Commuting to Work

Took the subway to work today for the first time in a couple of weeks, and I remember why I stopped.

1) Stations are massive. It takes too long to walk from one platform to another just to switch lines.

2) Stations are crowded. Even outside of rush hours, the subways are jammed packed with people. Hot. Sweaty. Smelly. People. It is even worse when the train lacks a.c. A million times worse.

3) It is slower than biking. Biking to work takes only 30-40 minutes, depending on what routes I decide to take that day. Subways take more than an hour.

4) It is painfully boring. Advertisements. Bland walls. Bored faces. My iPod Touch can only provide so much entertainment.

Heaven or Hell?

Walking around Beijing, it is difficult not to come across the homeless, many of whom are severely disabled. I have seen both a man with no arms and a man with no arms or legs. I have seen mentally retarded kids. I saw a severely burned woman yesterday, laying almost naked on the side of a subway stop, perhaps hoping that others' pity and sympathy will allow her to eat that night. Alongside these people with the most unfortunate circumstances, there were also your "regular" beggars, possessing all their limbs, tugging on your shirt sleeves for spare change.

These intense, vivid scenes really make me think about the effects of China's modernization and economic development. China's miraculous economic turnaround has made countless Chinese citizens enormously wealthy by any standard. In the streets, I see Mercedes, Rolls-Royce and, once, a BMW that was gold-plated from bumper to bumper. In fact, over 2,000 new cars are added to Beijing's roads every single day. The magnificent skyscrapers, many designed by the most famous of architects, pop up around the city almost overnight and testify to wealth brought by the boom.

But at the same time, the ill effects are just as stark. The wealth gap is widening at a constantly-increasing pace. Minorities are still at a disadvantaged. Migrant workers are often without legal rights; their kids without avenues for education. The poor finds it extremely difficult to significantly increase its wealth. Social mobility is still lagging far behind more developed nations.

Ironically, my Chinese lesson for tomorrow is titled "天堂? 地狱?" (Heaven or Hell)? When I first glanced at the heading, I expected a paper broadly discussing some religious viewpoint, probably written by some author I didn't recognize but who is widely read in China. I was right about everything but the subject matter; in actuality, the article was about America and all its contradictions. The Civil Rights Movement occurred in the 1960s, and yet today, blacks in America still face insulting stereotypes and are severely underrepresented in leadership positions. The homeless live in the same cities as those who splurge carelessly on luxurious fur coats and fine dining. The United States is both like Heaven and like Hell, it just depends on who you are.

While preparing for the lesson, I first felt very defensive at some of the observations made by the author. It was obvious to me that he or she had only a shallow understanding of America, and to hear her make arguments based on poor examples was quite maddening.

Then, it dawned on me. Wasn't I doing just the same? I am already making highly critical comments about a society that I was only just beginning to understand. My impressions are probably just as unfounded as those presented in the lesson. It is just too easy to criticize from the outside. Hopefully, over the next two years I'm here, this land will become more familiar, its customs and habits more sensible.

An Adventure in Beijing

So, I traveled to Beijing this past weekend to see friends and experience first-hand the feverish Olympic atmosphere.

Friends

I was lucky because the Yale Club of Beijing was having a BBQ for alumni and students that very weekend. Eating free food, seeing old friends and meeting new people - three of my favorite things in life.

The Yale Club booked a rooftop bar called Kokomo in the Sanlitun neighborhood. The sun was out (a very rare event in Beijing), the food was good, the drinks were flowing, the company was fun.

I also met up with a few good friends and teachers from my last summer in Beijing. That was probably the most fun part of the weekend. Chatting and eating with them really brought back some good memories of some really great times we've had together.

798

One of my favorite places in Beijing is the 798 Art District. It's a place where young and hip artists can put up galleries with some really great works.

The gallery that really caught my attention this time was one where they displayed traditional Chinese landscape paintings.

Well... from afar anyways. When I first glanced at it, it didn't seem so unique. I've come across many such works, with it's really oriental mountains and trees with a typical temple somewhere. However, when I took a second glance, it was actually quite different.

What had appeared as beautiful green mountains were actually piles of dirt and rock covered with a green wrap. What had appeared as morning fog and clouds were actually smoke and dust blowing from the factories. The lakes looked beautiful far away but was actually extremely polluted up-close. What was this artist trying to say about the current state of China? Hmmm...

Here's another set:

Beijing's Facelift

It is as if the entire city went to a plastic surgeon and got a face lift. The city has changed so much from my trip last summer!

