the china escapades

Life at Peking University

2009-10-11T08:57:00.001-07:00

It's already been over a month since things kicked off here in Beijing. It's been an incredible experience so far. Too many things going on to sit down and document and it all, but will try my best to give a run down soon.

Back from Shanghai yesterday, off to Qinghai this weekend. It's been a lot of fun.

Chinese studying time.

2009-09-21T02:44:00.001-07:00

trip to yunnan 云南

2009-09-11T22:05:00.000-07:00

Trip to yunan

Highlights:

Day 1:
Landed in Tengchong, Yunnan (云南). The brilliant blue sky was a stark contrast to the perpetual haze of Beijing. We visited a quaint traditional town called Baoshwin.., known for being the last stop in China of the lesser-known Southern Silk Road. It was clear that the town (and entire area) had geared up for an influx of domestic tourism with new roads and freshly renovated buildings.

Day 2:
Visited two of the 97 or so dormant volcanoes that surround Tengchong. Stopped by a wetlands tucked between a 54 hole golf course and a traditional farming village. In the afternoon, Cam and I were the only one’s gutsy enough in the group to experience the volcanic hot springs 温泉. We brought our bathing suits and lounged in tea, aloe, and alcohol-infused sulfuric water alongside middle-aged men. Unfortunately cameras were not allowed, but trust me, it was a glorious experience. Especially the rat that we saw in a sitting area.

Day 3:
Visited tombs of KMT soldiers that were only recently cleaned up by the communist government after being left to disrepair. Dropped by a tropical rain forest park with a water fall called the “silk” waterfall.
In the afternoon, we visited a primary school located in a very poor area. Truly a heartwarming experience. We spent the first hour or so sitting in on their classes. Then we were split up in twos and each pair was thrown in front of a class for an hour. We sang happy birthday, barney songs, and learned how to mumble a few Chinese songs as well. I also learned how a few dance moves of the minorities. Ended the visit with some basketball with the kids.

Day 4:
We were then brought to a Dai (minority group) and saw their farms and temples. That night we ate a restaurant with a show a kilometer from the Myanmar border. Us 18 were the only ones in the audience so there were actually more performers than there were people eating. Cameron was married off to a Dai woman as seen in the pics. Ended the night with some quality mafia games.

All in all, a great time and bonded really well as a group. Classes start Monday for us so in the process of getting everything in gear for that.

hello beida

2009-09-01T09:45:00.000-07:00

Hello from Beijing! I flew from Shanghai to Beijing on Monday afternoon and have spent the past couple days getting acclimated to my home for the next few months. I've been spoiled for the past two nights for dinner as my father's classmates have taken me and some friends out to dinner both nights. Donkey, surprisingly, doesn't taste all that bad.

here are a smattering of pictures from pre-beijing:

普陀山

2009-08-28T06:06:00.000-07:00

I've spent the last three days with my uncle, aunt, and cousin visiting an island called 舟山岛 (boat mountain island?). About the size/ geography of Martha's Vineyard but with the typically Chinese massive development. A relaxing time spent seeing sights and being inundated with philosophy, history, and language lessons. One last weekend in Shanghai and then I'll be making my way up to Beijing to get this semester started.

Hope all is well on your side of the Pacific.

quite possibly the cutest three minutes so far of my trip (back when visiting family).

pictures.. for real this time

2009-08-23T21:14:00.000-07:00

Finally back in Shanghai with working internet. Hanging out with my grandma 外婆 for a few days, then Beijing on the 31st.

Here's a collage of pics from the countryside.

tour of my grandma's house

ill sign off with this:

big bro mao strikes again

2009-08-20T17:19:00.001-07:00

I've been told that the pics I uploaded have been blocked. I guess cute pics of my little niece posing are anti-revolutionary.

Once I am able to use the yale vpn on my own computer, than I'll get those cute pics up. Off to my grandmother's house even deeper in the countryside.

first full day

2009-08-19T22:44:00.000-07:00

Big Bro Mao has blocked access to facebook, any american blog, twitter.. but surprisingly lets fmylife get through. Connection is really slow and unreliable. G-mail in Chinese is allowed so I'm routing this post through that.

I arrived safely in 椒江 (Jiao Jiang) yesterday afternoon after a five hour drive with my uncle (mom's sister's husband) from Shanghai. Had some great conversations about philosophy (overcoming the language barrier made things interesting). Spent the afternoon catching up with my older cousins (daughter and sister of my father's older sister) and later hit up the karaoke with them and my uncle.

Before we went to the KTV, everyone claimed to be terrible at singing, the self-effacing attitude typical/expected from native Chinese. I made them go first and they all killed it receiving close to full scores on the Guitar Hero-esque rating system at the end of their songs. After 30 seconds of me serendading them with Usher's "Burn" (English options were limited to that, Britney Spears, and Madonna), they were all in stiches laughing. The computer sided with them and gave me a 65.

and so it begins

2009-08-18T17:02:00.001-07:00

Grandma and uncle are yelling at me to hurry up as we speak. Flight went uneventfully. Beat jet lag by not sleeping at all and crashing once I got to grandma's. Leaving now for countryside and my cousin's house. Pics soon

the prodigal son returns... a generation later

2009-08-16T23:15:00.000-07:00

On August 18, 1989, my father stepped off a plane at O'Hare International Airport and into the United States of America. Safely tucked away in his pocket was $80 scrounged from family and friends. All he had to his name were the clothes on his back, a few possessions in his suitcase and the American dream.

On August 18, 2009, I will land in Pudong International Airport in Shanghai and will eventually make my way up to Beijing where I will be living for a semester. With a wallet full of plastic, I will be wielding a good deal more purchasing power to be blown on fake watches, faux designer threads, and tacky Mao paraphernalia ("trippin' on mao" was my second choice name for this blog).

When my mom brought up this coincidence over dinner tonight, I was at a loss of words. Its significance, the parallels that can be drawn, the "deepness" of it... a whole book wouldn't do it justice, much less a single blog post.

Nevertheless, a quick synopsis: The changing global social-economic landscape. The American dream fulfilled/deferred. The vicarious homecoming of the prodigal son. Expectations on the next generation. A legacy comes full circle.

I’ll hopefully explore all of the above over the course of the semester.

During the next few months, I'll do my best to record the highlights of my day-to-day existence. I'll throw in nuggets of self-discovery as I come across them and maybe some amateur social commentary to keep things interesting.

20 years to the day. Just a coincidence? I think not.

a continuation

2009-06-23T08:51:00.000-07:00

here I go with my comeback to the blogosphere. lets hope i last longer than mase.

here's to a new beginning.