China - The Power Shift Part II

Note: Part I was posted August 25th 2008
.

Guo Qiao Mi Xian - Yunnan Style Restaurant in the Dong Chen District

To see more photos, read about this restaurant and get menu details go to 

my Facebook Link 

.

And I wondered why I was being called an OWL...

Chinese Pinyin: mao tou ying

The Great Wall of China People!!!

Did you know... The Great Wall stretches over approximately 6,400 km (4,000 miles) from Shanhaiguan in the east to Lop Nur in the west, along an arc that roughly delineates the southern edge of Inner Mongolia.

At its peak, the Ming Wall (as it was known due to being built in the Ming Dynasty) was guarded by more than one million men. It has been estimated that somewhere in the range of 2 to 3 million Chinese died as part of the centuries-long project of building the wall.

To see my photos of The WALL click on this link:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=146161&l=6b337&id=765345537

.

The Water Cube! SOoo... Cool!!!

Okay, as the World was watching Michael Phelps, I was looking at the coolest building inside and out! Check out my FaceBook Link. 

In school, competitive swimming was my only sport...

I loved the smell of the chlorine and the filtered humidity inside the Water Cube.

This was a GREAT day - and Canada won a Medal!!! P.

A UNESCO World Heritage Site is...

A site (such as a forest, mountain, lake, desert, monument, building, complex, or city) that is on the list maintained by the international World Heritage Programme administered by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, composed of 21 state parties^[1] which are elected by the General Assembly of States Parties for a four-year term.^[2]

The programme catalogues, names, and conserves sites of outstanding cultural or natural importance to the common heritage of humanity. Under certain conditions, listed sites can obtain funds from the World Heritage Fund. The programme was founded with the Convention Concerning the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage,^[3] which was adopted by the General Conference of UNESCO on November 16, 1972. Since then, 185 states have ratified the convention.

As of 2008, 878 sites are listed: 678 cultural, 174 natural, and 26 mixed properties, in 145 states.^[4][5] Italy is home to the greatest number of World Heritage Sites to date with 43 sites inscribed to the list. UNESCO references each World Heritage Site with an identification number; but new inscriptions often include previous sites now listed as part of larger descriptions. As a result, the identification numbers exceed 1200 even though there are fewer on the list.

Wikipedia

Link to the Official UNESCO Website: http://whc.unesco.org/

China - The Power Shift Part I

Tiananmen Square - A Canadian Perspective

Jan Wong, a Canadian of Chinese descent, went to China as a starry-eyed Maoist in 1972 at the height of the Cultural Revolution. A true believer -- and one of only two Westerners permitted to enroll at Beijing University -- her education included wielding a pneumatic drill at the Number One Machine Tool Factory. In the name of the Revolution, she renounced rock and roll, hauled pig manure in the paddy fields, and turned in a fellow student who sought her help in getting to the United States. She also met and married the only American draft dodger from the Vietnam War to seek asylum in China.

Red China Blues begins as Wong's startling -- and ironic -- memoir of her rocky six-year romance with Maoism that began to sour as she became aware of the harsh realities of Chinese communism and led to her eventual repatriation to the West. Returning to China in the late eighties as a journalist, she covered both the brutal Tiananmen Square crackdown and the tumultuous era of capitalist reforms under Deng Xiaoping. In a wry, absorbing, and often surreal narrative, she relates the horrors that led to her disillusionment with the "worker's paradise." And through the stories of the people -- an unhappy young woman who was sold into marriage, China's most famous dissident, a doctor who lengthens penises -- Wong creates an extraordinary portrait of the world's most populous nation. In setting out to show readers in the Western world what life is like in China, and why we should care, Wong reacquaints herself with the old friends -- and enemies -- of her radical past, and comes to terms with the legacies of her ancestral homeland.

Review Quotes
"With her unique perspective, Jan Wong has given us front row seats at Mao's theater of the absurd. It is hard not to laugh and cry...this book will become a classic, a must-read for anyone interested in China." -- Fox Butterfield, The New York Times

"This superb memoir is like no other account of life in China under both Mao and Deng...Her description of the events at Tiananmen Square, which occurred on her watch, is, like the rest of the book, unique, powerful and moving." -- Publishers Weekly

About this Author
Jan Wong was the Beijing correspondent for the Toronto Globe and Mail from 1988 to 1994. She is a graduate of McGill University and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, and is the recipient of the George Polk Award, and other honors for her reporting. Wong has written for The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, among many other publications in the United States and abroad. She lives in Toronto.

