From Baozi to Brötchen...

It's been quiet here lately, I know. For a while now I haven't really been happy with my life in Beijing- my job was starting to get on my nerves, and I was starting to get on the bad side of the culture shock (you know, in the beginning it's all amazement, then enthusiasm, then you start to hate everything). So I began to look for a new job and tried to be as tolerant and open-minded as possible in the meantime. The presence of Himself (who'd moved over end of last year) and our gorgeous apartment were a big help. I kept postponing the next post to when I'd found a new job, or when I'd had the next wave of awe, or simply to whenever I'd feel like writing. Towards the end of May the teaching job became unbearable as I'd realised it simply wasn't what I wanted to do for the rest of my life (and, at age 27, I felt and feel that now is the time to settle for a definite career path). So I quit my job, with my last day being the 25th of June, and went on a mission to find that new challenge, preferably before my notice and working visa would run out. "Quite the risk, that", I hear you say, and it's something that I was fully aware of. By the end of the second week of June I'd done a couple of interviews and felt pretty confident that I'd be all set come the end of the month.

I was reasonably pleased with myself: Not only had I set up a bit of a life in Beijing, had made a nest with my man, but I'd also taken my life into my own hands and sourced another opportunity in this not-so-easy job market (if you're a "foreigner", anyway).

That was all well and good, until the day that changed everything. On the morning of Wednesday, the 18th, I decided that before going to work I'd have a quick look at my emails, something I rarely do. By the end of the day I was on a plane back to Germany, having said goodbye to my colleagues, friends and life in Beijing over the phone, email and Facebook only.

Without going into too much detail, someone in my close family had been admitted to a psychiatric clinic in a serious condition. While of course I was terribly upset and guilty at not having been around to see the signs, I expected to have to stay for a few weeks, maybe a month or two until the patient is better and it's safe to leave if I'd only be in touch regularly. In the ten or so days I've been here, however, it has slowly emerged that things will under no circumstance be as quick as that and that we'll find ourselves visiting the hospital for another while before the person can even be taken home to start therapy there.

With this, my Chinese adventure has come to a very abrupt and painful end, and there's not much I can do about it. I'm looking for jobs in the vicinity of my hometown, and Himself (who has just started a new job himself, back in Beijing) will move back over here with me by the end of the year at the latest.

While I'm looking forward to settling back in and finding a job and being there for my family, I also very much regret leaving Beijing and all the great people I've met there behind. For as much as the place might have been getting on my nerves lately, I'm anything but finished with Beijing, or China. There's so many places yet to see, and so much to try out, but that will all have to wait until sometime in the future.
For if I've learned one thing from the people of China, it's that family comes first.

Unfortunately this will also mean the conclusion of this blog. I've still got some stuff on my camera, some stories to tell, and there's a few lists to be made as well, so there'll be a bit more at least.

For now, thank you very much for following the blog for as long as you have and see you soon for the conclusion!

Bis dann,

Nadine

Oh, and PS: Weed, Marihuana, Pot, or whatever is NOT cool. It's not harmless, and it's not something you can control. It can cause severe psychosis, including hallucinations and paranoia. Yes, you've heard all of that before. Before you light up next time though, think of your family. Imagine them sitting next to you on a hospital park bench in complete despair trying to explain your birth date to you. Or your name.

Happy Valentine's Day (look at meeeeeee!)

The fact that Valentine's is celebrated doesn't really come as that much of a surprise. It is, after all, a big old commercial thing, and why should Chinese people be less drawn than others to all the roses, choccie and kitsch?

What did surprise me last year, however, is how seriously people seem to take it over here- and how much of a showcasing event it is. While back at home, lovers and spouses exchange presents and go for a quiet meal, in Beijing one will see hundreds of couples prancing around shopping centres everywhere, arm in arm, the girl sporting a (preferably massive) bouquet of overprized flowers, with nowhere to really go but with their heads up in pride and each of their posture basically screaming, "Look at meeeeeeeeeeeeee!" It seems that Valentine's Day is not as much an occasion for couples to show their love over here, but rather an opportunity for men to parade their girlfriends, and vice versa.

