Sean Visits Shanghai

As I said before, these past three weeks Sean visited me in Shanghai during his winter break…how I miss those long winter breaks at USF!. He came three days after Christmas so we could spend the New Year together. I can't believe it's already 2014! It had been four months since I had last seen him!

His plane came in right after my last class at my weekend school so I took the metro the long way to the airport to pick him up. He had previously been to China in high school, but had forgotten some of his experiences, so he didn't mind coming to Shanghai again. It was pretty late by the time we got back to my apartment and he was feeling jet lagged, so we went to sleep and slept in for the majority of Sunday.

The next week, I took him around Shanghai, visiting the famous Bund, the Buddhist Jing'an Temple, and the road where a bunch of "antiques" are sold. We also went to a few bars like Zapata's (the expat bar) and this one his dad told us to check out in the Xintiandi area. Also, in the Xintiandi area I took him to the Merry Kissmas tree that was still up for a few more days after Christmas.

Throughout these three weeks, we had a lot of dumplings. I took him to this famous restaurant called Din Tai Fung, Yang's Dumplings (juicy fried dumplings), and this chain dumpling place by my apartment where you can buy 10 dumplings for less than $2. He couldn't believe that we could both eat dinner for about $4. The cheap food is definitely something I'm going to miss when I come back home. Besides dumplings, he wanted to treat me to food that I normally can't afford on my teacher's salary, like Mexican food and pizza, both more expensive than normal Chinese food here, since they are "western." Sean was happy to eat all the "western" food because he really didn't like the authentic Chinese food (besides the dumplings of course) especially the meat on a stick or "street meat" part. I hadn't eaten pizza in about three months (that has to be some sort of record for me), so I wasn't complaining. Authentic Chinese food is certainly very different than American Chinese food. Sad to say, but I have been craving some American Chinese food for a while now, especially orange chicken.

Us at The Vue Bar (Sean blinked!)

On New Year's Eve we decided to celebrate by going to The Vue Bar at the Hyatt on the Bund. The Vue Bar is constantly rated as one of the best bars/clubs in Shanghai. Of course there was a New Year's Eve party with free-flowing champagne all night long. Before we left, Sean gave me my Christmas/New Years gift--a necklace from Tiffany and co! :) The view from The Vue Bar (a perfect name) was extraordinary. We danced, drank champagne, and wore flashy gold hats until we counted down to 2014, which still sounds like a year in the future to me. From one of the windows we could see lanterns flying by. For the New Year, and especially the Chinese New Year, people light lanterns and let them go flying up into the sky. There was also a firework and light show over the Bund, but we were too busy dancing to notice. After about 1AM we decided to go home, but couldn't find a cab because it was so busy. We were basically stranded at the Hyatt. At one point Sean was going to get a room, but we weren't able to because we didn't have a passport. Finally, after about two hours of half-sleeping on their couches in their lobby and standing outside in the cold, we hailed a cab and made it back home without the driver getting lost (something that happens often).    

Our view from The Vue Bar at The Hyatt on the Bund

Hangzhou: 
 The last weekend Sean was visiting, we decided to get out of Shanghai and visit a city that was a little bit more on the country side. We decided to go to Hangzhou, a smaller city that is home to a giant lake called West Lake and the "Tea Capital" of China where they make pan-fried leaves--longjing tea, also called "Dragon Well tea," mostly by hand. Before coming here with Sean, I had not thought about adventuring outside of Shanghai to visit other little cities. Now, I'm really glad that I did. Hangzhou is a peaceful place. It was good to get out of Shanghai for a little bit and enjoy some nature. We took a train to Hangzhou and it only took a little over an hour. In Hangzhou we stayed at this nice bed and breakfast where the host actually had an app that allowed him to translate what he was saying into English--pretty cool. The room was really nice with our own little tea set and everything.

