Thursday, December 31, 2015

Entry 4 - Christmas and New Year's, Nanluoguxiang, Sanlitun


This final month of 2015 was more bittersweet than anything. Most of the month I was hanging out with all of my Syracuse University friends one last time before they had to head back home to the U.S.. I wound up buying some gifts to thank them for all of the time they spent with me and they surprised me with a small gift in return on the last night before they had to take their flight. Ironically, China was issuing it’s second red alert for haze the weekend their planes were supposed to head to the United States, and it was almost going to seem like their flight could be canceled due to how bad the haze has been here in Beijing. I wound up taking some photos of outside my dorm window, comparing a clear day with one that was particularly bad, and the difference was astonishing. Buildings literally disappear in the background, and even in the foreground, it is difficult to see ahead of you. The haze makes me miss the clean air back home in Syracuse, and knowing I still have the spring time to spend here, the chirping of the mopeds’ alarms sounding off when a passerby accidentally nudges them makes me miss the more natural side and calm of a suburban life as well. Frankly, this city atmosphere has made me miss my home more than ever. I miss walking on campus or sitting in my backyard listening to the chirping of real birds when the weather’s nice, and the snow and cold of Syracuse when we experience what a real winter is like.

During my last winter in Syracuse 2014-2015, I was in my black belt cycle for my mixed martial arts school. We experienced severe cold and heavy snow fall, which now looking back, makes me realize how Syracuse had earned its Chinese name of Xuecheng 雪城 (Snow City). I had to run several miles every week to make my timed run for testing, but I couldn’t stand running on a treadmill because it often made me feel dizzy afterwards. I ran up all the hills outside of campus in frigid temperatures and had my roommate with me as my running buddy. When I had to run with my fellow black belt candidates, we all pushed each other to move forward through the snow and in class we pushed ourselves to the limit. It was one of the most bonding and challenging moments in my life, especially because one of the things I hated more than anything was running. Now, I feel deprived of it because of the haze, and it makes me wish I could be back home sparring and running with the people who had just graduated with me. It makes me miss visiting home after class for a home cooked meal, sore and cold and sweaty, and occasionally giving my mom a hug right after just to gross her out. And then going back to my apartment near campus, enjoying a cold beer and watching TV shows with my roommates. It reminds me that I left early for China during the summertime, when I normally would have spent all my nights playing video games, watching horror movies, or going to Denny's with some of my other friends. Anyways, I think I’ve made my point: I’ve hit that stage where I'm starting to feel a little homesick.

Celebrating Christmas and the New Year wasn’t so bad on the other hand. Christmas day, my mom sent me videos and photos of the family celebrating and of the Christmas decor my family normally puts up every year. I got to watch my cat rummaging through the gift paper while my mom wrapped and then watched her bake cookies with my step father. Meanwhile, I stayed home and ate all my favorite fruit snacks and drinks while I doodled and relaxed for the evening. On New Year's, I called my mother a minute before the clock struck midnight, and bragged about how I was about to be a year ahead of her. Turning on the TV, I showed her all the fireworks displays they were being shown on the news while she was still at work. I tried making a New Year's resolution to eat healthier here too, but already failed on the second day. All in all it was pretty uneventful for myself, but it was nice to see what everyone else was doing for the holidays.

Early January, I wound up hanging out with the last SU student who had stayed here for Economics classes. We watched a movie together called Lao Pao'er 老炮儿 (Mr. Six), which she mentioned was set in Beijing and was something she had really wanted to watch before leaving China. The plot was really interesting, having to do with corruption, gang violence, and respecting old values. Another film I'd recommend is Xun Long Jue 寻龙诀 (Mojin- The Lost Legend), which I had watched with another close friend here in Beijing. My friend pointed out that Chinese films have become really good in recent years, with plots and graphics that are on par with what you’d see in Hollywood. Many of them have English subtitles, so watching a film in the theatre becomes a really good way to improve your Chinese listening skills. There is an app that allows you to purchase tickets for really cheap too, called Meituan.

I also visited some new places with the SU student who was leaving soon. The first place we went to was Nanluoguxiang 南锣鼓巷 , a subway station found on line eight. Here, there is a popular outdoor market with many small shops, beautiful trees arching over the main roads, and buildings with a traditional Chinese style. Walking through, you’ll see people all over with fried squid on a stick in their hands, or if you’re looking for something sweet, the caramelized fruit on a stick can be bought here as well. Turns out you can save a few kuai if you walk just outside the main shopping area for them though. There’s also a really good fruit yogurt shop here. From time to time, in these kinds of tourist areas, you can see a trend setting of different kinds of hair accessories for girls (and guys if they're willing). In the summertime, you could find people with fake plant sprouts clipped into their hair on the top of their heads, and it seems like now for the wintertime, the trend is more towards animal ear clips. There was one day I went back here to explore on my own and I got my portrait drawn. It attracted a lot of attention from other people, though some only passed by saying the portait looked nothing like me.

A few days later, I remet with my friend to go visit Sanlitun 三里屯 , a well-known shopping area that is surrounded by a few different embassies and consulates. It attracts a large number of tourists every year. It’s almost like a fancier version of Wangfujin (only lacking in the Snack Street and the Donghuamen Night Market). Here, it’s like one large shopping mall connected by separate buildings and lit up by lights everywhere. There are two main sections to it we explored. One section is next to a popular bar street where people can enjoy the nightlife of the city, the other has a lot of fancy restaurants if you would like to try some different foreign foods. That day we had wandered into a Vietnamese restaurant where there was a group of people celebrating something. We had no clue what though. Our initial assumption was maybe it was a wedding, but then they started putting on masquerade masks and we were lost. Photographers kept trying to film strangers enjoying their meals, including us, literally standing over people's tables with their cameras. At some point I think I got a photobomb in the background of one of their pictures. For those interested, there are also a lot of tattoo shops in this area, some just past the bar street.

Entry 4 - Photos

Comparison of Clear Day and Hazy Day Outside My Window

Wangfujing Christmas and Chinese New Year Decorations

Christmas Decoration in Wangfujing

Wangfujing Chinese New Year Decoration

Christmas Decorations in Wangfujing

Nanluoguxiang

Nanluoguxiang

Nanluoguxiang

Sanlitun With Extra Security for the Holidays

Sanlitun Around Christmas Time

Sanlitun's Bar Street

Sanlitun's Bar Street

Sanlitun

Sanlitun

Sanlitun

Sanlitun

Sanlitun