Yes I did see Eileen! :)

One question I've received from many of our Columbia University friends is "Did you see Eileen in China?" and yes, I sure did! Eileen made her way from her summer adventures in Shanghai to Beijing for a visit and here are some captured moments:

Eileen and I in front of the Wangfujing District. I love this girl!

Eileen and Sarah scoping out the authenticity of the noodles (jia jiang mian) for lunch at Wangfujing.

On our visit to the beautiful Houhai Lake we saw a man using water and a big brush to write calligraphy on the floor. Piaoliang (beautiful) indeed!

We shared an awesome Beijing style hot pot dinner alongside Houhai Lake. Then it started it rain like crazy - thank goodness for our romantic tent! :)

Happy Canada Day!

Big smiles were found everywhere at the Canada Day celebration held at the The Canadian International School of Beijing! The celebration included games, performances, a hot dog and chili eating contest, bbQ, and lots of red and white pride!!! (Yes, this post is a little belated but better now than never!)

Canadians and Americans! One love!

This xiao pengyou (little friend) kept coming back for more Canadian stickers! So cute!

Capturing the end of the chili eating contest. The sign with the #65 is the number of chilis that guy had eaten in under 10 minutes!

After the contest ended, this little guy's curiousity took over as he began to nibble on a green chili.

This cute little guy took a moment for some deep reflection... I wonder what he's thinking?!

Snack Time!

It's about that time of the day when you tummy starts to growl and you wonder, "what can I eat?" Here are some suggestions from Beijing!

Chinese Yoghurt - Yes, the bottle is a little low budget but it's surprisingly good! Plus the stores recycle the bottles! YAY!

PaoPao Tang Gum

Freshly baked sponge cakes - I have a weakness for freshly baked goods!

A Qinghai dessert made of sweet barley, which can only be grown about 2000 meters! Look at how happy Jean looks! :) 

Fresh fruit is best purchased in carts or trucks alongside the road! I learned on my first day that any fruit wrapped up in beautiful paper and sold in a mall with Gucci and LV is a total rip off! Support China's local farmers and buy from carts :) My favourite fruits were peaches, plums, watermelon, apricots, mangosteen, and papaya!

Cola-beef anyone?! (I did not try this one although I'm wishing I did!)

And the local fave - individually packaged chicken's feet! (And no, I didn't try this one either!)

Quote of the summer

Wherever you are... be there.

Reduce Your Carbon Footprint in China.. By Getting Your Elbows Ready!

What is up with people taking the Beijing Subway during rush hour?! My jaw literally dropped when I witnessed the subway doors open, which triggered swarms of people simultaneously shoving their way in and out of the subway. There were a few subway attendants, who looked like 18 year-old looking girls dressed nicely in their red uniform skirts, shouting things in Mandarin which I would guess to be requests for people to line up and let people out of the subway before others get in. However, their words were lost in the wrestling match of subway patrons. What shocked me even more was when the door closed on some guy’s back, this young subway attendant proceeded to use all of her force to SHOVE his back into the subway door! I was shocked... should I join the madness or cop out and take a taxi? No, I've made a commitment to reduce my carbon footprint so the subway it is! I stayed and was one of the last people to make it into the next train with the door closing almost on my face. When the subway pulled up to the next stop, no one got off, except 7 people on the platform proceeded to shove their way onto the train. Literally sandwiched between a business gentlemen and a teenage girl who kept coughing everywhere, I couldn’t wait to get off the train! I've only used the subway for 3 days but now have no problem using my elbows to aggressively navigate myself on or off the subway.

I think that Beijing definitely has the ability to fix this problem. First of all, get those 18 year-old female attendants off the subway tracks and roll in some of the military to control the madness. Create some barriers for people to line up and enforce these rules for a few months. Beijing's subway system is very modern and has the potential to be so much more than an elbow and pushing society! When I get back to Toronto/London, I'll have to remember to lose this bad trait for fear of getting slapped with a lawsuit! Until then... my elbows are ready!

Photo credit: abc.net.au

Feng Shui Leads the Way!

