Welcome to Beijing
I am tired as heck right now because of jet lag, but simply put, today was amazing. In the morning, Fang Fang’s mother took us on a drive into Beijing proper passing by what seemed like hundreds of 20 story apartment buildings (one area of apartment buildings have a total of 300,000 residents!) We passed by Olympic Village and parked the car so that I can finally finally, see the bird’s nest up close.
It was glorious. To be there on a bright wintery day, look across the frozen lake to a wonderful sight of grandeur in front of me. I am so happy to be there that I was tearing up. The sky was amazingly blue and although there were more people there (on a Monday) than I expected, it was so relaxing yet awe-inspiring to walk around the steel nest and searching for echoes of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. I am, as sad as ever, that I missed out on the greatest celebration in China. But they had the stadium open for tourist and I was able to walk on to the floor and see the stadium from the viewpoint of the performers and athletes.
I didn’t take very many pictures of the water cube, mostly because we are going to return there on Wednesday Night and see a concert in the Water Cube. = ) Fang Fang and I took hilarious jumping shots in front of the Stadium though, it was simply too beautiful a day to miss out on that.
Afterwards, we went to one of the oldest restaurants in Beijing and ate traditional “Beijing Duck” for lunch. They could really make 5 different dishes out of one roasted duck, depending on how the duckmeat is carved and which parts are combined together. The soup made from the duck wings served at the end is especially great. In the afternoon, we went to a very historical part of Beijing, 琉璃厂 or painted-glass Street. It is a street full of calligraphy and antique shops. The street like its merchandise has traditional buildings. My mom bought a calligraphy book she really liked, otherwise, I passed on buying brushes or parchment.
I am now sitting in Fang Fang’s family spare home in the city. The apartment is literally a 10 min walk from Tiananmen square, our neighbors include the Highest Court of China, and the China Premier, Wen Jiabao. My mom’s old friend came to visit us, she’s some official high up in the Chinese government and although we didn’t see her son this time, we had the pleasure of meeting him 2 years ago. He drives me insane and even though I love and support china, he is so extreme in the other direction that it pisses me off. For some reason, it bothers me when someone dislikes America so much just like it bothers me when someone dislikes China. I suppose it’s the American side of me coming out better in the constant tug-of-war in my brain, but I nearly laughed out loud when his mother said that he wants to go into politics but refused to learn English. The furthest he can go in politics is to be a tribal leader if he hates America that much. I’d like to see him try leading China knowing absolutely no English.
It was glorious. To be there on a bright wintery day, look across the frozen lake to a wonderful sight of grandeur in front of me. I am so happy to be there that I was tearing up. The sky was amazingly blue and although there were more people there (on a Monday) than I expected, it was so relaxing yet awe-inspiring to walk around the steel nest and searching for echoes of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. I am, as sad as ever, that I missed out on the greatest celebration in China. But they had the stadium open for tourist and I was able to walk on to the floor and see the stadium from the viewpoint of the performers and athletes.
I didn’t take very many pictures of the water cube, mostly because we are going to return there on Wednesday Night and see a concert in the Water Cube. = ) Fang Fang and I took hilarious jumping shots in front of the Stadium though, it was simply too beautiful a day to miss out on that.
Afterwards, we went to one of the oldest restaurants in Beijing and ate traditional “Beijing Duck” for lunch. They could really make 5 different dishes out of one roasted duck, depending on how the duckmeat is carved and which parts are combined together. The soup made from the duck wings served at the end is especially great. In the afternoon, we went to a very historical part of Beijing, 琉璃厂 or painted-glass Street. It is a street full of calligraphy and antique shops. The street like its merchandise has traditional buildings. My mom bought a calligraphy book she really liked, otherwise, I passed on buying brushes or parchment.
I am now sitting in Fang Fang’s family spare home in the city. The apartment is literally a 10 min walk from Tiananmen square, our neighbors include the Highest Court of China, and the China Premier, Wen Jiabao. My mom’s old friend came to visit us, she’s some official high up in the Chinese government and although we didn’t see her son this time, we had the pleasure of meeting him 2 years ago. He drives me insane and even though I love and support china, he is so extreme in the other direction that it pisses me off. For some reason, it bothers me when someone dislikes America so much just like it bothers me when someone dislikes China. I suppose it’s the American side of me coming out better in the constant tug-of-war in my brain, but I nearly laughed out loud when his mother said that he wants to go into politics but refused to learn English. The furthest he can go in politics is to be a tribal leader if he hates America that much. I’d like to see him try leading China knowing absolutely no English.