Our first day there, we got up and went to the front desk to see if we could get any breakfast. The guy gave us some toast, two eggs, and some sour milk. We had no choice but to go to the Starbucks that was outside of the temple we were going to check out. I joked, "What would we do without Starbucks?" But when we went walking through this park/garden next to West Lake, one of the old buildings there had been transformed into a Starbucks! The building was right in the middle of the garden as though it was supposed to be a memorial or museum or something. This was the first time I have been mad at Starbucks and/or the capitalism in China. People can come up to me all day in the streets trying to get me to buy something from them, but when people start to transform beautiful and historic places into places for profit is when I have a problem with it.

Besides the Starbucks though, the garden was beautiful. It began to rain and was pretty cold that day, but it made everything look five times prettier. There were little "teahouses" everywhere along the lake and a little path you could take to cut through the lake. The reeds in the lake were what really drew my attention. They added some color to the gray day and made it took beautiful. Apparently the views in Hangzhou have inspired poets and painters for decades.

While we were there we also checked out the Temple and had some more fried dumplings. The Temple here was not as epic as the one in Shanghai. Instead of deities, the main statues in this temple showcased a revered warrior. Later that night, we decided to take a boat trip around West Lake. The boat ride was so calming, but it soon got cold (Sean was even colder than I was). There are little islands in the middle if the West Lake and usually they put on a show that Sean's mom raved about but since it is winter time, the show is temporarily put on hold.

The next day, we went to see the Leifeng Pagoda. It was originally built in 1942, but was then reconstructed in 2002, to look like it does today. We went to the very top of the Pagoda and saw all of Hangzhou spread out before us. It was a great trip and I was really sad to see him go, not to mention slightly jealous that he was going back home which I won't see for another five months.

On another note, I am now starting to teach an AP English Language and Composition class, a class I haven't taken in about five years. Still, I loved my AP English classes I took in high school and I hope I can do a good job with teaching my new high school students who are hoping to go to America for college next year. I'm going to have them read The Scarlet Letter and The Catcher in the Rye, two of my favorites I read back then.    

Sean loves to lead dances. He took on the challenge of dancing with all the old women on Nanjing Road, the downtown area of Shanghai: 

Sean likes the workout equipment

2014: Year of the Horse

Happy 2014!

I have spent the last three weeks with my boyfriend Sean who came to visit me in Shanghai. He came three days after Christmas, just in time for the "Western New Years."The Chinese New Year comes at the end of this month (Jan. 31th). This year will be the year of the horse. Sean bought me this cute, stuffed animal of a red horse that street vendors were selling in anticipation for the holiday and it made me realize how little I know about it. I'm doing my research. 

I have received those little red envelopes in the past from some of my Chinese friends and I

know that I was born in the year of the ram (or goat), but that is particularly all I knew about the holiday. That is pretty sad considering that I went to college in San Francisco, which has the largest and oldest Chinatown and Chinese New Year Parade outside of Asia. According to my good old friend Wikipedia, back in 1848, the newly arrived Chinese for the Gold Rush began the parade to teach others about their culture. 

At my weekend school I teach at, I asked my supervisor if people who live in Shanghai celebrate both holidays. She said that they acknowledge the Western New Year as well as the traditional Chinese New Year, but some families celebrate both, while others just celebrate the Chinese New Year, also called the "Spring Festival."

Chinese New Year is celebrated on a different day every year, since it is based off of the lunar calendar, usually it falls sometime between Jan. 21st to Feb. 20th. Although I knew that the Chinese calendar is based off of the moon, I did not realize how the dates in the Chinese calendar differ so much from what is called the "Gregorian Calendar." For instance, some months are repeated twice in one year in the Chinese calendar, according to my supervisor. Wikipedia right now is telling me this is called an "intercalation." This is the insertion of a "day, week, or month into some calendar years to make the calendar follow the seasons or moon phases." So, the Chinese calendar has some leap months and days, like the Gregorian one has a leap day once every four years. How do they write and record the double months for the Chinese version? That's my question. 

Wikipedia gives an account of the myth that began Chinese New Year--a beast called Nian:

Nian would come on the first day of New Year to eat livestock, crops, and even villagers, especially children. To protect themselves, the villagers would put food in front of their doors at the beginning of every year. It was believed that after the Nian ate the food they prepared, it wouldn’t attack any more people. One day people saw that the Nian was scared away by a little child wearing red. The villagers then understood that the Nian was afraid of the color red. Time when the New Year was about to come, the villagers would hang red lanterns and red spring scrolls on windows and doors. People also used firecrackers to frighten away the Nian. From then on, Nian never came to the village again. The Nian was eventually captured by Hongjun Laozu, an ancient Taoist monk. The Nian became Hongjun Laozu's mount.

