Ted's Blog - 我不知道

Hello all.  I apologize for the long delay since my last post.  There aren't enough hours in the day.

I'm going to update the site shortly with pictures and stories including my trip to the Great Wall, bicycle debacles, and strange stories from fellow expats.

Currently, I am on vacation in the port city of Tsingtao or Qingdao 青岛 as they spell it in China.  It is home to the world famous Tsingtao beer.  I just got back from a brewery tour and we are resting up before heading out this evening.

Tomorrow we head out to Dalian 大连, which is on the other side of the Bohai sea along the northern coast near Korea.

Below are a random assortment of pictures of my adventures since my last post.  I will add more comprehensive posts soon.

This picture was taken from atop my dorm building.  I never noticed these mountains until a Typhoon in Shanghai brought torrential rains to Beijing and cleared the smog.

Nick and Aiymbek try to recover after devouring delicous Bejing Roast Duck at the famous Quanjude Restaurant.

International language for Water Closet.

Beware...the movie about construction development in Beijing is a real scorcher! 

Looking good Louis . . . .  Feeling good Billy-Ray! 

My Italian commrade Sergio and I make it a late night at Discotheque Propoganda. 

I'm collecting pictures of me with my eyes closed.

Here's another.

My roommate Tian took the foreigners Patrick, Patrick, Chengis, and me to some authentic Chinese-Muslim food not frequented by tourists.  You can watch them cook the meat and knead the bread for your dinner right from your table.

This is my favorite sculpture at the Beijing Capitol Museum.  It is the creepiest and happiest thing I've ever seen.

I'm glad I didn't have to drag stone blocks up these hills to build the Great Wall. 

I couldn't even come close to capturing the grandeur of the Wall in the frame.

Masahiro, which way?

Twice I thought I had reached the top to discover I still had a long ways to go.

This is the bread line.

These two French guys were going to make it to the Wall come Hell or High Water.

The God of Thunder.  Don't mess with him.

Sergio and our new friend from S. Korea, Johnny Lin, bust out some Material Girl at KTV.

Johnny and his sister LOVE karaoke as much as I do.

We were actually surprised to discover that the "Drip Drop" is a swanky bar serves liquor and displays an array of flags from different U.S. states. 

Kingkai and I had a hard time finding a place to eat for lunch on our first day in Qingdao.  We hesitantly settled on this little place.  It gave a whole new meaning to the term "hole in the wall."  It is run by a couple who lives in a small stone building ouside the back door.  The entire "restaurant" was about 10 feet by 10 feet.  You can see the menu on the wall in the background. 

The owner recommended clams, which he keeps in this blue tub.  Kingkai adamantly refused, but I prefer to go with the local's advice.

Kingkai quickly changed his mind and ate more than his share of the clams after he smelled them.  The meal was delicous.  The fried rice with egg and jaozi dumplings were the perfect compliment to the clams.

The owner is on the far left.  I tried asking him what his name was, but he said something to me in Chinese which was way to long to be a name and then he started acting out Kungfu moves.  My Chinese is still pretty limited so I just nodded and surmised that in addition to making the best clams in town he is the local Kungfu master who delivers street justice to petty thieves and the like.

I recently took the Subway from campus down to the Chaoyang District (朝阳区) just east of Tian'anmen Square (天安门).  I was tagging along with a couple of classmates, Jeff and Michael, who were in search of a Chase Manhattan Bank.  We didn't find Chase, but we did stumble upon the Silk Street Market (街水秀).

Silk Street Marketplace

As we approached the market from the street, I was constantly harrassed by men selling bootleg DVDs.  I stickout in a crowd almost anywhere in China, and the DVD vendors would see me from a block away.  They'd yell at me "Hello, Hello" and clap their hands to get my attention as they ran towards me.  Without exception, they completely ignored my American friends who are of Asian descent.  My friends would laugh at me as I would fend off the DVD vendors one after another.  If you ever travel to this area of Beijing, the most useful phrase you'll ever need is "bú yaò" (不要) or "don't want."  I didn't know whether to feel bad or laugh at one of the vendors who was yelling at me from about 20 feet away.  He asked me "Ni yao bu yao?" or "Do you want any?"  I replied "Bu yao."  Then he said in an expression of defeat and disbelief, "Wei shenma bu yao?" or "Why don't you want any?" 

The market itself was once a sprawling neighborhood of tight alleyways of endless stalls erected one next to the other.  Each stall was filled with various goods ranging from silks and jewelry to small trinkets and souvenirs.  The old alleyways have since been razed and have been replaced by a 7 story mall.  The mall consists of tight corridors of endless stalls.  If it can fit in a shopping bag, they have it here.  I saw every typical Chinese souvenir imaginable, clothes, golf clubs, PSPs, sunglasses, pearls, jade jewlrey, watches, phones, art, and replica Terracota Warriors just to name a few.  Rolex, Ray-Ban, Gucci, and every other high-end brand could be found (which are almost certainly fake). 

I generally don't enjoy shopping.  For me, it is usually a stressful chore that is best done quickly and efficiently.  So I initially walked the narrow hallways of the market with little interest in any of the touristy trinkets for sale.  I was a little disappointed and felt that we were wasting our time at the lamest tourist trap in China.  However, I quickly changed my opinion.

In China, price is usually determined by skilled and intense bargaining.  However, many supermarkets and department stores in Beijing have shifted to the Western-style sticker price sales only.  As I wandered through the Silk Street Market, I wondered which system was used.  I soon found out that EVERYTHING is negotiable.  Nearly every sales person in the Silk Street Market speaks enough English to make a sale to even the most Chinese-illiterate Westerner.  Again, I was the target of the sales people and my two friends were virtually ignored.

It was nearly impossible to browse the items, because the moment I showed any interest the salesperson jumped into price negotiations.  Asking how much something costs just for curiosity's sake is also a mistake.  That is actually an invitation to negotiate.  The salespeople, almost exclusively women, were very aggressive when trying to persuade Westerners to enter their stall.  I had several saleswomen grab my arm as I walked by to pull me inside.  Other saleswomen would tell me that they remembered me from the last time I was there, despite this being my first trip to the Silk Street Market.

 
   Have a bust custom made for you.  Stalin and Sadam seem to be very popular here.

I had quite an experience when I tried to buy 3 silk neckties.  Part way through the negotiation, I changed my mind and decided I didn't like the colors and patterns and I wanted to move on to a different store.  But my saleswoman was persistent, and she was determined not to lose the sale.  Several times I tried to walk out of her stall, and she would quickly move and stand in my way.  She was also very assertive, pointing at my wallet and grabbing my arm to turn me back toward the merchandise.  At this point, I really didn't want the ties anymore and I was really ready to leave.  I think the saleswoman thought that my attempts to leave were just negotiating tactics even though I was just tired of haggling with her.  She ended up coming down in price by about two-thirds of her original offer.  I finally relented, and bought 3 silk neckties for about $20 US.  I'm sure I overpaid by Chinese standards, but the same ties would go for $30-$50 each in the US. 

   Silkworm cocoons with the dead pupa inside - the employee said the pupas are delicious.

  A woman stretches the silk cocoons to be made into fabric.
 
I was disappointed when I found a painting that I really wanted, but the sales woman told me it had already been sold.

  Authentic North Korean propoganda - I wish I could read Korean.

I would recommend at least one stop at the Silk Street Market for any Westerner.  The experience is atypical of Beijing, and unlike anything else I have seen so far.  Despite its touristy feel, Silk Street Market's atmosphere is one of a kind and worth a visit at least once.