Hi Ya’ll!
Thanks for keeping up with me and staying interested in my travel experiences here.
Sorry for the delay. I finally have some photos to share.
Check out some photos on my Flickr.
My cybershot died just before my trip, so I am mostly shooting with my Leica on real film, but here are a few I’ve shot with Henry’s Casio. He always goes on and on about his 10 Megapixel which I was only using on about 1/5 of what it is capable of…my cybershot was from 03, so it was about time for an upgrade anyway. It served me well. RIP Cybershot!
More Survival Mandarin (Sorry I can’t add accents, which is the key to being understood)
How large is the engine? (and I mean that to be suggestive motorheads!)
Fadongji pailiang shi duo da de?
Can you put my photos on a disk?
Ni neng ba wo de xiangpian kao zai yi zheng pan shang ma?
Dude, this band rocks!
Gemenr, zhei yuedui zhen niu! (yes, there is a word for “dude,” dude.)
More Equivalents:
1)
waterfall = pubu
Cool news for New York from PSFK: Olafur Eliasson, the Danish–Icelandic artist known for installing a massive sun in the Tate Modern, has just announced his plans to create a series of free standing waterfalls in the East River. The waterfalls will rise 60-70 feet in the air and be visible from the area around the Seaport,..
(Source More at PSFK )
2)
Beijing boys have haircuts to rival our coolest LES boys! (photos to come)
3)
Pet stores here are just like the ones back home except there are tiny piglets and chinchillas you will want to touch. No doggies in this mall pet store. For some reason most of the kitties had little smooshed faces. So cute.
4)
Bowling here includes larger than life photos of ladies in lingerie. Bowling babes at Gongti 100 Bowling and Tennis Center. 150 RMB/hr on the lanes with 5 RMB shoes. Can’t remember what the going price is a Gutter, but I don’t think you get an on screen dancing turkey when you get a double strike, thank you very much! My first bowling Turkey!
Historic Sites I have visited:
Tian’anmen Square It is covered in surveillance cameras. Hard to really process what happened there. Apparently, there is no official body count and many where killed along the wide boulevards leading up to the square. The square sits just south of the Forbidden City. Together they are the central axis of this city. Remembering that the symbol for China is center of the world, symbolism is huge here. All points begin here.
Forbidden City
I was most struck by the scaffolding and AmEx icon on every title plaque. Apparently, there used to be a Starbucks with the Forbidden City walls, but due to protest (from who I can’t imagine!), your nearest seasonal latte is waiting for you outside. There are also a number of basketball courts inside the courtyards. Basketball is now being taught to children in school rather than general Physical Ed. Watch out America, China rules Ping Pong, Gymnastics, Hurdling, and now Basketball. Though not all are as tall as Yao Ming! The audio playing through out the historic site has been translated to English.
The Great Wall
There are many points on which you can enter and climb the wall. The closest location to the city is about 1 hour outside the city, taking the special expressway. I was lucky enough to join some visiting friends in their car to The Great Wall. Upon arrival, we found great comfort in finding a Starbucks and knowing that they would have western style bathrooms and welcome the public. Ain’t no shame in patronizing a Starbucks when you are a million miles from home. We decided to take the tram up and make a decision about how to get down, once we reached the top. Tickets for the tram will run you 60 RMB round trip and 40 RMB for entry onto The Great Wall. The tram takes you to a resting area where you can get some food and souvenirs and you can either continue up toward the peak or start your decent. At the peak, you can be photographed with a banner and receive a certificate that acknowledges your assent to the top! It was the steepest walk I’ve ever taken. I’d suggest tram up, walk up the last bit to the top, and walk down. It is much more fun walking down.
