Beijing, it is time to become your friend

Last you knew, I was bouncing up and down on the bed in my hotel room while waiting for Yi-Ting to arrive.  By the time she did, I had worked up quite an appetite.

We marched ourselves out to the subway [which I will tell you more about later], and followed the underground until we found this lantern-lined & restaurant-laden street.

There were a few other interesting sights, including a variety of men sitting out on the street, watching the crowds go by and practicing their English by saying hello to me.  [I also got a "how do you do?"  He was special...]  [It wasn't this guy.  That would have been more than special...]

We found a swanky place to eat dinner, and ordered lamb, beef, greens, cabbage, mushrooms, and sweet potato noodles to drop into our steaming hot-pots.  We laughed at ourselves--did we really need that much food?

Then we found out that yes.  Yes we did.

[We were ridiculously happy about that.]

The next morning found us back in the subway, on our way here:

Ever seen this before?  It's the gate that separates the Forbidden City from Tiananmen Square.

We walked through it [with a gazillion other people] and found that waiting for us on the other side was a whole other world.

 [A Forbidden City, if you will....]

There were a gazillion buildings [for those gazillion people to see],

 and you could gauge the building's importance by the number of creatures on the roof "guarding" it.

There were ornately carved walkways,

enormous doors

[I learned that Yi-Ting loves to take pictures of people standing next to doors...],

and symbolic statues.

[This ostrich stands for something.  If only I could remember what...]

At the end of all of the buildings, we found ourselves in a fantastical garden with many beautiful sights

[but far too many people].

After a long morning of exploring palatial buildings large and small, we exited, and were spit out into the waiting arms of an eager rick-shaw driver.  As he led us to his contraption, I turned around and took one last look.  [It was a pretty good looking look....]

Our friendly guide then bicycled us through a nearby Hutong--a neighborhood of many little alleyways

where we witnessed a lot of local flavor.

[I think he may have regretted taking me on....after we'd been going for a while, he suddenly became very interested in how tall I am....Notice that I barely fit in the cart...]

You might be wondering why I haven't mentioned any food yet, but don't worry because here it comes:   Our driver let us out and pointed us in the direction of a place that served delicious homemade noodles.  

The food was ridiculously cheap--we paid roughly $5.88 for all of this.

The kicker, however, is that you have to pay to use your dishes, which come to your table wrapped in cellophane.  [We thought this was a bit odd, but encountered it numerous times throughout our trip...] 

After lunch, we meandered over to the Lotus Market we had spotted on our walk toward the restaurant.  It is an area of shops and stands, all bordering on a lake of lotus flowers.

It was extraordinarily peaceful here.

Calm.

Refreshing.

[Other than this shocking window display, that is...Duck, anyone?]

We browsed the many sights [including a display of roasted cicada shish kabobs] and stores, and began to collect the variety of gifts and memorabilia that we felt were imperative before we traveled home.

We finished the evening in a more modern shopping area, browsing a bookstore that thought that the only kind of English books worth selling were ones that teach how to read English, and eating dumplings in a food court at a table with a family that took my wave of the hand to mean "please sit" instead of "this spot is taken" while Yi-Ting was getting the food.  [That was kind of interesting.]

After resting our weary feet, we dragged ourselves back to our hotel for a good night's sleep before continuing our friendship with Beijing the next morning.  After all this reading [I think you are a champion!]  I hope you are taking away the message--

I think Beijing is pretty neat.

They let us out to play. Isn't that nice?

Remember that little conference? Well, it involved sitting & listening.  All day, every day.  Except for,

"Half-day Excursion" day!

[They should really think about coming up with a new name for that...]












After lunch on Wednesday, we were loaded into a bus and taken directly into the middle of the traffic that defines Beijing.

Our first stop:  The Temple of Heaven.

Built in the 1400s, the purpose of this place was for the Emperors to visit once a year to pray for the harvest.










[In fact, this picture is of the building called--ironically--"The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests".  Speaking of names that could be more original....]

