i'm a chinaman

China Adventures: The Great Wall

It has been 11 years since not only my first visit to the Great Wall, but China has well. I have come back every other or every year to visit China; however, I never really wanted to go along the Great Wall.

Eleven years ago, I visited the Badaling section of the Great Wall with my mom, aunt, and cousin. I don’t remember much, but I do remember it was raining. There are pictures of me in a poncho, standing along the Great Wall. I remember buying an “I Climbed the Great Wall” shirt; I remember buying a small Great Wall statue.

That was eleven years ago. Today, in 2012, I visited the Great Wall once again. This time, at the Mutianyu section.

We boarded our buses and began the journey. Traffic hit, it began to sprinkle. We thought it would be a one hour trip, but that quickly turned into two. We arrived and climbed up a hill. We climbed up another hill. At the top of that, our tour guide told us:

You can take the cable car. It is 80RMB for a round trip or 60RMB for a one way ticket. If you don’t want to take the cable car, you will have to walk up there. It is about twenty minutes walking.

What our tour guide failed to mention is that it wasn’t a walk - it was a stair climb, almost non-stop. In fact, aside from a few flat areas between the stairs (about 1-2 meters long), it was all stair.

We began our ascent. The rain also decided to begin falling. I must admit, the journey up tired me out. It took me a while longer than the other UC students, but I made it up there. It was indeed a rather long time of pure stair climbing. Some steps were a foot tall, making the ascent rather steep at some points.

After climbing, resting, climbing, resting, getting rained on, and some more climbing and resting, I made it to the top. I admit, the entire purpose of the trip was to go on the wall and take pictures. Needless to say, we did. :)

The rain stopped (lessened? I feel like it stopped) as we decided to take our pictures. So many pictures! Jumping picture, black-shirt picture (we wore matching shirts), girl picture, girl jumping picture, panda picture (we also had matching panda backpacks), human pyramid, and any others I may have forgotten. It was fun taking pictures on the wall. :)

As for our descent, we decided to just take the stairs. The rain had stopped by this time and it wasn’t as annoying. Not to mention the cable car was rather far and involved even more climbing. Chris and I decided to see just how many steps this “twenty minute walk” had, so we counted each step of the stairs. Long story short, there were 1089 steps for all those stairs we climbed. Going up we climbed 1089, going down we walked down (what would you use as the opposite of climbed?) 1089 steps. I can honestly say that I have never climbed that many stairs at one instance to my knowledge.

Bus ride back, nap time, and after we had all showered (although it was raining, most of us were covered in sweat…I’d say for most of us, our faces were like 60% sweat and 40% rain), we decided to go get dinner. There was a pizza place that I went to during my first week here. My cousins and cousin in law took me to a place called Tube Station Pizza, rather close to our dorms (one subway station and some walking). They made the largest pizzas in Beijing, so when I suggested it, a group of us seemed down to go.

The atmosphere was so relaxing. Although it was pouring as we walked over and our shoes were drenched and stuff, once we sat down and began eating, everything about the place seemed so…relaxing. We ordered six pizzas and an appetizer. We got two mediums…one half Hawaiian, one half Tube Special; another was one half salmon, one half Philly steak. We also got four smalls, a Mexican, Hawaiian BBQ, Meat Lovers (it wasn’t called that…I forgot the name), and a Tube Special.

The waitress was super friendly and helped us out so much. I wanted a drink, since all I had was half a bottle of water. The drinks were unlimited refills, so I asked the group of we wanted to share one Coke and just keep getting it refilled. Suanne brought up the fact that they may not appreciate that, so I decided to ask the waitress. She not only said it was okay, but asked me how many straws I needed. Oh man. We also got free hot water sent to our table too. In China, you normally get water for free…but it’s hot or boiled water, as opposed to our cold/room temperature free water in the States.

But anyway, the waitress made sure our slides were cut slightly smaller due to the amount of people (there were seven of us there). She refilled our Coke constantly. When the air conditioning was blowing cold air right onto our wet clothes, we asked her to adjust it and she did so. I mean it’s typical of waiters/waitresses to do these things, but it was how she did them that made an impact on us. She was really nice in doing all these things. And by the end, we decided we wanted to tip her, something extremely radical here in China. She helped us sort out our bill because Chinese systems here typically don’t allow splitting of bills easily (I mean, I’ve had trouble splitting bills in the States too so I wasn’t expecting it to be too easy). She broke bills for us, she told us how much to give…oh man, she was a great help!

