggage in hand and on head – to disembark. The train was already late, and it was taking so long to board everyone that staff started waving us down to other cars where the lines were shorter. The door we passed through was several feet off the ground with no steps, so train attendants pulled us up from above and hoisted us up from below, then shoved us in. We had seats in the next car, but there was no going anywhere. We were standing next to a man with a snack cart, and the idea of him pushing it anywhere was laughable.

Crowds never stop Chinese people, however. Soon someone came pushing through in our direction, so we decided to let him clear a path for us. Picture a pile of writhing earthworms – it was like moving through that. Finally we arrived at our seats and apologetically dislodged the people sitting there. This time the trip was shorter, only about four and a half hours, and we were able to see more of the countryside. We arrived in Beijing around 7:30 p.m., parted ways with Niall and Kristi and got on the subway to Tongzhou, ready to start another week.

China Fun Fact: All the Great Wall sections built over 2,000 years add up to more than 50,000 kilometers in length.

Still on break

This has been a lazy week, aside from a two-hour trip to Haidian to see where Niall lives and find the nearest Carrefour. Yesterday Niall, Brian and I spent the day at the Marco Polo Bridge and Anti-Japanese War Memorial Hall (photos here). The Marco Polo Bridge, built in 1189, is the oldest stone bridge in Beijing and earned its name because Marco Polo had such high praise for it. The Anti-Japanese War Memorial Hall covers the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945). It's all in Chinese but very well done, plus I rented an audio guide. The Chinese resistance to the Japanese invasion actually began with a clash near the Marco Polo Bridge in July 1937.

Since we didn't travel the way we planned to this week we've treated ourselves to some fine meals, including Korean barbecue and tasty but overpriced Indian food (I'm never paying more than $4 for a meal ever again). I've now used the bus several times, and it isn't so bad. I also bought a swipe card for use on public transit, so I don't have to worry about carrying small bills anymore.

Today I went to the train station to buy tickets to Shanhaiguan -- success! Shanhaiguan is where the Great Wall meets the sea; it's about 315 km away. We leave tomorrow, and hopefully we'll find a train or bus back before classes resume on Monday.

China Fun Fact: Up to 150 million people are traveling this week, with more than 100,000 gathering in Tiananmen Square on Monday. 1.7 million people left Beijing but the same number came in, while Shanghai expected up to 4.2 million tourists. (Source: Sydney Morning Herald)

Roadblock

Niall's here! We went to the train station this afternoon to buy tickets to Xi'an, where Niall, Brian and I had planned to meet up with three other teachers during our break next week. The problem we ran into is everyone in China travels during that week. Saturday - no tickets available. Sunday - no tickets available. Monday - no tickets available. The best we could have done was standing room only for 12 hours overnight on Friday. So then we tried different destinations: Qingdao, Nanjing, Shanghai, Harbin. Not only were there no tickets to Xi'an, there were no tickets anywhere. Everyone around us was getting the same answer: "Mei you, mei you." Finally I looked at the agent and asked (in the best Chinese I could muster), "Women keyi qu nar?" (Where can we go?). She left the counter and, after consulting with others, came back and wrote down the characters for Nanchang, a small city that's probably about 24 hours away. So we left without tickets. We put off making travel arrangements despite being warned this would happen. Anyway, lesson learned. We'll look into other options tomorrow, possibly the bus; otherwise, we'll plan some day trips or an overnight trip closer to Beijing.

China Fun Fact: On certain days up to 25 percent of the pollution over Los Angeles comes from China.

Housekeeping

Not a very eventful weekend. Attendance at English Corner on Friday ballooned from four to 30, so we moved it outside because the classroom was too small. Since then I've mostly been cleaning and getting organized for this week, with a brief foray to the Silk Alley Market and Sanlitun, where we ended up at a bar frequented by rugby players and/or spectators. October break is coming up, however, so I need to make travel plans.

A small revision to the mailing address I sent out earlier, as I left out the postal code. It's 101149.

I've been posting photos on Facebook -- for those of you not on the site, click the following links to see pictures from the Shanghai seminar, campus tour, Tiananmen Square/Forbidden City and Beijing Opera.

China Fun Fact: There are more than 50,000 Chinese characters, of which 5,000-8,000 are in common use and 3,000 are used for everyday purposes.

Here, kitty kitty

One of my students was absent today, but we had two surprise guests -- tiny kittens who showed up early this morning. Needless to say, they were super cute. It was hard to focus with all their pitiful mewing.

