Long time no blog…jetsetting to Scotland and back

Hello everyone,

My computer died a few weeks ago and I have been unable to access the blog until now. As you know, certain websites are blocked in China, and our blog is randomly blocked at times. I had a program that allowed me to bypass the firewall, but it stopped working right before my computer died. Now I have a new program so I am youtubing/facebooking/blogging like there is no tomorrow.

Quick update before a brief post about my most recent travel. Life is good. My lovely parents came back to visit me about a month ago which was amazing. I will make a post about our travels in the next few days, but it will require more energy than I currently have. I loved having them here though and we had a good time. I am going to find a new apartment in the next week or so because my company’s office if moving. I will be living with a Finnish guy who is currently in Thailand living the dream. I am still working in the same place and was recently sent to Edinburgh (pronounced Edin-burrow but with a Scottish accent), Scotland for a overseas partner “training”. Traveling places is one of the perks of working in the cultural exchange field, but I have to say I was happy to get back to Beijing (until I saw the pollution, which is completely out of control these days). Anyways, about my trip.

A distinct benefit of living in Beijing is direct flights. You can always get decent flights from Beijing to the world’s major cities, so a 12 hour direct flight to London and an hour long flight to Edinburgh was all I had to deal with. I don’t know what I have done, but for some reason I seem to always have the best airplane situations. I have only had one flight cancelled in my life and barely any delays. On my long flight to London I was placed in an exit row, window seat with an empty seat next to me. I watched a bunch of terrible movies and slept, landing in an already pitch dark Edinburgh at about 17:00 (5 pm, I am done with AM/PM though). Edinburgh was bigger than I expected and looked impressive from the plane. First thing I noticed was that it gets dark early. I asked a tour guide about this later, and he told me in late December, sun rises at about 10:30, setting at about 15:00. Interesting but I don’t think I could deal with it being dark so much in the winter and bright in the summer. I hopped in a cab, which cost 20 pounds for about 20 minutes, which is twice the amount I paid for my most expensive cab ride in Beijing (which was like a 50 minute drive on the highway). Ridiculous prices but the cabbie was funny and helped me practice my Scottish accent.

I got to my Hilton hotel where the conference was at, worried that I would have to share a room with someone that would snore, but it was only me in the room. I went to have dinner and met a lot of the people that work for the company we work with and other partners that work with the same company. I obviously had a lot of the same conversation while I was there (involving me working in China, not looking Chinese, etc), but people were friendly and it was a good time. We had one day of sightseeing where we went to Edinburgh Castle, which was pretty cool. It was never physically captured in its history, and when you get on top of the hill that it is on, it is easy to understand why it would be so difficult to storm the castle and survive. Scottish people were very friendly and I tend to like Brits sense of humor (no offense intended by calling Scots Brits). The food was not good, I was not expecting much but was still underwhelmed at the quality of the food. The weather, the food, and the prices would all be a big problem for me if I lived there, but for a short trip, it was fun. The weather actually turned out pretty decent save for one day, so I can’t really complain about that either.

Anyways, just wanted to make a warm up post before I tackle the larger content of my parents trip with me for a week. All the pics below are from Edinburgh, mostly of the castle, some of the hideous sore thumb that is the Scottish Parliament building, a picture of a store with my family’s name, my totally empty and awesome return flight (I was the last person to board, it was EMPTY), and some of tutu’s distant relatives. Hope everyone is doing well, new post coming soon(ish). Peace.

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Just another Chinese Travel Story

So, its been a crazy past 2 weeks. I spent all waking hours trying to prep and then lead an educational trip to Inner Mongolia while managing Chi Fan for Charity, teaching on Saturdays, and training for my 9K. The great news is that the trip went very well, all 52 of us back home from ChiFeng safe and sound, smiling and stinking! *Post to come later. I also ran in my first official Chinese race, a Li-Ning 6K which according to my watch was actually a 7K, and got my personal best time! Seems like Heyrobics running camp is paying off.

I arrived back into Beijing at 5am on Saturday morning from an overnight bus and spent the next few days furiously trying to get the charity ticket sales going. That’s has been one of my biggest work challenges ever, as I am NOT computer savvy and don’t exactly have a paid staff to help. Stayed up til 3:30am on Monday night finishing the Paypal integration and headed to Hong Kong at 6:30am for the beginning of yet another trip. Unfortunately my plane was delayed and I arrived in late in Wenzhou for my connection. I skipped baggage claim and headed straight to check-in, but was sadly too late. Despite my misfortune, I got two lucky surprises:
1. I actually understood (in Chinese) what the woman was telling me. (That it wasn’t their fault because I didn’t book directly through the airline, the connection was too short of a time, and that I would have to pay to stay in the Wenzhou Airport hotel til the next morning because there’s only one daily flight from Wenzhou to Hong Kong. Terrible news, but at least I was also able to express how I thought it was the airline’s fault!)
2. Another Singaporean girl booked the same exact flight, spoke perfect English, and agreed to share the hotel room with me.

SO… my new friend Christina and I have been in Wenzhou for the past 24 hours, in a hotel room that we’re paying for but at least eating free meals courtesy of China Eastern. She somehow slept like 20 of the last 24 and I’ve been catching up on work via the surprisingly fast internet. I haven’t ventured out of the hotel because of work, but I’m not sure I’m missing much, as my text from a co-worker kindly informed me:
Sorry to hear about the hassle for you, on the bright side wenzhou is supposedly the ugliest big city in China.

