Gulou Dajie LIVES!!!鼓楼大街不会死了！

This makes my day month year. I was in the early stages of writing a lament about how one of my most beloved places in Beijing, Gulou Dajie 鼓楼大街, was soon to be no more. Gulou Dajie is one of the oldest of the remaining traditional hutong 胡同 neighborhoods that made up imperial Beijing. It is named after the Drum Tower (pictured above), that along with the Bell Tower 100 meters north, looms over the neighborhood, due north of the Imperial City 故宫. The two buildings were originally used as instruments, and later to tell time in the city. Here’s a link to learn more about the Drum Tower and Bell Tower’s history. Gulou Dajie used to be the home of ministers and nobles in Beijing, though now it is home to both poor and very wealthy, the former who have no money to move out of their generation-old homes, and the latter who want to hold live in a chic, fashionably traditional space (with all of the modern 21st Century accoutrement, of course).

Photos of My Weekends

I rarely get time to take out the Canon on the weekdays, so most of the photography I get to do is on the weekends or after work. Here’s a selection from the past few weekends/weeknights.

First, the view from the front porch of my aparthotel–yes, I live next to a smokestack; Welcome to China.

Yuantel Promotional Video

One of the projects I worked on over here at Yuantel was a promotional video showcasing some of the uses of Yuantel’s Meetingtel product. It helps if you can understand Chinese, but I am sure you can figure out which one I am. It’s kinda cool–I’ve never been a (flash)movie star before!

I would post the video directly here, but for whatever reason I cannot get it to convert from a .swf file to any other format, so you’re gonna have to view it on the Meetingtel website. It will most likely take a bit to load, because it’s hosted in China. I’m still trying to figure out how to convert it, but for whatever reason every converter I’ve tried comes up with an error. Also, the video’s kinda weird, kinda slow, and it seems like it’s broken or something for the first minute-ish, but eventually the voices continue.

Some More iPhone Photos

Like the last phone photo post, the post-processing on these is more for sun than for anything else. Though I personally tend towards more natural looking photography, it’s fun to mess around with the post-processing that iPhone apps have to offer.

All of these were taken on my walk home yesterday, except this first one, which was taken last week right before a lamb skewer dinner.

144A Policy Paper

One of the classes I am taking during my summer in the U.S. is a Political Science class focusing on International Conflict. The class teaches different political theories/perspectives, such as Realism, Liberalism, Critical Theory, World Systems Theory, Constructivism, Feminism, and others, and applies them to the Kosovo conflict. In addition, we had to select a current world conflict and write a research paper, Op-Ed, and Policy paper. I selected the US/China debate over China’s renminbi exchange rate.

Here is the Policy Paper–the assignment was to summarize the research we had done on our conflict in about a page, then outline three possible policies to take in regards to the conflict. They had to be from three different political theory perspectives, and we had to provide a cost/benefit analysis, as well as projections of the possible outcomes of our policy. All in 3 pages double-spaced. That last requirement proved to be the biggest challenge.

Grade Received: Not yet known.

144A International Conflict Research Paper

One of the classes I am taking during my summer in the U.S. is a Political Science class focusing on International Conflict. The class teaches different political theories/perspectives, such as Realism, Liberalism, Critical Theory, World Systems Theory, Constructivism, Feminism, and others, and applies them to the Kosovo conflict. In addition, we had to select a current world conflict and write a research paper, Op-Ed, and Policy paper. I selected the US/China debate over China’s renminbi exchange rate.

Here is the Research Paper–it’s a long read at ten pages double-spaced, but I think it’s pretty interesting. I definitely learned a lot.

Grade Received: A-

Easiest Panoramas Ever.

This is a shot of the tile art at 建国门 (Jian4guo2men2) subway stop on Beijing’s Line 2.
I wish I used my phone to take panoramas in Yunnan instead of my DSLR. The software on the phone stitches panoramas SO MUCH better than anything I’ve found on the computer thus far (that isn’t really expensive). Oh well–gives me an excuse to head back to Yunnan. Speaking of which, I will try and get thos photos up as soon as possible, but I honestly don’t think it’s going to happen till after I head back home.

Oh, and excuse that lame white border. The Autostitch panorama app makes great panoramas, but only if the photographer doesn’t suck so much that he doesn’t take wide enough photos to fill out the corners of a panorama.

The Week Before Finals

Taken at 4:30AM (and edited shortly thereafter) this morning, all with my iPhone. I’ve recently taken to using my phone for photos, because it’s a lot more convenient, there are some pretty great (if not somewhat gimmicky) photo applications for it, and I don’t like skating with my camera every day. My balance/luck is not good enough. On a long enough timeline, disaster is sure to strike.

Anyway, here’s a few other photos taken and edited on the phone.

Money money money. Taken outside 动物园, which is the Beijing zoo. Nobody goes to the zoo, but everybody goes to the cheap clothing markets just across the street. It was driven by some 小白脸儿 (Chinese for boytoy), dressed like a moron. Lucky for him he doens’t have to care because he’s driving an effing Ferrari.