Tube Station Pizza has a bunch of patron-created graffiti on its walls. It’s not graffiti in the common sense, but rather just being able to scribble and write on the walls. Considering that this location was opened six years ago, finding a good empty spot was hard to do. But we asked our waitress and she brought over a few oil pastels and told us to draw.

We spent 30 minutes on drawing alone. I tagged APO PP chapter, Irvine kids tagged UCI, our Riverside member tagged UCR, our two Berkeley members tagged UC Berkeley. And we all tagged UCEAP, PKU 2012 too. :)

After a pleasant dinner, we came back to our dorms, dried off, and went off to game night. We played tungst and werewolf (mafia-based game). Werewolf was interesting and fun to play! I hope we continue playing it, it was very amusing spectating.

It was a fun Saturday. :)

Study Abroad: 8AM Class

8AM class is too early in both China and the States.

Note to self/anyone: don’t take 8AM classes.

That is all.

Quick Post: Peking University Gate Guards & Lines

I have been in Beijing for almost four weeks now. Almost every day I find myself going on campus, obviously for class. Peking University has many different gates that one can enter from; each gate is stationed with guards, be it for pedestrians or vehicles.

My first musing: Every day (weekends included), there are masses of people lined up outside the East Gate of Peking University. Morning, noon, afternoon, there are always people trying to get in. There are little kids, senior citizens, and middle aged adults trying to get in. I find it fascinating that so many people want to enter the campus.

I can understand the young kids and their parents; just like we visit colleges in the United States, I’m sure parents would want their kids visiting one of the best universities in China too. Of course, the sheer difference in population certainly plays a role.

My second musing: The guards here are very courteous. If you try to just enter the gate, they won’t let you through. Not just anyone can enter campus; even all the people waiting in line need a passport/identification and other things (I’m not really familiar with what they need/the process to get in). But as a student of Peking University, I just show my ID card.

At the less busy gates (there’s a gate slightly north of the East Gate, which is the large gate that everyone uses), there are usually a few guards there. The gate I use us normally for bicycles, but pedestrians can enter as well. Cars, to my knowledge, cannot enter/exit from the gate I usually use; they have to use the East Gate. But at these gates, the guards ask to see my ID. To avoid them asking and me taking time to get it out, I usually just show them as I walk through. They normally don’t stop people.

Anyway, more than few times the guard has actually saluted to me. One time in particular, just a few days ago, I was walking up to the gate with my ID card out. The guard put down his water and saluted as I walked through. I thought it was very interesting, to say the least.

My third (and small) musing: The campus is rather well guarded, in my opinion, given the amount of people who 1) want to enter and 2) live in Beijing/China. I usually need to show my ID to enter campus. Then, to enter my classroom building, I need to show my ID once again. The classroom building EAP is in is 4 stories tall with 15 classrooms/lecture halls per floor (size of the room varies, some fit 30, some fit 200).

Anyway, it’s almost 2AM now and I’m still up…I’m working on a paper, and it’s not even due until Monday. Although, I don’t have class until 3PM Tu-Fri, so I don’t really need to sleep early usually. Anyway, more to come later, for now, paper time then sleep!

Quick Tip: Shopping at Carrefour

Although I’ve come to China many times, I’ve never bought fruit (or groceries) from the supermarket.

As I was browsing through Carrefour today, the local hypermarket, I decided to get some bananas. After all, I haven’t been eating much fruit (or vegetables)…and it was cheap.

At the checkout line, the person asked me where the barcode was. I just replied with a dumbfounded “什么?” (“what?”). The person explained to me that you have to get the fruit weighed at one of the weighing stations in the store.

Now I’ve seen these stations before…there are people standing there weighing your candy and groceries and stuff. But I thought that stuff was always a convenience.

This poor guy had to take my bananas and run back into the store and weigh it for me. It had to be a separate transaction.

And it turns out that he didn’t scan the bag either (another tip: they charge 0.30RMB for a large bag here). So I had 3 transactions total.

Moral of the story: scan your bananas (or candy, or other fruit, or groceries) in the store before hitting the checkout line.

Opinion: Subway Line 1

To start off, yes, I am still alive. I’ve been busy these past few days/weeks! Classes have started and after sorting through Week 1 logistical issues, I’ve got my schedule set.

Anyway, I’ve been wanting to express my opinions regarding Line 1 of the subway. Now before I begin, I want to say that I understand there is reasoning and logic behind why some things are the way they are. I’m not complaining, just expressing my opinions.