Soon headed to Hong Kong to help set up and participate in Erin Manfredi’s charity dinner and visit the Kligler’s, I’m hoping for better luck!

Chinese Tea Basics

As promised, here is the information I have been compiling for the Hutong’s Maliandao Tea Tour (which I sometimes lead.) On the tour we discuss in more detail the tastes and characteristics of tea and the Chinese tea ceremony, while eating an incredible lunch and visiting local family shops.

Buying tea in China can be an overwhelming prospect… where do you start?

Most Chinese teas are grown in Southern provinces; however, large quantities are shipped north to Beijing’s Maliandao Tea Street for purchase and export around the world. Although a lot has changed since the emperors ruled, this tea migration still mimics the journey of the finest teas that traveled from southern plantations to the emperors and on to the Silk Road. Today, Maliandao still houses thousands of tea shops, mostly family-owned, that represent the seven main tea-growing areas in China (Zhèjiāng, Jiāngsū, Fújiàn, Ānhuī, Hénán, Sìchuān, Yúnnán) and vast array of Chinese teas. The street has become a bit more touristy since 2005, but retains its authenticity through being the largest tea distribution center in Northern China.

Tea Basics…
Did you know that all “true” tea comes from the same plant? To call that beverage in your hand ‘tea’, it must come from the camellia sinesis plant. The camellia sinesis plant originated in China, near the base of the Himalayas. India also has a camellia sinesis plant native to their base of the Himalayas. China and India are known for their teas because, like grapes, aspects such as the age and variety of the plant can affect the overall taste. While a tea tree 50-60 years old would be considered “new,” some Chinese tea bushes are over 800 years old, which is why it’s nearly impossible to create a taste similar to that produced by Chinese tea plants. True teas include white, green, oolong, red/black and pu’er. Herbal teas made from ingredients like mint, chamomile, rooibos or mate actually form another category of brewed drink, called a tisane. Although they are commonly referred to as teas, this is an incorrect name in the technical sense.

Soil, climate and variety of plant affect the different overall tastes of the tea leaves, but the most important elements of distinction between types of teas are oxidization and fermentation. Oxidization refers to the amount of time tea leaves are exposed to the air and the process of the leaves turning dark, similar to a cut apple turning brown. Fermentation refers to the decay of the tea leaf and is a process that is continuous after the leaf has been dried.

White Teas
White teas are popular abroad and originated in Fújiàn, China. These teas are made from only one variety of tea plant. They are first oxidized (exposed to the air until the leaves wilt and turn slightly brown) and are left in sun to dry. These teas are light and sweet, and have wide appeal. Often tea drinkers who are turned off by the grassiness of green teas enjoy white tea. It is a common misconception that white teas do not have caffeine. The white tea leaf itself retains more caffeine than other teas that are cooked during processing, but its effect it less strong because the caffeine doesn’t come out while brewing. White tea is becoming famous for its many health benefits, one of which is its beneficial effects for arthritis sufferers.

Green Teas
Green Teas have a flavor closest to the camellia senesis plant itself, and perhaps surprisingly, have the highest caffeine content. Green teas are picked, sweated, cooked and dried. The variety of plant, picking time, picking technique, cooking techniques and drying techniques, all produce different types and flavors of green tea. Common Chinese green teas include Lóngjǐng (Dragon Well) from Zhèjiāng, Bìluóchūn (Spring Snail) from Jiāngsū, Mǎofēng from Ānhuī and Mǎojiān from Hénán. Taìpǐng hóuguí (also from Ānhuī) is perhaps the most expensive and renown green tea because it is China’s national tea. It is hard to ship and handle because it is processed in long, thin strips and stands up straight during brewing. This tea can last up to ten infusions.

Japan also has a strong green tea tradition, producing varieties such as Sencha, a powdered green tea called Matcha and Bancha. Bancha is a lower grade Sencha that includes stems and Genmaicha is Sencha mixed with toasted rice. Unlike Pǔ’ěr, it is best to drink green teas as soon as possible after their harvest to retain the most flavor.

Oolong Teas
Any tea with less than full oxidation (like a black tea) is categorized as an Oolong. Oolongs typically come from Fújiàn, Guǎngdōng and Taiwan. The tea variety, amount of oxidation and rolling techniques all significantly affect the end flavor. For example, Yùlán is a type of Oolong tea made from a bush that produces a flowery, Magnolia-flavored tea. Rock Oolongs or Yánchá are from from Wǔyíshān Mountain in Fújiàn and are highly oxidized, dried and toasted. Wǔyíshān is known to have thousands of different tea varietals, and Wǔyí teas are robust with mineral characteristics. Dàhóngpáo, for example, is famous because the tea tree grows in red soil on the rock mountain. Ānxī, a county south of Fujian is famous for producing Tiěguānyīn or Iron Goddess of Mercy. These teas are lightly oxidized, then bruised and tightly rolled. They are fragrant, fruity teas with orchid or peach characteristics. Oolongs are sometimes mixed with the Osmanthus flower, which is a small, yellow, fragrant flower grown in Southern China. Taiwan also produces a variety of high-quality Oolongs, such as Dongding.

