Golden Week
I've had a rather interesting week. So, I FINALLY got to do a bit of bouldering at that ridiculously far boulder bar (the one that takes a total of 3 hours of travelling for a round trip). My only complaint was that there weren't any routes marked out and almost all the walls were overhangs of various degrees. (the most vicious being the roof and the 45 degree overhang) However, once we started climbing, it quickly became apparent that it didn't matter that there weren't any routes marked out since both of us needed to build up strength to do the overhangs first! oh yes.. and the place was DESERTED. Chia and I were the only 2 people climbing, though just as we were leaving, another 3 people arrived. I've also checked out the outdoor climbing wall at BU which is a 10 minute bus ride down the road. It's really tall, is mainly overhanging.. and just to make things even more interesting, has a roof somewhere near the top. Oh yes, and it's a lead wall. Looks freaking scary!
Since we got a week off (they call this week "Golden Week"), I had some time to check out the Natural History Museum.. which had spliced (also skinned) cadavers and cross sections of organs. Biology lessons come to life! Awesome. The cross-section of the (actual) heart is way more interesting than those models that my dad used to show me and draw for me. There was also a cross-section of the entire HEAD which was .. urm.. a little grotesque, but interesting. Couple of other strange things like foetuses with the brain missing etc. The skinned cadaver is a good candidate for inspiring nightmares.. they totally skinned the entire body (even the face) and the face was kind of frozen in a silent scream. In the aquarium section, I had my first encounter with the "upside-down catfish". Since the tank was at eye level and the signboard was not, I was gaping at the fish in bewilderment for quite a while. Initially, I thought that they were stunted catfish not being tended after properly and that they were ALL dying since they were upside-down, but on closer inspection, they were swimming quite normally and moving their fins in a more vigorous manner than one would expect from a dying fish. It was only after I called my friends over to the tank that one of them pointed out the sign that said upside-down catfish. Doh!
Spent my week off alternating between lazing around school and taking day trips out to hills nearby (as my friend complained, each time she's with me, there's a mountain around). Fragrant Hills wasn't as beautiful as is reputed and had a rather tiring climb up, plus we got ripped off at the entrance. We should have been eligible for student tickets which are half-price but the person selling us the tickets told us that the half-price tickets are only available for local students and not foreign/overseas students, which was a load of bullshit (we have gotten half-price tickets at other parks before). So we bought the normal priced tickets and at the entrance, asked the person collecting the ticket about the student tickets and she said that we could get student tickets (then she realised that she just accidentally ratted on her colleague and refused to help us get the right ticket). So it was an easy extra 20 bucks to pocket for that seller. (to get an idea of the salary rates here: apparently the security guard at my friend's housing area gets paid 2 bucks an hour!)
Took another day trip out to Shidu (means 10 crossings in Chinese) which is "Beijing's answer to Guilin". It's 110km southwest of Beijing. Guilin is the most beautiful mountainous region, located South of China and is the subject of most paintings/poetry/photos. However, Shidu isn't as impressive as Guilin since it's a little more polluted and dusty (thanks to the sandstorms blowing in from Inner Mongolia). Still, it was a fun trip, made better by the company.. and it felt good getting out of the classroom and the polluted filthy Beijing city air. London air is CLEAN compared to Beijing air... However, we got the full China trains experience... First of all, you can't book a train more than 4 days in advance and queues are crazy long. If you happen to get onto the train on any other station other than the starting point, there are no reserved seats.. so either fight for a seat, or stand. Normally, the trains are so packed that you'll have to stand anyway. BUT, the people.. omg.. they spit EVERYWHERE.. even on the train floor, they throw rubbish on the floor, the floor is black and sticky with god knows what muck, they keep walking up and down the carriages.. and if you're in the way, they don't say a word, but just shove you aside. The sweepers came with a big broom and started sweeping all the trash together while the train was still moving (we hadn't even reached the last stop yet).. and yelling at all of us standing in the aisle (hello! we have no place to move to!) to get out of the way. At the end of the 2 and a half hour ride back to Beijing, I was just about at the end of my patience (especially since we had a very long day AND a 5.30am start too) and soooo tempted to punch this one guy who shoved both me and my friend aside in his attempt to get off the train at the last stop. It's the LAST STOP.. the train's not going anywhere!!!