The most obvious difference is the landscape of the city. For example, last year, the piece of land in front of the university where I stayed at was all shacks and small restaurants. The sidewalk was filled with locals and college students streaming in and out. There were fruit and vegetable carts, soup carts, and carts selling items I can't even describe. Furthermore, you would only have to walk a block further to eat at the jiaozi stand, where you can order 10 dumplings for 3 kuai (>50 cents).

Fast forward to this summer: the area in front of the university has been cleared out. There is a very nice and modern high-rise in place of the shacks. The sidewalks have been completely rebuilt. The carts? All gone. The jiaozi stand? Shut down.

Now, multiply that by a gazillion and you have Beijing.

The change is more than just visual though. You can feel it. The atmosphere is suffocating. The feeling comes from the city looking too... sterile and clean. It's just not like Beijing. I'm not talking about the trash on the sidewalks, but more of the previously mentioned small family businesses that use to crowd the streets. Also, the addition of a million security officers throughout the city doesn't help. You see them everywhere (so carry around your passport)!

Furthermore, the addition of countless new and absurd regulations might have contributed to this starchy mood. For example, you have to be a student at a college to be allowed on campus. For me, that means I could not step foot on any of the colleges in Beijing because I didn't possess a student ID. This made things really difficult because I had planned on staying with a friend who is studying at Beijing Language University (I had to lie every night to the guard to get in. Bad.).

Stadiums

The stadiums built for the 08 Olympics are pretty sweet. I haven't seen anything like the Bird's Nest or the Swimming Cube. Amazing works of architecture.

The atmosphere isn't that great though. The reason? It is (surprise!) the extreme security measures. Ordinary public was not allowed to get close to the stadiums, which is ironic because many of the Olympic architects had the theme of "openness" in mind.

Roads

The government really screwed up on this one.

They decided that cars with even-numbered license plates would drive one day and those with odd numbered license plates would drive the next. I thought this was a great idea. It would get rid of the infamous traffic jams in Beijing and, even better, help out our environment.

However, then, Beijing decided to also close down almost 1/3 of its major roadways and designate a lane on the remainder just for Olympic-affiliated cars. Talking to the taxi drivers I met, these regulations have made the traffic situation worse than ever. Taxis are forced to take detours on small roads that were never suited for high traffic volume. On two lane roads, one lane would be jammed as far as the eye could see while the other is completely empty (because the Olympics were still 20 days away!). Every once in a while, while I would still be crawling or not moving at all, I would see a car just fly past me on the Olympic lane, nothing in his way to stop him. Hate.

Nightlife

In the name of security, Beijing has closed down some of its best clubs. Vix, Mix, Propaganda... the list goes on.

What are foreigners going to do at night?

Getting back to Shanghai

My friends and I missed the train. Seriously. It was a terrible experience.

An hour before the train was to depart, we tried to get a taxi. However, no one would take us! Why? Dunno...

So we thought about the subway. However, the stop at the railroad station was shut down for security (see a trend here?) precautions. So, we ended up taking the subway to the nearest stop and run (with all our luggage) to the railroad station. Hot, tired, sweaty, and sore... all for not.

We ran around for another while trying to figure out who to contact and what to do to get out of Beijing. Somehow, we ended up on the last train out. On hard seats. The train was extremely uncomfortable, but it was taking us back to Shanghai!

Bunny Funerals and Bike Rides

So two weeks ago, a couple of my friends fell in love with a little bunny that was being sold on the side of the street. They bought it and named it Pepper. A couple of days later, they bought him a companion and named it Caramel. 

They were very tiny and cute, and they provided a lot of warmth and fun... for two weeks. 

A couple of days ago, I went over to my friend's apartment to pick up some pirated DVDs she had bought for me. Instead of DVDs, I found her lying next to a convulsing Caramel. His head was in a really awkward position, and he would jerk his legs every once in a while. I think he airways were blocked, so we actually tried bunny CPR. Nothing worked; the jerks slowed and then eventually, they stopped. Traumatic experience, to see it die and feeling helpless.

We buried Caramel under a tree in the Serenity Club Garden, right behind our apartments.   

A couple of days later (Yesterday), Pepper passed away as well. He died while everyone was work, so nobody experienced his passing away. Did he succumb to heartbreak, or did he die of similar causes (horrible diet before the sale, bad genes, any more ideas?) 

Pepper was buried with his favorite bowl under the same tree as Caramel.

The graves were shallow, so I hope it doesn't rain for a few days...

Lesson of the Day: Don't buy bunnies off the street in China. 

Biking Through the Countryside

This past Saturday, I went biking with other Yalies through the countryside. It was hot, humid (90+ weather), and FUN! 

Then, we spent the rest of the day at a watertown next to Shanghai. It was like a small scale, Chinese version of Venice. Very lovely.