Kittens and photos from the weekend can be viewed here.

Tonight Brian, Shirley and I had Korean BBQ -- baked spicy pork, baked beef and mutton -- which was out of this world. Dinner for three, including tea, drinks, a four-piece sushi appetizer and dessert, came to 144 RMB -- about $19.

China Fun Fact: China has more than US$1.3 trillion in its foreign exchange reserve, up 42% from last year.

Weekend update

Saturday morning we attended a “Service and Publicity Day for Foreigners” in Tongzhou, which is the district we live in. Similar events were held throughout Beijing Municipality, which has 16 districts and two counties. Tongzhou, an eastern suburb about 40 minutes from downtown, is 37 km wide, 48 km long and claims a combined permanent and migrant population of more than one million. For you Montreal/D.C. folk, it’s kind of like living in St. Laurent/Alexandria but with fewer immigrants/bureaucrats.

The Tongzhou event was outside a mall not far from the school, although it took us awhile to find it. There were 20 or 25 other foreigners there, seated in rows facing a stage, and everyone received two gift bags. The first contained a mug, pen, DVD and Tongzhou “Inverstment Guide (sic).” The second was a complete set for dog owners, including leash, muzzle and canine-themed playing cards. Now all I need is a dog.

The ceremony itself was short. Western teachers from a local music academy performed two songs, one in French and one in Chinese, followed by a Chinese student at the academy who sang Mariah Carey’s “Hero.” We exited with Michael Jackson (“Beat It”) playing in the background as local police registered volunteers for the Olympics.

It’s hard to overstate how important the Olympics are here. My students took a practice TOEFL on Friday, and the essay question was “What historical event in your country has had a major effect on your country? Give reasons and examples to support your response.” When I first saw the question I thought, “OK, there’s the Opium Wars, the Communist Revolution, Cultural Revolution, Nixon’s visit, Tiananmen Square, joining the WTO… The possibilities are endless.” Now, I don’t really expect my students to write about the Cultural Revolution or Tiananmen Square, but I thought at least Mao would get a mention. Instead, they both wrote about the Olympic Games. Preparing to host the Olympics has transformed China into a country that looks forward with optimism and hope, rather than staying mired in the past (although the past is still very much alive in many ways).

In the evening, Brian and I headed to Wangfujing – Beijing’s premier shopping street – for the China and Japan Cultural Festival. We had dinner in a basement food court, where the choice was overwhelming – Japanese, Cantonese, Korean. We darted from place to place asking ourselves “Should I eat here or here? Or here?” before finally settling on our meals. Of course, this means I’ll have to go back soon to try something else.

From there we went to Sanlitun, known as “Bar Street” to foreigners and quite popular among that crowd. It was strange but fun. We returned to Tongzhou in a cab and stumbled back onto campus around 2 a.m., trying not to wake the students as we passed through the dorm courtyard.

I had planned to explore Chaoyang yesterday, but I slept until 1:30 instead.

China Fun Fact: Tongzhou was founded more than 2,200 years ago and has had its current name since 1151 A.D.

Week 2: Done

So... Blogspot went back to not working again. Oh well, it was nice while it lasted.

More rain today. When the students do laundry, they dry their clothes on racks in the courtyard. One lonely t-shirt has been hanging outside for two days.

There were four students at the first English Corner today. We started by playing "Two Truths and a Lie," which they more or less understood. I asked them to write down topics they want to talk about, which were mostly music, movies, sports, the Olympics and "singing songs of Backstreet Boys." We got to talking about pets, so I showed them pictures of Tiki and video of Maura's dog Rocky (the one I took at Kate's the first day). They thought Tiki was cute (naturally) but old, while they said Rocky seemed naughty. They all want to visit America and were very curious about it, so I drew a terrible map. I pointed out L.A., D.C., New York, etc. but this one girl's dream vacation is to go to Long Island, because that's where her last English teacher was from.

China Fun Fact: More than half the population in China lives without sewage treatment, including 278 cities -- eight of which have more than 500,000 people.

Hmm...

Blogspot now appears to have been unblocked in China, so I visited my own blog today for the first time.

It rained today for the first time since I've been here, all morning. Fortunately I got to class right before it started to pour. My students asked me if I liked rain and how much it rains where I'm from, so I started talking about the desert, showed them pictures and played some monsoon videos I took last month.