Red/Black Teas
Black teas, known in China as hóngchá (red tea) are fully oxidized and seen less in China than other parts of the world. Common Chinese black teas include Zhēngshān xiǎozhòng and Diānhóng (Yunnan Imperial). Chinese black teas are robust and often malty. Red/Black teas are more like what you would traditionally find in Western countries in a teabag. Teabags are filled with crushed and broken tea leaves (those which aren’t good enough for loose leaf tea), with a high surface area. This creates a sudden, full burst of flavor, which quickly dissipates, meaning the teabag is really only good for one steep.

Pǔ’ěr Teas
Pǔ’ěr is a fully cooked tea that is made in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. The pǔ’ěr name comes from the pǔ’ěr region of Yunnan, where this tea was originally processed in imperial China. Known in China as heīchá (black tea), pǔ’ěrs are created through a microbial fermentation process that involves both fermentation by organisms growing in the tea and oxidization. Pǔ’ěr is picked and cooked, often heat-blasted in a wok, and then dried immediately in the sun. The sun drying process creates a base material called Saiqing maocha, which is then further processed into shóu or shēng pǔ’ěr. Shēng pǔ’ěr is steamed and pressed into caked or bricks of tea and then baked to remove any final moisture. Shóu pǔ’ěr goes through wodui processing, which was invented by the Menghai pǔ’ěr factory in the 1960s to mimic the flavor of aged shēng pǔ’ěr teas. The process was a state secret for many years. Pǔ’ěr continues to ferment and change in flavor the longer it is kept, and is the only tea to increase in value with age.

Nowadays pǔ’ěr may be the most famous tea in China, but it has only been this way for less than 50 years. The combination of Chinese investment into pǔ’ěr bricks, the introduction of this tea into the international markets via Chinese immigrants in San Francisco, and the perceived health benefits of pǔ’ěr have caused the price and popularity of pǔ’ěr to sky-rocket. In fact, in efforts to regulate the quality of pǔ’ěr for investment purposes, as of December 2008, only teas produced in Yunnan province’s 639 towns and 11 prefectures and cities can be labeled “Puer.”

You can now see disks of pǔ’ěr bricks in most tea houses and lots of souvenir shops around China, as it has become a national phenomenon. Oddly enough, pǔ’ěr stored in Beijing may be less dark and flavorsome than when stored in other areas of the world with different climates and more moisture!

*The Hutong offers an 8-day Biking, Culinary and Tea Journey to the beautiful countryside and tea plantations of Xishuangbanna, so you can experience tea country first-hand, and even pick your own tea brick, and supports Tea Journeys, an innovative tea company that offers private tea ceremonies, unique flavor infusions, corporate gifts and more! http://www.t-journeys.com/

Email: erin@thehutong.com for details.

 
Helpful Chinese Tea Words

茶 chá Tea
绿茶 lù chá Green Tea
乌龙茶 wūlóng chá Oolong Tea
红茶 hóng chá Black (red) Tea
白茶 bái chá White Tea
黑茶 hēi chá Pu’er Tea
普洱 pǔ’ěr Pu’er Tea
生普洱 shēng pǔ’ěr “uncooked” pu’er
熟普洱 shóu pǔ’ěr “cooked” pu’er
茉莉花茶 mòlihuā chá Jasmine Tea
菊花茶 júhuā chá Chrysanthemum Tea

香气 xiāng qì scent
香味 xiāng weì taste
口感 kǒu gǎn ‘mouth feel’

好喝 hǎo hē tastes good
不好喝 bú hǎo hē tastes bad
我喜欢 wǒ xǐ huan I like it
我不喜欢 wǒ bú xǐ huan I don’t like it
很浓 hěn nóng very strong
很淡 hěn dàn very weak

斤 jīn Tea weight measurement=500 g
克 kè gram
一两 yī liǎng 50 grams

茶壶 cháhú teapot
茶杯 chábēi teacup
盖碗 gàiwǎn traditional Chinese tea brewing cup
茶具 chájù teaware

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Compiled by and from: Sherry Zhang, Joel Shucat, Celestina Swanson, Sofia Courtney, Erin Henshaw, chinaculture.org and time.com

One Year in Beijing

It’s the longest break period I have ever had between posts, which is a testament to how busy life in Beijing has become. A little over a year ago I was constantly lost, didn’t have a job or know a single person here, and was one visa run away from heading home. Now I know more about the gems of Beijing than many locals, have worked on an array of unique projects with different companies, and have become friends with some of the most inspiring and supportive people I have ever met. I’m happy to say that every challenge has made me a tougher and more competent person, and I’m truly confident that we made the right choice in moving here and sticking it out in China. My bank account and lungs may not agree, but my mind and spirit do.

