xx
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Summer in China (Among other things)
Summer is officially declared in China when there are 10 or more consecutive days of 30 degree Celsius weather or more. Well, summer was declared last week when the city baked in temperatures of 35 degrees and higher. Now that’s hot!
The Chinese are incredibly intuitive when it comes to their weather; it must come with the fact that weather and seasons have been studied in detail for thousands of years and it’s a huge part of their culture.
Coming from Canada, where weather is always part of day-to-day conversation but never goes past the obvious “Well it’s a hot one today”, I am constantly surprised by how much they know here. I always relied on weather forecasts in Canada to tell me how to dress and when to plan for things but as we all know, the weather guy on TV is never always right.
The Chinese teachers at my school have gotten into the habit of telling me what kind of weather to expect and they have been spot-on every time. “It will be a hot day today, but tomorrow I think it will rain and be cool”, and of course, a scorcher is followed by a cooler day with showers. My own personal weather forecast!
Here’s a link to some more info on Seasons here in China. So far it’s been right-on.
http://www.geocities.com/zhen_qi/02chineseseasons.html
Along with their knowledgeable weather conventions, the Chinese follow slightly funnier ‘seasonal’ customs that sometimes make me giggle.
Among one are the umbrellas. This is one of those everyday necessities that the Chinese have with them at all times. They use them to protect themselves from the rain and of course, from the sun. The Chinese, or more respectively, the Chinese women are incredibly careful not to darken their skin during the hot summer months. They even go as far as purchasing skin-whitening lotion to enhance, or create certain “radiance”. And they take it very seriously... I have yet to find skin lotion without bleach in it. Yuck.
This must come from the fact that the middle class is a new and growing population within China and they are very adamant about separating themselves from the large working class population that spend their days working outdoors.
Another funny custom is the use of split pants for toddlers and infants. This is something that is used all year long but it much more popular in the summer months. Known in Chinese as "kaidangku" (literally "open-crotch pants"), the principle is clear: no-fuss waste disposal. They're split down the middle-in front and back-and provide what many parents say is maximum convenience with minimum coverage. For one thing kids here are potty trained in half the time as they literally have the streets to practice on. As soon as children learn to walk they are taught to pee just like they would on a squat toilet. I must admit the first time I saw this I was a little uncomfortable seeing a child pee on the side of the road like a pet dog but one of my teachers mentioned the incredible speed at which a child is toilet trained, as well as the amount of waste that is saved from Chinese parents refraining from using diapers. As some of you might know, diapers are a huge concern in terms of the environment because they don’t decompose. Can you imagine how much waste is saved due to the Chinese population choosing to have their children squat and pee instead of using diapers?
Much like their knowledge of the weather, the Chinese follow a certain number of rules when it comes to seasons as well. I remember pulling out my sunglasses back in march when the sun started to shine a little stronger and asking one of my teachers why I never saw anyone else wear them. Her answer to this? “Because it isn’t May yet. Summer is not here yet”. You must be able to imagine my confusion because coming from Canada; the majority of people wear their sunglasses for sun protection... and not just in the summer. If it’s sunny, you wear your sunglasses! No need to have anyone tell you when and how right?
This was also the case with open-toed shoes. We had a few hot days last month, some exceeding the 30 degree mark and so I took out some of my open-toed shoes and started to wear them around school. Well, the looks I got from those shoes were anything but puzzling. “Noémie! Aren’t your feet cold? You will get sick!” said one of the Chinese teachers at my school. It was 31 degrees outside but because we were still in April, it was still designated as spring weather which meant that open-toed shoes were inappropriate!
These are the moments I came to China for. As confusing and nonsensical as they might be, I love to see how other cultures react to mundane things like the weather, or potty training, or even sun protection. These are sometimes the little things that some foreigners become increasingly frustrated with in China if they can’t assimilate, but I think that if you have a sense of humour you can turn anything into a good story.
(This post was originaly set to be up around May 10th)
Love you all
xx
The Chinese are incredibly intuitive when it comes to their weather; it must come with the fact that weather and seasons have been studied in detail for thousands of years and it’s a huge part of their culture.
Coming from Canada, where weather is always part of day-to-day conversation but never goes past the obvious “Well it’s a hot one today”, I am constantly surprised by how much they know here. I always relied on weather forecasts in Canada to tell me how to dress and when to plan for things but as we all know, the weather guy on TV is never always right.