While in early 2008, having freshly arrived in Bejing, I watched this carry-on with my mouth open, this time, having lived here for a year, it doesn't all come as that much of a surprise anynmore: For in a society where (grown-up) only children are expected to support their elderly parents and where they work fifty and more hours a week without overtime pay to fulfil their (often steep) career ambitions, love is hard to find. And people of both genders find themselves under severe pressure to get married. Women in particular, once on the wrong side of 25, can expect a healthy nagging whenever they speak to or visit their parents, other relatives, or smug married friends- "When are you getting married?", "Have you found a man yet?", "I could introduce you to someone..." Therefore, the Valentine's prancing, just like the stories about people (men and women) paying someone to bring home for Chinese New Year, and of dating web sites literally exploding with traffic around this time of year, don't all come as that much of a surprise anymore. I still find it obnoxious though, this parading.

Me and Himself, we're just going for a nice meal (he won't tell me where!) and then back to our new lovenest for a few drinks and some peace and quiet.

Happy Valentine's Day, wherever you may be and whatever you may be doing - have a good one!

Bis dann

Nadine

We're about ten or so days into the Chinese New Year now...

... and I think I've got some sort of new year blues. I haven't been feeling any great motivation to do anything, obviously haven't written here for ages, have been neglecting my friends and reviews at the IMDB, and haven't really been doing much apart from working, sleeping and eating (though, alas, of the latter I've been doing a good bit). Himself is living with me in Beijing now, in our wonderful, big, gorgeous apartment, and it's not like either of us are unhappy with that fact- it's just that we seem to have fallen into this sort of comfortable couch lethargy. I suppose that celebrating the new year twice may have left me in some sort of emotional jetlag? And the twelve-day trip home to Wuppertal in Germany probably didn't exactly help establish any routines either. (Though I did have a wonderful time with the family, doing pretty much nothing but talking, catching up, drinking and eating my mum's divine food- I just haven't been able to make the transition from holiday mode back to normal, it seems.)

I came back the day before the Spring Festival (春节- chun jie, as it's called here) and had another week off as part of the public holiday. During that week the most exciting thing Himself and me did was to go to Tianjin, which is 120 km from Beijing and, like Shenyang, was an Olympic venue. Unfortunately, however, the train journey there and back was the most exciting thing about the whole trip, as we found the city to be quite the soulless kip. It wasn't terribly dirty or anything, just the parks and old architecture that we saw didn't appear to be very well looked after- and they were the only thing to really see there (apart from the Olympic venue, which did look kind of impressive, even for us Birds Nest-spoiled Beijingers.) The train was brilliant though- half an hour on a brand new, lightning-fast, fully staffed bullet train for the equivalent of about 7 Euro each way. A fantastic deal indeed, especially when considering how, on my way to Frankfurt airport to catch the plane back to Beijing, the ticket inspector was going to charge me the full price of a single journey (60 Euro!) because I didn't have the exact same credit card that I used to book the ticket. He didn't in the end, but this incident makes the discrepancy in service (and price!) between the two just seem painfully ironic.

Anyway, I better get back to my mysery and will leave you with the few nice pictures I got in Tianjin.

Until I feel like writing again,

Nadine

This willow sure must be doing a lot of weeping, sitting in that sorry excuse for a park...

To quote Himself, "Nothing says Nature to me like a plastic bag in a tree."

That's nice though.

Happy Chinese New Year!

Or, Gongxi Facai （恭喜发财）as they say here- wishing you prosperity for the coming year. I've only come back yesterday from a 12-day break back home in Germany, and I came back to these battlefield sounds of firecrackers being let off everywhere around the city, all day and night, and it won't stop for another two weeks after the Spring Festival (or 春节- the Chinese name for this most important holiday of the year.)

As you may know, 2009 will be the year of the Ox, who stands for fortune and prosperity through hard work. I'm amazed at how well this fits with the current global situation- in the year of the crisis we'll all have to roll up our sleeves won't we? So off you go- get workin'!