I know for the future that my personal survival pack for transferring to any new city must include:
-A map
-A bike
-Good cell phone
-Supportive company (got lucky with this one)
-Foreign Grocery
-Fun exercise group (here I love Heyrobics, The World Heath Store and Yoga Yard)
-Expat website or publications (The Beijinger and more…)

In trying to think about this post, I also came up with a few “you know you’ve been in China too long-isms,” so here goes:

-When you stamp your foot in a hallway when there’s a light switch
-You refer to your co-worker “Seamouse” without batting an eye
-You stand on the western toilet, because it’s too dirty to sit from all the squatters, and you don’t mind striking up a conversation between stalls, either
-You ride on your bike opposite traffic and weave through buses like an idiot
-You don’t wince (as much) when seeing a 2-year old stand in the middle of a scooter on a family trip
-Despite all efforts, you eat way too much rice
-You realize that Chinese people are not always mad at each other, they just speak in tones!
-You have become (almost) accustomed to hawking, honking and loud speaking, and feel like other cities are quiet.
-You insert “mafan” into English sentences because the meaning is so much more appropriate than saying “annoying”
-The answer, “because it’s China” has almost stopped inciting fury in your mind…and probably will next year

I’m dealing with a period of re-adjustment in many ways. I thought I would only be in China for a year, am trying to strike a balance between life and career opportunities, and understanding how to balance my Western desires with Eastern interests. I often feel like I’m cheating a bit living here, because I have transitioned from eating street food, living cheaply and learning a lot about the Chinese language and culture to working primarily with foreigners, living a quite comfortable lifestyle and indulging in things like western groceries and pricey yoga classes. I also work a lot more and travel a lot less. While thinking about all of these things, I constantly consider both sides to moving back to the US or trying to work in another country…but I still feel confident in staying here now.

I mean, I’m leading a group of Indian tourists on a bar crawl on Saturday night and a German family on a journey through Tiananmen and the Forbidden city on Monday…where else could I do that?! In between I will be furiously finalizing details for an educational student trip to Inner Mongolia, visa run to Hong Kong, and bike tour of Yunnan! Upon my return, the Chi Fan for Charity website will go live and I will soon be managing more events at The Hutong, ah!

Alright, in the future I plan on writing more about navigating Beijing as an expat, Charity in China, Traditional Chinese medicine and Chinese tea…but for now I’m pooped. Below are photos that nicely illustrate my attempts to live up the best of both Chinese and Expat culture here; Anne Baughman and I hitting up all the Beijing sites, Danny Boselovic and crew who flew in from the US for one night of DJing at Club Latte, the charity dinner I planned with Chef Jeff Powell at The Hutong and The People’s Olympics (an awesome, outdoor, big-kid field day event that friends put together in Chaoyang Park.)

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America is beautiful, back in the Orient

Wuddup everyone. I am back in China as of about 35 hours ago. I spent a nice 2 months in VA/FL/NJ working/playing but all good things must come to an end. It is 6 am here and I haven’t been able to sleep due to my body clock being completely messed up. I slept from about 9 pm until 1:30 am which is something very unlike me so I decided to write a blog since I haven’t in a while and seeing as I can’t sleep.

I was in Orlando for about 1.5 months working a summer camp that my Chinese company sends students to. I had to work a lot for the vast majority of the time and the camp had some major problems, but Orlando was a fun town and I was lucky enough to stay with my fams neighbors in NoVA (northern VA), the Shenefelts. They had a very nice lakehouse and were the most wonderful of hosts, letting me do whatever I pleased while I was there. Some highlights:

– Jetskis. I love Jetskis. Stealing a joke from Daniel Tosh..”Money doesn’t buy happiness?…Have you ever seen someone frowning on a jetski?”
– Ate a ton of Mexican food. I hit up every divey looking Mexican place I saw, and although it didn’t always feel good afterwards, it was amazing.
– Spending time with the Shenefelts, good people I didn’t spend a lot of time with in recent years.
– Going out for happy hour with the Shenefelts and Bill and Betty Sue, their 86 year old neighbors. Relaxing and spending time with good people when most of my time was dealing with chaos.
– Talking about politics. This is something I miss doing, one of the most underrated aspects of living in the USA and especially the DC area.
– Hanging out with students and group leaders from all over the world. The vast majority of people at the camp I worked were great, and the students put up with some major nonsense and for the most part didn’t complain. The Chinese leaders were also cool and very helpful.
– Driving around bumping rap music. I didn’t miss driving, but this is a guilty pleasure of mine. Actually, I don’t feel guilty about it.
– While in a standard, cheap, Chinese take out restaurant with two group leaders from China, who proclaimed it was the best Chinese they had ever had (LOLZ), I was told by a large guy in a southern accent, “You are the first redneck I have ever heard speak Chinese.” I was speechless.
– Blue skies and trees. I miss you.

After Orlando, I headed to NoVA for about 15 hours, briefly saw my fam and Ms. Stemetzki, a family friend. My fam is looking great and everyone seems happy which is good. There really is no place like home. I had my first flight ever cancelled while I was there and had to dash to the airport to be told that the other flight I was put on was also cancelled, then head to Union Station to take a train. I have taken the train maybe twice in my life, and did it twice while back on this trip (once to go from Orlando to DC with a girl that lost her Chinese passport…20 hours, wasn’t fun). I was off to New Jersey for an orientation and to spend time with the rest of the fam.

I stayed with my gparents in Westfield, NJ and Doylestown, PA. Spent some quality time with some of my favorite people that I don’t get to do very often seeing as I live in China. The hardest part about living in China is not seeing my fam and friends, and this trip was bittersweet in that I got to see people but knew that I would soon be on a plane back to China. I also had to spend an additional 3 days in Orlando so I missed my dad’s parents 60th anniversary reunion, but what can you do? It was still a great time, activities including shooting an old time photo, playing badminton with my cousins, having good food and just shooting the breeze. My family is awesome so thanks everyone.