I did feel like a bit of a wimp when I saw the occasional hardcore woman climbing up in heels. No Joke. Don’t mess with Chinese women. Oh, and do buy a “I Climbed The Great Wall” t-shirt, even if you just climbed down. I haven’t seen them available in the city and I am really regretting it. I just imagine walking down the street in New York in the spring, rocking my t-shirt that reads “I Climbed Down (in sharpie) The Great Wall.” Yes, it would make the boys drool and I would remember I had accomplished something not everyone can say they have. BUY A CHEAP T-SHIRT and get me one, please! (FYI Mandarin translation for “Great Wall T-shirt” = Changcheng T-xushan)
The Temple of Heaven Park
Besides the totally radical name, the park is awesome because of all the local activity here. As you enter, you see an organized group working out doing some Tai Chi and walk down the avenue and stroll across water calligraphy on the stone ground that has begun to fade into air or ice. It is such a poetic and beautiful sight. Even without understanding a word, the temporal nature of the art is breathtaking. As you approach another gate, you are likely to spot couples dancing doing the tango or other classical dances to music playing from a small PA. It is like a scene from a Wong Kar Wai film. Every gate requires another ticket and eventually leads you to the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests. The Hall of Abstinence and Echo Wall are also at this site.
Sites I’ve visited at Dashanzi 798 Art District this week:
Ullens Centre for Contemporary Art (UCCA)
Faurschou Gallery
798 PhotoGallery
Timezone 8 Bookstore
’85 New Wave at the Ullens Centre for Contemporary Art (UCCA) is the only show I’ve seen here that really helped me to look at the work in a historic context and helped me better understand the other forms of cultural production you will see wandering the small streets in the 798 area. On the labels next to the work, information like where the artist was born and educated was listed, something that would have been more valuable if I had a better understanding of the different regions in China, as well as, the kind of education offered at art schools here. I am always curious if the cultural exchange that really impacted these visual and performative artists is more formal or informal. It’s not like these schools have had rigorous visiting artists programs bringing International artists here. There is a new book out that might enlighten me, called “Airplanes and Parachutes: A Jonathan Napack Anthology.” You can find this book at Timezone 8 Bookstore.
One of my favorite artists I saw in the ’85 New Wave show is Zheng Peili. His pieces “Artistic Project: Document No. 2” (1987) and his video “30x30” (1988) really rocked my world. Let me quote from pieces “Artistic Project: Document No. 2” This plan aims to realize a dialogue and the peeping of it. The whole plan consists of eight parts:…
& check out:
Lawrence Weiner:To Allow the Light
There is a wall text piece by Weiner at the Ullens Center, as well.
Wish I could be there to see some of these time-based pieces.
UCCA brings Legendary Conceptual Artist Lawrence Weiner to Beijing for an artist’s talk and panel discussion, presented in conjunction with a selection of the artist’s short films, videos and books.
Lawrence Weiner (b. 1942, Bronx, New York) is one of the leading figures of conceptual art. Since first gaining international recognition in the 1960s, Weiner has used language as the primary vehicle for his work, challenging traditional assumptions about art’s authorship and reception. The artist has had major solo exhibitions at museums worldwide, including a large-scale retrospective at the Whitney Museum of American Art, on view through February 2008. In addition to his text-based works, Weiner is a prolific filmmaker and has created dozens of artist books.
TO ALLOW THE LIGHT and related film and library programs organized by UCCA curator David Spalding.
IN NEW YORK, you can see...
Whitney Museum of American Art / Anthology Film Archives
Lawrence Weiner:
Complete Films and Videos
January 23-29, 2008
PLEASE LOOK AT THE CAMERA.
EVERYBODY KNOWS THAT IT
IS THERE.
Read more about the founders, Guy and Myriam Ullens and the ’85 New Wave Movement: The Birth of Chinese Contemporary Art curated by Fei Dawei at www.ullens-center.org.