On February 2009 an accidental fire caused by Chinese New Year firecrackers consumed a brand new hotel building in the central business district of Beijing causing the death of one firefighter and many others injured. Over a year later the abandoned building stands strangely juxtaposed against the summer sun, which serves to reveal the skeletal remains of the burnt building that had never been used. While this building serves as a visual eyesore, it stands next to the popular China Central Television headquarters (CCTV), one of the tallest modern wonders of Beijing, which employs 10,000 people and allows China State Television to produce over 200 channels.

While the burnt building stands isolated and abandoned, it has caused quite the stir from the people in neighboring buildings. The culprit? Feng Shui - the ancient Chinese system of aesthetics under the laws of Heaven and Earth to improve one’s life by receiving positive “qi,” or energy. Apparently this burnt building stands as a billowing pillar of bad luck which has scared all of society from its presence. Due to Feng Shui, land developers refuse to build new buildings near the burnt building, while employees within nearby buildings have requested that their offices be physically moved to face another direction away from the burnt building. Since the burnt building is somehow connected to CCTV, the city has not yet demolished the building and is still deciding its fate. Until then, it will be a part of my daily sights to and from work!

Xiong Mao Zai Nar?

"Xiong Mao Zai Nar?" = "Where are the pandas?" That's what happens when I don't know the mandarin word for "zoo!" :)

This weekend a friend and I made our way to the Beijing Zoo! The highlights include their many species of monkeys, the white tiger, and of course the "xiong mao" pandas. However, another interesting thing for me to see was a high concentration of Chinese-speaking children squealing in delight of the animals and running all over the place! The only other place I've experienced this is when I was in Chinese school as a kid, but even that is a poor representation since half the kids were English speaking Chinese-Canadian.


The Beijing Zoo has been criticized by some for the lack of 'happy' animals. I was told, "if most zoos are like jail for animals, then the Beijing Zoo is death row." Okay, I'll admit that the animals didn't look thrilled to be cages (except for the monkeys - they seemed to be having a great time!), however, what animals typically look happy to be locked up? Remember the killer whale incident at Sea World earlier this year? If you're visiting China and only want to see pandas, I recommend going to Ocean Park in HK or even better, make your way to Chengdu for a panda excursion where you can get the chance to hold a baby panda! Great day at the zoo! Pandas - check!

Day 1 Challenge - Eat As Locals Eat

Today was my first full day in Beiing! It was a beautiful day - plesant, a little damp from the rainy night before, but not humid yet! Definitely good for the hair considering my hair dryers and such don't work here (shopping mission for day 2!).


Around lunch time I strolled around looking for a place to eat. Although I'm technically in the so-called "expat" zone everything is still very much in Chinese amongst the modern architecture. Every restaurant venue I peered into through the windows had only menus in Chinese and were minimal on pictues. Hmm.. I saw two easy options (1) a Subway sandwich shop, and (2) a Chinese pastry store. In an effort to reduce my carb intake (thanks jp!) and not revert to western sandwiches (such as in Singapore when we had prata instead of McD's for breakfast), I told myself to just pick a Chinese place for lunch and give it a try!


So I chose this friendly looking restaurant and got a seat (easy enough!). But then the waitress placed a menu down which was completely in Chinese. I know how to read 'rice,' 'congee,' 'beef,' and 'chicken,' but nothing on this menu included these items! Anxiety? Yes! Thankfully I found a take-out menu with photos by the front and was able to point my way into an order by saying 'noodles' in mandarin. Result = Successful! I ended up ordering a beef noodle soup with vegetables and this side circle bun thing with chives and egg inside.

There is someting completely scary about being in a city where I can't communicate, read, or write in Chinese. Even sitting on that 13 hour flight and being engulfed by the Mandarin speakers was a mini preview of what the summer will look like. My family speaks Cantonese but not Mandarin, which are completely different to me. Yesterday my driver and I had a part-Mandarin-Cantonese-English-written Chinese conversation, it worked! Although if I'm going to survive this summer I'll need more than that. Therefore, goal #1 "to learn Mandarin"

Note: I'd like to post photos but I can't seem to access those buttons. Blogspot is banned here but I've been able to find a proxy to get limited accsss. Does anyone know?