Datong (大同)

Hey new readers, it's good to see some new visitors taking a look at my blog because my parents weren't upping the views counter nearly as quickly as I would have liked. Last weekend I took my midterms and we took a long break to go to Datong as a group. Datong is about a five hour train ride west of Beijing and is quite convenient to get to if you take a night train. We left for Datong at midnight and arrived at five-ish in the morning and immediately took a bus to the first destination which was a giant pagoda constructed without any screws. Stop two was a temple built on the side of the cliff which was really cool. Day two we went to an old cliff face with over 1000 Buddhas carved into the face. The last thing we saw was a boring temple in Datong's downtown.  Sorry for being vague but this was not the highlight of my trip.
As we were leaving the boring temple I decided to get off the bus and explore the city a bit. Right next to the temple was a row of about 20 cranes working on reconstructing the city wall. Within the wall I could see a small neighborhood of single story old style houses that were most likely going to be demolished after the wall was rebuilt. So my friend and I walked through the construction site taking pictures and looking around. No one seemed to care that we were there, let alone we were foreigners freely walking around a construction site. Spray painted across almost every house (even the ones with people still living in them) was the "demolish"character, meaning all the houses in the neighborhood were going to be demolished most likely within the year. It was a real experience getting to see a part of Datong that other students and foreigners don't get to see; and soon enough even native city residents won't be able to see it either. Many people disagree with destroying historical neighborhoods such as this one because of the deep culture rooted in every family and sense of tradition that is not seen in most of modern China. I agree it would be unfortunate if I were to be forced out of my house, but the living conditions in which the residents endure is by modern standards unsanitary and unlivable. Because of this I have to agree that removing the residents from their rundown houses is something that must be done, even if a single family has lived there for hundreds of years. Hopefully the residents are fairly compensated and provided with a new place to live.

Beijing Belly

I present Exhibit A, a typical Beijing male going about his daily life. No matter where you go, the park, a restaurant, the bus, the street, you will run into a Beijinger with his shirt half way up scratching his belly. The reasoning behind this is to keep themselves cool in Beijing's unbearably polluted hot summers. Makes sense. 

The Mysterious Microphone

Beijing's public transportation system is much better than any other US city I have visited. The subway lines are clean, go almost everywhere in the city and the bus lines cover all the spots on the map not occupied by subway stations. However, if you need to get somewhere quick, a taxi is your best option. The taxi drivers drive like it's their last day on earth and they are always fun to talk to (if you can get past their incredibly thick accents). Most importantly however, taxis are cheap. The meter starts at 10 RMB ($1.50ish) and doesn't start going up until the distance you are driven is over 10 RMB. Most taxi rides end up costing 20-40 RMB which doesn't even equal $10. One thing I would like to point out though, is the mysterious mini microphone masterfully tucked away in a corner of the dashboard right across from the front passenger seat. What is it's purpose? Why is it there? Is it the government spying on its citizens? Or just for recording taxi conversations in case a belligerent foreigner decides to pick a fight with the taxi driver? Please give your opinion in the comments section.

Street Food

The past seven weeks have gone by in a blink of an eye and Beijing is starting to feel like a home away from home. In 49 days that I have eaten an assortment of questionable and delicious meat kabobs, biscuits, buns, dumplings, fruit and vegetables. I would personally recommend trying the street food for a few reasons, it's cheap, its tasty, it's uncertain how you will feel in 30 minutes. Nine times out of ten there is no problem and you only had to pay less than 2 USD for a few beef kabobs and a corn. It's especially convenient because the food is already cooked and somewhat fresh, but always tasty. If you have spent more than you wanted during the weekend, this is a good way to save a few kuai (RMB).

Beijing

Welcome back to China Time everyone! It's been about two weeks since I've last updated you on what's been going on over on the other side of the world so there is a lot to say. I started my program two weeks ago (hence the stoppage of posts) and it has been going quite well so far. We have a language pledge that lasts all the way to  the end of the program, so I can't speak English for two whole months (unless I'm talking to my parents or helping lost tourists in Beijing)! My classes start at 8 am and go until noon which I find to be quite a marathon of repeating grammar patterns and vocabulary. The last hour is a one-on-one session where I can talk freely about the text, or anything I chose with my teacher which I really enjoy because it is a great break from the recitation and drilling in the previous three hours. After class I usually eat lunch in the Chinese student cafeteria (there is a international student cafeteria as well) and play cards with a few of my friends. The homework load in my level is surprisingly lite (five hours a day) compared to other levels, but I guess the teachers expect high quality out of us. The school that the my program is hosted in is really small with only 300 actual students. The location is great for getting a ten minute cab ride to some of Beijing's most fun destinations and is only a ten minute walk away from the subway which will take you almost anywhere in the city.
The weekends I think are what keep everyone's heads screwed on right because if we didn't get any time off with such a heavy schedule we would all be going crazy by now. The usual weekend activities include heading out to some of Beijing's more international districts to meet up with other friends studying at other universities and eating out at a few of the western restaurants (which have very authentic food). If my friends and I are not out in the more international areas we will go to Gui Street and eat hot pot, fresh seafood, or some just plain weird stuff. Later in the evening we might go to KTV (karaoke) for a few hours and sing Chinese and English songs. Going to KTV in China is like going to an upscale restaurant because each one is just so incredibly high tech and high class. The English songs selection is about ten years out of date but that just makes singing the Backstreet Boys justifiable...
The food in China is nothing short of amazing. This morning I ate a square, pizza like flat bread and three beef kebabs, all for eight RMB (so about $1.30). The western restaurants in Beijing also come with western prices, but if you're on a budget you can't beat the street food. There are all kinds of really cool night markets, food streets, and small food karts scattered across the city making finding food in Beijing just as easy as actually eating it.
So I've got another six weeks here in Beijing before heading to Taiwan for a week then back to the US. I'll try to keep everyone more up-to-date on my adventures and such so expect more reglar blog posts from here on out!