There are traditionally fifteen days of celebration for the Chinese New Year (not practiced by everyone):

Day 1: Welcoming deities of the heaven and the earth. People light fireworks and burn bamboo sticks.

Day 2: Was when married women would visit their birth parents. "God of Wealth" comes.

Day 3: Rural villagers burn paper for the God of Wrath. People should stay home.

Day 4: Spring dinners

Day 5: The God of Wealth's birthday. People shoot off fireworks and eat dumplings.

Day 7: Everyone grows one year older today. 

Day 8: Dinner to celibate the eve of the birth of the Jade Emperor, the ruler of heaven. Employees are thanked today. Incense is often burnt and food offerings are made.

Day 9: People offer prayers to the Jade Emperor. Incense, tea, fruit, and roast pig are offered. 

Day 10: Jade Emperor's party.

Day 13: People eat vegetarian food to clean out their stomachs. Businesses pray to the God of War for success. 

Day 15: The Lantern Festival: Families walk with lanterns in the streets and put them outside their houses to guide wayward spirits home. Rice dumplings are eaten.  

The Chinese New Year is mostly a time to celebrate with family and big "reunion" dinners are held featuring mostly meat dishes and food that symbolizes prosperity and good luck. For instance, mandarin oranges have a name that sounds like the word for "good luck," noodles represent a long life, and melon seeds means having many children. Red packets containing money are given as gifts. The amount of money in these should be given in even numbers, because money given at the time of funerals is in odd numbers. This is determined by the first digit. The numbers 6 and 8 are considered the luckiest. Also, fireworks are always set off. In ancient China, gunpowder would be placed in bamboo shoots and lit to create fireworks. 

I will be leaving Hong Kong on Chinese New Year, which means that it will be crazy busy, but I'm still excited. 

For now, here is a common Chinese phrase: 

迎春接福 Yíngchúnjiēfú - "Greet the New Year and encounter happiness"

0h, the Weather Outside is Frightful

Brrrrrrr….
this is for sure the coldest winter I've ever had. It is 3 degrees Celsius in Shanghai (which would be 37 degrees Fahrenheit in the United States). I came prepared this time though, unlike the last time I was abroad. When I studied abroad in Rome, Italy, in the spring time, it snowed for the first time in 30 years. I had not planned on traveling to Switzerland and the Netherlands either. I didn't bring a single coat on that trip besides my black peacoat, which was seeing its last days. I had to hand over way too many euros for a coat suitable for the snow. So, this time I brought two thick coats, two nice jackets, a hat, scarf, and gloves. I'm certainly glad I did. Even with my thorough packing however, I still had to buy another scarf and a pair of fuzzy leggings. I never thought Shanghai would get this cold (I admit that I didn't believe the weather reports I looked up before moving here). The nice, warm pearl milk teas do help though…especially ones from Coco. And, my new roommate Lauren figured out how to use our heaters in our apartment! No more going to bed with three layers of clothing!

The weekend after I completed my smog video for my internship, the air quality index levels rose to an all-time high of 500 in shanghai, which is extremely hazardous for everyone. The government advised people to stay indoors, especially children. I bought a cloth mask for that weekend, and fortunately have not had to wear it since.
   
I can't believe I have been here for four months already. Although it seems like it has been a long time since orientation, the weeks feel shorter and shorter. Sean is coming to visit in a week which will make the entire month of January speed by. I can't wait until he gets here! I feel like I have been here long enough now where I can be his Shanghai tour guide. It is the first time I haven't been home for Christmas, but he's bringing some to me.

In other news, I recently got my first freelance photography job! My friend at my internship recommended me to her friend who needed someone to take photos at this realty show at this hotel in downtown Shanghai. I took a bunch of pictures for MSM Luxury Estates, located in Beverly Hills, and had a blast going out with them after the event to this club called the Mint, which has its own shark tanks.

