Greetings from Qingdao!

Since I know all of you are dying to hear about our (Leslie & mine) travels, here's a brief update.

Leslie and I arrived in Qingdao on Friday morning after taking an overnight train from Beijing to Qingdao. Previously, I had heard many horror stories about trains in China, so I had very low expectations about the train. However, when we boarded the train, I was pleasantly surprised. It was actually quite comfortable and the both of us slept pretty well.

Qingdao, as a city, has been quite interesting. It's a much smaller city than Beijing and it's very clear from the minute we arrived. Not that being smaller than Beijing is bad at all. In fact, it's nice to be out of the giant urban sprawl of Beijing finally.

Tomorrow we leave for Hangzhou. I'm excited to explore Hangzhou on my own; not to mention Hangzhou should be warmer than both Beijing and Qingdao. Tomorrow's  also Leslie's birthday so I'm going to make sure that we have at least a small celebration.

Stayed tune for more photos, and more updates on the road. For those of you who like the more insightful looks into life in China; be patient, they'll come later on.

And I'm off!

Being the regular blog readers I know you all are, I'm sure you all realize I'm finally now on my winter break. Better late than never, I say.

Two days after my finals, my friend Leslie came to town. This past week, we've been fitting the bitter Beijing cold and wind and visiting Beijing's major sights. And when I say bitter cold...I really do mean bitter cold.

Tomorrow, we're leaving to travel for a total of ten days to Qingdao, Hangzhou and Shanghai. On the 30th, we'll head to Hong Kong, where we'll be spending the Chinese New Year/Spring Festival. I'm excited (as always) to return to Hong Kong to see family and friends again.

Not to mention that Hong Kong is a food lover's paradise and I love food. Plus, Hong Kong's much warmer than Beijing right now.

Since I'll be on the traveling through the 30th of this month, there will most likely be a decrease in blog posts until I reach Hong Kong, at least. I do hope to get some posts up while I'm on the road, but in case I don't, I hope that everyone has a good rest of January!

And for those of you reading in Hong Kong, I hope to see you soon!

If that doesn't look cold to you, you're crazy.
Summer Palace, Beijing

PS. For those of you going through Living-in-Cultural-Limbo-blog withdrawal (which I know is all of you), at least you know when I return, you'll have lots of pictures and things to look forward to. :)

Look!

...It's the newest member of my family: Kaden Leung.

Welcome to the world, little one. I can't wait to meet you in person!

Picture courtesy of Raymond Siu

Now from the DPRK...

Before I came to China, I never realized that occasionally CCTV (the Chinese government's broadcasting network) would show news clips and B-roll from North Korea, or as it prefers to be called, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). Although, in hindsight, it makes some sense considering China's (precarious) relationship with North Korea.

The stories featuring North Korean media sources are a rare occurence. The first time I saw it was at the end of September during North Korea's large national meeting, at which Kim Jong Il made his youngest son a four-star general. Most of this footage seemed to be staged B-roll sent out as a part of a press release.

The second time was during the South-North Korean tension over Yeonpyeong Island this past November. During the 'crisis,' CCTV (at least the English CCTV) covered the story from both sides. CCTV showed footage from news broadcasts on the situation from both South and North Korea as well as short sound bites from both average North and South Koreans about their reaction to the crisis.

While the footage of the South Korean newscast appeared the same as any other country's newscast, the North Korean newscast was strikingly different. Unlike most newscasts that feature an anchor reading the news often with some accompanying footage of some sort, the North Korean broadcast appeared to just have an anchor who seemed to be yelling the news to the camera with no other visual aids. Overall, very different from any other newscast I've seen.

As for the opinions of the 'average North Korean' featured in the news story, I think it's safe to assume the interview with the two 'average North Koreans' were carefully staged, crafted and government-approved before being sent out to foreign news agencies.

Regardless, I find the fact that I get any news, even government-sanctioned news, about North Koreans from North Korea directly fascinating. It's definitely not something I could ever see back in the States.

The CCTV Building
Beijing, China

P.O. Box # Behind-the-Athletics-Building

This is how the Chinese students apparently pick-up their packages.

Yes, it's exactly how it looks. Everyday, the delivery man (or men, since there are several shipping companies) rides a bike onto campus with all the day's packages, parks his bike either behind or in front of the athletics building, and spreads out all the day's packages on the sidewalk. The students, in turn, come by and pick up their packages. It's a very trusting system.

Needless to say, this system would not work in the United States.

Might as well get comfortable

Recently, there's been a lot of talk about the state of Beijing traffic in the news. According to an oft-quoted study by IBM on traffic in twenty of the world's cities, Beijing and Mexico City tied for last place on their consumer pain index. That is, out of a 100 (a 100 being the worse), Beijing and Mexico City both came in at 99 for the most onerous traffic, based on a variety of factors including gas prices, length of commute and the effects of traffic on day to day decisions.

For those of you unfamiliar with the state of Beijing traffic, China Daily has put together a nice summary of the problems facing Beijing transportation and possible solutions here. (There are pictures too!)

This year, the Beijing city government enacted several ordinances in hopes of curbing Beijing traffic. The most discussed traffic measure aims to curb car sales, which have dramatically increased the last few years. Starting on January 1st of this year, all prospective car buyers must first apply online (or in-person) for a license plate, which are given out on a lottery-based system every month.

Other new traffic ordinances aimed at curbing Beijing's snarling traffic include raising parking rates at all garages, banning non-Beijing registered cars inside the Fifth Ring Road during rush hour and limiting who can drive based on even/odd license plate numbers.

To anyone who lives and Beijing, the news that Beijing traffic is one of the worst in the world hardly comes as a shock. There have been times where I'm pretty sure I've sat (or stood) on a bus for an half-hour(or more) and not moved more than a few yards. Walking is often times faster, if your destination is already within a relatively walkable distance. (Remember, Beijing is a very large, very spread out city.)

As for the Beijing subway, it's great...in theory. However, considering the sheer size of Beijing, the subway stops are relatively few and far between. Not to mention, that with only a few transfer points for each line, certain stations often resemble giant cattle herding centers with hordes of people trying to switch from one line to another, particularly during rush hours and Friday evening. It also takes a while to get from one place to another. For instance, it takes me roughly an hour (including walking time) by subway for me travel from Wangfujing to BNU, which as far as Beijing goes, is pretty centrally located between the 2nd and 3rd Ring Roads.

Picture courtesy of ChinaDaily.com.cn

Now of course, I know that in terms of subway public transportation, I've been a bit spoiled after living in New York City and Paris, both of which have very developed subway systems that have grown and adapted to it's residents needs over many decades. But that doesn't mean Beijing can sit back and wait for time to help solve it's traffic problems.

Return of the Study Bunny

Yep, it's that time again. Finals time. You know what means...

See you on the other side.

(PS. Only 3 more days until break! Finally! Hooray!)

Dorm hallway or creepy horror film hospital corridor?

You tell me.