This is a “bloggier” post than usual, probably because I am in a complete daze due to jetlag. Things in Beijing are different though. Erin and I are not living together anymore and are reevaluating our lives in certain regards. I just got back to Beijing and have already gone back to work and had to do a decent amount of stuff, so I am still getting my bearings and trying to readjust to the smog, food, and empty bed. As I am constantly telling everyone that seem stressed about my life, I am always fine and feel very happy to be who/where/what I am. Tutu (the rabbit) is twice the size but still hilarious and awesome. I was sad to leave and will need to re-acclimate to Chinese life, but re-acclimate I shall.

Aite, that is all for now. I wanted to conclude with a hello and happy bday to my bro (Aug 23rd), who is doing a great job being a dad. I met Holden (my nephew) while I was home and he seems like a dream baby. Andrew and Christine seem like dream parents so I guess it is just a dream family. I look forward to spending more time with him and everyone else…until next time.

Inner Mongolia; Environmental Issues and Local Culture

Despite the fact that freelancing is often a bit stressful and I’m still learning the ropes towards increasing sanity, I have had so many awesome opportunities working for various companies. This past weekend was definitely one of the best. I got to take a research trip to Inner Mongolia, and check out the environmental issues of desertification, water scarcity, energy production, and wildlife. The trip started off when a lot of unknowns. What were Jeff and Bright, my travel companions, going to be like? How long would it take to get there? What is Inner Mongolian food like? So, with a backpack and a bus ticket, I headed out on my adventure!

For those of you that don’t know, Inner Mongolia or Nei Menggu, is an autonomous region IN China. Its north of Beijing, but stretches widely to the East and West and comprises 12% of China’s total landmass. The official languages of Inner Mongolia are Chinese and Mongolian, and Mongolians use a Cyrillic form of writing that looks drastically different from Chinese, and is not based on the character system. From what I had heard in Beijing, Mongolians were known for eating a lot of meat and cheese, and for their vast grasslands.

So, I met Jeff at the bus station, and we got on what was supposed to be a 7-hour bus ride. 8-hours later, we saw a sign that read 100Km to Chi Feng, so we figured we were making pretty good time. We started going down half washed out dirt roads and began to wonder if our driver was lost. Turns out, he was lost, but the dirt roads are unavoidable on the way to Chifeng. I have never seen such a huge bus navigate such small and bumpy roads. We reached one section of road that was washed out, so we had to turn around, which landed us in a country-road traffic jam that took an hour to get out of, simply because other buses kept piling in and we couldn’t turn around. Then, we made our way back through fog so thick I put my head in my lap and tried to sleep. We finally made it to Chifeng over 12 hours later.

Upon arrival we were swarmed by the typical masses trying to offer us taxis and accommodations. Fortunately Jeff speaks really good Chinese, and called the hotel where we had a reservation. Oh, that hotel is in another city? Hm, driver also not here to pick us up, shocking that he didn’t wait 5 extra hours! Phew, random guy from the Chinese Press is telling us that he will get us a room. And…he did. Our lovely room consisted of one single bed, cigarette butts all over the floor and a few empty drink containers, but it was 4am and we couldn’t be picky. Jeff and I became very close co-workers on our first meeting, literally.

We slept 5 hours and met our local guide, Bright, who explained that the driver had been waiting for us since 9pm the night before and fell asleep in his car. We all got breakfast at a local restaurant and headed to Wudan, our first stop. In Wudan we checked into a pretty bad, but much nicer room and started off to visit the Yulong desert. It took a while as the main roads in Wudan were all being torn up, but we finally found a dirt road out to the area. Yulong is quite beautiful; a mix of lakes, grass and large sand dunes. It is also China’s fourth largest desert. Our guide explained that the area use to be lush and fertile before the cultural revolution, but due to poor farming practices and mismanagement of the land, it had turned into a desert. Now major actions are being taken by the local government and people to restore the land, including subsidies that are paid to residents for not letting their animals graze. We visited a local family who own a farm and culture center of sorts in the desert, and I had my first cup of authentic Inner Mongolian tea. Loved it. Salty milk tea, I drank three cups. It also happened that Xia Guohua, the district mayor of Chifeng city was visiting the family, as he was related in some way. His English was pretty good and he drunkenly chatted us up for a while, and took photos with us.

The most exciting part of the day was when the daughter of the farm took us on a tour of their land. It was really stunning, complete with small, sandy rivers and large sand dunes. We managed to get stuck in the middle of the cow fields, and had to go under, around and over-top a whole lot of barbed wire, which took quite a team effort. When we finally emerged, we wound our way through corn fields to get back home. After the hike we stayed for dinner in the family’s ger, a typical Inner-Mongolian-style tent where we ate everything from local veggies and blood sausage to some animal’s liver. The family sang and toasted us, and we had a good time…but I couldn’t manage to eat enough to be full. They also tried to make us drink a lot by saying it was offensive if we didn’t have at least three drinks, so I drank three tea-sized cups full of beer, but was not happy about it!