This article came from RandomHouse.ca a worthy read.

Recycling - there is no excuse!

Troop of the 100 - Population Humor!

National Stadium aka The Bird's Nest

This structure is amazing! 

Take a look at "How it was Built" 

I had the opportunity to see the Athletics Event:

For Photos of the interior click on my Facebook Link!

.

The Sacred Lotus Blossom...

Also known as a Water-Lily, is seen all over in Beijing... I find it's beauty breathtaking.

The Chinese revere the sacred lotus as a symbol of purity and elegance, maybe this is why it speaks to me... All things I adore can be described with those two words. P.

M. Ward Chinese Translation

Word of the Week: Hutong

People say that the real culture of Beijing is "the culture of hutong" and "the culture of courtyard". How true that is. Often, it is Beijing's winding hutongs that attract tourists from home and abroad rather than the high-rise buildings and large mansions.

Hutong is a typical lane or small street in Beijing that originated during the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368). "Hutong" is a Mongolian word, meaning "water well". During that time, water well is the settlement around which people lived. There are tens of thousands of hutongs surrounding the Forbidden City. In the past, Beijing was composed of countless courtyards. Hutongs were formed when people left a passageway between two courtyards to make entering them more convenient.

As the symbol of Beijing City, a hutong has its own layout and structure, which makes it a wonder in the world. When taking a bird's eye view of Beijing, you will find the combination of hutongs and courtyards just like an orderly chessboard with delicate gardens, fine rockeries, and ancient ruins. Hutongs have witnessed the development of Beijing. Where there is a hutong, there is a story.

Among the numerous hutongs in Beijing, Beixinqiao Hutong has the most turns. There are more than 20 in which you can easily get lost. The narrowest is Qian Shi Hutong (Money Market Hutong), measuring about 30 to 40 meters (32 to 44 yards), located in Zhubao Shi Street outside the Front Gate. The narrowest part is merely 40 centimeters (16 inches) wide, so when two people meet, they must turn sideways to pass each other. The longest one is Dong Jiaomin Hutong, with a total length of 6.5 kilometers (4 miles), lying between Chang'an Avenue and East Street and West Street of the Front Gate. The shortest one is Guantong Hutong measuring about 30 meters (33 yards).

TravelChinaGuide.com

FACE Beijing - Oh So International!

48 hours in town... My dear friend Miss Jessica took me to her favorite haunt.

We had an incredible Thai Dinner and afterwords sat in the garden underneath the spooky tree lanterns.

To see more photos - follow this link to my Facebook Album.

FACE: Shanghai, Pudong, Jakarta, Bangkok and...

Face Beijing - at 26 Dong Cao Yan, Gong Ti Nan Lu Chao Yan Qu

Tel. +(86-10) 6551-6788 call for reservations.

The Facebar... with it's Chinese Deco and International Cocktails is open late!

FACE - Three restaurants in one:

Hazara... Indian Quisine.

Lan Na Thai... Thai Quisine.

Jia...  Chinese Quisine. 

Reviews: 
http://www.luxury-insider.com/Regulars/Reviews_and_Commentary/Face_Beijing/

http://www.cityweekend.com.cn/beijing/listings/dining/indian/has/hazara-indian-restaurant-face-beijing/

Beijing Welcomes You - No. 1 Song in China!

I get by with a little help from my friends...

How did I get to China? You ask.... 

Well let me tell you, as referenced in my "Someone Throw WATER on me" post of July 13th my dear friend Miss Jessica:

...was working for a Company called Jet Set Sports... and I contacted her after updating my resume and voila! Three hours later, I was being offered a contract and on my way to get a Chinese Visa. 

Now that I am in Beijing, I am making new friends: 

Miss Chen Ciu or Tracy which she has chosen for me to call her is my translator, my assistant, my right hand and my new best friend! She is a 19 year old sophomore studying to be an English Teacher. She is an only child and when not living on campus during the year, lives with her parents and a puppy named Lizzy.

I love this girl, she is absolutely endearing and I am so grateful for her guidance and support, especially when she grabs my hand when we cross the street ;P How could you not appreciate someone who says, 

"Anything you need - in your life, just call me."

Could you ever ask for anything more? I think not.  Ah... friends xo P.

To see more photos from this photo shoot at The Temple of Heaven...

 Log onto my Facebook Album: 

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=144370&l=82c6e&id=765345537

.

Beijing - First Impressions...

