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Published: January 8th 2009
It’s been awhile—the holidays were a blur here as I went to Beijing for Christmas and Hong Kong for New Years with my friend Sulava from college. Here’s a somewhat brief overview from the last few weeks.
Christmas in Shenzhen: It was very strange being away for Christmas. Not many people celebrate it here, and the lack of Christians assures unbridled commercialism without any of the “true meaning of Christmas” stuff. Communism at its finest. My Christmas lesson was fun with the kids. We sang carols and designed stockings, and I got more Christmas cards than I knew what to do with. I also had to do final oral exams, which was kinda a bummer because the kids were really nervous about it, but it made me feel like my class was more legit. For our Christmas, Cody got me two hats and a pair of gloves for Beijing (thank god, I needed them! It was windy, between 15 and 30 degrees the whole time, and all of the sites are outside!! Brrrrr!), some McVities digestives that I didn’t know you could get here, and then he took an orange and taped a bunch of orange flavored little chocolates
The Temple of Earth
Emperors in the Ming and Qing Dynasties offered sacrifices to the God of the Earth here.around it to make a chocolate orange! He knew they meant Christmas for me and we couldn't get them here! He didn't know that my parents would be sending two, but now there's more for everyone. I got him some imported beer, some cherries, a bar of dark chocolate (74 - 76% cocao, the “perfect amount”), lactose intolerance medicine (which was really a present for me and my nostrils) and some socks…long story. It was cute…I left for Beijing on Christmas Eve so I missed the big CTLC Christmas party. I heard it was fun though.
Christmas in Beijing: The holiday itself was uneventful, but I was in Beijing. I met two interesting women, one from South Korea and one from Mongolia who spoke good English. They were super nice, but didn't want to go out at night ("It's dangerous!") and we on a different schedule during the day. I was alone most of the time, but still had a good time sight seeing. Everyone in the hostel just watched movies in the bar the whole time and didn’t really talk to each other, which was too bad. The hostel was really cozy and cute though, and it
was decorated for the holidays and they gave us a free beer on xmas day. It was in a traditional courtyard home on Da Zha Lan Xi Jie, only a ten minute walk from Tiananmen Square. I had the most delicious baozi for breakfast and made my way to the Vietnamese embassy to get my entry visa.
Afterwards, I saw the Summer Palace, the Lama Temple, and the Temple of Earth during the day, and took the bus back to the hostel in the afternoon. The Summer Palace is supposed to be seen in, who would have guessed, the summer…but the lake was frozen and the ice had its own wintery charm. I came in through the North gate, backwards from the way you’re supposed to. I had to climb over the back of “Longevity Hill” and couldn’t see everything from the front until I was about to leave. On the way there, I met an old man who was amazed: “You’re doing everything backwards! Going in through the north and seeing it in the winter!” He was very friendly though and helped me figure out the correct bus stop. The Lama Temple is a Tibetan Buddhist style
Lama Temple
A beautiful Tibetan Buddhist style temple. temple, complete with monks and incense. It was very beautiful and serene, but I’m to the point where once you’ve seen one temple you’ve seen them all. The Temple of Earth was more like a park with some circular outdoor alters that dated from the Ming Dynasty. There were tons of people in the park juggling their jian zi (like a hacky sac with feathers so it flies), doing Tai Chi, water calligraphy, and singing/dancing. I love Chinese parks.
That night I wandered around getting presents for my English teachers, Ian, and Cody in the hutongs around my hostel. I found the most wonderful tea shop...it had beautiful mugs, strainers, and tea pot sets...I wanted to get my parents one so badly but I didn't think I could get it back. I talked to the woman who owned the store for almost an hour! She saw me looking at the mugs outside and invited me out of the cold to try some tea. Her husband was playing one of those traditional flat harp-like instruments and her daughter was playing with a present a French friend had given her for xmas. It was wonderful. I bought some jojoba tea
Monk at prayer
I know Tibetan monks think pictures steal part of their soul...but he was just too beautiful. Hopefully God will take part of mine instead. Lama Temple for Cody and left to wander around the hutongs. The next morning I went to the Temple of Heaven Park, which was easily one of my favorite sites thus far in China. The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, the Imperial Vault of Heaven and its Echo Wall, and the Round Alter were incredible, and the sky was a clear blue. I didn't know how lucky I was until I saw the sky the next morning. I had a delicious omlete with bean paste from an outdoor vendor and headed back to the Vietnamese Embassy to pick up my passport. I spent the afternoon exploring Qianmen and the hutongs, and tried to see a Peking Opera/Chinese acrobatics show at a tea house near my hostel before I realized it was way out of my price range.
