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Published: August 27th 2007
Water Fall Fountain
This massive fountain, waterfall park is only 1 block from our apartmentThis time I will chronicle a few of the adventures of the past week. We will have a blog about school life soon. I am trying to keep everyone happy by balancing adventure blogs with daily life blogs. It should however be noted, that since moving here, our daily life and mundane tasks have all become mini-adventures.
Our trip into Tianjin
On Saturday August 18th, "the group" decided to take the light rail into Tianjin proper (Teda being more of a suburb). Luckily Xin, the new math teacher, joined us. Xin grew up in Tanggu (next door to Teda), moved to Canada in 1996, and was convinced by our principal to come back to teach at Teda International. I should think the benefits of having Xin along should therefore be quite clear. For instance, even with the English instructions of the ticket machine at the light rail station, we sitll had no idea where we wanted to go. Also, since we were a group of 7, we needed two taxis, and she was able to ask the taxis to follow each other so that we didn't get separated. Finally, she was able to explain to us what we were
Elephant Hedge
Funky Elephant Hedge near our home. seeing, what we should try and brought us to a famous dumpling restaurant we would never have known existed. As you will note later in this blog, Xin is absolutely amazing.
The light rail ride was pretty interesting. It costs 6 rmb (less than a dollar). Its very comfortable, it does fill up, but not like a sardine can. It was interesting to watch the landuse along the way. Coal plants next to living areas, corn fields next to industrial plants, high end apartment buildings next to very poor areas. The train even went by a Home Depot!
Once in Tianjin we hailed two taxis with female drivers. I can honestly say it was the safest drive I have had to date, and have since been choosing female drivers whenever I have the choice. The drive from the light rail station to Ancient Culture Street was interesting in of itself. We went by an outdoor market where they were selling pigeons. People on bikes had large cages crammed full of live pigeons, and our taxi had to weave among them.
Ancient Culture Street was not what we had anticipated but we had fun nonetheless. It is a
The Light Rail Ticket Machine
We have no idea how this works. reconstruction of an old section of town, with traditional architecture. Its basically a shopping area for arts and crafts. Thinking we would come back through, nobody purchased anything, so Craig and I at least are intending to head back to pick up a few things. Xin was very helpful pointing out the differences between masterfully crafted items, and cheap wares. The paper cutting blew my mind. There are also painted mud figurines. The embroidery was phenominal, it is double sided, so both sides look identical. There was even a store full of combs for different purposes.
We sampled a few treats. The first was local yogourt. You get it in a clay cup (that you don't get to keep 😞), and you drink it with a straw. It was very refreshing and only cost 1.5 rmb, 20 cents. We had a deep fried pastry treat as well. We all tried these neat little rice cakes with jam on them. Its hard to explain but they press this rice into little cup shapes and then put a dollep of jelly on them. Its sweet, and was kind of fun.
There was also a booth where a man sang the
Tianjin from the Taxi
The taxi followed the Hai He River for quite a distance. news. I will try to attach a movie of it.
For lunch we went and had the traditional dumpling of Tianjin - the boa, its breadier than other dumplings and steamed. They were very good.
In the afternoon we checked out Shopping Street. Its huge and loud. Its a lot of chain stores (none that I knew except Starbucks). Most of these stores don't barter. We sort of wandered, a little bewildered by the crowds and noise. There were women in wedding dresses enticing people into a photography shop, tons of people handing out flyers and department stores 8 stories high. Again, we didn't buy anything. We did however discover that a restaurant in Teda, whose name we absolutely adore (California Beef Noodle King USA Mr. Lee), is actually a very popular chain. There were several on Shopping Street.
We were home by late afternoon. I don't think anybody actually bought anything, but we have some idea of what is in the big city.
That night, I made Chicken Noodle Soup from scratch for everybody at our apartment. Having that many people to dinner made it feel more like home. We played Apples to Apples for
Rice cakes with Jelly
Really should have taken a picture of the process of making these cakes. Rosemary holds a sampler platter. hours.
Volunteering
This week, as part of my service job, I met with Huilin, a lady who runs the Volunteer Association in Teda. She is quite fantastic and is setting me up with a number of contacts and opportunities to get students involved in the community. Of course, she also managed to get me to personally volunteer as soon as possible. I met her Friday afternoon, and Craig and I were out volunteering Saturday morning.