Myself, I'll make sure to fill you in on the events of the past days, but not until I've had a nice feed of Spring Festival dumplings.


Bis dann,

Nadine

Nadine

Happy Year of the Ox!

Hong Kong Holiday

The first of October was the Chinese national day, and the whole week from the 29th to the 5th is a holiday and thus one of the busiest travel periods of the year. (Like us Germans, the Chinese aren't mad into their national day- they simply appreciate the time off.) My boyfriend and I decided to spend that week in the city, the myth, the dream factory- no, not Hollywood, silly! We'd booked ourselves a week in Hong Kong, home of many a Chinese superstar, the church of shopping and, well, home of the stars.

Our excitement, therefore, was barely curbed by the fact that we had to set off for the airport in the middle of the night in order to catch our 7:55 am flight. It wasn't until we arrived at the check-in desk that the dream holiday threatened to turn into a nightmare before it had even begun. The friendly clerk took ages looking at our documents, then made a phone call then told us that he was sorry but he didn't have us on the reservation list. A moment of complete shock and painful disbelief later I was on the phone to the company we'd booked through- at this early hour they didn't have anyone in the office who could speak much English, and I was too upset to produce anything intelligible in Chinese, so all I could get out of the girl on the line was "Cancel, cancel". Her response to my question as to why in the world our booking was cancelled was to put me on infinite hold, so after a brief discussion Himself and I ended up in front of the little airport ticket sales window.

Since this was the first day of the October holiday week, all flights to Hong Kong were booked out, the girl there told us. After what must have been another five minutes we were informed that the same was true for Tuesday, and Wednesday morning. At this point I couldn't contain my disappointment anymore, and broke into tears there and then. As if on command, the girl then told us that there were to seats available with Dragonair today at 12:55pm- first class and 5900 RMB (almost 600 Euro) per person, one-way. We swallowed hard at the price but of course ended up taking those. That way at least we were rewarded for our early-morning scare with a pre-flight lounge, incredibly comfy seats, great service and lots of free booze.

So after a few hours of luxury on the flight we finally approached Hong Kong. When I saw the bay with its sparkling blue water and its hundreds of slim skyscrapers, I squealed with excitement- this is what I'd seen in all these movies! (Well, I had had a good bit of champagne at this stage.)

Around five o'clock, when we finally stepped out of the plane and into Hong Kong's sunny 30 degrees, the hassle of the cold Beijing morning was finally forgotten.

A short and convenient train ride brought us to our destination Kowloon, which is on the peninsula part of the city and connected to Hong Kong island to by underground.

Here we were faced with a crass contrast to our in-flight luxury, as the guest house we'd booked turned out to be far more of a kip than their web site makes you believe. Sure, we knew we'd booked cheap and all (and not that cheap at almost 40 EUR/night), but we weren't quite expecting the 6 or so sqm that we got, with half of them taken up by the massive bed and everything covered in what must have been the smell of mothballs.

Our first though was to look for another place to stay, but a quick look at the flight receipts helped change our minds quickly. The less time we spend at this place, the better, we thought, and headed off into the adventure.

The first place we went to was Mong Kok where we spent Monday night, and which I only knew as a seedy hellhole from Derek Yee's splendid 2004 film, One Nite in Mong Kok. As you can imagine, I was quite intrigued.

One of the world's most densely populated areas, Mong Kog is inseed full of people, neon lights, and funk. Its narrow streets are packed with the young, the hip and the trendy, and above their heads hover the flickers of a thousand neon signs, just like you see it on postcards and in the movies. The funky folk rush through the streets from shop to shop, buying electronics, clothes (funky, of course) and CDs and DVDs by the dozen. On our first night there, I treated myself to a few of those as well.

Mong Kok by night

On our second day we went up to one of Hong Kong's top tourist attractions: The Peak, or Victoria Peak, to be more precise. Or to be even more precise- a massive tourist trap. While the view from the top of the mountain is gorgeous, and while the walk around the top is quite scenic, "herding" was the first word that came to my mind when the uphill tram stopped right inside a huge shopping centre full of overpriced "Chinese" rubbish. We were hungry, but prices at Dublin level and above quickly managed spoiled our appetite. We ended up having dinner outside after fighting our way out of the massive centre and still paid far too much, but at least we were right on the scenic spot. Aside from the gorgeous view, one highlight on The Peak was Madame Tussauds Hong Kong. We posed with lots of Chinese and international celebrities and had heaps of fun. See photos here.