So Line 1 has hit the 40 year mark, having opened in 1971. Being the first subway line to have been built, it is possible (and understandable) that many attractions or areas of interest or businesses have opened near line 1. Off the top of my head, line 1 hits popular places like Xidan, Tiananmen Square, Wangfujing, and CBD. Tourists will be attracted to line 1, so will regular people who commute to and from work using the subway.

At almost any time of the day on any given day, line 1 will be full of people, comparatively at least. It’s not always completely packed, but even at odd times in the day at odd stops, there will be more people, in my experience, riding line 1 than any other line. Ridership has hit about 1.6 million daily. Without a doubt, line 1 is the busiest line of the 15 lines in operation.

First off, the people. It is entirely way too crowded, in my opinion, on line 1. There was a time when a group of us study abroad students had to pull one of our friends off the subway because it was just too packed inside. I’m a relatively bulky guy and I usually exit with ease; I helped clear a path for the other students we were with. But one student was trapped inside, being too courteous to push or shove. As a complete tourist, understanding little of the language, not having a phone or map, we couldn’t leave him. We had little choice but to grab his arm and pull him out, completely disregarding any of the passengers in his way.

I’m sure in winter, the amount of people is delightful…all these people giving off body heat in Beijing-winter weather. But in the Beijing heat, all these people giving off body heat is not a pleasant experience at all.

And this helps bring me into my second point: these trains are old. There are trains that are 10-20 years old, easy. Some trains are newer, some are clearly much older. Some trains have air conditioning, quickly rendered useless by the sheer volume of riders, some trains have nothing. Given a majority of the subway system was built in the past decade, riding these antiquated trains is quite an experience.

To add on to age, many of the subway stations along line 1 themselves look old and lack many modern luxuries that the other subway stations have. The bright fluorescent lights in the terminals gives off a 90s feeling. Newer stations have better lighting…I’m no light bulb expert, but I’d say it’s darker in the newer stations. It’s still well lit, but the lights aren’t giving off a bright, powerful yellow glow.

The subway stations along line 1 (and, admittedly, some others) lack doors along the tracks. I don’t think there’s a term for this, but basically there are doors along the entire platform with doors that open when the subway arrives. Basically, you cannot jump down onto the tracks. In newer lines, these were installed to prevent suicides (and some accidents) caused by jumping on the track in front of a moving subway train. It doesn’t really give the feeling of safety, especially when people are all crowded around. Why they haven’t installed (/upgraded) the platforms of line 1 stations, I really don’t know. Perhaps it’s an aesthetic thing? Or a structural integrity thing? I don’t know. But it’d be nice and give the platforms a bit of a modern look.

In short, the subway stations along line 1 are clearly outdated. The bright yellow fluorescent lighting along with the yellow painted walls and the dirty and chipped tiles in the stairs make the walk (or squeeze depending on the amount of riders) through the station a rather unpleasant one, at least for me. Oh, I forgot to mention, there’s a lack of air conditioning or any sort of air flow along most line 1 stations. In my experience, many line 1 stations are rather far from the exits compared to other lines. In that, I mean the ticket booth/main walking area, for example, is further from any exit than other lines. This means there’s an increased lack of air flow. For most exits, you have to walk quite a bit (compared to other lines) before you actually get to the exit.

Off the top of my head, those are the things I dislike about line 1. In short: the sheer amount of riders and the semi-outdated (because some trains are newer) trains and the clearly antiquated subway stations.

Don’t get me wrong, the Beijing subway system is definitely an amazing system. There are 15 operating lines with more still under construction, and even more being planned. It’s easy and convenient to ride. The subway/transportation cards they use is pretty cool too. The subway card can be used on the buses as well, which means public transit can be paid using one simple card. The flat 2RMB fare is very fair (unlimited transfers) and the 0.40RMB fare for bus rides is really cheap too.

My gripes with line 1 will continue to exist…I mean, I doubt the MTR will suddenly renovate all the line 1 stations and replace the line 1 trains. Everything still works. And I’m sure for Chinese standards, line 1 is perfect and the newer lines are even more perfect. But I guess my western standards and views don’t match up. However, I will continue to ride line 1; I will continue to appreciate the fact that a trip costs a little over 50 cents (US) - 2RMB to go somewhere, 2RMB to come back.

Still a great system, nonetheless.

Free time!