The next day we stopped briefly at a museum and Mongolian school in the town of Keqi, and then made our way to the grasslands. We visited a few local families and their ger campsites, drank really strong milk wine and ate some Mongolian cheese. It tasted a little chalky to me, despite dipping it in the milk tea, but Jeff may have actually fallen in love. There has been a lot of investment made into wind energy technologies in the grasslands, and we passed by quite a few fields of windmills. Apparently these things cost 2million RMB each to build! I really loved the look and feel of the gers, it was like camping, only better.

Next we headed to Dalinor lake, which is huge and used to be known for its swan population. Unfortunately the swans have recently stopped using the lake as much for their nesting grounds, and the lake is actually receding at a quick rate (although I couldn’t make out the numbers from the conversation in Chinese.) It was starting to rain at that point, so we made a brief stop at a mini-mountain in the middle of the grasslands. I’m sure there is a name for this type of structure, but you can see in the photo. We ran into an awesomely decked out local with his horse, who was happy to stop for a few photos, and headed back for dinner at the ger. Dinner was much better than the previous night, and we were entertained by deafeningly loud traditional Mongolian songs, followed by K-TV. That night we slept in bug-filled gers with the rain pattering down on the roof.

The next morning we ate some awesome sweet bread for breakfast and drove a long way back to Chifeng, and hopped on a bus that actually took seven hours to return. Overall it was awesome to discover a little bit about Inner Mongolian culture and see such pretty scenery; quite a nice break from Beijing. I only took one shower the entire time and have never been so close to having dreadlocks, but I was lucky to have some very entertaining and positive companions who didn’t complain about the smell. The distances are quite long in between the cities we visited, but I would certainly recommend visiting the desert and grasslands.

Thunder, thunder, thunder cats!

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Internet Frustration

I’m at Lily’s American diner again. The internet is down in our apartment because both of my roommates are traveling and forgot to pay the bill. I feel a little bit like an incapable 5-year old because I don’t even know which company we use, and I tried to call a number Er Wei gave me to give the internet company money but I could only understand about 10% of what the guy was asking me. I tried to get a friend from work to call, but apparently we set-up some special cell phone service and I have to visit the actual location to pay the bill. Well, that’s all fine and well but even if I make it there, I don’t have any documentation about our account and they probably don’t have an English-speaker on staff. I was feeling pretty darn good about my ability to navigate Beijing a few days ago, as I actually got quite a few errands done in a single day, including buying a collar with a bell, small dog’s leash and carrying case for Tutu! However, changing my cell phone plan and getting pants altered are still on the to-do list, which I am not looking forward to. These things are starting to frustrate me rather than be part of a fun challenge.

Here are some photos of Tutu the teenager, her new loot and Tutu doing yoga You can also see the leash I set-up in attempt to litter-train her and so she can be out of her cage but not jumping on me, my computer or food when I am trying to get things done.

More updates to come from Anne’s trip to Beijing!

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Reminiscing; Chinese Linguistics, Heroes and Travel

The combination of the trip home and a visit from Anne Baughman has caused me to reflect a bit on the time that David and I have spent in China. I just read David’s post from our first trip to Beijing, and can still recall the totally different perspective with which I saw this city. Everything seemed like a confusing mystery, but I have to say that David did a pretty incredible job orienting himself with so much uncertainty.

We have been here for almost a year and a half, and our impressions of the country have certainly changed in many ways. Almost nothing is shocking anymore…at least about Beijing, and it gets more and more difficult to maintain a fresh and objective eye with which to write the blog. I have received a few comments that the beginning of our blog was really the most interesting, and I have to agree. Mostly I think it was easier to present the fascinating things in China when everything was new. Now I see a lot of things on a daily basis that I’m sure would blow your minds, but I have seen them so many times that it has become commonplace in my mind.

Although part of the essence of this blog is our personal journey, growth and transformation, I still hope to use it as a tool with which to illuminate Asian culture in comparison to our Western home. With that in mind, I am trying to re-discover my outsider perspective on Beijing.

The thing about China that fascinates me even more than the food is the language. I don’t know why, but I never assumed that Chinese would use the same general thoughts and ideas in their speech as in other languages. I guess my perception was that because the language was created so many years ago, the whole concept of communication would have evolved differently. Stupid of me to assume that language doesn’t evolve with society, but that was my perception. Sure, there are different colloquialisms and expressions, but in general you can translate speech using the same ideas of a word. To illustrate my point, I never assume that words like “yet, because and still” would be used in the same manner to express different states of happening…but more or less, they are!

Other than tones and characters, a major difference between English and Chinese is that the Chinese use WAY less words. If brevity is the soul of wit, the Chinese must be the masters of wittiness. This (and the lack of conjugations and tenses) accounts for much of the perception that English-speaking Chinese speak like cavemen. I recently read a funny article that said something to the effect of:

The way a Chinese person says I want to take a cab: Da di qu.
The way an American says they want a cab: I think I would like, if it’s convenient and not too expensive, to call company to send a driver to the corner of my apartment and the store around eight pm or a few minutes before, to avoid rush-hour and get there quickly if that’s ok.

I have also racked my brain to think of a few funny Chinglish phrases that make a lot more sense now that I have a vague understanding of Chinese:

-If I ask, “Why?” in the classroom, students will often respond, “No, why” instead of “No reason” because in Chinese “Bu Weishenme” or “No why” is a perfectly acceptable response.