My internship also wanted me to take some pictures this past week of this Christmas tree at this mall that lights up when two people kiss beneath it. I took some great pictures of couples kissing underneath the tree for a local charity that donates money for surgeries for children with cleft palette. Then, they changed their mind. Instead of taking the pictures, they wanted me in the picture. The night before the deadline I had to pose for the picture, and I had to bring someone to kiss! My poor roommate Lauren agreed to come with me, and now we have a funny story to laugh about. The picture is in the recent City Weekend magazine taking up a full page with a blurb I wrote about the event. Now I'm thinking about taking Sean there…he just can't be jealous that I kissed Lauren there first!

Besides all this, I have bought my flight to Hong Kong for Spring Festival! I will be there for four days with my friend and coming back to Shanghai on Chinese New Year! Looking forward to ringing in 2014, chinese style!

Stuck in the Smog

This is a video I did for my internship at City Weekend, here in Shanghai:  

   

Article Version:

Is China Stuck in the Smog?

Now under the rule of Chinese President Xi Jinping, China has the second-biggest economy, behind the U.S., according to the Wall Street Journal. China is also the world’s most populated country even with the “one-child policy,” according to the World Population Review.

But, an unprecedented amount of air pollution in China has caused the central government to place environmental concerns over economic ones. In September, at the 18^th Air Pollution Control Conference in Beijing, the government initiated a new goal of reducing the amount of air pollutants by 10% by 2017, according to CNN.

One of these pollutants is coal. The World Coal Association states that China relies on the fossil fuel for 70 to 80% of their energy needs, the most in the world. The government plans to stop the production of coal in power plants located in heavily polluted cities, CNN says.

However, Nitin Dani, president of the nonprofit GreenDrinks, believes that the amount is going to increase. He says: “Everyone wants the latest smart phone, the latest TV. Some of them might be energy-saving, but a lot of them are very energy-intensive. A lot of the things in the past you could do without energy, but you need these things now, right? So, I mean, I think one of the main reasons is definitely the change in lifestyle if you look at it from an individual level, but from an industrial level, products, services…they are all increasing. Population is increasing. “

Shanghai, China’s and the world’s most populous city, has reached an unhealthy amount of PM 2.5 in their air. Lately, they have been at a 169 reading, according to the Real-time Air Quality Index, which puts Shanghai on equal ground as Beijing.

Ping Zhuang of the International Fund for China’s Environment, talks about what makes up the air pollution. “In China, the primary contributing factors for PM 2.5 are largely because the increasing amount of vehicles. Actually, Shanghai in a way is better than Beijing, but still Shanghai everyday is increasing the amount of vehicles. The emissions from the exhaust, and also many factories, and also many construction sites always stir up pollutants.”

He adds, “And it use to be PM 10, larger particles, now 2.5, meaning because the smaller particles can actually go through your lungs, you know, stay there. You walk in the streets, one day you come down and your collar is like black.”

An average of five and a half years has been reduced from the life expectancy for residents of northern China, according to CNN. Instead of facing the problem of pollution and risk the loss of jobs, local authorities build national parks and endorse green projects, according to Reuters.  

Mr. Zhuang says, “I think what China is really lacking is a strict enforcement of these policies and regulations. If everyone showed more concern, and put more pressure on the government and industries, polluting industries, then it will change.”

According to Bloomberg Businessweek, Jeremy Rifkin, president of the Foundation on Economic Trends and best-selling author of The Third Industrial Revolution, thinks China can lead the third industrial revolution if they stop using fossil fuels and concentrate on their renewable energies, like geothermal heat, biomass, and wind and solar power.

A Little Bit of This, a Little Bit of That

Hi everyone!

So I realize I haven't written a blog post in a little while. I have no excuse except that I have actually been pretty busy these last fews weeks. It is suddenly like winter came and along with the cold (I don't have a heater in my room--my fingers are cold while typing this) came all this work.