This morning we had a lecture by Professor Ding Ning; we had an opportunity to learn about different forms of painting and other parts of culture. The class itself was 2 hours 30 minutes, and it was pretty interesting. I’m not a big art person at all, so it was not too entirely fascinating to me, but some very interesting paints were presented. Quite a few symbols were explained too. For example, if you dream you are a butterfly, you are in a state similar to that of a philosophers. Boats symbolize longevity - actually, almost everything symbolizes longevity.

Anyway, it was pretty interesting. We are going to the Beijing Capital Museum tomorrow to see more more historical art pieces. It’ll be more up close and personal, as opposed to a Powerpoint presentation, so I am looking forward to that.

But after class, a group of friends and I went to Wangfujing. I remember coming here last summer and I really enjoyed it. There’s an entire story behind Wangfujing, how it was the prince’s (something), or something like that. Fast forward to 2012 (well, recent times), and it’s a magnificent area to shop and look around. There were plenty of malls, small stores, and clothing stores. The street itself is pretty long, it was no quick trip to go from one end to the other. It was pretty crowded, and yes, it is a tourist attraction.

We went into a chopstick store, which was kind of interesting. They had sets for 100RMB, up to 700RMB, up to 1500RMB, up to 7000+RMB. These chopsticks were made from different woods and metals, I guess some sort of near-extinct tree or something. But yeah, there was a set going for over 7000RMB, which is well over 1000 US Dollars - all for a few pairs of chopsticks.

Other than that, we pretty much looked at the malls. There was really nothing that we wanted/could buy that we couldn’t get for cheaper in the States. There was a Sephora, Gap, Nike, etc. I mean it’s cool to take a look at what styles they have (actually, we didn’t go in to Sephora or Gap, just Nike), but we didn’t want to really buy anything. I mean a Nike t-shirt was going to run me around 30USD (180RMB), and that’s just a no-no for me. Definitely cheaper in the States.

After parading up and down Wangfujing, we stopped by the Night Market/Snack Street or whatever. Here is the tourist/foreigner-renowned area to find scorpions, seahorses, and starfish. My friends got some of the famous lamb skewers, which seemed to satisfy their taste buds.

I’ve got to say, this place was definitely fun. There was one part along here where we could buy small toys/gadgets, very souvenir like items. I got to haggle the price down for a few objects; using my Chinese, I helped my friends haggle too. There were these small poster scroll things that were originally priced at like 80. We managed to get a few for like 40 a person. Not too bad (though in retrospect, it’s a bit pricey…). Talked a key chain down from like 15 a piece to 5 a piece. Haggling is a fun process, especially when you speak well, and without a clear accent. Some of the vendors are really nice and chill to talk to, although they will constantly try to sell you something. I can accept that - they have to make money somehow. But it was nice having some conversations with some of them. I will be making another visit to pick up some items, however.

For my picture captioned “Some store along Wangfujing”, this was actually some poor man and woman dressed up as such to promote a free drink promotion. It was a cup of soda on the 3rd floor. I was lucky enough to snag a picture with them; a few others wanted pictures but got turned down, unfortunately. But I mean it doesn’t seem like a very exciting job. It was some grocery store with some sale going on with free drinks to get people inside. But hell, it worked - the five of us went inside to get our free drink, with one of our group buying two things.

Once again, I had a great dinner/night. My two cousins and in-law and I went out for dinner. My older cousin had a place in mind. She lives in Beijing with her husband, my in-law, so she’s pretty familiar with the place. We went to some pizza place (Tube something) and they served “The Largest Pizza in Beijing”. It pretty believable. The back-story behind this pizza place is that a white guy was studying at Peking University. The Pizza Huts and Papa Johns here are a rather traditional style of pizzas. Well, I wouldn’t say traditional per se, but it’s not the average pepperoni + cheese + crust we’re used to. Their crusts are a bit different. But anyway, this guy opened his restaurant to cook only American-style pizza, and hey, seems pretty successful.

The pizza we got was a medium. It wasn’t a large or an XL, but rather a medium. The pizza was huge. I put a plate next to it, along with my normal sized utensils - fork and knife. Oh man, it was great. Hawaiian BBQ + the special. Not a bad price, not a bad meal. Good times. Spent over an hour talking with my cousins and in-law there, just sitting and chilling.

Ok, it’s nearing 12AM (well, it’s past that now). I will post more later that aren’t just day-recaps and hopefully they will be interesting. For now, I’m really tired and I will be headed off to shower and then sleep!