Radishes and everything Chinese

Stir fried radish
Originally uploaded by sheilaz413.

Topic of the day: Random thoughts

Just some random thoughts for today...

I live in an apartment complex with about a population of 60 percent foreigners, some of whom have been in China for year now and have started their own families. One of the cutest things I see around my complex are little blond hair, blue eyed kids speaking perfect Chinese. No accent at all.

I just saw a news report on China's national English channel about the start of the railroad between Golumd (Qinghai Province) and Lhasa (Tibet). In it, they interviewed, among others, Tibetan monks, who said that they are happy about the start of the railway - in the story, they said it made their lives easier. I have my own opinion on it, you make your own.

I took this picture during lunch today. Between the 6 of us, we spent 25 RMB each, so approximately a bit more than 3 RMB. We had more than 6 dishes, this of course, being one of them. We were very full for the rest of the day.

Off to Qingdao (Shandong Province) tomorrow - looking forward to another weekend out of Beijing! Like last summer, this will be my 3rd (and probably the last for a while) trip out of Beijing in such a short amount of time. Last year's Qingdao trip was legendary. I look forward to this weekend.

A slice of life

Houtong Life 3
Originally uploaded by sheilaz413.

Topic of the day: Some houtong pictures

Sunday morning, I woke up with a hang over, a victim of too many martinis and white wine from Nick's farewell and Greg's birthday party the night before. While recouping in bed, I came to the decision that I should motivate myself, in my meager state, to do something productive for the day. Two hours later, I was in a cab heading out to a section of old houtongs (traditional Beijing dwellings), located near the Lama Temple, to do some shooting.

I have uploaded the more presentable pictures onto Flickr and this is the link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/96434059@N00/sets/72157594180266750/

After my initial meeting with Nick, I've decided to test out a different photography style - to develop a new way to look at things, if you will. Gone are the days of solely focusing on pretty portraits - these houtong pictures are much more photojournalistic in nature. While I still have a long way to go, I am fairly happy with the pictures from this shoot, considering it was one of the first times I did something like it.

I only spent about an hour in the houtongs - far from adequate. I will plan to venture out there some more in the future and maybe add to this pool. But until then, here's a glimpse at a quickly disappearing aspect of Beijing culture!

Another whirlwind weekend...

Topic of the day: A summer weekend in Shanghai

 

If you're an expat in China, summer is a pretty good time to travel around the country.  Winter is just too cold to do anything meaningful (save, of course, for Haerbin) and things are usually pretty busy during the spring and summer months.

 

Taking advantage of the good weather, I went down to Shanghai this weekend.  For myself, there were three main reasons for me to make the trip down there.  First, after a 4 year stint in Shanghai, Kathleen is finally heading home to Deutchland.  The second reason was to go and catch up with my father.  And lastly, to once again, get a break from Beijing and breath some fresh(er) air!

 

I used to hate Shanghai when I use to visit as a child.  But as the years go by, the more I visit, the more I'm starting to really enjoy it.  There's something about the leafy trees that stay green all year round, the beautiful architecture of the French Concession, and the charm of the old "longtangs".

 

This times visit to Shanghai proved to be pretty relaxing – massages, brunches, movies…all very mundane, but so enjoyable at the same time!  I also visited Zhujiajiao, a small and quaint water town 45 minutes away from Shanghai, on Saturday morning with my Father.  It was a pleasant visit, filled with all the southern China charms – water canals, white washed houses, stone bridges, et al.  Saturday night was also Kathleen's farewell party.  From a modest beginning of five people, the party eventually swelled up to become a hot zone for anyone and everyone from all the native Germanic speaking countries in the world.

 

As always, the weekend passed too soon and after our flight back to Beijing was delayed for 2.5 hours Sunday night, myself and the Beijing crew are once again, back in our beloved city (…or at least my beloved city!).

 

I've uploaded some portraits of fellow partners in crime onto my Flickr account.  If interested, the link is: http://www.flickr.com/photos/96434059@N00/sets/72157594170664945/

Update from Beijing

Me
Originally uploaded by sheilaz413.

Topic of the day: Rewinding

So it seems like I've been neglecting my little blog for a while! Since coming back from my Xinjiang trip, I originally planned to write a detailed entry for every main destination I traveled to. I got through half of them before life took over (the rest of the Xinjiang entries will come eventually…hopefully).

In the past few weeks, life in Beijing has been a whirlwind of activities. Nothing too grand - mostly a series of dinners, quiz nights, and most recently, watching the World Cup games. Among the more interesting things, there have been a few notable activities:

- Dalian weekend trip with the Beijing/Shanghai/Woop Woop crew
- Flickr Beijing meet event at Dashanzi (where the picture I have posted in this entry was taken)
- Caught up with Rachel after a year of absence!

With all that's been going on, I've barely had time to slow down and rewind!

Tomorrow, I'm off to Shanghai for the weekend – can't wait for some fresh(er) air, some golf, azul’s, and a “legendary” weekend! 