Also, I found some longboards in Beijing a long time ago. Shitty quality, 2000+ RMB.

I’m so glad I brought my own.

But back to life–I’ve got a ten-page paper to write, ten days worth of missed class and the obligatory homework that comes with to catch up on, and what I think is a gum infection.

I’m really going to miss China. For the five weeks I’m back in America.

For Those of You Who Speak Chinese….

This collection of photos, sent to me by a Chinese friend, are made up of Chinese characters or words, but drawn to depict their meaning. If you don’t follow me, then for example, the picture of the dog farting is made up of the characters 狗屁， meaning dog fart, or bullshit.

精读第六课的文章： 我看中国人的生活 My View of Life in China

Part of my Intensive Reading class in Chinese is to write an essay using various vocabulary words and grammar patterns that were covered in the chapter. Seeing as how these are possibly the most interesting (and fun to write) assignments I have had both in China and in general, I figure I’d post them up here (with the English translations). This way, I can not only see how my own writing has progressed and how I can learn from my mistakes, but I can also provide you with proof that I am actually learning something over here.

The translations are not always verbatim–sometimes things just don’t translate perfectly between languages, and a lot of seemingly laconic four-character sayings in Chinese carry with them an intrinsic connotation that needs many more words in English to convey. Some things just sound a little bit better when embellished in English. I did, however, strive to stay as close to possible as the original Chinese as I could.

This one is the most recent one, which I actually just finished writing.

中国人的生活－象棋

我走访了好几个中国城市，了解到中国的各种文化特点。每个我去的地方有自己的特色，比如说河南省有开封的中国犹太人，浙江省的苏州有所谓在中国最漂亮的美女（其实我不同意），四川省有九寨沟，竹子，熊猫，云南省有二十多个对游客分外热情的少数民族。从我旅游的经验来看，中国真的有举不胜举的习俗，虽说每个地方有自己的独特习俗，但是我发现了一种无比有意思的现象：在中国，不管你在一个纳西村子或成都的一个茶楼，到处都有象棋。所以有的时候我在想，中国人这么的遵纪守法是不是因为他们是依照象棋的规矩来生活的？

在北京，什么样的人都有。有的人太富有了——除了天天大吃大喝，他们甚至在豪华轿车安装了三四个电视。 有的人则连吃都吃不饱。我各种阶层的人都遇到过。不管是男女老少，也不管经济地位如何，他们绝对都会下象棋。离我家最近的十字路口每天从早到晚都有一群老百姓在下象棋。特别是一位老年人不管风吹雨打每天都在那儿。他常常说：“谁要挑战我，谁就坐下来！任你谁来，我也有可能输”人们接连地来竭力地想要打败他。 最讽刺的是越把时间浪费在吹牛上的人，越容易输掉比赛。其实我从来没有仔细地监督他们，但是我今天问他有没有输过，他从容地回答“我向来没输过。”

总的说来，象棋不仅是中国的一个很普遍的标志，而对中国人民万众一心的自豪感也有很大的贡献。

I have been to myriad different Chinese cities, all in the pursuit of better understanding China’s diverse cultures. Every city I have been to has its own special unique characteristics–for example Henan Province’s Kaifeng City and its Chinese Jewish minority, Zhejiang Province’s Suzhou with its so-called most beautiful women in China (though I personally do not agree), Sichuan Province with its Jiuzhaigou, bamboo, and pandas, to Yunnan Province with its more than twenty extraordinarily friendly and inviting minority groups. From my travel experiences it has become evident to me that China truly has an innumerable amount of different customs and traditions, but despite each place’s own unique customs, I realized that there is one phenomenon that persistently presents itself: In China, regarldess of whether you are in a Naxi village in Yunnan or in a teahouse in Chengdu, there is always somebody playing Chinese chess. Seeing Chinese chess played no matter where I go sometimes makes me wonder whether or not the reason the Chinese follow (most of) the rules and laws of their country is in light of the fact that Chinese chess plays such an intrinsic role in daily life?

In Beijing one can find literally all types of people. Some people are almost too rich–besides eating and drinking to gluttonous levels every day, they have multitudes of televisions installed into their limousines. On the other hand, some people don’t even have enough food to get them through the day. I have met people from both extremes, and from every echelon in between. Whether male, female, old or young, and regardless of socioeconomic status, every person knows how to play Chinese chess. At the nearest intersection from my house there is a group of old Beijingers who play xiangqi from sunrise to late night. Especially of note is one elderly man who regardless of wind or rain is out there every single day. I often hear him say: “Anybody who wants to challenge me, just take a seat! No matter who you are, you still have a chance to beat me!” People come one after another and try their absolute best to beat him. Ironically, it is the ones who waste the most time bragging that they can take him that lose the easiest. Honestly, I’ve passed this table for a year but never closely paid attention to his record, but the other day I asked him if he has ever lost, to which he looked me tranquilly and replied “To this day I have never.”

In short, Chinese chess seems not only to be one of the most widespread symbols of Chinese culture, but also one that contributes to the unity of the Chinese themselves.