There's a lot of symbolism wrapped into this place.  Anything round is a symbol for heaven.

The roof tiles are blue, symbolizing?  Heaven.

Anything rectangular symbolizes the Earth, and the number three is evident everywhere.

This altar--whose specific purpose was to be used for prayers for the weather--has three levels.  The floor is laid in a pattern that draws on multiples of nine, because nine symbolized the Emperor.

To get to the main temple, you have to walk through of a series of structures that contain three side-by-side gates.

[Walking through a series of structures is pretty typical of Chinese architecture,

as are carvings such as these, I was gradually about to realize...]

Next on our agenda was the Pearl Market.  I didn't take any pictures here--I was too busy wringing my arm away from the sales girls pulling on me, saying "hey lady! hey! Want to buy [insert name of merchandise here]?"  It's called the Pearl Market, because the top floors are dedicated to selling (can you guess?) pearls, but there's also a variety of other products.  Most of them are fake, but apparently there are varying levels of fake: "real-fake" and "genuine-fake".  Real-fake is basically worthless.  Genuine-fake is acceptable, as long as you know what you're bargaining for.

Speaking of bargaining--the pricing system here takes some getting used to, as does the pushiness of the vendors.  The moment you stop to look at anything, these girls are in your face saying "how many you want? how much you pay?"  If you walk away, they yell after you.  Sometimes they run after you.  Most of the time they pull on you.

[It's a little disconcerting, but when I went to a similar market a few days later I had learned how to bargain with coldness, offering them a counter-offer, walking away--with a wave of my hand and a look of disdain--at the price they came back with, going back when they came after me, walking away at the second price they offered, eventually getting my genuine-fake item for the (practically nothing) price I'd offered in the first place.]

If you'd like to see what this place is like, check out this link:  http://www.thebeijingguide.com/shopping/hongqiao-market.html  My favorite line is "There are a variety of name brand electronics.  Whether they are real or not may not matter as the price is low."  

[It matters--my new friend Jessica bought an "ipod" for $15.  It was definitely in the category of real-fake.]

Next we were shuttled to a nearby silk factory.  They showed us the silkworms in their cocoons,

how the cocoons are soaked and the threads spun out,

how the threads are then stretched into a sheet,

and stretched further--layer after layer--to form a quilt.

[There is a silk quilt in my future, I am pretty sure of it.

If I'd had more room in my suitcase or my own private jet, I would have bought one then and there...]

By this time we were starving, so our tour guide [Tony, who was a pistol] took us to dinner.

It was SO much better than the conference food we'd been given all week, and we oohed and aahed our way through the meal.

[My favorite part was the Peking duck that they cart in and carve right in front of you. You curl your duck slices into a little tortilla-ish thing, with cucumber, scallion, and a thick sauce, and then devour it.  So tasty!!!]

We finished off our evening with the Beijing opera, an extremely unique experience.  The "singing" sounds like glass shattering, and is accompanied by instruments that we couldn't see but must be relatives of pots and pans, plus some daring acrobatics that included kung-fu moves.

I, for one [and I think I was the only one, based on the rumblings I heard through the group], thought it was pretty cool.

We tumbled back into the bus when the show was over and shuffled back into our 5-star hotel, welcoming rest and grateful for a really interesting, diverse, and worthwhile day.  The next morning we went back to our sitting & listening [although I got to stand and talk for a bit, so that was new and exciting....], until Friday afternoon.

I celebrated the end of the conference by packing up my bag, hopping in a taxi, and finding my next [not nearly 5-star] hotel.  I settled in and waited for Yi-Ting to arrive from the airport with barely contained excitement, because next up?
Lauren and Yi-Ting take over Beijing for the weekend.  

Let's just get this over with.

Ok--the real reason I was in China was for a conference.  Work.  (Blah.)  Actually, two conferences: a little one, and a big one.  