The Chinese teachers at my school have gotten into the habit of telling me what kind of weather to expect and they have been spot-on every time. “It will be a hot day today, but tomorrow I think it will rain and be cool”, and of course, a scorcher is followed by a cooler day with showers. My own personal weather forecast!
Here’s a link to some more info on Seasons here in China. So far it’s been right-on.
http://www.geocities.com/zhen_qi/02chineseseasons.html
Along with their knowledgeable weather conventions, the Chinese follow slightly funnier ‘seasonal’ customs that sometimes make me giggle.
Among one are the umbrellas. This is one of those everyday necessities that the Chinese have with them at all times. They use them to protect themselves from the rain and of course, from the sun. The Chinese, or more respectively, the Chinese women are incredibly careful not to darken their skin during the hot summer months. They even go as far as purchasing skin-whitening lotion to enhance, or create certain “radiance”. And they take it very seriously... I have yet to find skin lotion without bleach in it. Yuck.
This must come from the fact that the middle class is a new and growing population within China and they are very adamant about separating themselves from the large working class population that spend their days working outdoors.
Another funny custom is the use of split pants for toddlers and infants. This is something that is used all year long but it much more popular in the summer months. Known in Chinese as "kaidangku" (literally "open-crotch pants"), the principle is clear: no-fuss waste disposal. They're split down the middle-in front and back-and provide what many parents say is maximum convenience with minimum coverage. For one thing kids here are potty trained in half the time as they literally have the streets to practice on. As soon as children learn to walk they are taught to pee just like they would on a squat toilet. I must admit the first time I saw this I was a little uncomfortable seeing a child pee on the side of the road like a pet dog but one of my teachers mentioned the incredible speed at which a child is toilet trained, as well as the amount of waste that is saved from Chinese parents refraining from using diapers. As some of you might know, diapers are a huge concern in terms of the environment because they don’t decompose. Can you imagine how much waste is saved due to the Chinese population choosing to have their children squat and pee instead of using diapers?
Much like their knowledge of the weather, the Chinese follow a certain number of rules when it comes to seasons as well. I remember pulling out my sunglasses back in march when the sun started to shine a little stronger and asking one of my teachers why I never saw anyone else wear them. Her answer to this? “Because it isn’t May yet. Summer is not here yet”. You must be able to imagine my confusion because coming from Canada; the majority of people wear their sunglasses for sun protection... and not just in the summer. If it’s sunny, you wear your sunglasses! No need to have anyone tell you when and how right?
This was also the case with open-toed shoes. We had a few hot days last month, some exceeding the 30 degree mark and so I took out some of my open-toed shoes and started to wear them around school. Well, the looks I got from those shoes were anything but puzzling. “Noémie! Aren’t your feet cold? You will get sick!” said one of the Chinese teachers at my school. It was 31 degrees outside but because we were still in April, it was still designated as spring weather which meant that open-toed shoes were inappropriate!
These are the moments I came to China for. As confusing and nonsensical as they might be, I love to see how other cultures react to mundane things like the weather, or potty training, or even sun protection. These are sometimes the little things that some foreigners become increasingly frustrated with in China if they can’t assimilate, but I think that if you have a sense of humour you can turn anything into a good story.
(This post was originaly set to be up around May 10th)
Love you all
xx
China's Censorship
So a few weeks ago I discovered what most have already: China's Mighty Censoring.
Along with Youtube, I could no longer access my blog.
China seems to be intensifying their controls of the growing numbers of bloggers using the internet to lay bare their thoughts and politics, most probably because of the increased interest in China due to the Expo which is being held next May. I only cringe to think of what will come next as time draws closer to the opening date.
Until then I will keep blogging when possible using Web Proxy Blockers that enable me to bypass The Great Wall.
Thanks for keeping up with me and sorry for the wait!
Lots of love xx
Along with Youtube, I could no longer access my blog.
China seems to be intensifying their controls of the growing numbers of bloggers using the internet to lay bare their thoughts and politics, most probably because of the increased interest in China due to the Expo which is being held next May. I only cringe to think of what will come next as time draws closer to the opening date.
Until then I will keep blogging when possible using Web Proxy Blockers that enable me to bypass The Great Wall.
Thanks for keeping up with me and sorry for the wait!
