The post-11pm happenings

BEIJING NIGHTLIFE

some of the more nightlife-conscious people out there are wondering what Kristian gets up in the wee hours of the day.  so quick word on the chinese night club is due...

on arrival they're playing some slow dance, oldies music, and you're wondering "did I just pay 10 kuai for this?!" but you want to be culturally flexible and decide to sit down and talk to some people, see what happens.  not a problem for two white boys to spark up conversation, although communicating in broken chinese over the loud music can be a problem at times.  you notice people are drinking...  juice.  beer is approximately 10 times more expensive than outside, so the chinese (budget conscious people they are) chill with their little fruit juice boxes, no worries.

the slow music stops and some trendy looking character speaks in the microfone for who know how long - i have no idea what is being said the whole time, but suddenly he starts calling numbers up, and people come up to the stage: a raffle!!  people walk out with all sorts of stuff, cd players, shoes whatever.  realize that is why there were funny little numbers on the ticket they gave you at the door. 

when it's over, the lights dim and absolutely crazy bumping techno hits, rocking the house... everyone flocks to the floor and dance till the end of the night. 

good times at the chinese club, never know what'll come next.

The bathroom situation in China

so what they don't tell us in the orientation for study in China is that the toilets over here are a bit funky.  as a matter of fact majority of bathroom don't have toilet seats - there's a low lying hole type toilet which you just squat over.  There's a technique and everything, something our parents never taught us, you've got to squat with your heels on the ground, instead of all your weight on the balls of your feet.  You should try it!!!  it's amazing the stability one attains in this wonderful position.  as a matter of fact you can see chinese squatting out on the street (they don't poo on the street by the way), just hanging out talking on the cel phone or to another girl that's squatting there too - peculiar stuff.

an odd thing is that there is absolutely NO toilet paper anywhere you go - people carry it around and stuff.  can be an issue at times.  last weekend I was at a club, waiting to go to the bathroom and the poo stalls didn't even have doors, but the funny thing was this guy was staring at me while taking a shit, very intimidating.  he made some motion, and then offered me toilet paper, figuring I was an unprepared foreigner.  the communal environment over here is very open.

in the second week of school (after all standard topics of conversation had been exhausted) people primarily talked about how well their bowels were working- seriously a major topic of discussion.  constipation, diarrhea, anything in between. the food is so greasy and heavy it works the internal systems.  everyone knows how long it's been since your last poo.  maybe i'm exaggerating a bit, ok, but we just about had a party when my buddy down the hall finally cleared his system after a week long stint of stagnation.  the things one takes for granted in the modern west.

i've finally got the situation under control though, buy a bunch of fruit, watermelons by the dozen ($.50 a watermelon), minimizing on the baozi and jiaozi greasy but yummy dumpling things.  you've got to be seriously conscious about diet and stuff - at least food is cheaper than water over here.  oh yeah this weekend i bought a 600ml (quart) bottle of beer for one sixth of a dollar.  no kidding.........   it's a key ingredient to destroy those germs, they say. 

No destination in mind

we've been doing plenty of group excursion, dozens of students running amok in pseudo touristy areas, so i'm branching off this weekend and going on a mission.  My buddy Reid and I are getting on some sort of train, and charge out to a random destination.  figure it can't be too bad whatever we do, since a quart of beer costs $0.25.  seriously it is cheaper than water - people say that beer is more plentiful than water in isla vista but i've never been seriously offered beer for breakfast.  we have found, however, that it is the most effective way to kill off excess germs that are hanging out in the food - a good quart of Yang jing pijiu.  still hope to one day be able to order food...  or at least know what we order.  it is usully no worries though, a solid dinner will be $1.50 per person....  and there's a tsan guanr selling food every 100 feet in beijing  So it is not a problem to remain stuffed and inebriated in constant hedonism around here - so much for spiritual enlightenment we seek to gain from Eastern wisdom. 

We're going to head out on Friday, with no particular destination in mind; we'll let the train schedules make the decision for us. in search of a less touristy destination, a nice hike with pretty views, maybe a low key temple in a valley, some chinese folks to talk to. it's funny this last weekend i'd go to these places with my friends, and instead of actually making it to the 'sightseeing' area, we'd get stuck somewhere along the line hanging out with people, or taking in the surroundings. not so important to see the particular 'attractions' anymore, talking to a 5 year old is enough (if not more interesting!!!)

don't think i've said much about my living situation - we basically live in a hotel, very much pampered, bathrooms in each room, hot water for tea down the hall. my roommate and I are a very good match, have made our room extremely livable, plants and tapestries and such. he's super hard working student but will go out and party/dance, do random things. it's a good balance.

already starting to look for a place to live in fall though, as prices range from $100-$500 a month depending on whether you get a 'legal' place or not. 'Legal' being government approved housing for foreigners, so the landlords jack up the price It seems to me that about half the foreigners live in illegal housing, and half don't, but it is a matter i am looking into.

Excursions outside the city

THE GREAT WALL & CHENGDE WITH 100 OTHER STUDENTS
4 buses of 30 people each, we travel to a non-touristy part of the Great Wall.  We are dropped off at Simatai and hike to the next town, 6 miles away. The hike is very intense - no one is expecting how tough it'll be.  We climb and drop steep mountain ridges, millions of steps in various stages of decay provide unsure footing.

The sun is hot and a few consider going back. So we trudge onwards, the desperate among us buying overpriced bottled water that the chinese have carted up here.

The views are impressive - the Great Wall winding along endless valleys, providing relief to the vast green countryside. The engineers of the Great Wall managed to build to the top of every peak, no matter how steep and inaccesible it might be. Although it is very impressive to look at, when it comes time to climb the vertical stone steps in the midday sun, we wonder at the crazy ambitions which drove this project.

On the 2nd day we stayed in a village, a very odd experience.  This was the attempt to give students a 'genuine' view of village life, but pre-packaging such an experience is clearly a lost cause.  The village and inhabitants were choreographed to carry out our stay, which basically centered on eating food.

We had three meals at the village: lunch, dinner, then the following morning breakfast, each in a different household. Each time the hosts piled a ton of food in our face (which is standard chinese custom) but strangely enough, all three meals were exactly the same. We had sugar tomatos, fried chicken, and hard boiled eggs for all three meals, all heavily laden in MSG flavoring. Everything had been bought in bulk, and by the time breakfast came along no one even wanted to look at the piles of food we were supposed to eat.
 
After the village, we went to the old imperial town of Chengde, surrounded by wonderful mountains.  I was grossly tired of our tourist excursions, so I tried to escape from the group as much as possible. The tour guides would go up to the famous temple and I'd slink off to the corner, then strike up conversation with random Chinese. 

They are exceedingly friendly, and will talk for 2 hours about the most basic things (the limitation of my language skills).  There are so few foreigners, and even fewer who actually speak Mandarin, that the novelty of connecting with a "white devil" is an exciting opportunity. I pull out my language textbooks, and a half dozen Chinese will huddle around and try to help me. They have absolutely no sense of privacy, but this only speeds my learning process, as I often have to deal with small crowds asking questions, laughing, watching. Occasionally I feel exhausted but just keep going, speaking this funny tongue of theirs.