The little one was first.  I spent the week with my extremely supportive and wonderful advisor (speaking of a little one and a big one....), soaking in what's going on in the world regarding early childhood music education.

My own work was a part of the discussion.

I showed the gathered crowd of international music and early childhood educators videos like the following...

They ate it up.  They invited me back to China (and Hong Kong) to talk about it more.  They said genuinely nice things.  It gave me hope that the year ahead of exploring this topic for my dissertation might be interesting.  Even potentially valuable. (Hooray!)

The big conference the following week found me a part of a panel discussion on various ways to integrate music into all parts of life.  

It was really interesting (the 5 people in the audience said so anyway....).....

At the end of the day (or the weeks, I should say) it was a good time of meeting new people from all over the world, and of getting to better know people I had already met.  And it's always nice to have new information to ponder.

But, it's not nearly as much fun as playing hookie ;-)

Stay tuned for the sights and smells of Beijing!

Family Matters

There's one more thing I need you to know about before we enter the territory of Beijing: 

Yi-Ting and the family who loves her.

Yi-Ting has been my office-mate since I started at Penn State, and from the beginning we have had a special friendship.  We frequently joke that we are like an old married couple, and she is top of the list of persons who deserve an award for dealing with my cranky old soul.

She is one of the most selfless persons I've ever encountered (meaning, she has so much sense of Self that she is not threatened by setting herself aside for the sake of others...).

And, she is hilarious.

In my time with her family, I discovered that she comes by this honestly.

Her sister is lovely.  Quiet and peaceful.

Her entire family laughs easily, and made me feel warm and welcome despite the fact that we could not communicate.

And her mother is a riot.

















On my first morning, I was sitting quietly in the family's living room, waiting for Yi-Ting.  Her mother entered the room and said something to me, with excitement written all over her face.  She was asking me a question. I put my hands up in the air, shrugged my shoulders, and raised my eyebrows in the universal sign for "I don't know?"

She nodded, sat down next to me, and pulled out a gigantic binder.  She started leafing through, indicating that she wanted me to join her.  I noticed that the pages were in English, and appeared to be lists of song titles.  I thought "Ah! She wants to know if I want to listen to music!"  Except--she kept saying "I don't really wanna know! I don't really wanna know!"

She doesn't really want to know what?  I was perplexed.

She was clearly looking for something specific in the lists.  I sat helplessly next to her, grinning broadly whenever she looked into my face.  Suddenly, she found what she was looking for.  It turns out that I Don't Really Wanna Know is the name of a song.  With enthusiasm she jumped up from her seat and went to the tv.  She put in a dvd.  I waited expectantly for the music to arrive.

I was not, however, waiting expectantly for this:

When she pulled out the microphones, 

I suddenly had a flash of understanding. 

And so, though I have avoided karaoke my entire life, there I was.  

Singing my little heart out.

With my new best friend.

It bonded us, I'm not gonna lie.

Moments like these, the whole family's generosity to me, their immediate acceptance and love of me--all of this made it difficult to leave.  As I sat in the van in front of their home, waiting to be whisked away to the airport, there was actually a tear in my eye.  

My life is fuller having gotten to be with them.

And that, my friends, matters.

Lauren is Wearing a Hat?

Before I leave Taiwan and take you to Beijing, I need to explain to you the story of the hats.  It needs an explanation, because if you know me at all you might be wondering why it is you've seen pictorial references to me with hats perched atop my head region.  Because--if you know me at all--you know that I am traditionally opposed to large accessories that require perching of any kind.

So here is the simplest explanation I can give: 

The sun in Taiwan is brutal. 

It was out to get me.  

It defied the moisturizer laced with sunblock that I have previously found sufficient.  

And it thought that because I was a foreigner it could trick me into wrinkling.

Little did that Taiwanese sun know who it was messing with.

I attacked back, with this:

It was, however, a mistake.  

I looked like a duck-billed platypus.  

I was completely self-conscious.  

Not to mention, it's a wrap around hat.  

