Written Wanderlust

I’m embarrassed to admit that during the school year, my leisure reading predominantly involves glossy magazines. I’ll indulge every now and then in Glamour (it’s fun to share with roommates), pine over my past running days with Runner’s World, or snag an issue of Time to feel updated with the world. Yet my favorite magazine has to be National Geographic Traveler. Once I saw the February/March 2014 cover online, I knew I needed to obtain the issue:

The feature story has particular significance to me. During my time in China last year, I spent a week travelling the southern province of Yunnan, and we went to some of the same locations as the Nat Geo title suggests: Shangri-La, Jade Snow Dragon Mountain, Lijiang, and more. It was by far the most breathtaking area of the world I ever visited, and one of the best weeks of my life.

Yunnan is possibly China’s most biodiverse and ethnically diverse region. You can go from the southern jungles or the year-round temperate capital of Kunming, drive for a day, and end up on plateaus and glaciers at over 15,000 feet stretching into Tibet. 22 of China’s 52 ethnic minorities reside here, with cultures and languages and color in their lives beyond what my minimal Mandarin Chinese could ever comprehend. I went trekking for a day through Tiger Leaping Gorge, one of the world’s deepest canyons, and spent a few nights living and learning with host families outside Shangri-La in the culturally Tibetan village of Napa.

The photographer, Michael Yamashita, perhaps has the longest-running collection of photos from China spanning across 30 years. These from Yunnan are absolutely stunning and truly capture the rugged, almost mystical essence of the region. And to be honest, I can’t remember anything too notable from the written story because I was too busy marveling at the images. Memories of Yunnan flash through my mind nearly every day. I’m thrilled that National Geographic continually uncovers untouched corners of this world, but in some sense, this is a secret that I want to keep.

The issue also caught my interest for its features on Quebec City and the Berkshires of Massachusetts—so many peripheral connections! I’m not sure if any retailer in Canton offers this magazine (my parents mailed it to me from a bookstore in Florida, huge thanks to them), but if you’re pining for some wanderlust at any budget, I suggest you check it out. I’m crossing my fingers to return to Yunnan someday.

To subscribe and see more on this issue, peruse the Nat Geo Traveler site. To see more of Michael Yamashita’s work, both professional and daily life, follow his Instagram. And my own experience in Yunnan can be found in my blog archives!

This post was originally composed for The Laurentian Magazine blog.
Listening: KSLU radio, our school's student-run station!

北京的照片（第二个）

Just some more photos to share from the last two days in Beiijing...

Dinner with ZeFang and her parents: an absolute feast.  Jovial Chinese banqueting (yes, I just turned that into a verb) at its finest.

 My last day of Beijing Ultimate summer league with Team Crazy Bad.  Our league theme was Air Pollution, so the team names went Good, Moderate, Hazardous, to the worst (and best!) of them all.. Crazy Bad!  超级疯了哈哈  It's a satirical take on a more or less dire issue.

 There's quite a few people missing but I had an awesome time playing with them.  I hope we win the league by the end of the season!

  

 My last dinner in China was at a hole in the wall shop a few hutongs north, where this man and his wife make piping hot pots of Yunnan-style crossing the bridge noodles.  As it goes, rice workers in Yunnan (one of the southern-most provinces that I had the fortune of visiting for a week) needed to eat, but they were so busy in the fields that they couldn't leave.  Their wives would through noodles, eggs, vegetables and whatever scraps they could find into pots, topped off with boiling hot broth.  By the time the women crossed the bridges to pass along the soup, the broth had cooked the noodles and was ready to be eaten!  I ordered my bowl pretty spicy with slices of lamb, which came to a satisfying 10 RMB.

 The laoban and his wife tend to have the television on with Chinese historical kung-fu movies.  This was my second time visiting and he showed me photo collections of foreigners that have eaten at his shop.

 Nondescript, but worth the stop.  

And for my last night in China, I went out with friends for a good round of KTV-- Chinese kareoke!  We had this over the top, butterfly-themed room (the bubble theme was already booked) and sang and danced for hours.  The Chinese songs had subtitles, except in traditional characters, so I stuck with the English songs.  It turns out I really enjoy belting Adele :).  Afterwards we lingered in the streets (that's not as bad as it sounds), then joined hordes of others an at outdoor bar, ordering drinks and skewered cbuanr (spiced lamb) until after 4 in the morning.  

 After barley 3 hours of sleep, I pulled myself together and rounded up all of my belongings.  I was greeted by a marvelously clear morning.  In this photo, the foreground is a tattoo parlor.  Right behind it with the red and yellow banners is a newly-constructed Japanese restaurant.  Where that brown shutter and blue door stick out-- through that doorway is where my apartment is (was)!