Bruce Lee's wax figure at Mme Tussaud's...

On Wednesday we went down to Victoria Harbour and took a walk on the sunny promenade along the Avenue of Stars. It's exactly what it sounds like- a Hong Kong Walk of Fame, with signatures and hand imprints of Jackie Chan, Andy Lau, Jet Li, Tony Leung and many others embedded into the concrete and free for everyone to pose with. (And pose we did. And so did half of mainland China.)

... and his statue on the Avenue of Stars.

Thursday ended up being yet another movie-related day as we put on our hiking shoes and climbed all the way up Hong Kong's steep hills to visit the Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery. This gorgeous temple with its countless statues is featured in one of my favourite films from Hong Kong, Infernal Affairs. Though the hike up there was rather exhausting, the site was absolutely worth it. This place deserves its own blog entry, which it will soon get.

The incredibly steep path up to the monastery

Friday and Saturday were dedicated to one of life's great pleasures: shopping. And though everything is not as conveniently laid out as I'd hoped and many malls feature too much luxury and not enough high street for my liking, both of us more than got what we wanted, and more. Shopping in Hong Kong is hugely attractive to many mainland Chinese as the former colony doesn't only feature a number of brands unknown up north, it also comes without the nasty tax the mainland government put on all these fancy bags and cosmetics. Like everything in Hong Kong, shopping is pricey, but it's no later than the moment you find yourself surrounded by all these Japanese styles, Korean accessories and general funkiness that you forget all about what money even is.

Sunday was spent preparing for our flight back, the tickets for which we'd been able to aquire in Hong Kong, and we passed the last few hours before take-off in a conveniently located shopping centre just next to the airport line.

Is that the end of the story already? Of course not! There's much more to tell- about the nightlife, for instance. We spent three of our evenings on a set of streets called Lang Kwai Fong, a little party district full of restaurants and bars of all sorts. Its diversity of people and venues reminded me very much of the Altstadt in Duesseldorf, as did the pully, heated up atmosphere. in many places. Even on a Wednesday night it seemed that many people were out solely to be picked up by someone, or simply to show off their latest threads. Many of the patrons are foreigners, among them many British and Americans, many more than in Beijing. But the locals also know how to get it on and join in the merry partying and posing, also in much higher numbers than in the capital.

This is something I've noticed about Hong Kong in general- just how Westernized it is. Of course I had expected the century of colonial rule to show off somewhere, but I wouldn't have ever thought the differences between here and the mainland to be this big. As already mentioned, both shopping and nightlife show strong influences of Western culture- where it's markets and teahouses in Beijing, it's M&S and snazzy cocktail places in Hong Kong.

Victoria Harbour in the evening

And it's not just the city that's quite different, but naturally also the people. The first thing I noticed when stepping out into the streets was that everything appeared much more civilised than in Beijing. There was no pushing when getting on the subway, no jaywalking (and they certainly didn't learn that from the Brits), no loud talking in public, and no spitting. (Well, there was some, but that's how you'd spot the mainlanders.)

At the same time I also noticed how much colder people are. They may dress more fashionably (or rather, more people dress fashionably then in Beijing), but they also pose a lot more, and in Beijing you probably won't find as many girls sitting on the subway staring into a mirror adjusting their make-up over and over. Service is more like what you're used to from Europe- much slower, and if you have a query or request, they don't exactly rush to help you, whereas in Beijing, if the person doesn't have a solution, you'll have three people rushing over to assist. Also I generally didn't get the same friendliness or enthusiasm from the Hong Kongers I spoke to- like your average central European, they're usually polite but reserved. In Beijing that's quite different. And I'm not just talking about people who are excited simply because you're a foreigner- I find Beijingers are generally much more neighbourly to each other.

