Blogs from Beijing, China, Asia

I woke up early morning and after organizing my bad, which is a joke, because I cannot figure it out how to find the things I need. I took the subway to go to LamaTemple again. This time I was one of the first people to get there. The building is impressive, big; all the ceilings are painted with amazing colorful details. It is crowed even early in the morning. I was moved to see a kid of 2 bowing with dedication trying to mirror his mom. Very funny as well. This temple is very interesting because people go to pray and they burn incenses and then they pass, after bowing to their deity, from one temple to the other one that is behind. And there is always another one behind. At least I count 4 ... read more

Como eu já tinha dito, até agora eu não recebi nenhum projeto p fazer. Acabei hoje de preparar a minha apresentação que,em teoria pelo menos, é p amanhã. Até ai nada demais, mas hoje tive duas novidades. Fiquei sabendo que vou viajar a trabalho. Tudo q eu sei é que a viagem deve ser esse domingo e deve durar 2 semanas. O grupo são quatro pessoas, incluindo a menina que, coitada, virou minha tradutora e a tradutora deles tb. Vamos p Tongling, na província de Anhui, fica na beira do Yangtze, mais ou menos perto de Shaghai. Não sei mais nada, sobre o que é o projeto etc. E, segundo a Jie Xiaohang, a menina que fala inglês (acho q não se escreve assim, mas enfim, é assim que eu falo), eles as vzs te falam ... read more

I went to Heaven Temple and I witnessed a nice patriotic chorus old people singning in an ensemble. They were surranded other old people that did not play domino not bowling but cards. A long, long line of groups of players with poker cards playing something that made them sweat and laught. The Heaven Temple is an old nice building completly abandone in a nice park where I join a class of body exersice as a Chinese women explain me. But it was not body exercise at all. It was mainly hand movemnts that envigorate your soul after repeting some sayings the teacher was shouting before us. It was like clapping with different parts of the hand, between them and on your body. But actually the body does not moved it. It was not taichi, not ... read more

Yesterday, while I was walking on the street, and after witnessing more than 5 spitting cases, I arrived to this conclusion. I am going to prove it if I am wrong during the rest of my trip. Chinese spits regarding their head movements.They use a lot of the nose and throat to speak in their language, to this adding the pollution, and Bingo! There is not other exit for them I guess than spiting. On the other hand, this line could sounds a little bit scatological for you in abroad but Chinese spit and fart freely so much that I need to understand this. I researched and Its leader Mao encourage this as well, he said this: If you have to fart, fart! You will all feel much better for it, Mao Tze- ... read more

Antes de começar a escrever o post de hoje fui dar uma olhada no que postei da última vez p ver onde eu parei. Vou te contar...que português mais horrível e cheio de erros de digitação! Prometo que vou reler o que escrevo antes de apertar enter daqui p frente hahaha Até agora não tive nenhuma novidade no trabalho, então ainda estou preparando a minha apresentação. Agora é só arrumar os slides e meio que decorar o que vou falar p não me enrolar na hora. Resolvi falar sobre as Olimpíadas e o planejamento urbano que precede os jogos. Pequim foi a cede em 2008 e a gnt vai ser em 2016, foi a única coisa que consegui pensar – e de quebra ainda diminuo meu trabalho pq já fiz um projeto sobre a região portuária ... read more

How many times you can go to the Great Wall in your life? Is it fair that it rained? I have a great time. Amazing experience shooting for my video school project on my white elementary school uniform around local chinese people trying to sell me things thinking I was a doctor. The rains arrived and I walk around my blue umbrella. Hiking there could be challenging, specially the areas with really old steps. I took an organized trip to get to this far away park, 3 hours from Beijing, the lunch meal was included but it was the worst thing I eat so far. At 5 pm I was again in my hostel. After the rain I feel chili and getting a cold, not again!!! So I search for a vegetarian restaurant recommended in many ... read more

There are many things about Beijing that I'd like to write about. But my knowledge of the city is quite limited considering that it's been around for thousands of years. It's a city with a history so rich that it would need it's own Beijingpedia site to capture the fullness of its character. Of course, I'm not here to tell you about Beijing, but rather my experiences with the people and places I visit. Why am I here? (that's a question I often ask myself!) Officially, I'm here as an intern working for the China Academy of Urban Planning & Design through a program they have with the University of Southern California. China's population can be described in one word: developing - and in every sense of the word. The average Chinese family today compared to ... read more

Ni hao from Beijing again! Its almost feels like I never left. Except I missed all the excellent food. And did not miss all the unexcellent pollution. After spending all day Thursday flying, we checked into our hotel at a sparkling 2.15am, making it almost exactly 24 hours travelling time from my bed. After a short amount of sleep, we pulled ourselves out of bed to go on a full days bicycle tour. In Beijing traffic! And pollution! In China's domestic peak season! Though it seems like a bit of an insane idea, it was actually an excellent way to orient one's self with the city, and on a clear 32 degree day it was actually a relaxing as well. Beijing is flat as a pancake and our knowledgeable guide helped us with the story behind ... read more