798 Art District 七九八

Had the chance to visit the art district today. The reason for it being so unfortunately named was that it did use to be a factory area under Communist rule. Then it was used by the army. And then it was left dilapidated until penniless artists found it as a place to showcase their art. The place turned mainstream as more and more visiting politicians graced the place with their presence.

Whilst I had expected it to be fascinating - it is more so than expected. Whilst the art that I did see today was fairly tame compared to the other, much more confrontational modern Chinese art I had seen offshore, it was a sombre reminder of the China that I am living in today. China is large. Its people spread the world - there are so many of us, in some way or other, have something to do with China. Its history is long, some celebrated, some dark. But the China that is today? I don't blame the Chinese for experiencing some sort of identity crisis. The need to be patriotic, and proud of where they have come from. But then now to where? And how? How much longer will it take?

If you're in Beijing and sick of seeing temples, palaces and squares - this is a refreshing look at (modern) Chinese culture.

Ceiling of one of an ex-factory / now art gallery. The inscription essentially says "Long live Chairman Mao" (the saying was previously reserved for Emperors of the Middle Kingdom)

One of the "exhibitions" - completely trippy, walking into smoke and lights - you lose sense of your bearing and direction. Almost felt like vertigo.

Some graffiti

Piglets for sale

Brooches for sale - some had modern Chinese sayings and some old Communist propaganda

Qingdao 青岛

I haven't really thought much of Sydney since I left. I suppose I was very ready to leave by then. Stepping into Qingdao, the smell of ocean, the relaxed attitude, brought memories of Sydney flooding back. I suppose it is common of all beach side cities - they eat (seafood), they drink (beer), and they swim (in the ocean). I miss my summer weekends by the beach, listening to my iPod, reading my book, going for a dip once in a while. I even miss putting on sunscreen.

Qingdao is a beautiful city. It is not as well organized nor well presented as Sydney, and neither is the sand as fine. But it surpassed my possibly-now-lowered expectations of what China could present in form of a beach. I was so excited to see a beach that I bought a bikini on the day and jumped into the ocean - it was freezing (with seaweed strewn everywhere) but it was worth it, just to get salt water on my body. The locals were slightly bemused (not sure if it was with a crazy Asian girl in the water or in a bikini). A classmate said to me: "It looks like you've returned home." I could be.

Qingdao is an interesting little city and I'd like to be back. There is quite a bit of German influence (architecture still evident). Amusingly the roads in Qingdao are named after the cities in China, and arranged in similar geographic fashion. It is a little quaint.

Tsingtao Brewery

The Australian Flag at the Qingdao Olympic Sailing Center

Statue in form of an Olympic torch commemorating The Beijing Olympics

The Olympic Rings

The beach!

Tea picker

City skyline from the sea

Flowers in the park

City skyline from the park

Out yonder

Train on the way back

Qufu 曲阜

Most famous for being Confucious' place of abode. We visited the Temple of Confucius (孔庙) and his cemetery. To be perfectly honest, having been in China the past few months I feel that Confucius principles have probably diminished over the years, but nonetheless the man still commands significant importance.

Entrance

Part of the expansive garden

Fancy joss sticks at the temple

Some engraving on a pillar - I think it says Spring 1915...

Confucius' tomb

Part of the wall

Taishan 泰山

Post (some very rigorous) exams, the school had organized a week-long excursion. We travelled to Shandong - first stop being 泰山(1500m). The mountain (or a group of them) is the most important mountain in Chinese culture - it carries religious, historic and literary importance. It took us about 1.5hours to get up there - but then I take a lot of photos...

Prayer strips being sold on the mountain...

... some use them as such

The view of Tai'an from the top of Mount Tai

It seems the local tradition to "lock" away your woes

Though the lock business seems to be slow today...

Engravings (dating back over 3000 years) all over the mountain - beats me how they get up there!

One of the many red doors

Dai Temple at the foot of the mountain

Some parts of the temple is an architectural replication of the Forbidden City

Passage way in Dai Temple

Prayer plates

My attempt at being artistic

Tibet 西藏

Acutely aware how much I have romanticized Tibet all this time - I was worried that I'd be disappointed. And maybe I was, with some parts of it. But I can't help but be overwhelmed. The sights, the smells, the people, the history. The Chinese government clearly as made it a point to fill Tibet with as many Han as possible - with the Han making up 50% of the population in the cities and 20% in the rural areas.