Shanghai International Beer Festival

Let me begin by saying that five people have quit the program. Two of them are flying back to the states tomorrow and three of them are finding different jobs in Shanghai. At first our program didn't know what to do with us, we were English teachers without any students. Since we were placed at a supplemental school that mostly focuses on SAT tutoring, they were trying to find us real classrooms where we could actually teach and not simply sit around all day and create practice PowerPoints. Even though they have justified reasons for quitting, this is a good time for me to reflex on why I came to China to begin with.  

First of all, I came to China because I had no idea what I wanted to do back home. I had applied to a few jobs that I never heard back from, and then I happened upon Ameson Year in China at my University Job Fair. I love to travel and discover new cultures, and that still rings true. Also, even though I have always said I have never wanted to be a teacher, I thought I would try my hand at teaching since I do love kids and it is a field open to English majors. Moreover, since this job is part time, I can have an internship at the same time and gain international work experience, all while trying to learn Chinese.

I am beginning to miss home a lot though, especially as it gets colder here and as more people are leaving the program. I miss my friends, family, California, mac and cheese, bacon, In N Out….
However, Sean is going to come visit me next month!!! I am so excited. He is going to stay for three weeks.

Mr.Pitt

Kids on Halloween

Meanwhile, I have been trying to do more work at City Weekend. I reviewed this bar for the magazine called Mr.Pitt which serves the best traditional cocktails, and I'm working on a video project about the smog in Shanghai. As for teaching, I have picked up seven more classes this week alone. I now teach at three different schools throughout the week. I mostly still teach 2nd graders (we taught them all about Halloween and the kids dressed up), but now on Saturday I teach little babies, like 4 to 6 year-olds!!! They are all so cute! One of the little girls cried this weekend when she lost one of the games we played. It broke my heart.

In other news, I went to the International Beer Festival here in Shanghai which was pretty cool and randomly ran into some City Weekend people. Also, we had our Dumpling Fest 2013 where my friend Taylor made us some amazing dumplings like the pizza bite dumpling, mexican bean burrito dumpling, and Nutella dumpling…one word: delicious. I tried to find the Propaganda Museum, but got lost….sort of ironic when I think about it.

Shanghai International Beer Festival

After a struggle to find blonde hair dye and peroxide, I finally dyed my hair by ordering some hair dye online and buying this stuff called "Double Oxygen Milk" at a store near work. The mixture turned purple before I put it on my head, but it worked in the end. Definitely glad I still have my hair. Another struggle came last weekend when my iPhone was stolen on the subway. Yep. I miss my phone. Luckily, I can still use my iPod to WeChat and play Candy Crush (I lost all my levels though--I am literally crushed).

But throughout all the madness, there is a silver lining--I took my GRE test this past weekend and did pretty good! It was stressful finding the school, but I was so relieved when it was all over. I have been studying for weeks now with my friend Brittany. We decided to reward ourselves and go out to lunch at this great Thai place we found! I, of course, got a Starbucks too (one with a red Christmas cup!). Now I just have a few essays to write for my applications and I'm good to go! I am applying to UC Berkeley, NYU, and Columbia University. Go big or go home!

From Dumpling Fest 2013!

 

Beijing and Back Again: Two Expats' Tale of Tackling the Chinese Capital

“Now it is a strange thing, but things that are good to have and days that are good to spend are soon told about, and not much to listen to; while things that are uncomfortable, palpitating, and even gruesome, may make a good tale, and take a deal of telling anyway.” 
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit

~*~

Finally, I have given myself enough space from the trip to actually write the blog about it. As any English major would, I have called this trip "Beijing and Back Again: Two Expats' Tale of Tackling the Chinese Capital."Yes, I was inspired by The Hobbit to title this trip. My friend Julia and I had to go through many perils in order to enjoy Beijing during the Chinese National Holiday while we were there from Oct. 2nd-5th. We had to conjure up Bilbo's courage to make it through.

For those of you who don't know, the Chinese National Holiday is a week-long holiday used to celebrate the day the People's Republic of China (PRC) was founded on October 1st, 1949, at a ceremony in Tiananmen Square, Beijing.  In many ways, it was perfect to visit the Chinese capital during National Week, 64 years after the PRC was founded. During the week, Tiananmen Square is decorated in festive attire showing pictures of Mao Zedong, the founding leader of the PRC. Tiananmen Square has even more history, having been the setting of the infamous Tiananmen Square Massacre in 1989.