Another thing which Hong Kongers must have adopted from their colonisers is cynicism. On our first night at Lang Kwai Fong I ended up being a little underdressed- you should have seen some of the sneers I got! All in all I didn't appreciate the general arrogance, which I'd quite gotten used to living without.

Food was a similar experience- we had lots of lovely salads and sandwiches, but not a lot of Chinese food. The restaurant scene in Hong Kong could be found in Dublin, or Frankfurt, or anywhere in Europe- you get the Japanese, the Thai, the Lebanese, and the Chinese places almost appear like yet another foreign cuisine. Don't get me wrong, all the food we had was delicious, it just didn't feel quite as authentic as the spicy barbeque or Hot Pot we'd have over here.

So, with all its star power, shopping opportunities and Western comforts, Hong Kong is not somewhere I'd live, but it sure is a bloody exciting place to visit. So, get your bags packed already!

Oh, but don't book through elong.net- bastards may just feck up your reservation.

Bis dann,

Nadine

Here's all the pictures:

Hong Kong by night

Avenue of Stars

Madame Tussaud's

10 000 Buddhas Monastery

And here's me posing with the hand imprint of my favourite actor and absolute idol, Tony Leung!

This weekend is Mid-Autumn Festival.

That means three days off and mooncakes for everyone. These devilish little delights are pastries with a lotus seed or red bean filling. Quite small, but very sweet and rather heavy. I had two yesterday and had to pretty much roll home. And I have another pack of them sitting here! Where shall this all end. Oh well.

Anyway, for me it's not just a long weekend, but I won't return to work until the 24th (I think). My parents are coming on Monday morning and will be staying in Beijing for a week. Hence I've spent this entire day off dusting, scrubbing and mopping until I couldn't move. I haven't seen them since the 27th of December and am missing them terribly, so I cannot wait. For the same reason I'm also a tad (read: extremely) nervous- so much has changed about me and about my life, how will they react? What's my mum going to say about those little water stains on the wall? And how are they going to deal with the noise? The traffic? The squatter loos? It'll be an adventure, that's for sure.

And when I'm back at work I'll only be there for a few days- the one-week National Day holiday begins on the 29th, and Himself and me will be off to Hong Kong. Oh, and my birthday is going to happen at some point, too.

Wouldn't you hate to be me. Hehe.

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!

Nadine

Why, just why are you so tasty?!

Bejing Beauty

Internet censorship. Detainment of protesters. Bad weather. Darfur. Rabies. God knows what. With only hours to go until the 2008 Summer Olympics, media across the Western world are doing their utmost to find new, negative things to report on the host country, paying no attention to any sports topics, and completely ignoring to the many fascinations the host city has to offer.

I am therefore starting a short eight-part series, Beijing Beauty, each part of which will introduce a different aspect of this gargantuan city and its society. From culinary tempations to neighbourly spirit, I will share my impressions and try to show you all the wonderful things the papers don't want you to know about.

Part One: Food!

What do Beijingers say when they meet in the morning? Ni hao? Wrong. Zaoshang hao? Nope. Ni chu fan le ma - Have you eaten?- is the greeting you hear on your way to work, or early in the office. Though, like How are You in English, a detailed answer such as "Oh, I've been having problems with my digestion and therefore haven't had anything" isn't really asked for, but this practice does show one thing: Chinese people's passion for food. For eating, and gathering over food.

And plenty of food there is indeed. From the street stalls selling Baozi or pineap ple to go to the small, unpretentious restaurants of all sorts - from Beijing BBQ to Sichuan- to fancy, round table, full-service fancy spots to your usual suspects like KFC and Pizza Hut: When you're in Beijing you'll never have to be hungry. From as little as a few cents all the way up to a stately price you can enjoy virtually any cuisine you like. Any by any, I mean any.

German, French, Italian, American, Russian, Korean, Japanese and Thai restaurants are some examples of the many international cuisines Beijing has to offer. But the true culinary wealth lies in the thousands of Chinese restaurant that offer every single style of food that th is huge, diverse country has to offer. With meals affordable enough to eat out every night, you can have Dongbei on Monday, Sichuan on Tuesday, Mongolian Hotpot on Wednesday, and so on.