There is no top to it, 

so the top of my head was still exposed to that sun, 

who really only wanted to give me skin cancer on my scalp in the first place. 

So I tried again:

Scalp covered? Check.

But a problem, still.

The problem with this hat was that the brim covered none of my face. My poor (and rather pointy) nose was exposed to the hatred of that sun, and this I could not have.  

Not to mention, I looked a bit like a mushroom.

So, at this point in the story, let's re-cap: 

Hat #1: "This hat exposes my scalp!"

Hat #2: "This hat exposes my nose!"

But, soon enough....

 "This hat is just right!"

Hat # 3.

A top.  A brim.  

And cheap. 

Take that Sun.

This hat & I were meant to be.

Lauren and Yi-Ting Eat (oh--and Drink!) Their Way Through the South of Taiwan

It began at this vendor's stand outside of Fort Zeelandia.  If you look closely, you can see it on the counter there, the giant cup in the plastic bag.  The Winter Squash Juice.  And yes, you are thinking correctly--it is squash, as in the vegetable.  But are you thinking that it is pure bliss, as in--so good?  Because you'd be correct then as well.

It sustained me up until lunch, which I was so excited to eat.  Shrimp rolls, noodles with some sort of incredible pork concoction, and almond tofu for dessert.
(Start drooling people--this is food unlike any other.)

Mid-afternoon found us burnt out from browsing the local department store, so it was a good thing we'd picked up this sesame creme-brulee on our way in.  It was black and creamy. It was also, however, divine.

Combined with these toasted bits from the local french bakery, we were set for life.

But later, in anticipation of dinner, 

Yi-Ting's brother-in-law asked me if I ate seafood.  

I said "Yes! Love it!"  

["Doi! Ga-e!"]

I, of course, meant seafood like shrimp.  Salmon.  

Maybe some talapia.

He, of course, meant the kind of seafood I'd managed to avoid in my 32 years:  oysters, clams, mussels.  Squid.

Oh, and, these pretty little octopuses.  

(I ate everything except the octopi.  For some reason, I just couldn't bring myself to crunch down on their little heads. And legs. As pretty as they were...)  

"No, thank you."
["Boo yow! Tshei tshei"]

Following this dinner, Yi-Ting and I drove to her parent's place where her mother met me with a plate of delectable fruit (Chinese pears, mango, and grape tomatoes), and cold bean soup--perhaps the most refreshing thing one could ask for in the humidity of Taiwan.  (Sorry, no pictures.)

The next day Yi-Ting and I needed some protein to get us up the trails on our bamboo forest adventure, so on our drive up the mountain we stopped at a roadside vendor for rice & pork in a convenient bamboo container. At this point you should have an idea of what I'm going to say: Tasty.

After a long day, we were ready for more.  We found it at the Night Market--a standard Taiwanese event, which I found to be slightly overwhelming, but worth it.  With booth after booth of goods and goodies, there were a ton of food options.  When Yi-Ting asked me where I wanted to get dinner, I pointed my finger in desperation and said "That one!".  

Mongolian Barbecue.  (Pause for a commemorative sigh...) 

From a thousand little bins full of vegetable options I piled my bowl high and handed it over.  I watched as the vendors fried it up on a giant circular heat stone.  And then--I ate it in wonder.  

We finished our evening (and, coincidently my Taiwan/Yi-Ting time) in the same way we'd started the weekend: with Winter Squash Juice, as we meandered through the Market, perusing the variety of things it had to offer.  

We went home, and I laid my weary head on my wooden bed and slept like the well-fed and satisfied girl that I was.  The next morning I was given my 4th traditional (and 4th DELICIOUS) Taiwanese breakfast (who knew one place could have so many traditional breakfast items?), and was then deposited in a van on it's way to the airport.  

Why, you ask? Because Beijing was on my to-do list for that day.  And for the next 2 weeks, as a matter of fact. So guess what's coming up in this little saga?  Lauren Meets Beijing.  

Bet you can't wait ;-)