We’re in the bird-fart of China [34-36+Article]

Such an incredible weekend. Here goes.

Friday after work, Annie and I decided to take a bus to Gulou Dajie, a street full of vintage clothing and milk tea shops. The bus trip was a success, but once we got there, it was basically pouring. We rifled through clothes at Mega Mega Vintage and a couple of other stores before giving up and sloshing through the flooded streets to get back to our apartment. I went to bed soon thereafter to rest up for GREAT WALL FRESH!!

Great Wall Fresh was something that I had read about very early in my trip to China and knew I wanted to try out. It’s the opposite of a tourist’s visit to the Great Wall of China. This means no crowds, no annoying hawkers, and consequently, no spoken English. I proposed writing a story about the event to Catherine before I left. She approved and said they would pay for the visit, which included transportation, three meals, one night’s stay, and a hike along the authentic Great Wall. Catherine sent me with Pang Li, the guy in my office that sits behind me, to interpret the interviews. You can read the article here. It was on the China.org.cn homepage Wednesday!

The experience was spectacular and completely unforgettable. Pang Li helped immensely, especially getting to and from the Chen family farm (this is where Great Wall Fresh is. It’s run by the most lovely couple ever, the Chens). We had a great time getting to know each other and talking about American cinema and music. He’s so passionate about American culture; it breaks my heart that he’s never been to the States!

We were the only ones there for the weekend, making it very peaceful. There were several times that I just sat there (channeling Buddha?) taking it all in. Once we got to the farm, we had the most delicious lunch I’ve ever eaten. Even better, it was all grown organically and picked by hand from their gardens. This is something that can’t be expressed in a blog or a picture, but please take my word for it, the food was fantastic.



We then chose a trail to hike for the afternoon. It had rained all morning, so Mr. Chen advised us to take the “Easy Over” trail, which is “relatively easy.” Heck no, I said. I wanted a challenge! So we chose “Hunchback curve” instead, which was named for a part in the Wall where it literally bends like a switchback… or a hunchback, I suppose.



Pang Li was hilarious throughout the hike, letting out a constant stream of English and Chinese profanity as he struggled up and down the Wall. We hiked straight into the clouds, which provided for some “mysterious” shots, as Pang Li said.



Dinner that night was equally amazing, with our glasses constantly being filled with pijiu. Tea followed, while I interviewed Mr. and Mrs. Chen with Pang Li interpreting. There was a lot of laughter, and even though I only got the tail end of what the Chens were saying, I could tell the Chens had good hearts. At one point, Mr. Chen said that I had a bright future. It’s hard to pick a favorite part from my favorite day in China, but that might have been it.

The next morning, we had the best noodles I’ve ever tasted for breakfast, signed the guest book, and set off for Beijing, saying “zai jian” to the Chens. Having this trip alone paid for made it worth putting up with some of the frustrating parts of my internship.

When I got back, the UNC interns and professors went to Karen, a China.org employee’s house for a dumpling party. Celine, Catherine, and some other employees were there, along with Karen’s family. We learned how to make fried and boiled dumplings. It was a nice evening, once again filled with food and constantly filled glasses, this time with wine that Dean Cole provided as a gift to Karen’s family.

:D

Americans ring in the 4th at Great Wall Beach Party [Article]

Check out my first article published by China.org.cn here! Photo credit goes to Anastasia Gray :)

Blame it on the Baijiu [28-29]

Wow, how to start this post?

This weekend was an adventure. It started out with an intern trip with Celine and Dr. Tuggle to the Beijing Zoo and Aquarium. The aquarium was impressive, and the dolphin show made me feel like a kid. The rest of the zoo... not so impressive.



I have wanted all my life to see Giant Pandas in China. It wasn't anything like The Amazing Panda Adventure, one of my all-time-favorite movies from my childhood. The pandas at the zoo were behind fingerprint-blurred glass and seemed hot, dirty, and generally miserable. This was the case with most of the animals at the zoo. It was a depressing sight.



Saturday afternoon was the Great Wall Beach Party, an event that Annie and I heard about from Keith and jumped on immediately. Our tickets in hand, we arrived at WuDauKou to board the bus at 5p.m. on Saturday.

We knew we were in the right place when we saw hordes of 20-something foreigners with bags of pijiu, liquor, and mixers. We overheard someone saying that we could bring anything on the beach once we got there, so we stocked up from the 7-Eleven.

As soon as we got on the bus, a party organizer told us that we could NOT bring any food or drinks on the beach, but encouraged us to drink everything we had on the bus. Questionable advice.

The next four hours included personalities emerging from our bus mates as they became filled with liquid courage. They came from all over – the States, Belgium, France, Germany, Hong Kong, etc.

Once we finally got to the Great Wall, the air was filled with loud house music and the scent of the Yellow Sea. I took a dip in the sea, danced, failed at taking pictures, and had a genuinely good time. Annie managed to stay until the sun came up, but I couldn’t last that long.