Earlier this week, a first-year student asked me about English tutoring. I cleared it with the school, but since then another girl sought us out to ask the same question. My solution is to hold an "English Corner" on Fridays during lunch, so students can practice conversation. The academic dean said if I made up an advertisement she would post it around campus, so I'll give that to her tomorrow morning and we'll see who shows up.

Last night we had dinner at this bizarre Mao-themed restaurant. The place was plastered in red, Chinese flags sat on every table and everywhere you turned Mao stared back from the wall. The servers wore olive green uniforms complete with red armbands, and matching messenger bags with canteens hung on the walls. It was atmospheric, to say the least, but we made some poor food choices. Our ordering process in restaurants has basically been flip through the picture menu, guess what everything is and point. This has generally worked quite well, and we've had some great meals. In fact, it's hard to go wrong. So last night we decided to try lotus root and two meat dishes. The servers tried to steer us in another direction, but we stuck to our guns when we should have listened to them. The lotus root was gummy and extremely sweet, while the first meat dish turned out to be... our best guess was liver and stomach. The other meat dish, however, was pork -- sliced thin and crispy -- served with onions, and it tasted more like ham.

China Fun Fact: The Chinese flag has five yellow, five-pointed stars. The large one represents Communist Party leadership, while the four smaller stars represent the four classes: peasants, workers, petty bourgeoisie and the so-called patriotic capitalists.

Happy Teachers Day!

I didn't realize it was Teachers Day until one of my students brought me a flower this morning. She explained that it's a way to show appreciation for teachers, except they don't get the day off. This might also explain why we went to the opera last night.

This afternoon a student I hadn't met knocked on my door with some Teachers Day buns/pastries, nuts and dried fruit for us. He's not taking any English classes and wants a tutor on Friday afternoons, so I said I would look into it.

Classes are going well. We go straight through January, except for exams and a few long weekends, but then we get a four-week (paid) vacation from Jan. 26-Feb. 24.

Add to the list of blocked Web sites (not that this is surprising) Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and Freedom Forum.

China Fun Fact: As a result of its "one child" policy, China is now one of the most rapidly aging countries in the world.

I have to have a drink for releasing worrying and depressing

Tonight the school took all the teachers to the Beijing Opera downtown. There were two shorter acts and one longer one, complete with acrobatics, sword dancing and English subtitles like the one in the title above. Beijing opera sets are simple, but the costumes and makeup are much more elaborate.

As Brian and I exited the theater, however, there was a brief moment of uncertainty ("Quick, find someone from our group so we can follow them." "Do you recognize anyone from our group?" "Um..."). We were reasonably certain we boarded the right bus, and fortunately we were right.

China Fun Fact: By 2020 Beijing's subway system will overtake London's as the longest in the world, at 561 kilometers. Line 5, which runs north-south, will open later this month, and at least two more are scheduled to launch before the Olympics.

Out and about

As it was our first real day sightseeing, naturally we started with Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. Not long after we exited the subway, a girl about our age fell in step with us and asked where we were from – she wanted to practice her English. She pointed out all the sights around the square and walked down the block with us.

Later, as we were standing around in the square, a young guy from D.C. came up and asked (a) did we speak English and (b) did we have a Beijing cell phone. His cell phone had died and he was trying to meet up with his friends in the largest public square in the world. Brian lent him his phone, and the conversation went something like this: “Where are you? What are you looking at? A big portrait of Mao? So am I. Meet me by the statue with the gold lettering. No, the other one.”

Brian – who’s 6’3’’ and blond – has been a big hit here. All day men and women were telling him how handsome he is. “I never thought I’d get tired of being complimented,” he said. Someone even asked to take a picture with him at the Forbidden City. People have trouble with his name, though. When we arrived at the airport in Beijing, our school coordinator met us with a sign reading “Jennifer and Brain,” and that’s pretty much how everyone has been pronouncing it.

Outside the Forbidden City, a woman showed us the baby in her arms and asked for money. I had 1 yuan in my pocket, so I pulled it out and gave it to her without slowing down. As we walked away, however, tiny footsteps came running up from behind. Soon a toddler was struggling to keep up with us, grabbing at our legs and repeating the only English words she knew, mostly "money." How do you turn out as an adult when those are your childhood memories?