Everywhere in the city, there is non-stop construction. Roads are being paved, the urban sprawl spreading. There are cars everywhere, the sound of the honk echos throughout the night. It was explained to me that the Chinese government has made it a point to "give" as much as possible.

Despite all the changes - the devotion remains unwavering. Pilgrims still flock to The Jokhang, which houses one of the oldest image of Buddha. All around Tibetans walk around with their handheld mani-wheels, muttering prayers whilst walking around the structure.

The Potala Palace itself carries a bit of a gloom. The place is empty - and overlooking the city of Lhasa itself, it looks like it is almost taunting, demanding even, for its rightful owner to be back. There is something rude about "visiting" a place of government when its "government" is in exile.

One thing my Tibetan tour guide said stuck in my head: "We've never had this and we are still here. So why would we need all this now?"

What can I say? It is easy to be biased either way - but neither will be the solution. Having just finished reading Jerusalem 1913 I wouldn't want Buddhism, so peaceful a religion, to be embroiled in an unending pain. I would be heartbroken to see thousands of years of history go down in flame because of the ego of man. Where do I stand? I choose peace.

The Potala Palace at Lhasa

One of the windows in The Palace

Yak butter for sale

Prayer flags at Bakhor Market

The Jokhang

Prayer flags sprawled out at Namsto Lake

Hagglers at Namsto Lake

Yak and his surroundings

Mao memorabilia

Monk outside Tashilunpo Monastery

Tashilunpo Monastery in Shigatse

A carved stone on the ground of Tashilunpo Monastery

Monks flocking out from prayers

Maybe this is what best describes Tibet - to the left, a door into the Monastery, to the right, The Wheel of Life, and in the middle, a China Telecom public phone.

The walls at Tashilunpo Monastery

Homework.

Yes, really. Homework. Having been seated here for the last two hours and still not yet close to completing this homework, I have decided to procrastinate and blog for a while.

It is week #3 in Beijing. To say that I have done nothing but study in Beijing would be a lie - so I won't. But I do have class Monday to Friday, from 8am - 3pm (yes, brutal). There was a lot of mess in class placement but alas I have been placed in the E class - apparently the most advanced class. I am surprised with how many characters I retained in my memory - yet most of the time the meaning I know but of which pronunciation I don't know. If it ended there I would be happy - Mandarin is a tough language to learn. There is writing, and listening.

The classes are actually really interesting - my favourite being Chinese History and Ancient Chinese works (in short form). I'm not really sure how many of these idioms I will retain but I definitely enjoy reading them.

Other than trying not to freeze in Beijing (weather forecast places the temperature between -1c to 14c), time is spent on alcoholic consumption, socializing, dancing and much laughter - otherwise known as partying. It is hard not to - Beijing has quite a few amazing clubs (and not to mention I have three other girlfriends with me). And the place is heaving with locals and expats. Though generally we do limit ourselves to droughts on Mondays through to Wednesdays...

All in all, has been an amazing three weeks and ten more to go. Have to return to my homework now but I promise a couple of posts to come soon...

Was in Beijing

Have fallen behind on the blogging - between the getting ill, packing, flying and looking for an apartment in Beijing - I couldn't seem to find words. Apologies.

We ended up settling on staying in a dorm. It was too much hassle having to set up an apartment for just a couple of months. Besides, the dorms seemed far more comfortable than the cruddy apartments we saw! The mistake we made was that we brought our Australian standards to local Beijing lifestyle - we were sorely disappointed. I definitely should have taken photos - my bad!

There is a curfew that come with dorms - midnight. I think we will have to find a way around that, a back door, or maybe a window to climb through. :)

Beijing is cold, but pretty much what I remembered it to be. It is far prettier than Guangzhou, but there are still plenty of signs yet that Beijing has a long way to go before it is developed. Road rules, for one, are still practically non-existent. And the airport - why build such a large airport if you can't have the planes park near the terminal itself? We had to take a 15-minute ride in a bus to get to the plane last night.

In Seoul now... I promise I will post!

Another Lifetime

I have been taking a lot of pictures but I don't know how best to put them up, without tiring me or fatiguing you. So that will have to wait. But I want to show you this - it is probably my favourite one so far. I took this whilst walking around in Yagang village (ancestral home) in Guangzhou. There is so much story written here - yet unknown.