-Almost all Chinese people know how to say hello, bye bye and Oh my god! Which is apparently a phrase from English that they simply love. Children also say “Oh my ladygaga” quite a bit, hilarious and kills in the classroom.

-Although the use of America and American is very similar to the translation of this noun to adjective in Chinese, it poses huge problems for the Chinese. They are always mixing up these words and have also been taught the word “Americ” with no “a” at the end for some unknown reason.

-Despite being brief with words, the Chinese love to add extra syllables to the end of words. I can’t even blame this on the differing sounds of pinyin and American letters, as my three year olds would even pronounce d-o-g “dog-guh” and c-a-t “cat-uh”…and many more

-What’s your name is also NOT a common greeting in China. Often if I ask a child what his name is, he will look quizzically at his mother and wonder why I’m asking such a strange or private question. Fortunately I have had some parents reply (In Chinese), “It’s OK honey, that’s just what foreigners do!”

Despite the fact that we haven’t been serious about studying Chinese, David and I have picked up quite a bit of the language through listening, repeating, and looking up words when needed. It was so cool to speak with Chinese tourists and Chinese Americans this summer while visiting DC. It seems we kept running into Beijingers, and it’s awesome to think that this could be possible for the rest of our lives.

I also wanted to recount a story from back in Tangshan that I’m not sure I have shared on the blog. I was tutoring a smart, seventeen year old girl for her IELTS exam (the most important English exam for foreign students) and asked the practice question, “Name someone you admire and why.”

“Hitler,” she immediately responded, “because he was a great, powerful leader that many people followed.”

Shocked Erin explains, “While this is a thorough answer, I do not think you should say it for your exam.”

“Why?” asks perplexed girl.

“Well, the people testing you probably don’t have a favorable opinion of Hitler. In fact, most Americans probably think he’s one of the most evil people in the world and you don’t want to offend anyone during this exam.”

“Oh, ok. Let me think then.”

A quite shocking example of the differences in respect for leaders that is accepted and taught in schools. Chinese students are generally brought up to revere Mao, Hitler and Stalin for their charismatic natures and leadership ability, which is quite a unique perspective for Americans.

Also, after reading Evan Osnos’ article in The New Yorker (a GREAT piece on traveling with a Chinese tour group to Europe) and participating in Chinese-led tours with the Jacobs and Anne, it seems that tourism Chinese-style is dramatically different. First of all, tour guides seek to control and regulate their groups in a way that leaves no real room for deviation from the set schedule. Our general perception of customer service and listening to the needs of the traveler are thrown out the window in favor of trying to create an air of importance surrounding the tour guide and delivering on exactly what the tour offers and nothing more. Secondly, tour guides are not able to discuss aspects of near history that shed a less-favorable light on China. While Emperors can be bad-mouthed to a certain extent for being sexual deviants or not treating people fairly, the same rules do not apply for politicians. Additionally, the “Three T’s” are simply not discussed, and it’s my understanding that the employment of tour guides is state-supervised, they can be relieved from their duties for talking about such issues. Thirdly, Chinese tours often highlight the progress of modern China much more than the exceptionally long and innovative history. Although Americans often come to China hoping to see relics of China’s great past, they are often met with skyscrapers and examples of how quickly China is modernizing as a world-player. Young tour leaders know their history, but cannot understand why Western tourists are much more interested in the hutongs and construction workers using man-powered tools than their futuristic cityscapes. The truth of the matter, in my perspective, is that “old China” really doesn’t play a part in the modern life of big cities, which is why it’s so hard for tourists to find an authentic examples of its existence. This is not to say that it doesn’t exist, but its not the kind of experience you and uncover from a tour bus or a young Chinese guide. I can’t tell you how perplexed many people are when I tell them that I came to China for the experience and the culture and not the money. In that case, I would have been gone long ago!

Well, if you got all the way through that, I’m proud. Hopefully you learned a bit and will continue to read on as we continue to answer the question, What is China all about? To appropriately compliment the theme of this post, the photos include the more traditional Chinese culture of markets and a man who sources antique tea pots in Anhui province, and a few fancy events that we have attended around the city.

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Summer Update from “A Tale of Two Capital Cities”

Bob Soong, one of our most awesome blog supporters, gave me the inspiration for the title of this blog post. Clearly, David and I have large wings, because the most powerful capital city in the world wasn’t enough to hold us…we had to expand to the most populous one as well! We were lucky enough to visit the US this summer for two weddings, a visit with newborn Holden Jacobs and lots of additional visits and shopping (for me.) I just arrived back in Beijing with over 100lbs of clothes and American food…mostly food. Although my bag was checked three times, once by a cute little beagle, I made it back with all my bounty in tow.

A lot of you have asked about our jobs, so I’ll give a quick overview. I am freelancing in the world of events and PR/marketing and am currently working on charity events and educational tours and programming with The Hutong (www.thehutong.com) culture center and helping to run a November charity dining event called Chi Fan for Charity (www.chifanforcharity.org). I believe that David and I will both be returning to teach English at a British international school in August, and I should be taking on an additional leadership position there. (So yes, we will be here another year, but will be visiting for the holidays as well. Frequent fliers anyone?!)