Lots of love xx
Friday, May 8, 2009
Breakfast
Some of the older students that I speak to during my lunch hour "English Corner" brought me a delightful surprise this morning: Breakfast! The Chinese eat dumplings, rice, or bread for their morning meal and these dumplings are seriously some of the best things you will ever have a chance to taste.
What a treat.
xx!
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Watering trees
I've been visiting the park here in Qingpu every so often and have noticed that the caretakers water the larger trees.
I don't know why they do, but at certain times of the afternoon when the sun shines just right the water coming out of their hoses fall like little diamonds from the leaves and the sunshine streams through the branches like soft veils.
Oh what a sight.
xx!
Huangshan (Yellow Mountain) for May Day
May 1st was Labour Day here in China, and like every other Chinese person here, we packed our bags and headed out of the city. Huangshan was our destination, and despite having the worst luck actually getting there, I was so happy we did.
Let’s rewind back to April 5th.
We were on our way back from Qingdao, melancholic about having to go back to work after a beautiful break in a sea-side town, and in hopes of correcting our mood we determined that there was only 4 weeks until our next holiday. Hoorah! And what did we decide to do? Huangshan of course! Kate and Heather had planned to go during the April weekend but as luck would have it they couldn't find any available hostels to house them so the plan was delayed. Of course we thought this was perfect as we could then purchase our tickets early, book the right hostels, and have a fantastic trip in one of China's most majestic locations.
Well, it didn't turn out EXACTLY as planned. As the first week passed after our Qingdao Excursion, Kate and Heather went down on a Saturday to purchase our train tickets. We had decided that taking an overnight train would be beneficial in two ways: One; we would get to Tunxi (The neighbouring town of Huangshan) early on Friday as we would take the late train on Thursday and sleep through the 12 hour trek, and two, we would be experiencing the quintessential “Chinese” mode of transportation . Common, you can’t live in China without taking the train right?
Wrong!
Now this is where reality hits and suddenly you are corrected from thinking that China is a modern country equipped with a convenient, practical, and well thought out railway system. Yes Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Beijing offer serious advantages in terms of in-city metro service, but comparatively, China as a whole is still far behind when you consider the population and recent growth of this country.
For one thing, tickets are only released for a maximum of 10 days before each departure date. This meant that our train tickets to Huangshan were only going to be released 10 days prior to our trip... yes we were going to have to fight with 1.8 billion Chinese for our Soft Sleeper tickets. Gulp!
Fast forward to April 23 and the tickets still hadn’t been released. Now this is where we started to pull our hair out because at this point our trip had been planned and the hostel was booked so we just needed to get our hands on those damn tickets.
Well, we never got onto that train because when I went down at 12:30pm on Friday April 24th to buy our tickets, they were sold out. Yes between the time the station opened in the morning until 12:29pm those dear tickets were bought up. Now I have to hand it to the booth lady as she still tried to get me some “Hard Seat” and “Standing Room” tickets. Yes, you heard right, STANDING ROOM train tickets. Now I know I said I wanted to experience all things “China”, but heck, I wasn’t that desperate. 12 consecutive night hours standing anywhere is bad, never mind on a HOT crowded train.
The next day we rushed to the bus station to see if we could get our hands on some Friday morning tickets. Needless to say, we got our hands on some one-way tickets to Huangshan, and yes I said one-way because there is no such thing as RETURN tickets in China (I’m not kidding, you buy your ‘going’ ticket in your original city, and the ‘return’ ticket in the destination city...)
So a few high-fives and a week later we were on a 5 ½ hour bus ride to Tunxi. Upon arriving, we were picked up by the incredibly well connected owner of the hostel we staying in, and despite it having a different name than the one on the website we booked it on, we decided to stay and just try and enjoy the city before our 5am wake up the next day.
Tunxi has a wonderful Ancient street that holds some of the most interesting buildings I’d seen in a while and where we found a lovely little French-style cafe in which we sat and relaxed for a couple of hours before heading back to the hostel to get ready for the next day. It was really the break we needed after the rush we had experienced getting to the city.
We were picked up at 6am sharp the next morning to be driven an hour to the base of the mountain where we would then get on another bus that would drive us to the entrance of the mountains. Two hours later, we had gotten to our destination, purchased both entrance and cable car tickets and were climbing our first steps towards boarding the cable car.
I’m a bit of a dreamer – you could even say “a romantic” and I tend to exaggerate ideas a bit and there aren’t many things that meet those embellished expectations. But going up that cable car, through the glass windows that started collecting fat drops of rain, I saw peaks jutting up through wispy white clouds like giants reaching up for the skies. It was magical.