It’s hard to tell who genuinely wants to practice English and who’s trying to bilk money from you. So many people came up to us today just wanting to talk. But the Forbidden City was also filled with “art students” who ask people to come look at their work, then pressure them into buying it. I had heard about the tea ceremony scam (people invite you to a tea ceremony, then present you with a huge bill) before I arrived, so I was hesitant when two girls we met in a park invited us to have a drink with them so they could practice English. First, you have to understand that people stare, wave at us from across the street and walk right up to start conversations, so it wasn’t beyond the realm of possibility that they actually wanted to chat. We had nowhere in particular to go – and we are English teachers, after all – so we agreed. Once we walked into a teahouse, however, I got nervous and made sure we discussed how much we’d be paying before any tea was served. The girls assured us it should be no more than 50 yuan (about US$6 or $7) per person and we proceeded to sample maybe six teas, all the while talking about school, celebrities and whether we wanted to go bar-hopping with them tonight. When the bill arrived, however, it totaled more than 1,300 yuan – 50 yuan per person per tea. The girls seemed surprised by this (which I didn’t totally buy, since they’re Beijing natives and should know better), but they said since it was their fault they would pay if we just chipped in a little more. Did they work for the teahouse? I don’t know. We ended up paying 100 yuan each, but decided that it wasn’t such an unreasonable price anyway. (For comparison, 100 yuan covers admission and an English audio guide at the Forbidden City).

After that we said goodbye to the girls and walked around looking for somewhere to eat dinner. We were about to enter the subway to go home when, in a city of 20 million people, we actually ran into someone we knew – Xavier from the Beijing WITT office, along with a co-worker we hadn’t met. Every day there’s a new surprise.

China Fun Fact: The emperor was the only non-castrated male allowed to enter the Forbidden City’s eastern and western palaces, thus ensuring that any pregnant concubines were carrying legitimate heirs.

And then there were three

I got a second student today! I'm so happy. The classroom dynamic changed the second she walked through the door. My first student seemed relieved to have another Chinese speaker/English learner in the room, and it allows me to plan activities using pairwork.

China Fun Fact: According to China Daily, twice as many children (1% nationally) are experiencing the early onset of puberty compared to 10 years ago -- due to a healthier diet and access to pornographic material that makes them "sexually precocious."

Hurry up and wait

We had our medical exams today. The school coordinator drove us an hour to the Beijing International Travel Health Center, where we stood in line at reception, stood in line to pay, stood in line for blood tests, stood in line to have our blood pressure taken, stood in line for chest X-rays and stood in line for EKGs. I have to say, though, they must process an impressive number of people each week.

I also went to the bank to change money. After getting my number I left for an hour, came back and only had to wait one more hour until it was finally my turn. Everything takes longer than I plan for, but as I get more experience things should go more smoothly.

China Fun Fact: The 2008 Summer Olympics has five official mascots representing the Olympic flame and four of China's most popular animals: Beibei (fish), Jingjing (panda), Huanhuan (the flame), Yingying (Tibetan antelope) and Nini (swallow). Together, the names mean "Welcome to Beijing" (Beijing huanying ni).

Week 1.5

I couldn’t move 7,000 miles away and not start a blog, so here it is:

Seminar. I arrived in Shanghai Monday night for a three-day training seminar that brought all the WITT teachers together. We come from all over the English-speaking world – the U.S., Canada, Britain, Australia, Ireland, South Africa. Lots of New Zealanders. Aside from our geographical diversity, however, it’s just a diverse group overall. I expected it to be mostly recent college graduates teaching for the first time, but in fact that describes only a handful of us (including one who had never before been outside the U.S., so props to him). Some are new teachers who have been working and traveling for most of their twenties, others are in their late twenties or early thirties and have been teaching in China for a few years. Many are mid-career professionals, both new and returning, who simply sold everything off, packed up and left. This made for an interesting dichotomy between the tech-dependent younger set ("You found an Internet connection? Where? I haven't been online for, like, four hours") and the older crowd ("Where is Excel on my computer?"). What we mostly have in common are poor Chinese language skills.

The seminar was intensely busy from 8:30 in the morning to 8 at night, with a few breaks throughout the day. Program staff provided lots of information, but the greatest benefit was getting to know other teachers, learning from those with experience and establishing a network of people throughout China whom we can now visit.

On Friday we traveled to our respective schools across the country. With me in Beijing are Brian, 24, from California, and Shirley, a “relief” teacher whose husband works at the WITT head office. They’re from Vancouver. Brian and I were supposed to have a third, but there was some reshuffling during the seminar and he ended up in Chengdu. So Shirley is with us for a few weeks until, presumably, a replacement arrives.