 I know this isn't how Beijing normally is, but it made for a bittersweet departure.

 I met up with Peter, and we strolled the hutongs with some good reflection and ate baozi before seeing me off.

 This shop appeared to be a pet store of sorts.  I find Chow Chow dogs endearing.

  One last look.

Sam, the next room mate, came by and I passed on the key and dragged my cumbersome luggage down the hutong in the continuous bright day.  It didn't feel right leaving; almost like another jaunt across the mainland rather than towards home.  But ZeFang and her dad drove me the airport, and all I could really say was that I was sad to leave. 

It's been a week now.  I definitely miss it; Shanghai, Beijing, learning, eating, the daily surprises of awesome and awful, the curveballs, and the exceptions that agglomerate to this active impression of China.  Because if there's anything I learned, it's the reality of impermanence.  Everything changes, though on varying scales of time, so we have to figure out how to navigate our evolving selves as well.

Listening: "Genesis" by Grimes

北京的照片

 Photos to share from my last week in Beijing.

The National Museum of Art 美术馆.

ZeFang, one of my teammates who attends college in the U.S., went to the museum with me and then we scoped out the numerous art supplies shops across the street.  I was raving because the prices were so much more affordable than what you find in the U.S., aside from the European-imported paints and kits.  I was really interested in buying a stone seal (you know, those carved square seals that you use with red ink), and ZeFang helped bargain and explain to these shopkeepers what I wanted.  At another store, I snagged a Taiwanese travel-size watercolor kit for 68 RMB, along with postcard paper and a sketch pad.  Of course after wanting to paint all semester, I find it my last full weekend.. but better late than never!

That evening I tested out the watercolors by making a happy birthday card for one of my friends.  Not quite my forte, but I'm learning.

 Fang Fang and I on Nanluoguxiang, the tourist hutong right next to where I live.  Last Monday for our final English tutoring session became more like a sampling feast of all the snacks on the street!  I gave her two Eric Carle childrens' books (Brown Bear, Brown Bear What do you see?) as a late gift for her son's 2nd birthday.  I hope I gave her the English practice and exposure she hoped for, because I'd love for her to pass the TOEFL next winter with flying colors.

I took a morning visit to the park behind the Forbidden City called Jingshan Park (景山公园).  From the hill sits Wanchun Pavillion, and on a clear day the view is simply marvelous.

I never visited the Forbidden City Palace Museum (oops), yet that'll be for next visit ;).

I was there around 7:30 AM and staked out a good spot in the pavilion, set up my watercolors, and started painting the city.  With the numerous halls and their dusty golden roofs, different angles of light, then trees poking in between, it actually proved to be a technical task.  But I enjoy painting because it forces me to really see the details and try to produce what is there.  A lot of park visitors stopped to look over my shoulder and see what I was doing, including a set of siblings.  The girls were more cute and silly than nagging, asking me questions about painting and trying to grab my attention.   

 

Their mom was so kind too; she took a photo of my painting when I was finished.

Musicians, or older folks squeaking arbitrarily on their erhus, taking respite in the pavilions.

Blooming rose gardens.

 

My bike, oh my best friend and main mode of transport.  It was repaired by three various men throughout the month, this last one proving to be the most reliable and fair-priced.  Typical condition of a bike purchased in China, though, you're always going to have to put as much in repairs as you what you initially paid.

Afternoon on a rooftop cafe two minutes down my hutong.  The sky was gloriously clear so I had a great view of the Drum & Bell Towers.

 

Any excuse to break out the paints.  These became thank you cards to my roommate and his girlfriend.

Long-retired bikes that hark to the Cultural Revolution era.

The building in the business park where I worked.

My colleagues and I went out for dinner together for Chonqing roasted fish, and we had to guzzle some Yanjing Beer (the old name for Beijing).  It was this large grass carp that's grilled then braised with peppers, scallions, chives, and all these other vegetables to this smoky delight.  I think it was the best fish I've had in China.

 

Then that Thursday night I went on a final bike cruise with a group called Big Dirty, which is sponsored by a Beijing bike shop Natooke.  There's a fast group and a cruise-pace, which has been a fantastic way to ride to different areas of the city.  Even though we start at 8:15, the streets are well-paved, well-lit, and it's a lot safer as a group-- it actually allows us to dictate traffic.

Well that was a fairly random display of photos, and I have a few more posts of images I want to share coming up :).