“Huangshan, known as 'the loveliest mountain of China', was acclaimed through art and literature during a good part of Chinese history. Today it holds the same fascination for visitors, poets, painters and photographers who come on pilgrimage to the site, which is renowned for its magnificent scenery made up of many granite peaks and rocks emerging out of a sea of clouds.
Mount Huangshan, or "Yellow Mountain", is named after a legendary Chinese sovereign Huang Di, also known as the Yellow Emperor. It is said that he became a hermit on this mountain and searched for enlightenment and immortality.
The stone steps took over 1500 years to build. There are said to be more than 60,000 in total. They are called "the hundred steps into the clouds".
For more info: visit http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/547 and click on the video link. You won’t be disappointed.
It took us eight hours in pouring rain to get from one side to the other, and I’ll be honest, there were moments when we would reach a peak and look out and see nothing but white fog, and in those moments we would just think “What the hell are we doing here???” but it was in those rare times that you would catch those oceans of clouds with jagged peaks jutting through that would just catch your breath. Everything would be worth it then. Those were the moments that made you remember why you were up there: you are thousands of feet in the air in heaven.
By the time we reached the bottom, we had spent 3 consecutive hours going down hundreds of steps and my legs felt like they had been hit a few times in the knee with a crow bar, and all we wanted to do was get back home, take off our soaking wet clothes and take a hot shower. We had climbed Huangshan for over 8 hours in pouring rain on nothing more than peanuts and bananas and by the time our heads hit our pillows that night, we were out. It was the nicest sleep I had had in a long time.
The next day we decided to take it easy and just stroll around the city before our 3pm bus. I purchased some Chinese shoes because my running shoes were still dripping from the day before and Kate and Heather found a few bracelets to bring back home.
The transportation was a nightmare, the hostel was less than perfect, the rain dampened our spirits, but the mountain saved our trip and I got away with great pictures and the fact that I can check it off my ever increasing to-do list. All in all, a good trip!
Here are a few memorable pictures: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2230002&id=172005214&l=121fe9d11c
For some good black and white pictures: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2229822&id=172005214&l=b0ba99f248
the entrance of Ancient Street... with construction of course.
I love the character
the little cafe that we had supper in on Friday and lunch on Sunday
Silk worms being milked at a silk shop
hello beautiful...
on our way down, about two hours before i thought my legs were going to fail me.
Let’s rewind back to April 5th.
We were on our way back from Qingdao, melancholic about having to go back to work after a beautiful break in a sea-side town, and in hopes of correcting our mood we determined that there was only 4 weeks until our next holiday. Hoorah! And what did we decide to do? Huangshan of course! Kate and Heather had planned to go during the April weekend but as luck would have it they couldn't find any available hostels to house them so the plan was delayed. Of course we thought this was perfect as we could then purchase our tickets early, book the right hostels, and have a fantastic trip in one of China's most majestic locations.
Well, it didn't turn out EXACTLY as planned. As the first week passed after our Qingdao Excursion, Kate and Heather went down on a Saturday to purchase our train tickets. We had decided that taking an overnight train would be beneficial in two ways: One; we would get to Tunxi (The neighbouring town of Huangshan) early on Friday as we would take the late train on Thursday and sleep through the 12 hour trek, and two, we would be experiencing the quintessential “Chinese” mode of transportation . Common, you can’t live in China without taking the train right?
Wrong!
Now this is where reality hits and suddenly you are corrected from thinking that China is a modern country equipped with a convenient, practical, and well thought out railway system. Yes Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Beijing offer serious advantages in terms of in-city metro service, but comparatively, China as a whole is still far behind when you consider the population and recent growth of this country.
For one thing, tickets are only released for a maximum of 10 days before each departure date. This meant that our train tickets to Huangshan were only going to be released 10 days prior to our trip... yes we were going to have to fight with 1.8 billion Chinese for our Soft Sleeper tickets. Gulp!
Fast forward to April 23 and the tickets still hadn’t been released. Now this is where we started to pull our hair out because at this point our trip had been planned and the hostel was booked so we just needed to get our hands on those damn tickets.