See the pictures below for some impressions beyond sweet and sour chicken with rice! (Now updated with additional pictures from last night's opening ceremony party)

Is it lunchtime yet?!

Bis dann and Hao yun Beijing!

Nadine

Mongolian Hotpot

Ma Po Doufu

Song Hua Dan - Thousand-Year Old Egg

Baozi - the perfect hangover breakfast!

Liang Ban Bo Cai - cold spinach with vinegar

Chiazi - aubergine with onion and garlic

Kafeh toudu - coffee potatoes!

That was chicken, I think...

Ou - lotus root with cabbage and pepper

Booyakasha!

Booyakasha!

I’ve finally been able to satisfy my hunger by myself, as in with no help. Thanks to my colleague Melissa who refused to do it for me, I ordered food to the office for the first time today. Granted, I didn’t have to give the address as we’re regulars with this takeaway, but it still feels good to have completed this 25-second call all by myself.

Food wasn’t too bad either, so am happy now. Day saved. Oh, and the swelling on the eye is going back too. In yer face, mosquitoes!

Bis dann

Nadine

I've been to Peacock Dance class twice now...

... and no, miracles don't happen. I'm still crap. Just over a fortnight ago now, a student came up to me and made a big fuss over how she had to speak to me in private. She then asked me to join her for her Peacock Dance class as she thought someone as "graceful" as me would make a great dancer. My flattery, which had resulted in a mroe or less instant agreement, became panic rather quickly when I realised what I'd signed up for: It wasn't just the simple old folk dance that I'd pictures, it's bloody ballet! Originally from Chinas's southern Yun Nan province, Peacock Dance is a tradition of the Dai minority, one of the country's more than 50 ethnic minority groups. Imitating the movement of the bird's "dance", peacock dance is a series of quick, smooth and precise movements, little kicks and a lot of skillful "flapping" of the arms. As funny as that may sound, watching a couple of clips had me mesmerizes- this was the most beautiful and sensual thing kind of dance I could have ever imagined! Here and here are some samples- watch and be stunned. The second clip is performned by none other than the grand dame of Peacock Dance, Yun Nan's Yang Li Ping, who is the dance's most important ambassador, having made it famous in all of China. Even though my teacher had been trained exactly by this dancing authority, I was still facing a major problem- How could someone like me (or me, to be more precise), with the posture of a wet washcloth and the coordination of ten elephants in a China shop (painful pun, that) ever master those smooth, sexy movements?

Meeting the teacher, whose English name is Peacock, once again confirmed that old rule that a male dancing teacher just has to be a little bit (or very) camp. A slim, muscular little package with a waist to kill for and clad in a skirt (for Dai men, as I was assured), and sporting a single, massive dangly earring, he was full of smiles and pride that a foreigner should take an interest in his people's traditions. After the first class, in which I proved my complete and utter crap-ness at following someone's movements and at, like, moving, I was held up chatting for an hour or so by him and my student, with him chatting away about his people. He even tried to teach both of us some words in the Dai language (at the pronunciation of which I'm almost as crap as at dancing). I attended my second class full of determination only to find out that it really doesn't happen that quickly. But it is fun, the dance makes me feel all sumptuous and womanly ad the music is brilliant. And nothing wrong with a bit of exercise either!

A couple of days ago, however, I was made to feel all that less special when I learned that the same student had also asked (and won over) my colleague at EF to join her for Peacock Dance, only on a different day. Disappointed at first, I then began to feel encouraged: Said colleague, who hails from the US and A, is nothing less than a loud, painfully common, elephantastically obese, bull-faced mess of a woman (poah, that was mean!) I couldn't possibly do any worse than her!

Not sure how exactly Gloria would have convinced her to join though- "You know, I think with your version of grace and beauty, it would be nothing short fascinating to watch you try to do this dance..."

Anyway, I'm sticking with the dancin' see how it goes!

Bis dann,

Nadine