I slept the whole way home on the bus and was directed back home by a couple of really nice Americans studying at a Beijing university.

The experience was great, and an article is to come.

The rest of Sunday was devoted to catching up on sleep and relaxing with online television. Happy Fourth of July everybody back home!

I like watching guys try to get it up! [Day 10]

I feel like I should first and foremost explain the title. This quote slipped from Courtney's mouth when watching my cousins and their friends try to fly a kite on the Great Wall of China. Nothing dirty was meant, but LOTS of people got a kick out of it. Best ever.

Which leads me to: my cousins are in CHINA!!! Uncle Mike, Aunt Eileen, Alex, Josh and Kelly are all in China right now visiting the Germains, a family that used to live in North Carolina, but who have been on assignment in Shanghai for over four years. The Germains have three boys, all around my kid-cousins' ages.

I was shocked when I found out (about a month ago) that the Clutes would be in Beijing while I was there. I made the comment to Josh, "It would be so cool to climb the Great Wall with you guys," but NEVER in a million years thought it would happen. But it did, and it was AWESOME!

They took a train into Beijing on Sunday, and we arranged to meet up first thing Monday morning. Courtney and Brian came along, which was great! We took a taxi to the Courtyard Marriott, and literally walked right up to the hotel at the same time that Mike and Eileen were walking back from breakfast at McDonalds! It took me a minute to gather in my head that I was seeing family in my summer city-home that I had just seen a week ago on the opposite side of the world!

We caved in and ate breakfast at McDonalds, where I got a "hamburger" (sausage and cheese biscuit) for 9 kuai. Then, after running into Josh wandering around outside of the hotel, we got on a tour bus, did all the proper introductions, and set off to the Temple of Heaven!

Susie, the tour guide that the Clutes and Germains hired, told us that The Temple of Heaven is a set of three beautiful buildings (see photos) where Chinese emperors came to pray to heaven and for other ceremonies during the Ming and Qing dynasties. The center building is the symbol of Beijing and is truly spectacular. We weren't allowed in, but apparently birds were, because they were flying in and around the temple like mad! I found it fascinating how every number had significance. 28 pillars, 12 here, 12 there, 4 here… they all had spiritual and cultural meaning. I doubt the number of windows on the Empire State Building means anything at all.

The best part about the ToH, though, was the park. It’s over 600 acres and is full of 500-year-old trees, all growing in perfect lines. Since it was the holiday, it was packed with locals (mostly elderly) playing cards, doing exercises, playing with kids, and singing the national anthem (I have a video of this - really cool!)! Courtney and Brian bought the Chinese equivalent of a hackey sack (a set of plastic and metal rings with feathers on top), and Mr. Germain bought a hand-made kite that looked like an all-black falcon.

We loaded up the van again and started North toward the Mutainyu section of the Great Wall of China. On the way, we stopped to get some bottled water, snacks, and beer. I definitely felt the most American I have while in Beijing so far by this point. Not to mention the Clutes and the UNC interns all wore UNC t-shirts (this was planned, by the way), and the Clutes and Germains all had cowboy hats (a slightly embarrassing, but ingenious way to keep an eye on six kids and four adults).

Once we got to the Great Wall, we passed by several hawkers and took a gondola to an entrance to the Wall. Mr. Germain and Uncle Mike toasted to a cold Chinese beer, and Brian and I followed suit shortly after. I must say - I didn't have any clear expectations coming to the Wall (or on this trip in general), but seeing this massive structure and actually hiking on it, was breathtaking. I'm getting chills just thinking about it. I won't write too much more, because it's something that you have to truly experience yourself to make it feel real. Some of the boys successfully flew the kite on the Wall, and we met many English-speakers along the way, many who enjoyed our UNC gear.

Some random observations:
-Kelly, my cousin, was asked twice to have her picture taken with Asian tourists because she's pretty, white and blonde.
-The vendors called Uncle Mike "farmer" for wearing the cowboy hat.
-We saw a cat and a dog on the Wall. There's no telling if they had owners, as I haven't seen a single animal with a collar in China.
-Once again, elderly people everywhere. So cool to see how active they are here.
-The Germains said it was the clearest day they had seen at the Great Wall, which was great to hear! The views were spectacular.

We took toboggans down the mountain, which was super fun. The Chinese people working there were yelling at us to slow down now, speed up here, don't stop there, but we pretty much did our own thing. Silly Americans.

I finally bargained with hawkers and bought a pipe and some postcards for 35 kuai. I'd call it a success. After a meal at Subway that was way too expensive, we loaded up the van again and headed toward the airport. Susie told several stories, including one about a female emperor who killed over 4,000 people to get to the top. I hugged my family goodbye as they set out to Xi'an.

Back at the apartment, I was tired, sweaty, and thankful for such an amazing day.