Fragrant Hills Park

I went to Fragrant Hills Park with my classmate Lucy and her boy friend Liam. Also, Liam's language partner, April, came along. We had heard that Fragrant Hills Park was one of the sights that you must see in Beijing in the Fall because of all the red leaves on the trees. Ha! There were about three trees that has red leaves, but plenty of people selling red leaves picked from trees at the entrance to the park.

I would like to say that I had a wonderful cultural experience that left me feeling in tune with and excited about China. That was not the case at all! It was an experience that left me feeling very frustrated and disheartened.

First, when we were walking up to the entrance of the park, we were involved in a horrendous mob situation. The road up to the entrance is old and narrow and lined with stalls selling fruits, candies, food, tourist knick knacks and other stuff. There were a ton of people heading to the park and two geniuses decided to drive their cars down the line in the opposite direction of the flow of traffic. WHY did they think they could or should do that? WHY? The cars would barely fit even without people there. Anyway, people started to bottle neck around the cars and then people started pushing and shoving, and rocking the cars from side to side. They wee handing babies and small children over the cars and some people were actually climbing over them. Other people were throwing trash at the cars. People were pushing eachother and yelling. It was horrible. I adopted the "limp noodle" method of getting through a crowd. I made myself relax and go with the flow...that was the only way to maintain sanity!

Inside the park was almost as crowded as outside. To climb the mountain, we had to inch along a tiny cement staircase with walls on either side. People were literally pressing me on all sides at all times. It took us five hours. When we got to the top, there was a nice view of Beijing, and even more people. We took a side trail to get down, which was longer and not paved and much more pleasant. I don't think it was a real trail. I wish I would have known about it for the way up! We did manage to see three trees with red leaves on our way down. Hallelujah! I would say that the park was not very scenic, even if there weren't alot of people there. It looked like Battle Mountain. (Battle Mountain is next to Grandma Hardy's old house in Rancho Bernardo. It is really just a hill with scrub brush on it.)

In the end, I had a good time despite the crowds because I had good company and the whole thing was just too ridiculous...I had to laugh. By the time we were down the hill, it was dark and we ate a huge Chinese meal. We ate ravenously because we were so hungry and it tasted really good!

I have come to the conclusion that what I like about China is NOT the sights or the tourist attractions. Those are not so pleasant, as I have repeatedly found out. The best part about China is the how nice the people are when you meet them one on one, and the things that happen in daily life. After the day of the hike, I was so frustrated with all the pushing and shoving and shouting and throwing trash all around. But then I went to get a foot massage at the place in my apartment complex and they are so nice there...They know me by my Chinese name and they ask me all sorts of questions about my life and the US. I get great practice speaking Chinese! They really try to understand what I am saying, and that is great. Chinese people are SO nice when you are with them one on one, but get a crowd together and it is a different story. They turn into pushing, shoving maniacs! (I guess maybe Americans would be that way too if we were on such close quarters...)


Did I mention it was crowded? 


Lucy and Liam 


A Slightly Less Crowded Spot 


"The other side" 


Red Leaves 


View of Beijing from the Top 

Congratulations!

To add to the long list of good friends and family members whose weddings I have had to miss, my cousin Kristi got married today! Congratulations, Kristi and Michael! I haven't met Michael (I am not sure if he goes by Mike? Guess I will have to ask when I meet him...) but I trust that Kristi has picked a wonderful, kind and funny person to share her life with. I am sure the wedding will be gorgeous and I expect to get pictures emailed to me! I am so sad to have had to miss this important event, the first of our generation of the family to get married. I am so glad that the rest of the family was able to get together to celebrate the marriage and particularly that Grandma was able to take time off from work to fly back San Diego to attend the wedding.

I also got another piece of happy news...Stacy, my friend that got married last March, is pregnant! I am so happy...my first friend to have a baby!