Well, we never got onto that train because when I went down at 12:30pm on Friday April 24th to buy our tickets, they were sold out. Yes between the time the station opened in the morning until 12:29pm those dear tickets were bought up. Now I have to hand it to the booth lady as she still tried to get me some “Hard Seat” and “Standing Room” tickets. Yes, you heard right, STANDING ROOM train tickets. Now I know I said I wanted to experience all things “China”, but heck, I wasn’t that desperate. 12 consecutive night hours standing anywhere is bad, never mind on a HOT crowded train.
The next day we rushed to the bus station to see if we could get our hands on some Friday morning tickets. Needless to say, we got our hands on some one-way tickets to Huangshan, and yes I said one-way because there is no such thing as RETURN tickets in China (I’m not kidding, you buy your ‘going’ ticket in your original city, and the ‘return’ ticket in the destination city...)
So a few high-fives and a week later we were on a 5 ½ hour bus ride to Tunxi. Upon arriving, we were picked up by the incredibly well connected owner of the hostel we staying in, and despite it having a different name than the one on the website we booked it on, we decided to stay and just try and enjoy the city before our 5am wake up the next day.
Tunxi has a wonderful Ancient street that holds some of the most interesting buildings I’d seen in a while and where we found a lovely little French-style cafe in which we sat and relaxed for a couple of hours before heading back to the hostel to get ready for the next day. It was really the break we needed after the rush we had experienced getting to the city.
We were picked up at 6am sharp the next morning to be driven an hour to the base of the mountain where we would then get on another bus that would drive us to the entrance of the mountains. Two hours later, we had gotten to our destination, purchased both entrance and cable car tickets and were climbing our first steps towards boarding the cable car.
I’m a bit of a dreamer – you could even say “a romantic” and I tend to exaggerate ideas a bit and there aren’t many things that meet those embellished expectations. But going up that cable car, through the glass windows that started collecting fat drops of rain, I saw peaks jutting up through wispy white clouds like giants reaching up for the skies. It was magical.
“Huangshan, known as 'the loveliest mountain of China', was acclaimed through art and literature during a good part of Chinese history. Today it holds the same fascination for visitors, poets, painters and photographers who come on pilgrimage to the site, which is renowned for its magnificent scenery made up of many granite peaks and rocks emerging out of a sea of clouds.
Mount Huangshan, or "Yellow Mountain", is named after a legendary Chinese sovereign Huang Di, also known as the Yellow Emperor. It is said that he became a hermit on this mountain and searched for enlightenment and immortality.
The stone steps took over 1500 years to build. There are said to be more than 60,000 in total. They are called "the hundred steps into the clouds".
For more info: visit http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/547 and click on the video link. You won’t be disappointed.
It took us eight hours in pouring rain to get from one side to the other, and I’ll be honest, there were moments when we would reach a peak and look out and see nothing but white fog, and in those moments we would just think “What the hell are we doing here???” but it was in those rare times that you would catch those oceans of clouds with jagged peaks jutting through that would just catch your breath. Everything would be worth it then. Those were the moments that made you remember why you were up there: you are thousands of feet in the air in heaven.
By the time we reached the bottom, we had spent 3 consecutive hours going down hundreds of steps and my legs felt like they had been hit a few times in the knee with a crow bar, and all we wanted to do was get back home, take off our soaking wet clothes and take a hot shower. We had climbed Huangshan for over 8 hours in pouring rain on nothing more than peanuts and bananas and by the time our heads hit our pillows that night, we were out. It was the nicest sleep I had had in a long time.
The next day we decided to take it easy and just stroll around the city before our 3pm bus. I purchased some Chinese shoes because my running shoes were still dripping from the day before and Kate and Heather found a few bracelets to bring back home.
The transportation was a nightmare, the hostel was less than perfect, the rain dampened our spirits, but the mountain saved our trip and I got away with great pictures and the fact that I can check it off my ever increasing to-do list. All in all, a good trip!
Here are a few memorable pictures: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2230002&id=172005214&l=121fe9d11c
For some good black and white pictures: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2229822&id=172005214&l=b0ba99f248
the entrance of Ancient Street... with construction of course. I love the character the little cafe that we had supper in on Friday and lunch on Sunday Silk worms being milked at a silk shop hello beautiful... stairs thousands of feet in the air
magic...
peaks coming through the clouds
a hotel on the top of the mountain coming through fog
heaven at the end of the stairs
on our way down, about two hours before i thought my legs were going to fail me.
Hope you enjoy! xx
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