Well, I gotta tell you... Air China has Air Canada beat on space, service, entertainment and even food! I was VERY impressed all round. You can't imagine the leg room - and that said, the Chinese people are not BIG people - in general. Which begs the question - why are we (Canadians AND Americans) being crammed into planes like sardines? Is the Flight Industry indirectly sending our growing... populations a message? 

Making the best of my middle seat, I bonded with my fellow passengers using my iPhone's Lonely Planet Mandarin Application... SO fun, we laughed and entertained each other with pronuciation games until it was time to watch movies. We had 11 hours to watch films and I must say, I was suprised that every other film was a Western one with Chinese subtitiles... How very accommodating. That said, I enjoyed the Chinese films even more - great storytelling! 

Ooo... Here's something I could not predict half way through the flight - a film intermission. 27 Dresses was paused and a new DVD was loaded for an Inflight Yoga Stretch Break... WOW this was better than the "sit & be fit" classes I witnessed on Cruise Ships years ago. So great! Fifteen minutes later, we were back watching our silly rom-com, bizarre but appreciated.

Once we landed in Beijing I entered the largest airport I have been in to date - and I've been in a few... To give you some perspective, it is six times larger than Heathrow's new Terminal no. 5.

 The Beijing Capital International Airport

According to the website: A Guide to Beijing:

Terminal 1 & 2 operating at capacity and Beijing's air traffic growing at 20% a year, the 2008 Olympics demanded an immediate solution. This resulted in the US $4.6 billion Terminal 3. 

The Feng Shui compliant Terminal 3 is the creation of Britian's Norman Foster. With Chinese red columns and a muted gold roof it evokes traditional Chinese colors in a modern design. Looking at the airport from above, the raised scales on its back and long body it looks like a flying dragon!

This structure opened March 2008, it took 3-1/2 years using 50,000 works, a half million tonnes of steel and two million tonnes of concrete. It extends for almost three kilometers. Ten thousand villagers had to be relocated from the area surrounding Terminal 3 to accommodate the newly generated traffic to the Capital of China... 

And we get upset that some people's livelihood was affected by the business closures on Cambie Street due to the underground tunnel being built for the airport subway route motivated by our upcoming Winter Olympics in 2010. Hmm... Ironically a Canadian built shuttle train runs up the centre of the dragon airport, connecting it's three main sections. 

I exit the terminal to encounter the same odor I found permiating the atmosphere in Paris a few years ago - a mix of 2nd hand smoke and exhaust... Everything inside seemed to be so new, fresh and squeeky clean but out here, waiting in a taxi line, I feel like I am being covered in soot.  Once in town (about a 20 min. drive) I arrive at the office of the company I have been hired to begin my contract career... I look out the window from the 26th floor and wonder if the haze that I see is summer fog due to the 95% percent humidity or the polution that I hear so much about - I assume a bit of both...

This is going to be interesting... stay tuned. xo P.

My Beijing Experience Wish List...

• Watch the flag raising ceremony at Sunrise in Tian' An Men Square
  
  
• Hike the Great Wall of China and visit the Ming Tombs
  
  
• Take a Bike tour of the Forbidden City
  
  
• Visit the Summer Palace & the Temple of Heaven
  
  
• Go to the National Art Gallery and explore Artist Street.
  
  
• Go see the Pandas at the Beijing Zoo
  
  
• Meditate in the Botanical Gardens in the Xiangshan Mountains.
  
  
• Walk & Shop Wangfujing Street the NEON heart of the City.
  
  
• Go to the Natural History Museum and see the Peking Man.
  
  
• Go to the top of the CCTV Tower for a bird's eye view....
  
  
• Say HI to the folks at the Canadian Embassy!
  
  
• Experience the Peking Opera at the Grand Theatre
  
  
• Check out the 798 Art District
  
  
• Go for Peking Duck at the Bianyifang Roast Duck Restaurant - I hear it is the best!
  
  
• Take a Cooking Class ;P
  
  
• Sing Karaoke at Melody in the North Chaoyang District.
  
  
• Bargain hunt at the Xiu Shui Market - Mall aka Silk Street
  
  
• Boat across the man made lake at Behai Park to go out and play in the Hou Hai - Bar District
  
  
• Wake up before sunrise and go to the Panijiayuan Antique Market.
  
  
• Lastly, it goes without saying... See as many Olympic Summer Games as my schedule will allow :P
  .

Easiest way to get to Beijing Olympics...