Tianjin Week #2 & 3:
After the first week things became a bit more routine. For instance we learned which places were cheap or expensive and we started doing a lot of activities outside of class including handball, street food, and biking around the town. This weekend was also one of the few that we all stayed in Tianjin because no one felt like leaving. So it really was a two-week stretch of classes, partying, soccer, studying, and writing for me. The next big event we had was our trip to Xi’an on Thursday, July 16th. Until then I will describe some fun notes about living in Tianjin:
Michael Jackson’s death was a big deal in China. One may not initially suspect that, but the truth is that the Chinese people love M.J. Especially in any club in China. I actually had the fortune of being in a bar that hosted a M.J. impersonator (who was incredible) shortly after his death. The funny part about the impersonator was that when I went up to the stage to chat with him, he didn’t speak a word of English – but could sing it beautifully.
I have discussed chuar (food on a stick) before, but Tianjin really helped me grow to love chuar to its fullest extent. We went at least ten times to chuar places to eat chicken heart, lamb, pork, or fish. The stuff is not particularly sanitary (i.e. meat pulled out of a cooler and put directly on pieces of metal over coals) but it was delicious. One of the tastiest places we went to actually had mangy cats running around the floors. My incredibly inebriated friend decided it was a great idea to pick up the cat before eating his food. Luckily chuar is on a stick!
We went to a 24-hour spa. The spa can only be described as an experience. We walked into this spa, striped off all our clothes hung out in a pool/hot tub area for an hour. That only is awkward. Especially when you are sitting next to both naked Americans and old, rich Chinese men. One quickly learns the phrase “averting of the eyes” in a situation like this. The other cool thing about this spa is that one (if they so desired) could get Australian massages, Korean, different Chinese ones, and cupping. Cupping is the art of putting a flammable substance in a glass mason jar and than igniting it before placing it on one’s back and leaving huge circular bruises. When I first heard of this practice I thought, “who would ever do such a thing?” Then my friend Eric tried it. His comment was, “Why would anyone want to do this more than once?” My response was, “Once?”
Xi’an:
We had to wake up at 3:45 AM to get on a bus to Beijing and then fly from Beijing to Xi’an. This naturally necessitated us to spend another night up. The one saving grace of this was the fact that we got to sleep on the bus to the airport and on the flight to Xi’an. When we arrived in Xi’an we checked out a temple and then rode bikes on top of the city walls. We paid sixty kuai to rent tandems. So I went cruising with my friend Carl, shirtless, around the top of this wall. The best part about the bikes, though, was that they were antiquated. Our bikes back tire went flat in the first mile and we rode on it for another mile until we reached another bike station. Imagine trying to pedal a tandem with a flat tire on a bumpy stone wall – it was excruciatingly painful to be a man. Luckily we got the bike fixed and kept cruisin’.
On our full day in Xi’an we went to see the infamous Terra Cotta Warriors. For me the whole exhibit looked distinctly like some G.I. Joe battles I have set up, which meant I thought it was awesome! As we toured the area we got to see the farmer who found the warriors and a video detailing the scene. What was saddening about the video was the fact that it was in English with Chinese subtitles. Whenever one sees a part of China that caters so strongly to foreigners it can only mean two things: one, it’s a tourist trap and so vastly overpriced. Two, it lacks true Chinese identity because they replace their own language with English. I wonder how the native Chinese people feel when they go to these exhibits and think “They don’t even have the video in Chinese in China.” I know if that happened in America we would be furious.
Beijing Again!
We flew in from Xi’an to Beijing at eleven PM. So our options were to take a bus back to Tianjin or stay in Beijing for the night and catch the early train in. Of course the four fun loving gentlemen (The Mustache Brothers, Dave, and myself) all decided to stay the night in Beijing. This evening was a great one. We walked all over Beijing, went into some demolished areas, saw a bunch of embassies, and hung out in some really cool roof top bars. We then caught the six-thirty train in the morning and slept until two that afternoon. The funniest part about the situation was that something happened with the bus so that all the people who rode it back didn’t get in until almost four in the morning. Thus they missed a night of fun and had to sit on a bus for hours. Victory for me!
Well it looks like I am starting to
run long again so I better end by saying that I only have got a couple blogs
left before I have to talk about something besides China! Then again it is
almost the end of the semester which means Brazil! After finishing the blogs on
China I will discuss what it takes to get ready to go abroad and what I am
doing for Brazil! Much fun and expect that in a couple weeks. Until then,
zaijian!
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