Galleri Faurschou which just opened its Beijing gallery doors with the opening of the Robert Rauschenberg: Three Decades show after his first a solo show in China 1985 at the National Art Gallery, Beijing as part of his Rauschenberg Overseas Culture Interchange tour. This show is said to have made a huge impact at a critical time for artists in China. Rauschenberg was the first major Western artist to come to China after Deng Xiaoping’s 1980’s cultural exchange policy enacted. The work spans 80s, 90s and 2000’s. I was impressed. Not because it was big and had a color scheme that reminds you of some sun faded 70s polaroids, but because he came here made these images that eventually entered into his personal language and resonated with me as someone new here. It felt familiar and new. I loved the connections he created with images from his photographic documentation. The gallery has an impressive line up of established Western artists to exhibit in ’08.
Read more about the show and the gallery.
And read about China’s economic growth since then in NYT.
798 PhotoGallery has a show of large color photographs that document people with their things. Lined up like a garage sale, each of these portraits shows something about the people being photographed, the place where they live, and how modern China is shaping their daily lives. The photographs are by Ma Hongjie & Huang Qingjun and titled “Family Stuff.”
What’s New for nights out:
High
If you are looking for a night out and not on a budget, I’d recommend the new bar/club Song in The Place Mall (home of the largest outdoor LCD screen). It is one of the only places charging a cover, but they have projected video and a nice sound system and the design by Zhong Song is worth a trip in and of its self. They host international DJs and VJs, attracting some very interesting Beijing folk. 50 RMB to come in and about 50 RMB per drink, I recommend the Moscow Mule or Lychee Martini.
Low
On the quieter north side of the popular hutong Nan Lougu Xiang in Dongcheng district near the Drum and Bell towers and the Houhai area, you will find one of the coolest low key, Chinese owned bars ever. From what I understand, the owner built the space & furniture inside. The furniture inside is reminiscent of New Zealand designer David Trubridge and the use of ubiquitous office ceiling panels drilled with peepholes for walls is very cool. It is called Si…if and it just opened, with a couple other locations on the popular backpackers cities like Dali. Drinks are very reasonably priced. Henry & I had a beer and rum & coke for 50 RMB. We attended a small birthday gathering where the bar had prepared a table with bottle of Chivas Regal and green tea, a popular way to take your whiskey.
Some Staples:
As some of you are thinking of making a trip to Beijing,
I’ll tell you about some places I think you will like.
Q Bar (Sanlitun) You can count on them for a well-made drink. It lives on top of a quiet hotel and has a rooftop deck for views during warmer months.
Bookworm Café and Library/Bookstore (Sanlitun) It gets packed with xpats during brunching hours, but try it on a weeknight. Its mellow and has a well stocked bar. New and old books and wifi.
Le Petit Gourmand (Sanlitun) CC-friendly* It is a nice place to stop in for a frenchy snack or bevy. It feels like you are in someone’s study or cozy sunroom in the back.
Nam Nam (Sanlitun) CC-friendly* My favorite place for dinner so far! Great Vietnamese food and atmosphere. It made us feel like we were somewhere much warmer.
Stone Boat Café (Ritan Park) Say yes to a sanctuary in the CBD, where you can get a damn good coffee, wifi, and yummy dumplings, not to mention a great view. It’s cozy and warm.
Ciao (CBD) In the Twin Towers basement, you can get a really good chicken salad wrap and Latte, enjoy WiFi and peruse Chinese Vogue! Latte 25 RMB.
Some Basics:
Lay of the Land
Beijing is a sprawling city. It has ring roads that are “express” ways to move traffic more quickly than smaller roads. The first ring road is actually called “Second Ring Road,” somewhat mimicking the old city walls. The 3rd and 4th ring roads are in the city. The 5th and 6th are getting out toward the burbs. The Central Business District (CBD) is situated on the east side between the 2nd and 3rd ring roads. They are building a new financial district on the west side, so I’m not sure what that means for the CBD. The Olympic park is north and central. The airport about 45 min out of the center northeast between the 5th and 6th ring roads.