It was Saturday Clean-up, a montly activity. 3 of my homeroom students came along, so that was great fun. Everyone met outside the government building. There were soldiers there, a seniors group, other expats and well lots of people. We all got t-shirts and work gloves, and we walked 3 blocks with music and flags to a section of sidewalk overgrown with weeds. Basically we weeded for 30 minutes. (It was really hot so I was happy it was short). Then the press had their chance. I was interviewed by a television crew and barely understood their questions, so am quite convinced I didn't come off seeming very eloquent.
Anyway! After the camera man left, the television reporter asked
Favourite Restaurant Name
We fell in love with this restaurant name instantly. Ironically, it does not have an english or picture menu! In case you can't read it, it says "California Beef Noodle King USA Mr. Lee". me "Did I think all Chinese men were handsome?"!!! I said pardon, and he repeated the question. I realized that wearing work gloves, he couldn't see my rings. I answered " Of course Chinese men are handsome, but I also think my husband is very handsome." He left me alone after that. My students couldn't wait to tell Craig what had happened. It was fun to be there with my students because they all speak Chinese fairly well (remember they are foreigners too), so they were filling me in on what everyone was saying about me, and who was trying to get the nerve to actually try out their english.
Tanggu
That afternoon we popped into Tanggu to see what was there. Its about a ten minute taxi drive so it is pretty accessible. In fact you can see the building we call "UFO on a stick" from Tanggu. First we went to an area which was just like Shopping Street in Tianjin, though a bit smaller. Its a lot of malls and department stores. Half the time, you walk by a doorway and think there is nothing inside until people come out with bags. You
pop in and its full of booths. Note the picture of me by the very cool Baby on Crab statue. I bought a pair of shoes for 70 rmb (10 dollars) and Craig got aother shirt for work.
We also checked out the Fabric Market, which is like a gym of fabric tables. Around the outside are little rooms with tailors and seamstresses. We will have to go back to have clothes made soon. I didn't have the nerve to take pictures, as it was not very busy. I wish I had though, as there were people cooking by their tables, sewing and even sleeping under their tables or in their cupboards.
Dinner at Xin's Aunt's House
Hearing of our adventures, Xin's aunt decided we needed to try real, home cooked dumplings and generously invited 8 of us over for dinner. Xin and her aunt started making dumplings at 2 in the afternoon.
The spread was unbelievable. There were I think 5 or 6 plates of different dishes, (tomatoes, cashews and snowpeas, calimari, prawns, fried beef) and 2 types of dumplings (pork and pumpkin, and vegetable). The dumplings were hands down the best we
Teda Clean-Up
My students Jenny, Rachael and Hank with some of the weeds they pulled to make Teda a prettier city. have tried. There was a lot more filling, you could tell the quality of the ingredients was much higher, and they were filled with generous portions. For dessert she served us dragon fruit and another fruit, we aren't sure of the english name, it may be breadfruit or jack fruit. The second fruit was very interesting. It smelled somewhere between gasoline and garlic, but if you could manage to eat it, it was really creamy and sweet. Her aunt toasted us many times, and Xin shared with us that in China they say "Family far away is not as good as the good neighbour close by". Craig and I left her some Maple Syrup candies which hardly seems enough for her hard work. She sent each of us home with a bag of dumplings to enjoy the next day. Apparently next time, we are invited to come over earlier and help to make dumplings. I can't wait.
In conclusion
Its been a very busy week but a great one. In meeting Huilin, volunteering and having dinner at Xin's aunt's house, I feel we are making steps (small ones) into the actual community. It must be said,
Beth on Tanggu Shopping Street
I love that they put so much effort into having fun sculptures and hedges everywhere. I don't always understand them...I'm sure this one has a meaning, but I just think its cute. I find the people here to be kind, patient, generous with wonderful senses of humour. I'm worried for my ego upon my return to Canada, as I doubt Television reporters will be still be hitting on me, but I think this experience is nonetheless fantastic.
Please keep sending messages and comments! I love hearing from everyone, family, friends, students and travel blog readers I have never met. Cheers!
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Brandy
non-member comment
yum!
You're living out my dream vacation, with food at every turn! Sounds like you are settling in nicely - it looks like such an interesting city to be in! Let us know when you are going through withdrawal and need your first can of maple syrup - we'll be happy to oblige from our stash ; )