Teaching. The workload is light – 16 hours a week, not including prep time, grading and office hours. The way my schedule works out, I finish at 10:15 a.m. one morning and 9 a.m. another. Plus, I only have one student. She was on exchange in Colorado last year; this year she’s working on U.S. college applications and preparing for the SAT/TOEFL. Not exactly what I was expecting, but at least it’s something I’ve done myself and can help her with.

The school itself has about 4,000 students – 1,000 of whom live on campus – and is the largest school in Beijing. Brian, Shirley and I are the only foreign teachers, however, and do we ever stand out. I’ve seen very few other foreigners in the area. I did run into three Western high school students here on exchange – they’re from Australia, Austria and Montreal (!). As difficult as this transition is at age 23, I can’t imagine what it would be like for a 15-year-old.

Housing. I’m living on campus in the foreign teachers’ dorm, each room being equipped with TV and Internet. All the channels are in Chinese, but some programs have English subtitles and there are even Mandarin lessons aired specifically for Westerners. I have to admit I was hoping for CNN, but I can live without it. Websites blocked in China, at least as far as I can tell: LiveJournal (plus Blogspot, Typepad, Xanga, etc.), Wikipedia and my BBC News homepage. All my Gawker sites work, though, so I’m happy.

We each have private rooms and bathrooms, while kitchen and laundry facilities are shared. (Doing laundry for the first time should be interesting, as everything on the machine is in Chinese.)

Food. Most people know this can be a problem area for me, but I’ve done all right. All meals during the seminar were at the hotel in Shanghai. Breakfast items included noodles, corn on the cob, rice porridge, fried eggs, eggs hard-boiled in tea, fries, something like sausage or ham, and watermelon. Lunch was generally rice, tofu, scrambled egg, several meat dishes, prawns or crab, followed by soup and watermelon. Similarly, dinner included rice, meat, vegetables, soup and watermelon. You may sense a theme with the watermelon.

I was surprised by how many teachers, even experienced ones, still have an aversion to Chinese food. Food is so important to me that if I couldn’t eat the local cuisine somewhere, I couldn’t live there. A few teachers skipped meals in favor of the McDonalds down the street, or bought their own food at the supermarket. One returning teacher had difficulty because she’s a vegetarian, so there were limited foods she could eat at the hotel. Vegetarianism in China is difficult but doable, she said, while vegans would find it impossible. Overall, there have been plenty of new foods to try. So far I’ve sampled chicken feet, chicken heart and prawn-flavored potato chips.

Monday through Friday we get breakfast and lunch free in the school dining hall. I haven’t made it to breakfast yet, but lunch has been fantastic – steamed rice, lots of vegetables, more watermelon, all very healthy. We’re mostly on our own for dinner and on weekends, although it seems we can purchase dinner cheaply in the dining hall using our swipe cards. There are numerous restaurants in the area – Chinese, Korean, Brazilian BBQ, McDonalds – but that could get expensive quickly. So I’ve spent some time scoping out produce markets and supermarkets near and far.

Western food is expensive (especially cheese) but easily accessible. Globalization is amazing. When it comes to fast food, I thought China would only have the Big Three (McDonalds, KFC, Pizza Hut), but in the past few days I’ve seen Subway, TCBY, Haagen-Dazs and, even more random, Schlotzsky’s. There are many supermarket options as well. In addition to Wal-Mart downtown, there’s a Carrefour about 15 minutes from my school. However, my trip there this evening was mostly unsuccessful. Expiration dates – not so important in China. Years of Western grocery shopping have trained me to look for them, and while I don’t consider expiration dates hard and fast rules, some had long since passed. I picked up a jar of peanut butter dated 10/6/2006 before I found one from July 2007. Perhaps they’re manufacturing dates instead? Either way, I’d like to check out my options before I commit to buying food at one particular place. Hopefully tomorrow I’ll get to the supermarkets downtown that cater to expatriates (as in, they have entire aisles filled with biscuit tins). I may be wimping out a little bit, but until I become more comfortable and familiar with my surroundings I don’t really care.

My computer battery is fading fast, so I’ll wrap this up. Tomorrow we go for medical exams in order to process our visas. I’m told this may be an all-day affair due to the long wait times, so we’ll see how that goes.

China Fun Fact: Rather than trifling with different time zones, China -- which covers more than 9.3 million square km/3.6 million square miles -- just uses one.