CNY was never as exciting in Beijing as it is elsewhere around the World ... at least until this year!
Normally CNY is just an excuse to wear red, put red everywhere and spend time with families. The streets become quiet and work stops. Occasionally families trek to a 'Temple Fair' to stuff themselves with food and see a bit of dancing and cultural acting. Its nice, but mellow.
But this year Beijing legalised firecrackers/works throughout the city (with strict controls apparently -most other cities had never outlawed it, and I heard Shanghai was crazy during CNY. But having returned to Beijing on wednesday I had heard a few (very, painfully loud) firecrackers going off every night...and soon came to agree with those who had been in Beijing for the New Year (I was in Bangkok) that after an hour of fun, it becomes annoying.
Tonight was the end of the celebrations: Lantern festival is another time to hang out with the folks and eat Tengyuan (little glutinous balls with hundreds of different falvours, such as sesame or peanut). They're eaten because they are sticky (so families stay together...although just like the west divorce is taking off in China!), because they are sweet (so the new year will be sweet -so similar to Jewsih tradition!) and because they are round, and today is also a full moon. It was also a night to finish off those firecrackers and fireworks.
Watching from the appartment its all quite pretty. But walking around outside you see crazy people setting off fireworks from 16 floor balconies, firing them over the top of roads and letting loose by bus stops. Its tough to concentrate enough just to walk, let alone drive! And then all that's left is a LOT of rubbish left over! Anyway, I can confidently say that the evil spirits were scared away and that (if the theory is true that the more fireworks you light, the more successful your year will be) everyone in Beijing will have a Happy New Year.
And I wish the same to you all too.
Sunday, February 12, 2006
Saturday, February 11, 2006
Thailand photos
all up on the imagestation site (see link on right)..here are a selection
me with a monkey on monkey bay (always moneys there of course, since the tourists feed them bananas!)
the sunlight shimmers in the water
the beautiful beaches
my arty photos :)
another arty photo (of the kid whose house we stayed at in the forest up north when trekking)
elephant riding...
a house by the river in the wet, green heartlands of thailand
A Wat (temple) lit up at night
another arty picture of the sun behind some bells at a temple!
me with a monkey on monkey bay (always moneys there of course, since the tourists feed them bananas!) the sunlight shimmers in the water the beautiful beaches my arty photos :) another arty photo (of the kid whose house we stayed at in the forest up north when trekking) elephant riding... a house by the river in the wet, green heartlands of thailand A Wat (temple) lit up at nightanother arty picture of the sun behind some bells at a temple!
Friday, February 10, 2006
Time...
Back to Beijing now, via Shanghai..and finally able to catch up with everyone here, having only been in beijing for about 9 days in the last 3 months!
Beijing in the winter is often a city with snow, not that it snows often (only 2 or 3 times a year) but because the snow never really melts on the roadside...partly because it is so cold and partly it seems like the snow is full of chemicals from the pollution and in so inpure it just doesn't seem to melt in the sun!
Coming bck to Beijing is a shock though. I have been used to spending a few nights here or there getting by on few clothes and few meals; or i have been looked after well (at home in the UK or in Bangkok visiting friends) -but when you get 'home' to Beijing and remember that no-one likes cleaning, beijing is very dirty and dusty and then find out the cook isn't coming this month (not enough ppl around to make it worthwhile) it's a little shock.
Anyway it is nice to be back working with other people again instead of working out of Devrim's living-room in Shanghai all alone (and freezing due to his broken heater!) It's also nice to see 'old' friends return, not so nice to see 'old' friends leave (and maybe return?) but I got used to it a long time agao. A timely reminder that living abroad is full of people coming and going -at this age anyway.
At the conference in Shanghai before Chinese New Year we elected part of the new team who will run AIESEC here... and I certainly feel like AIESEC China is my AIESEC, no longer AIESEC UK. Maybe its because although I have only been here 18 months, AIESEC here is only 4 years old! Its sometimes emotional realising that you will be leaving soon, that new people will take your job. In AIESEC, this happens without fail every 12 months. What is great about it is not that you think about the past, but that you think about the future. I am always excited at these elections seeing new people take up opportunities and the challenge (since AIESEC is so challenging!) and seeing what the old people have achieved.
I have been talking to some of those newly elected people and some going onto new jobs (as well my former colleagues in AIESEC UK all settling into their new-ish jobs, sicne they also bummed around a bit!) and this leads to opportunities to reflect on why I came here, and why I stayed. Partly because China is so interesting and changing so fast...which is fascinating, but mostly because AIESEC here was changing so fast and I could play a key role in that. Growth in AIESEC has been astounding. in 2 years we will have doubled the number of Universities we work with and in 1 year we are more than doubling our core results... this was coming from the UK where growth was 10-20% a year at best.