My Cousin Kristi....She Really Likes Cake 

Qing Feng Hua Jing Yuan

My apartment complex (called "Qing Feng Hua Jing Yuan)is brand new, and this is both a good thing and a bad thing. When Audrey and I came to Beijing, we did not plan ahead and so did not have a space in the dorms. We had a really hard time finding a landlord who would give us a lease for less than one year. The only one we could find was this one, and it is huge (1800 square feet seems like a mansion after of living in Hong Kong), clean, and gorgeous. It has hard wood floors, furniture that matches and is modern, a big screen tv, large kitchen, and nice bathrooms. The problem is that it is far from campus (about a 20 minute bike ride), and that it is brand new. We were among the first people to move into our complex, and it was sort of eerie...the construction workers work nonstop, and when they aren't working they live in a little shanty village with huts made out of corrugated tin. When we first moved in, the road to our complex was not completed, so we had to ride our bikes over mud, and then gravel, and then we didn't even have access to the road while it was being paved. The buildings were surrounded by dirt and then gradually the workers put in fountains, imitation pagodas, grass, and ponds. It looks very nice now; it is amazing the progress they have made in two months. People are gradually moving in, but for the most part our huge apartment complex is empty. A Chinese massage place opened up about a moth ago, and that is great. Now I just have to go downstairs to get a foot massage, and it only costs 30 kuai and hour. That is less than 4 US dollars! I am really going to miss my foot massages when I move back to the States...Also, there is a maid service in our building, and it costs only 9 kuai an hour. That is 1 dollar...It makes me feel bad to pay that price so we don't get the maid very often. (Yes, I know that is illogical.)

Since our complex is so new, taxi drivers have usually never heard of it, which was horrible for me when I was so new to China and insecure about speaking Chinese. Also, they are still working on our building and the electricity goes out ALOT without any warning. Our popsicles keep melting and refreezing! It sucks. I have invested in a head lamp for when the power goes out. Also, everything is dusty because of all the construction. And don't even get me started on the staring problems that seem to be prevalent amongst construction workers across the world.

Our building has a huge number of security guards. They are SO bored. There is no one living here and nothing to guard, so they roam around in packs and act like little boys. I think they ARE little boys, actually. They look about 12 years old, I think I could beat up any one of them! Their uniforms are really funny, they look like kids dressed up as military men or toy soldiers: they have a white sash and hats with shiny silver badges on them. They are pretty funny to have around actually, except for the fact that every time I ride my bike past them they call "Hello" after me and break down into fits of giggle. They think it is hilarious, even after 2 months of seeing me nearly every day. It is funny most of the time, but not at 7:30 in the morning when I am biking to school in the icy cold Fall weather.

I posted a picture of my bike below also...It is my pride and joy and my constant companion. Beijing is flat, so lots of people ride their bikes. I ride mine everywhere. It is also symbolic of my independence in China. When I first got here, I spent hours by myself checking out bikes and trying to bargain for them. This was not easy since I had no idea how much it should cost and I didn't even know how to say the numbers in Chinese. I got my bike for 135 Kuai, which is about 17 US dollars. That included the basket for the front and two bike locks. I was SO proud of having bargained for my bike on my own, without asking my roommates for translation help. I hated relying on other people when I first got here so I was elated to have successfully obtained a bike.


Qing Feng Hua Jing Yuan 


Security Guard On Active Duty 


Security guards Roaming the Apartment Complex 


I feel so much safer with this boy outside my door... 


My Precious Bike 

My Room in Beijing

These are a few pictures of my room in my apartment in Beijing. It is very plain, but quite luxurious by Chinese standards! The bed is slightly hard but much softer than our bed was in Hong Kong. (Until we bought the second mattress that is...) Actually, I love me room here, and it is a good thing, because I spend a lot of time in here studying and using the computer. I didn't bring that much stuff with me when I came to Beijing, so it is not cluttered yet.

The bottom picture is of the campus of Beijing Language and Culture University. It is quite nice actually, much better than I had thought it would be! For some reason I was envisioning a tiny room in some huge office building in the middle of a polluted, grey, Chinese city. But instead I found a nice campus with trees everywhere and students out all the time riding their bikes, playing tennis, eating, talking, etc. It doesn't exactly have the campus life that Davis did, but still it is very pleasant.