Networking in Beijing
It’s all about “name cards” folks! You can get them printed here fast and cheap. English on one side and Mandarin on the other. It’s how people network and how galleries ask for your information. Graphic design here is not as sophisticated as in the big apple, so you don’t have to spend upwards of 300 bucks to have a special one made on letterpress, like the ones you might want to exchange in the west. Plus, it is unlikely that they will have mandarin font in stock.
Word to the Wise
It’s not so easy to navigate. Though, that said, with Mandarin speaking friends on hand, cabbies are usually willing to talk to someone on your cell to help communicate. Even for easy places, sometimes you need to call the business to have them direct the drivers. The city is changing at light speed and not everyone knows where you might want to go. So, plan to buy a phone here. Its cheap and get a sim card anywhere. It is your lifeline.
Photographic Projects:
These are locations I am interested in photographing.
1) “American Model”
2 )”The Green Wall of China”
The barrier of trees planted north of the city in Gansu.
“Forest Belts A Great Success, Yet Forest Health A Concern Large barrier forest systems totaling 10 million hectares serve as windbreaks that help stabilize desert sands and prevent wind erosion. Although the forest belts today are still doing the job, Chinese experts point to several problems with the forest belt system. In many places, only trees of one variety were planted. This left the forest belts especially vulnerable to diseases.”
Read about it.
Things I miss most:
1) Planning to stay a while?
Pack it or fork out the big bucks to buy it at Jenny Lou’s! SPICES, such as fennel, to make my pasta sauce. No kidding. Bring your peppercorn and mill if you plan to cook in.
2) BUY YOUR PROFESSIONAL FILM AT B&H before you come here. You can go to Beijing Photo City, but it is a trek and they may not have the film you want, but it is the only place I’ve seen that sells pro film and refrigerators to hold their stock. It is like a photo expo, but equally parades some crazy wedding gear. Never seen anything like it.
Read the description below:
Beijing Photography Equipment City 联系电话：88119740, 8811972 Photography Equipment City deals in a wide range of advanced, medium and low digital electronic devices, including local and imported cameras, photosensitive materials, bridal gowns and grande toilettes, studio props, photographic lightings, enlargement equipment, hot and cold mounting machines, along with photography books, headgear and wigs, cosmetics, wedding goods, studio lightings and advertising goods. The business scope covers all products in photographic industry. From fellow blogger (scroll down for English translation).
3) My web surfing FREEDOM. You can’t count on proxies, though they are helpful for non-confidential surfing. The government is all-powerful and can block as they wish.
4) META. My dog who would not fit under the city limits for shoulder height for pooches. Can’t be taller than 35 cm (that is less than 14 in.) at the shoulder. It hurts to be away from her. If I moved here, I’d have to move out to an area just outside of the city, where the big wigs live in villas and live the suburban “American style” dream in places like the Yosemite Villas.
See for yourself.
Meta Update:
She is doing well in Atlanta with my sister. We booked an appt with the University of GA Vet Teaching Hospital in hopes of getting an MRI in late February. We have been dealing with her edema since early October 2007 and seen 4 vets, trying herbal meds and acupuncture, as there is no cure for edema. The reason I am not letting this go is because edema is seen as a symptom rather than a stand-alone medical condition. I’ve been told there is nothing to do and that vet medicine is not advanced enough to have things in place that deal with edema. I figure if there is something that exists for people, that there must be something for Meta. And more importantly, I want to know what is causing the inflammation. Yun says that it seems to be bothering her, which seemingly wasn’t the case before. If anyone has info on EDEMA, please pass along.
Bike update:
I decided to go with a local bike shop in the Sanlitun area. I bought a Chinese brand, the Phoenix, shaped like a cruiser with hybrid tires. The older model has more metal, but mine has the newer lighter but not as cool plastic parts, like pedals and a bell. We bargained and got the bike, a basket and a cool lock for 340 RMB. Earmuffs not included.