But I am sure that leaving AIESEC in the summer is the right thing to do..unlike some others who are going to other countries or the international head office! Its time to move-on...but it will be tough. Since AIESEC offers so much responsibility and opportunities..things that the real world doesn't offer so easily, or with so little risk! Its time to start looking around... its also time to try harder to stay in touch with those i fleetingly saw in the UK. But then its time to work harder at my job to achieve as much as possible, whilst also finding time to have fun, to read, to... aaaah, time. Never enough -especially when you are young (still, but only just!) -and especially in a country or an organisation moving this fast!
I haven't managed to get to Harbin for the ice festival, climb a holy mountain in the snow or see the great wall in winter... so there are still things to do next winter -there are still regions of China I want to explore and there will always be 3 week-long holidays a year in China to try do them in! I guess its good not to do everything, to save some things and to slow down sometimes.. to try to savour the moment. to TRY anyway!
Beijing in the winter is often a city with snow, not that it snows often (only 2 or 3 times a year) but because the snow never really melts on the roadside...partly because it is so cold and partly it seems like the snow is full of chemicals from the pollution and in so inpure it just doesn't seem to melt in the sun!
Coming bck to Beijing is a shock though. I have been used to spending a few nights here or there getting by on few clothes and few meals; or i have been looked after well (at home in the UK or in Bangkok visiting friends) -but when you get 'home' to Beijing and remember that no-one likes cleaning, beijing is very dirty and dusty and then find out the cook isn't coming this month (not enough ppl around to make it worthwhile) it's a little shock.
Anyway it is nice to be back working with other people again instead of working out of Devrim's living-room in Shanghai all alone (and freezing due to his broken heater!) It's also nice to see 'old' friends return, not so nice to see 'old' friends leave (and maybe return?) but I got used to it a long time agao. A timely reminder that living abroad is full of people coming and going -at this age anyway.
At the conference in Shanghai before Chinese New Year we elected part of the new team who will run AIESEC here... and I certainly feel like AIESEC China is my AIESEC, no longer AIESEC UK. Maybe its because although I have only been here 18 months, AIESEC here is only 4 years old! Its sometimes emotional realising that you will be leaving soon, that new people will take your job. In AIESEC, this happens without fail every 12 months. What is great about it is not that you think about the past, but that you think about the future. I am always excited at these elections seeing new people take up opportunities and the challenge (since AIESEC is so challenging!) and seeing what the old people have achieved.
I have been talking to some of those newly elected people and some going onto new jobs (as well my former colleagues in AIESEC UK all settling into their new-ish jobs, sicne they also bummed around a bit!) and this leads to opportunities to reflect on why I came here, and why I stayed. Partly because China is so interesting and changing so fast...which is fascinating, but mostly because AIESEC here was changing so fast and I could play a key role in that. Growth in AIESEC has been astounding. in 2 years we will have doubled the number of Universities we work with and in 1 year we are more than doubling our core results... this was coming from the UK where growth was 10-20% a year at best.
But I am sure that leaving AIESEC in the summer is the right thing to do..unlike some others who are going to other countries or the international head office! Its time to move-on...but it will be tough. Since AIESEC offers so much responsibility and opportunities..things that the real world doesn't offer so easily, or with so little risk! Its time to start looking around... its also time to try harder to stay in touch with those i fleetingly saw in the UK. But then its time to work harder at my job to achieve as much as possible, whilst also finding time to have fun, to read, to... aaaah, time. Never enough -especially when you are young (still, but only just!) -and especially in a country or an organisation moving this fast!
I haven't managed to get to Harbin for the ice festival, climb a holy mountain in the snow or see the great wall in winter... so there are still things to do next winter -there are still regions of China I want to explore and there will always be 3 week-long holidays a year in China to try do them in! I guess its good not to do everything, to save some things and to slow down sometimes.. to try to savour the moment. to TRY anyway!
Thursday, February 02, 2006
Phuket!
greetings from phuket -an area now famous because of the tsunami; but previously legendary on the backpacker trail for beautiful beaches..of which I will be seeing tomorrow (and the next day). We arrived from Chiang Mai in the North which looked a lot like my trip to south Yunnan in China last Summer. In fact it sounded similar to since the hill-tribes we stayed with seemed to speak similar dialects to those i met last july.
it was an enjoyable hike across rivers and in 'jungle' (in the dry season it is quite tame), on elephants (very slow creatures!) and rafting on some (slow) rapids. We witnessed a stupid french couple handing out sweets to the local children, and then an even more stupid australian idiot do the same before threatening to punch us for complaining 'behind their backs' at what he was doing. We (6 of us) were all very chuffed since we knew we had the moral high ground. The french couple later came over to talk to us to admit at their stupidity -i have more respect for the french now!