My Desk...This is where all my blogging action takes place 


My Bed 


A View of My Room from the Entrance 


My School 

The Great Wall

Today my class took a field trip to the Great Wall. The Great Wall wasn't exactly what I thought it would be...it was smaller than I thought, and it loked very new. I think they must have refurbished it or something. We hiked up to the wall, walked for a little bit, and had a picnic. Yeah, it was a wall. Not much more to say I guess. A long wall.

On the drive to the Great Wall, which was about two hours long, most people were sleeping sinc we left early in the morning. I had a lot of time to think, and I was very home sick! The only problem is that I am not sure exactly where I am homesick for! San Diego? Hong Kong? Any place not China? All I know is, suddenly I was sick of seeing characters every where, sick of people speaking to me in Chinese, and most of all sick of Chinese food. At that point, I vowed never to eat Chinese food again. Of course, this was silly, I will eat Chinese food again. I love it. But I think I need to vary my diet more while I am here...I have never eaten exclusively one nationality of food for over a month before. I have my limits! Also, I have been sick witha sore throat and general cold and congestion since the weekend, so I think maybe I am associating that with the Chinese dinner I ate the night before? Or maybe I was just tired and car sick from our crazy bus driver? I am not sure...anyway, I miss Matt already even though he was just here this weekend, I miss sunny California, I miss food that doesn't have a gallon of oil in it (a salad or a bagel would be sooo nice right now), I miss old friends and family, I miss fresh air! I miss English. I miss people standing in line rather than surging forward in a huge mass and yelling in Chinese. I think I am just tired and sick, and so am feeling slightly negative. I actually love Beijing and am excited that I am able to communicate with people more and more easily. But I guess everyone misses comfort sometimes! Hopefully Matt will come here soon or I will be able to go to Hong Kong.


The Great Wall 


Mutianyu Section of the Great Wall 


My Classmates and I on the Great Wall 

Magic Show

Saturday night, Matt and I tried to go to see the Chinese Acrobatic Show, but the line for the tickets was a vicious, tumultuous mass of people pushing and yelling and biting and kicking. (OK, maybe not biting and kicking...but it was close!) Matt and I decided to go the easy route and see the Magic and Acrobatic Show with the troupe from the Hebei Province. We went to dinner and came back to the show, and we were the only ones there! The whole theatre was empty except for us. It was hilarious. The only problem was that I sort of felt pressure to keep clapping and cheering and smiling and looking amazed throughout the whole show. One part of the show horrified me: the women on stage were making goldfish majically appear out af thin air, and to prove that the fish were alive, she threw them into the audience. Fish water and fish were flung in our direction, since we were the only people there, and then I had to watch with three little golfish flop around and wrtihe on the floor as they struggled for air. It was gut wrenching! Matt said, "oh it's Chinea, and they are only goldfish afterall." But still, to watch them flop around and slowly die right in front of me? It was horrific! I must have looked very concerned because someone came from the back of the theatre to pick them up. I am not sure what he did with them, but at least I didn't have to watch them anymore. He left the dead ones there!




Meagan "volunteering" at the Magic Show 

Starbucks is Truly Taking Over the World

Before we went to the Forbidden City, Matt told me that he had heard that there was a Starbucks inside. I ridiculed him for the absurd idea of a Starbucks inside the Forbidden City...BUT HE WAS RIGHT! Can you believe it? It was actually inside a building in the Forbidden City, not just a kiosk or something. And it was PACKED!


Unbelievable! 

Forbidden City

On Saturday, Matt and I had breakfast and headed out to the Forbidden City. It was pretty and all, but the most interesting thing about our visit was the audio guide. It was so informative! It made it so much more interesting to hear about the lives and customs of the emperors and empresses that lived there. Of course, it made it a lot longer also, so we didn't get around to all of the parts of the Forbidden City. This is just as well though, since I will probably have more visitors while I am here and then I can hear the parts I didn't get to hear about the first time.

Hearing about all of the excess and extravagance of the imperial court was pretty amazing. And gross considering that they lived in such unbelievable luxury while many of the people in the country were so poor and hungry.


A view of the Forbidden City from Across the Moat 


So Pretty! 


Meagan in the Inner Court 


Meagan at the Forbidden City 


Matt at the Forbidden City 


Cool Stone Carving 


More of the Forbidden City