Thursday, November 22, 2007

Qingdao

As soon as the weekend was behind us, Corey and I (along with Aarty and Simon) boarded a plane for Qingdao - the Chinese city known for it's beaches, open seas, German architecture and most importantly: the TsingTao beer brewery.

During the German occupation of Qingdao, they founded the TsingTao brewery in the early 1900's, and introduced the wonders of beer to China. It's clear that the Chinese haven't looked back since, and TsingTao (pronounced CHINGDAO, for all you cats at home) still remains the flagship beer here in the People's Republic.

Before we left for Qingdao, our Chinese coworkers told us that Qingdao would be similar in many ways to Dalian. It was on the beach, and it was of a size similar to our own.

Well, they got their two reasons correct, but Qingdao was really nothing at all like Dalian. It was a warm (feelings, not climate) and friendly place, with unique architecture, and a welcoming vibe that is sometimes missing from Dalian.

Our Hostel was in an old converted church in the heart of Qingdao's old city - which at many times made me forget I was in China (besides the ever-present sounds of hacking up spit left and right.)



The first sight we hit up was the German Guesthouse, a former residence of German bureaucrats that even housed Chairman Mao for a while. His bed was on display as well, seemingly untouched and uncleaned since the time he stayed there.



From there, we meandered around the area, winding up in a rickety revolving observatory where we got some pretty good views of the city.





We walked down to the waterfront (which unlike Dalian is covered in beautiful sandy beaches), and even got to witness a nutjob going for a swim (something that is actually fairly common in the winter months over here).



Then it was time for the brewery! We headed to the Qingdao brewery and found ourselves on the epic "Beer Street" where everything was decorated to match the theme.





The brewery tour itself was interesting enough, although it did house some very... twisted... artifacts from the German era. Very, very twisted, especially if you're reading inbetween the lines. Or maybe I'm reading too much into it.




The highlight by far was a hilarious "Tipsy Room" that made you feel instantly drunk when you walked in.



We enjoyed some free (as in not free, but included in admission) tiny cups of TsingTao and went on our merry way.



The next day, we visited the Catholic Church (once named St. Michael's, now just "The Catholic Church), which was surprisingly large and apparently still in use. There is a very strange Catholic Chinese community here in China. A few of the Chinese Teachers at our school are Catholic, but when asked they seem to know little to nothing about their chosen religion. Strange, but nothing a giant church shouldn't fix.





We spent the rest of our last day wandering around Qingdao, winding up by the beach front again.



While walking along the water, we were treated to a scene straight out of Miami beach. A bunch of men in speedos playing Volleyball. The only difference was that it was freezing cold, and on the other side of the world from Miami.



On our way back to the hostel, we strolled through a market and of course got to enjoy watching people cook (or maybe just straight up eat) live scorpions. Mmmmm. Good to know the German influences don't run TOO deep here.



'til next time, I'll be drinking a TsingTao or three for all of you out there,
Shawn

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Wo She Yotai Ren

Another quick shot for the blog here. It's worth commenting that whenever I bring up the fact that I'm Jewish to pretty much anyone in China, I get the same reaction: a shocked facial expression, coupled with a "WHAAAAAAAT???"

I know. Me, Jewish? Who would have thought huh?

Anyways, the same comments always follow as well. Some remark about how we're practically brothers. Because you see, the Jews are regarded by the Chinese as one of the smartest groups of people on the planet (Einstein always gets name dropped about now, he's the only other Jew they know besides me now). Then, I get told that we're practically brothers (because of the similar genius of the Chinese), and they continue excitedly about how they couldn't believe I was Jewish.

Maybe because they thought I was retarded or something.

So my Jewish brethren would seem to rank number two on China's "Smartest Ethnic Stereotypes" List. Right behind the Chinese naturally.

Other moderately funny related tidbit # 1: Pork in Chinese is Zhou Rou (Pronounce Jew Ro)
Other moderately funny related tidbit # 2: Apparently Hitler in Chinese is Shitler. Apparently.

I'm off to rub my beard in deep thought,
Shawn


* And for those wondering, the title of this post is indeed "I'm a Jew" in Chinese. You learn something new every day!

Monday, November 12, 2007

11/11

Just a quick note here. This one is especially for everyone who bemoans Valentine's Day back home as being unfair to all the singles left alone. Well, China has the answer for you: Singles' Day!

Chosen to take place on November Eleventh due to the high concentration of ones in the date, I am told this is a day where the single men and women are celebrated... with drink specials at Chinese clubs and bars.

Happy Singles Day to all you lonely hearts out there,
Shawn

Sunday, November 4, 2007

Bringing Halloween to the Masses

Despite nonsensical and puritanical controversies, Halloween is an innocent and fun holiday celebrated throughout the western world. And as with all other things western, Halloween is slowly showing its carved pumpkin face here in the People's Republic.

There are a few shops that sell masks, and there was even a Jack O' Lantern display causing a significant amount of head scratching confusion in one of Dalian's larger malls.

We foreign teachers at Future 2 all decided it would be a great cultural mini-event if we took the last hour of our day last Sunday and dedicated it to a Halloween Party of sorts.

Despite the shocking amount of unexpected kids showing up, the party was a success, and had a few classic games with a neat little Chinese twist.

Of course there was Bobbing for Apples (But with Chinese pears for some reason... BIANCA!)





Gross digging through worm noodles (with Chopsticks.)



And a mummy wrap (with ummm... Chinese toilet paper.)



And of course, Corey and I both rocked China inspired costumes. Corey was half of a dead Chinese couple (noted by the ever stylish matching shirts).



And I paid homage to my students by representing the Dalian Primary School Uniform.



And yeah, I got laughed at a lot.

Happy Belated Halloween Everyone!
- Shawn

Thursday, November 1, 2007

Yangshuo and the Longji Rice Terraces

Yangshuo, China

Rice Patties
Yangshuo, China

Saturday market
Longsheng, China

Saturday market
Longsheng, China

Longji Rice Terraces
Ping'an Village, China

Longji Rice Terraces, China

Longji Rice Terraces, China

Miao minority women
Longji Rice Terraces, China



Enjoy the pics, Shanghai is up next!
-Corey