Sulava and I met up on Saturday and I stayed with her at her father's friends' apartment! They gave us all kinds of delicious Chinese food and made us really comfortable. It was nice because the hostel was freezing upstairs so I refused to shower, but their apartment was nicely heated and had a comfortable bed for us to share! The wife
is a professor at a university in Beijing, so she had some of her students show us around. Zhu showed us the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, and some parks. He was so nice and really funny- we had a great time with him. It was really smoggy both days for the Great Wall and the Forbidden City, which made for some unimpressive photos. However, the bitter cold assured that both sites were relatively abandoned by China standards. We took some very funny pictures in front of the Gate of Heavenly Peace, falling off the Wall, and in front of Mao’s mausoleum. The next day, two other students went with us to the Silk and Pearl markets to help us bargain for gifts. I got some really great stuff! We went to dinner with Sulava's dad's friends and all of their students one night and had Peking duck and other local specialties. Delightful. The Chinese are so hospitable and refused to let us pay for anything, so we got them a nice host gift when we were shopping.
New Years in Hong Kong: Sulava and I stayed in the sketchiest hostel ever on Nathan Road in
the Mirador Mansions. Cody couldn’t come with us because he had left his passport with the Vietnamese consulate in Guangzhou to get his tourist visa for Spring Festival. We found out later that the passport actually had arrived on New Years Eve, but his guards didn’t find it for him in time. Sulava and I met up with some other friends for the countdown in Lan Kwai Fong, HK’s awesome bar district. It was packed! The security guards controlled the traffic flow and made it difficult to get to the bars we wanted, so we ended up paying 120HK$ for entrance and two drinks at this random bar with peanut shells all over the floor. We had a great time and finally had Kofi come back to the hostel with us so we felt better about staying there alone.
Sulava and I then did the sites for the next two days. We took the star ferry, had an amazing Western breakfast at a restaurant in SoHo, rode the Mid-Level Escalator, headed up to Victoria Peak by bus because the line for the tram went out the door and around the block due to the holiday, and went shopping
The Summer Palace
Buddhist Fragrance Pavilion and Cloud Dispelling Hall overlook Kunming Lake in Mon Kok. We moved to a nicer hostel in Causeway Bay for the second night and hung out in Victoria Park the next morning. We were back to Shenzhen by the afternoon. It was expensive but I had a blast and I think I showed Sulava a good time. It was so nice to see someone from home, especially around the holidays. I miss her already!
It’s been pretty boring in Shenzhen lately because I haven’t been teaching but I’ve still had to have office hours for the last two weeks. Everyone is saving money for the long break and because they spent a lot at New Years, so not much is going on. I’ve been watching lame t.v. series on dvd and reading—everyone should read Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer, by the way.
On the bright side, I have plenty of planning to do for my next trip! We’re leaving on Sunday on an overnight bus to Nanning, in Guangxi Province, then taking a bus or train across the Vietnamese border. Nanning is a hellhole, known only for its gou rou (dog) hot pot. Once into Vietnam, I'm hoping to
Hall of Benevolence and Longevity
I think...but regardless, Mushu here is sweet. hit Sapa, Hanoi, Halong Bay, Hoi An, Saigon, Can Tho and anywhere else that strikes our fancy. Scott and Cody have been talking about going to this town that specializes in snake...drinking its blood supposedly makes you more...shall we say...vigorous. Ick. Hopefully we’ll be able to take a boat up the Mekong to Phnom Phen and then see the sun come up over Angkor Wat. After a brief stay in Kuala Lampur, we’ll be back to Shenzhen by February 6. I’m sure I’ll have internet and I’ll keep you posted on where we are and what we’re up to. Good things and hope you all enjoyed your holidays!!
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julia
non-member comment
Hi MVA! I'm glad you've had some strange, but nice Chinese holiday. I loved reading about your trip to hong kong. It's cool to hear about the same places I saw when I was there I guess about 2 years ago or so. I especially enjoyed the escalator and the ability to find cadbury chocolate! Went into the uhh "chun ching mansion" ( I think that was the name) it sounded like the hostel you stayed at, sketchy as hell! My dads going to Macau for definitely this summer, probably june/July. You won't be in china then, will you? I don't have a huge desire to go back, but I totally would if we could meet up. Oh yeah, I hope you intend on eating a ton of pho while you're in Vietnam. I am so jealous of your travels! Take care!