[the sweets were in wrappers which would cause litter; they were not found locally so the kids would end up desiring something they neither find again, nor afford; they are obviously not healthy -especially for kids brought up on rice and vegetables; it created a fight/scramble for the sweets leading 2 kids lying on the floor crying]
we've found some people here speak chinese which is nice, since once you get off the beaten track (ie. 15 minutees walk from main strips here in phuket) noone speaks any english -but most people don't -which is even nicer, since thailand is so toursity! however being able to speak chinese (or french, when we knew there were some chinese speakers nearby) with Evelyn (my travelling partner) has been very useful in terms of agreeing prices for bargaining and making decisions...aah the joys of languages.
thailand's economy is very dependent on agriculture and tourism -most of the tourism does not seem too bad so far; many of the tours are good and the guides are all locals, so they try to protect their own country -however there are so many scams its a joke. today when we were told to changes buses, everyone was so suspicious we said no, even before listening to the reasoning. i felt sorry for the lady afterwards -but it goes to show that we all suspect 'guilty' and need to be convinced of 'innocent' later!
From the news it is interesting to read about China and Russia supporting the 'west' in their Iran/IAEA discussions and about China and India both competing at the World Economic Forum for attention. It is also intriguing reading the english language Thai papers; since they are so outspoken about the PM here who is under fire in a big way for some dodgy dealings. Not the kind of stuff found in China that is for sure.
Just a few days backpacking has reminded me how little you can learn about a country from backpacking. you can have fun, for sure, but you won't learn much about the culture or much about the language or history. I am much more keen to continue exploring china where i cna try to communicate and continue to build up my knowledge of the country. having said that, we have made the most of our tour guides, quizzing them about their lives (95% of thais are buddhist and most men do a few months as a monk) -we even attended 'monk chat' at a temple recently (great idea) to learn more.
Before I return to Shangahi (and then shortly to Beijing) on Sunday night I'll be listening to 'from our correspondent' on bbc website and downloading the recent and back episodes as podcasts onto my mp3 player since i cannot in china, but find the show fascinating. Meanwhile i must prepare for the snorkelling trip tomorrow and start to realise that soon i'll return to freezing beijing...but at least it might snow there!
it was an enjoyable hike across rivers and in 'jungle' (in the dry season it is quite tame), on elephants (very slow creatures!) and rafting on some (slow) rapids. We witnessed a stupid french couple handing out sweets to the local children, and then an even more stupid australian idiot do the same before threatening to punch us for complaining 'behind their backs' at what he was doing. We (6 of us) were all very chuffed since we knew we had the moral high ground. The french couple later came over to talk to us to admit at their stupidity -i have more respect for the french now!
[the sweets were in wrappers which would cause litter; they were not found locally so the kids would end up desiring something they neither find again, nor afford; they are obviously not healthy -especially for kids brought up on rice and vegetables; it created a fight/scramble for the sweets leading 2 kids lying on the floor crying]
we've found some people here speak chinese which is nice, since once you get off the beaten track (ie. 15 minutees walk from main strips here in phuket) noone speaks any english -but most people don't -which is even nicer, since thailand is so toursity! however being able to speak chinese (or french, when we knew there were some chinese speakers nearby) with Evelyn (my travelling partner) has been very useful in terms of agreeing prices for bargaining and making decisions...aah the joys of languages.
thailand's economy is very dependent on agriculture and tourism -most of the tourism does not seem too bad so far; many of the tours are good and the guides are all locals, so they try to protect their own country -however there are so many scams its a joke. today when we were told to changes buses, everyone was so suspicious we said no, even before listening to the reasoning. i felt sorry for the lady afterwards -but it goes to show that we all suspect 'guilty' and need to be convinced of 'innocent' later!
From the news it is interesting to read about China and Russia supporting the 'west' in their Iran/IAEA discussions and about China and India both competing at the World Economic Forum for attention. It is also intriguing reading the english language Thai papers; since they are so outspoken about the PM here who is under fire in a big way for some dodgy dealings. Not the kind of stuff found in China that is for sure.
Just a few days backpacking has reminded me how little you can learn about a country from backpacking. you can have fun, for sure, but you won't learn much about the culture or much about the language or history. I am much more keen to continue exploring china where i cna try to communicate and continue to build up my knowledge of the country. having said that, we have made the most of our tour guides, quizzing them about their lives (95% of thais are buddhist and most men do a few months as a monk) -we even attended 'monk chat' at a temple recently (great idea) to learn more.
Before I return to Shangahi (and then shortly to Beijing) on Sunday night I'll be listening to 'from our correspondent' on bbc website and downloading the recent and back episodes as podcasts onto my mp3 player since i cannot in china, but find the show fascinating. Meanwhile i must prepare for the snorkelling trip tomorrow and start to realise that soon i'll return to freezing beijing...but at least it might snow there!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)