David is actually in Orlando, FL at the moment, helping to run his company’s summer camps. He is already dealing with a lost passport, but the kids seem to be having a good time. He will be there until mid-August, then back home for a family reunion, and finally a meeting in New York before heading back to meet me. We will probably spend a few weeks together before I lead two different tours, one to Inner Mongolia and another to Yunnan in Southern China! *There are still spots available for this awesome bike, tea, and culinary adventure.

Below are photos from:
*Our last day of teaching just before our trip home
*Tim and Courtney’s pre-wedding festivities in Charlotte, NC
*Coles and Randi’s farmhouse wedding in Roanoke, VA
*Holden at Meadowlark Gardens
*Kenilworth Gardens and its Lotus ponds/fields, where we spoke with some native Beijingers and learned that water lily’s grow IN the water and lotus flowers grow ABOVE the water.
*My visit to the most authentic Chinese Tea House in the area, Ching China Cha in Georgetown and cupcakes from Baked and Wired. (And photos of Gtown on a sweltering but great day downtown!)
*Jane and I before completing Jane’s first 5K!
*My stocked Beijing pantry, thanks mom

Jane, David and I also spend a night with Dad at his new river house on the Yeocomico river in the Northern Neck of Virginia, but I was too busy taking in the rays to snap any photos. We also had a really nice visit with the grandparents while meeting Holden.

PS…did I mention that woke up bright-eyes at 5am this morning ?! I’m blogging because nothing is open yet, good ‘ol jet-lag.

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Hoi An Vietnam; Rice Fields, Beaches and Old-Town Charm

It only makes sense to blog about Hoi An today, as I have woke up every day for the past month wishing I had been magically transported to the ocean. For a girl that loves being near the water and always visits the beach at least twice a summer, I have missed making a seaside escape for the past two summers. Thus, I thought it only appropriate to go back in time to Spring Festival and my trip to Hoi An Vietnam, in central Vietnam.

To be honest, I didn’t know what to expect from Hoi An, but the guide books said it had a beach, so I took a $65 round-trip flight from Hanoi to Hoi An and headed on my way. For this part of the trip I met up with a friend named Aveleigh and her group of friends. I didn’t really know the girls, but it turned out to be a great travel group. Upon exiting the airport I could immediately sense the beach-town feel, and the temperature was a complete 180 from Hanoi and Sapa. Palm-trees and bright green rice fields lined the roads, along with the typical one-room style houses that were painted bold, bright, colors. The houses were really unique in that they served as much as temples as places of shelter. Doors generally remained open, which gave nosey tourists a good view of huge altars filled with statues, offerings and candles that made-up the centerpiece of nearly every house. I just read that many Hoi An residents practice Caodaism (the third largest religion in Vietnam, after Buddhism and Roman Catholicism), which is a mixture between Christianity, Confucianism and Buddhism and involves worship of figures ranging from Jesus to Victor Hugo. This religion is quite fascinating, and followers believe that history is divided into periods of revelation.

We started our 2.5 day trip in Hoi An at the Sunflower Hotel. It was about $8/night for a dorm-style room. It was located right in between the old town and the beach, and included a pool and awesome breakfast. This place was quite a find. The first day was spent wandering around the Old Town, which is a well-preserved and bustling area of town that houses lots of small, yellow-painted shops. The town area is actually a UNESCO world-heritage site, and I can see why. Its charm is truly noteworthy. The area was full of custom-made tailors and shoe stores, so naturally we all attempted to get something made. In the end, most were failures. I now have some linen pants that kinda look like I’m wearing a diaper and my sandals are cute, but already falling apart after a hand-full of wears. The other girls had similar experiences, except one really nice coat. I also discovered that ginger tea in Vietnam, which is a simple enough mixture of finely sliced fresh ginger in hot water and honey. This is also common in China, but I hadn’t seen it before. Now I make my own all the time at home. At night the waterside of the Old Town lit up with lanterns that reflected beautifully off the water, and we ate some western-style Vietnamese food that wasn’t too great…but gave me a better idea of the typical dishes.

The second day was one of my favorite since moving to Asia. After a leisurely breakfast, Aveleigh and I rented bikes and toured the city. We first went northwest from our hotel to an area filled with rice paddies. It was just incredibly quaint and beautiful. The sun was shining but there was a nice breeze, people along the road were friendly and happily served cheap french bread, cheese and a peanut-butter-like spread (yea for the French influence!), and I couldn’t stop taking pictures of the houses. I really will just have to let the pictures speak for themselves here, but after a morning ride we stopped to eat a lunch of traditional Cao Lau, which is special to Hoi An and more flavorful than Pho in my opinion. It included some small, dark, square-shaped, somewhat salty but incredibly flavored hard crackers that were awesome. Look how similar my photo looks to the one in Wikipedia!

After lunch we headed on East towards the ocean. Again, the scenery on the way was just stunning, some of the most beautiful I have seen in my life. The beach was filled with all sorts of food vendors and beach-goers, but it wasn’t overly crowded and had a friendly vibe. I REALLY wanted to hang out, but the bike lock spot wasn’t really close and I didn’t have a towel, so I meandered back through some side streets and headed to the hotel. I also had an early motorbike ride to catch to Hue the next morning!

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