慢走

It’s 6 PM here in Beijing, and in 22 hours I’ll be on a plane heading back to the United States.  These last 5 months have felt like a lifetime, an alternative reality I never imagined living but am craving to experience again.  It’s incredible that I had the opportunity to live in two of China’s largest cities, while engaging new people, places, lifestyles and ideas.  The age old question, do I like Shanghai or Beijing more? – I can’t quite answer.  Both have their advantages and disadvantages, and I think it comes down to what you want out of the city. 

The goodbyes are always weird, and I really dislike them.   I said goodbye to my roommate yesterday because he’s headed south to Guangzhou and then to Hong Kong to renew his visa.  It’s been a pleasure living with Tom, and this hutong apartment has been integral to my time here.  
Although my internship had moments of office drudgery, I appreciated the change from working at a café.  I really enjoyed my colleagues, especially the lady lunch group and exchanging different cultural lessons.  It’s been a good test for a potential future in the professional world, and I was able to interact with a different ex-pat community here, rather than just students.  I passed my bike keys to Fang Fang, said good bye to each of them quietly with a slight lump in my throat, then left the office yesterday for the last time.
One of my teammates from frisbee, ZeFang, is a native Beijinger but goes to school in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  I instantly bonded with her over the fact that until middle school, my family went to Lancaster every Thanksgiving to visit Hershey Park and the tax-free outlet malls.  Sometimes we’d make the trip during the summer to utilize the Amish talent in construction, horses harnesses, carts, delicious jams, and dogs.  Anyway, ZeFang and her parents took me out for a feast on Wangfujing Street, and I just am constantly amazed and appreciative of the generosity shown by my Chinese friends.  Even though society is experiencing disjuncture between the old ways of life and the post-reform, capitalistic life, this kindness to share the best of China with new friends seems to be a backbone.  ZeFang and her dad are even going to drive me to the airport Sunday!  I told her that she has to come to my house this coming  year, or we’ll have to visit Lancaster (about a 6 hour drive south).

Later, I met a someone at a birthday party, who lives 15 minutes from Honeoye in Canandaigua!! I have found a few people from the North Country, Syracuse, and even suburbs of Rochester, but this was simply fantastic.  She’s just begun 5 weeks out of a 2 year stay, so how bizarre it was to relate about a place that she’s said goodbye to for a while, and I will be say hello to again. 

Then this afternoon, I played with my Beijing summer league team Crazy Bad for the last time, and hopefully imparted enough spirit that will carry them to the championship at the end of the summer.  Frivolous as it may seem, playing Ultimate has had an immense impact on my perspective here.  The cultural differences fade away when you're diving for the same flying disc down a grassy field.

Life here is by no means perfect, but I already miss China.  At the same time, I have to go and finish my time at St. Lawrence, which is another mind twist I haven’t processed.  I’m already envisioning the shock of return, after a 15-hour flight that launches from one side of the world to another without much time to process in between.  Though I don’t leave with any strong regrets, there is still so much to do here.  

China, I’m not done with you yet.  I know I'll be back someday. 

Listening: “Here’s to Now” by Ugly Casanova, from the deliriously wonderful soundtrack of 180 degrees South

(the internet is slow today, so the photo vomit will come in another post)

天坛公园

Temple of Heaven Park (天坛公园) is by far my favorite imperial monument in the immediate city of Beijing.  Granted, I haven't had a chance to scope out the Forbidden City/Palace Museum (let's blame it on work), but this enormous park and its buildings are breathtaking.  The walkways are wide and cement-paved, but there are also packed dirt trails that weave between junipers and cypress trees that are hundreds of years old.  Amidst the clamoring tourists, clicks of Chinese checkers being moved across playing boards, spontaneous chorales of hymns, there are even chattering birds and gentle zitar music, resonating between the trees.  Chinese parks as a public space are utilized so well, between visitors, strollers, activity-doers, photo-takers, and sleepers.     

 The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests (祈年殿) is the iconic image for the park, with its three-tiered gables and circular construction.  The emperor would go here to, well, pray for a good harvest for China.  The number nine is present in most of the construction as it is a sacred symbol for the 9th level of heaven.

 Apparently if you stand in the center of the Circular Mound and speak, your voice will echo and resonate for eternity.  As you can see, I wasn't quite able to squeeze myself in.  No worries though, most of you can hear my voice within a good 100 meter range!

And this is what I do when I'm not at work ;).  I begrudgingly refused to move for a solid half an hour to sketch this out, which allowed me to truly see the monument and understand its magnificence.  Straight lines and proper angles still escape me.

If I could come here everyday, I would.

Listening: My roommates watching The Walking Dead in the background!