The day after that, we went to the Great Wall (Simatai section) which is supposed to be less touristy than the others. It was slightly less crowded, though the irony was, we took a packed tour bus to get TO Simatai. And there was a restaurant there which had a banner that said "Lonely Planet restaurant". Not touristy? Hah! The mountain ranges were quite amazing, though, especially the way the Great Wall was built along the highest points of the mountain range and surrounded by a load of smaller mountain ranges.
After all that, I'm down with the flu now. :( Gah. Here's to desperately hoping that I get well by Friday so I can pig-out on the Belgian dessert buffet for 50 kuai! I miss CHOCOLATE!
Since we got a week off (they call this week "Golden Week"), I had some time to check out the Natural History Museum.. which had spliced (also skinned) cadavers and cross sections of organs. Biology lessons come to life! Awesome. The cross-section of the (actual) heart is way more interesting than those models that my dad used to show me and draw for me. There was also a cross-section of the entire HEAD which was .. urm.. a little grotesque, but interesting. Couple of other strange things like foetuses with the brain missing etc. The skinned cadaver is a good candidate for inspiring nightmares.. they totally skinned the entire body (even the face) and the face was kind of frozen in a silent scream. In the aquarium section, I had my first encounter with the "upside-down catfish". Since the tank was at eye level and the signboard was not, I was gaping at the fish in bewilderment for quite a while. Initially, I thought that they were stunted catfish not being tended after properly and that they were ALL dying since they were upside-down, but on closer inspection, they were swimming quite normally and moving their fins in a more vigorous manner than one would expect from a dying fish. It was only after I called my friends over to the tank that one of them pointed out the sign that said upside-down catfish. Doh!
Spent my week off alternating between lazing around school and taking day trips out to hills nearby (as my friend complained, each time she's with me, there's a mountain around). Fragrant Hills wasn't as beautiful as is reputed and had a rather tiring climb up, plus we got ripped off at the entrance. We should have been eligible for student tickets which are half-price but the person selling us the tickets told us that the half-price tickets are only available for local students and not foreign/overseas students, which was a load of bullshit (we have gotten half-price tickets at other parks before). So we bought the normal priced tickets and at the entrance, asked the person collecting the ticket about the student tickets and she said that we could get student tickets (then she realised that she just accidentally ratted on her colleague and refused to help us get the right ticket). So it was an easy extra 20 bucks to pocket for that seller. (to get an idea of the salary rates here: apparently the security guard at my friend's housing area gets paid 2 bucks an hour!)
Took another day trip out to Shidu (means 10 crossings in Chinese) which is "Beijing's answer to Guilin". It's 110km southwest of Beijing. Guilin is the most beautiful mountainous region, located South of China and is the subject of most paintings/poetry/photos. However, Shidu isn't as impressive as Guilin since it's a little more polluted and dusty (thanks to the sandstorms blowing in from Inner Mongolia). Still, it was a fun trip, made better by the company.. and it felt good getting out of the classroom and the polluted filthy Beijing city air. London air is CLEAN compared to Beijing air... However, we got the full China trains experience... First of all, you can't book a train more than 4 days in advance and queues are crazy long. If you happen to get onto the train on any other station other than the starting point, there are no reserved seats.. so either fight for a seat, or stand. Normally, the trains are so packed that you'll have to stand anyway. BUT, the people.. omg.. they spit EVERYWHERE.. even on the train floor, they throw rubbish on the floor, the floor is black and sticky with god knows what muck, they keep walking up and down the carriages.. and if you're in the way, they don't say a word, but just shove you aside. The sweepers came with a big broom and started sweeping all the trash together while the train was still moving (we hadn't even reached the last stop yet).. and yelling at all of us standing in the aisle (hello! we have no place to move to!) to get out of the way. At the end of the 2 and a half hour ride back to Beijing, I was just about at the end of my patience (especially since we had a very long day AND a 5.30am start too) and soooo tempted to punch this one guy who shoved both me and my friend aside in his attempt to get off the train at the last stop. It's the LAST STOP.. the train's not going anywhere!!!
The day after that, we went to the Great Wall (Simatai section) which is supposed to be less touristy than the others. It was slightly less crowded, though the irony was, we took a packed tour bus to get TO Simatai. And there was a restaurant there which had a banner that said "Lonely Planet restaurant". Not touristy? Hah! The mountain ranges were quite amazing, though, especially the way the Great Wall was built along the highest points of the mountain range and surrounded by a load of smaller mountain ranges.
After all that, I'm down with the flu now. :( Gah. Here's to desperately hoping that I get well by Friday so I can pig-out on the Belgian dessert buffet for 50 kuai! I miss CHOCOLATE!