IASISK – Shanghai
Casey, who teaches English in South Korea and runs the blog It’s Always Sunny In South Korea, recently visited Shanghai with me. Since I never got around to talking about it on the last podcast, I figured I’d just recommend her article.
Here’s an excerpt:
Shanghai has a cosmopolitan, big-city feel but there is also something quite unique about it. The architecture is simply fascinating – check out some of the photos below to see the stunning skyline. There are some buildings that look like they came straight out of a sci-fi movie, while others have clearly not been renovated in many years.
As cool as it was to see the futuristic element of Shanghai, my favorite part of the time we spent there was wandering through back alleys and random neighborhoods, seeing how average people lived. It was shocking in some ways – for such a developed city, people were living in sparse and often dilapidated apartments. In one area, I noticed that the sewage system was an exposed pipe near the front door.
We did have one sobering encounter with a little boy, which I still struggle with when I think about it.
We were leaving the Jade Buddha Temple (which is really just a huge, ridiculous farce that I will cover in another blog post) and heading to lunch when a little boy, about 10 years old, started walking beside us. His face was filthy and his shirt was covered in dirt and he was giving us the saddest look I’ve ever seen.
The boy clearly wanted money, and was clearly experienced at begging for it. Even after being told no, he kept pace with us, repeating the same phrases in Chinese over and over again. At one point, he stuck a finger down his throat, I assume to indicate that he was hungry. I could feel my stomach starting to turn.
It’s not that I’ve never encountered a beggar before. I’ve lived in New York City and Washington, D.C., so I’ve met my fair share of homeless, desperate people, some more heartbreaking than others. But this was the first time I’d been approached by a begging child. It was horrible.
To read the rest, head over to IASISK.
Happy Conception Day!
Hey everybody, today is the day that Chinarchy was conceived.
August 8, 2009 I was sitting in my apartment and thinking about the possibility of going to China and came up with the idea for this website. It would be another 6 months before I actually ended up in Beijing and began writing (which I guess would be considered Chinarchy’s birthday).
In order to celebrate this glorious day of conception I’m giving away a $25 Amazon gift card to whoever helps me introduce the most new people to the blog. To find out more head over to http://www.chinarchy.com/helpout/.
And also, I just want to thank everybody who has been reading for the past six months. If it wasn’t for you guys I would have quit this blog a long time ago. Thank you.
Update: I figured I’d throw in some nerd proof. “Record created on 2009-08-09 21:40:06.”
Moving to China YouTube Videos
My friend “Ma Wei” who is a frequent commenter on this blog has posted some introductory YouTube videos on China.
In three short videos he covers the basics of living in China, including the economy, standard of living, working, dealing with the state, and the people and culture.
He’s about ten thousand times more succinct and on point than I manage to be, so I’m sure you’ll enjoy that.
My favorite video is the third, “People and Culture Shock.” Pretty much everything he says is right on target. I would qualify his observations by saying that they are less true in the major cities, Beijing and Shanghai, than for the other parts of China, although they still apply.
Anyway, enjoy.
CP5: Usher and Ethan
The fifth Chinarchy audio post. This episode I talk about going to an Usher concert, my awesome dancing skills, how my class environment has changed, dealing with a hitting problem, and the authoritarian vs. permissive parenting false dichotomy.
iTunes
RSS
Note: It’s forty-eight minutes long. Forty-eight minutes of baller. Don’t hate.
Jade Factory and Badaling
This past weekend I visited a jade factory and the Badaling section of the Great Wall. Badaling is the most popular, tourist-visited section and as you can see in the pictures below it is packed with people.
The jade factory was interesting, but it was mostly focused on selling you jade jewelry. We saw about 10% factory and 90% shopping area. Still, a lot of the stuff was pretty cool. A couple of us managed to get some raw jade from one of the workers, so we got a nice souvenir without having to buy some of the overpriced jewelry.
Check out the photos below.