Before we left on our little voyage we joked that since Julia and I were voyaging together we would need a chaperone. Little did we know, that that was exactly what we needed, preferably one that could speak Chinese. In appropriate fashion, we got to the train station a whole hour ahead of time and patiently waited by our platform for the fast 5-hour train to Beijing. We even got some McDonalds so we wouldn't be hungry on the train. So as the minutes clocked down, we were getting anxious that a train wasn't arriving at our gate. We got up and asked some officials if we were at the right gate and they all assured us that we were. Then one person said, "the middle."

We panicked and finally saw the line we were supposed to be in, except it was for the next train. We had missed ours. It turned out that the only seats left were in first class and we had to pay for them, along with a ticket exchange fee. It was painful to hand over those bills. Even more painful, however, was the ticket teller explaining to us in Chinenglish that the new ticket was for tomorrow, and not today. We walked away totally disappointed, but willing to come back at 5pm the next day, giving us only two days in Beijing. I wanted to make sure though so I asked someone at the line forming at our new platform.  Apparently the teller mixed up her "today" with "tomorrow." We were soon on our way in comfortable first class seats.

We arrived in Beijing and quickly got on the subway. The subway stop we were supposed to get off at was closed, so we took a cab with this other expat couple. The taxi driver was really nice, but to a fault. There were times where we stopped the cab and walk around so he could get his bearings. A lost taxi driver is never a good sign. Finally, we got a map from a nearby hostel and walked over to it, ditching the cab driver on the way, although he looked pretty content with coming with us.

The front desk worker couldn't speak English and couldn't find our reservation which we made a week ago, so gave us an empty room instead. The next morning we woke up early and went on a Great Wall Tour. It took us four hours in traffic to reach the Wall but when we did it was worth it. There were very few tourists in our "secret" location. We hiked up and down the mountains through the history that has shaped modern day China.

An archaeological survey has found that the entire wall with all its fortifications measures 13, 171 miles. It was beautiful and I took some of the best pictures that I have in a long time. My legs hurt for days after though. The Wall is not the easiest thing to master, especially when it is extremely windy and you didn't bring a jacket.

We took the long bus ride home that night feeling accomplished--we had hiked on The Great Wall of China! Success! When we got to our hostel, however, the owner was there apologizing that they were fully booked and we would have to find another hostel. I tried to summon my inner travel agent mom who would have never accepted this, but she was a nice woman who offered to take us to a partner hostel and receive 20% off. Unfortunately, the hostel was further than our previous hostel to the Forbidden City where we were going the next day.

Ironically, the Forbidden City is easy to enter,
with the huge picture of Mao ushering you in, but difficult to leave. Julia and I had to pay 2RMB to leave….which is like 20 cents, but still! Overall though, the Forbidden City was awesome to see, even with the Beijing smog. We saw the Dragon Wall, a golden throne, art pieces galore, and the architecture that has become symbols for the Chinese people and culture. I also found a Beijing spoon! (I collect spoons from each new city I go to).

Afterwards, we were planning to meet up with my friend Henry who is a teacher in Beijing, who is the son of a friend of my dad's. At the meeting time my phone ran out of money and the Forbidden City was closing (guards barely let us exit the way we came back to meet under the picture). We jumped on the metro to the next stop to add money to my phone, but we couldn't find a store. Instead, Costa Coffee came to the rescue! I emailed Henry who met us there.

He took us to this great famous Peking Duck restaurant and then to KTV (karaoke) afterwards. The duck was the best I have ever eaten. There was a special sauce that makes the duck taste exquisite. The karaoke was a blast! KTV is really popular in China and it was fun to finally do it and with people who like to sing!

The next day, and final day, we walked around Tiananamen Square where the smog is the main thing in all of our pictures. Even through the rough patches, Julia and I made it back to Shanghai, this time with a 2nd class ticket and the right train, with a bunch of memories and stories to tell our friends.

A video I created with clips of my Beijing trip for my internship with City Weekend: