Beijing Hutongs; Yan dai xie jie (烟袋斜街) and Nanluogu xiang (南锣鼓巷 ).

Now that summer camp is over I’m back to having my weekends again (well, Wednesday’s and Thursday’s) which means Em and I can do a little more together, including going to some amazing place in and around Beijing. Yesterday we decided to visit a couple of Beijing’s hutong areas;  Yan dai xie jie (烟袋斜街) and Nanluogu xiang (南锣鼓巷 ).

Hutong’s are old areas of Beijing that resemble what the city used to look like before modernizations. Sadly, a lot of these areas are being demolished due to the rapid development of Beijing, however there are moves by the people, and the Government, to preserve the areas that are left for future generations. They are indeed, a beautiful part of the city, and provide areas for artistic expression to a city that, I feel anyway, is losing it’s identity in the face of modernisation.

Naturally, I took some photos during walk, so I hope you enjoy them. Click here to see the photos: Read more »

Previous posts that may be related:

1. The Beijing Underground City (地下城). Not many people are aware of this, and I’m sure...
2. Beijing: 798 District (798艺术区). One thing I didn’t know about Beijing is that it...
3. Korean BBQ in Beijing. Last night I went out with some of my co-workers...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

The traffic jam to end all traffic jam.

One thing I have had to deal with during my time here in Beijing has been the awful amount of traffic on the roads. I’m very fortunate that the area I’m in is more or less on the outer areas of Beijing (although still within the 5th Ring Road) the traffic where I am doesn’t get too bad, somewhat comparable to the traffic one would expect in a medium sized city. I also have the luxury of being able to walk to work, within less then 25 minutes, or other means of transportation such as the bus (7 minutes), electric bicycle (10 min), or regular push bike (10 m).

The only real times I have to deal with traffic are my Wednesday morning commutes to Chinese classes in Guomao (the CBD), which take me about 70 minutes via bus, and often spent not moving at all. I’d estimate that for at least 30 minutes of that ride, the bus is stationary. A few of the relaxed bus drivers will even go so far as to turn off the engine when they get closer to the CBD, as we’re often stuck 6 or 7 minutes at a time, and don’t want to waste their gas.

Of course nothing compares to the nightmare that appears to be common place on the highways outside of Beijing on the way to other cities and provinces. Take for example the 30 kilometer traffic jam on the Beijing – Tibet highway;

It was not long before 2,000 vehicles were parked on the road and drivers were praying for a way out.

The previous jam, which started on Aug 14, lasted nine days and trapped thousands of vehicles in a tailback that extended for more than 100 kilometers. That jam was caused by road maintenance work and an exceptionally large number of heavy trucks trying to use the road.

Source: China.org.cn

Ouch. I guess I shouldn’t feel too bad about an extra few minutes on my commute in the mornings? Still, what does one exactly do when they are stuck in a jam like that?

"Who knows when the traffic will move again?" the frustrated driver asked. "I should have prepared some food and drink."

Compared with the anxious Lu, Gao Yunming, a 32-year-old bus driver from Zhangjiakou, appeared much more relaxed, passing time by chatting with other drivers and eating deep-fried buns and meat.

Gao said he left home prepared for the worst and brought instant noodles, buns and drinks.

That’s tough going. I also read that some people, who anticipated the traffic jam, stocked their trucks up with food and drinks just so they could sell it to people stranded on the road at inflated prices. I’m not sure if that’s the right thing to do, but certainly grabbing an opportunity to make a few extra yuan I’m sure.

So next time you’re stuck in a traffic jam back home, spare a thought for the poor soul’s out on the country highways here in China. It reminded of the Dr. Who episode where people were stuck in a massive traffic jam for 30 years!

Previous posts that may be related:

1. Accident on the road. How many tow trucks does it take to sort out...
2. Any ideas for the afternoons off? I haven’t had a chance to write much in the...
3. Cook-off. David v Em. Chinese Steamed Buns. It was Sunday night cook-off with between Em and I....

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

One day left of Summer Camp ‘10.

With one day left of summer camp, I’m happy to see it come to an end. The last four weeks haven’t be so bad for me, or the other foreign teachers, but the three local Chinese teachers took a hammering as one of the local Chinese teachers left half way through the camp, causing their teaching hours to sky rocket. As much as we wanted to help them out with the hours, there was just no way, and to their credit they didn’t complain and just got on with their jobs.

While my hours did drop significantly, they were still more than what I usually have throughout the year, combined with the fact that I still only had one day off per week. My weekends, which I used to dread due to full days of classes, don’t seem so bad as they used to, and with less hours from next week, and the addition of one more foreign teacher, it’s going to feel strange having so much free time again.

Not that I’m complaining mind you.

Having my extra day off again means I’ll be able to do some more travelling again, something I’ve been limited to in the past two months (which has led to a huge decline in my posting). Hopefully I’ll be able to visit a lot more places and do some more interesting things I can share with you all.

Anyway, I better get to work. A one-to-one from 2 till 3, then a young classes 5:45 – 8:00 (the latest class we have!), not too bad really, and both enjoyable classes to teach.

Previous posts that may be related:

1. A quick week and gearing up for camp. I haven’t had a great deal to talk about this...
2. Field trips and an English Camp. This weekend is going to be a busy one for...
3. Working well today. Since I’ve been laboring at work non-stop since 8:30 this...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Some people never learn.

I guess some people just don’t get the message. My good friend Aaron is still getting hate comments on his site whenever I decide to comment on anything that he writes. It continues to amaze me how people would happily spend their time writing hateful messages on other people’s sites, not to mention my own, when there are so many other things they could be doing.

Aaron will be attempting to send me the IP address of this person and I’ll be cross referencing them with the list of IP addresses I have stored away from abusive commenter’s, past and present, on this site. If I find there are connections to other people, and it’s not difficult to track IP addresses, be it in Korea or the US, city or country, then I’m sure I can think of some way to persuade the comments to stop.

It’s amazing what you can do with search engines, as well, hiding information, and yet releasing it when required to hit #1 spots on Google search engines.

If you’re that person, or that person is your friend, make them stop. They could be hurting you, too.

Previous posts that may be related:

1. Sorry folkes, registered comments only. You know, I really enjoy posting on my blog. It’s...
2. Do you get it now? I seem to be forever justifying myself about moderating comments...
3. Comment registration: Off. I have turned off comment registration for the next few...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Election results. A hung parliament?

On Saturday, as I mentioned, there was the Australian Federal Election. As it stands at the moment, it would appear that Australia is facing the prospect of having a hung parliament with both parties predicted to win 73 seats, 3 seats short of a majority in the senate. The 4 remaining seats, 3 Independent seats and a Green seat, should hold the power in deciding who will govern the country and have decided to band together and select the party they collectively feel will run the country the most stable.

Seeing as all three of the independents were former national party members (the Nationals and Liberals are the coalition party) one may expect them to side with the Labor party. But that’s yet to be seen. I’m not sure how effective a minority government would be and I could see a lot of potential investment and projects simply not going ahead due to rifts in the senate by such a government.

Or of course we’ll have another election. If that’s the case, perhaps I’ll be able to vote this time round? Perhaps my vote will change the history of Australian politics? *cough*

In my own electorate, Moore, I was pleased to see Mal Washer of the Liberal party retain the seat, quite comfortably. His 54% of the vote (61% after preferences) was twice as much as the Labor candidate, Jeremy Brown, a 21-year-old law student. Why the hell would the Labor party run a 21-year-old student as their party candidate? Because it’s a seat they knew they could never win. That’s not to say Mr. Brown isn’t a fine individual (I know nothing about him, but to get into his position at his age is an amazing achievement none-the-least) who may one day rise up the ranks of the Labor party, just not during this election in a solid Liberal area.

It’ll be interesting to see what happens. Personally, I wouldn’t like to see another election, as Frugal pointed out, would cost the taxpayers dearly for a result that would probably mirror the current results.

As a side note, my Chinese colleagues at work found the whole situation of a hung parliament a good enough reason not to have elections. I’m sure if I had more of a background in political knowledge I could have given them a dozen reasons as to why a hung parliament is a fine example of democracy, instead I offered a much more subtle, "It gives us the choice of being indecisive." comment.

Can’t argue with that.

Previous posts that may be related:

1. Computer delays. State election. Ugh. So my computer arrived but my friend ordered the...
2. Election Day 2010. I’m a no-show. Today is, of course, Federal Election day back home in...
3. Changes back home. It’s amazing how detached one can become from their home...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Election Day 2010. I’m a no-show.

Today is, of course, Federal Election day back home in Australia. It’s a bit like Melbourne Cup Day as everyone has their favourites (ok, it’s practically a two-horse race) and no one really knows who’s going to win, suffice to safe at least half of us will be right, and the other half will complain and grumble for the next 3 to 4 years.

Even as far away as I am in Beijing, it’s nice to be able to get a whiff of democracy.

Due to the amount of time I’ve spent overseas in the past 6 years, my voting status wasn’t rectified quickly enough for me to vote in this election. This would usually have upset me, but to be honest, this election seems a little… umm… like two lame horses racing against each other. I’m not a fan of either party these days, although I do confess being a little softer towards Gillard than Abbott. The only reason I say that is that I think Gillard would be a little less embarrassing than Abbott on the international stage.

Besides, I don’t think it would hurt Australia to stay a little longer with Gillard, who seems to have made some proactive moves since getting into the office, responding well to the public voice. Suffice to say, I wasn’t sad to see Rudd booted out of office, let alone getting into office beforehand. His behaviour since his dismissal has been average to say the least.

As for the Nationals, Green’s, Democrats (who I used to have time for in the 90’s), and Family First (shudder), they have very little or no say these days. National’s are merely puppets for the Liberal Party, Green’s and Democrats lack any real leadership, and Family First are just disturbing in this day and age.

Still, should be an interesting result, and being as far away as I am, I feel somewhat more protected from whatever party gets into power.

So, what are your feelings on the election?

Previous posts that may be related:

1. Election results. A hung parliament? On Saturday, as I mentioned, there was the Australian Federal...
2. Computer delays. State election. Ugh. So my computer arrived but my friend ordered the...
3. Changes back home. It’s amazing how detached one can become from their home...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Xiāngshān Gōngyuán (香山公园 – Fragrant Hills Park. )

It’s been a while since I last posted a travel post here. Actually, since I’ve been in Beijing, I haven’t gone on any trips outside of the city, so it was no surprise that I was quite eager to set out on my little adventure this morning. With Em away, and the whole day to myself, I decided to brave the Beijing transportation system (and my understand of it)  and head out of the city to one of the local parks, Xiāngshān Gōngyuán (香山公园), or in English, Fragrant Hills Park. I mentioned earlier in the week that I had already been to many of the attractions in Beijing during previous trips here, however the park was a little further than I had
been before, so I was excited about seeing a new part of Beijing.

Fragrant Hills Park is a public park at the foot of the Western Mountains in the Haidian District, in the northwestern part of Beijing, China. It covers 1.6 km² (395 acres) and consists of a natural pine-cypress forest, hills with maple trees, smoke trees and persimmon trees, as well as landscaped areas with traditional architecture and cultural relics. The name derives from the park’s highest peak, Xianglu Feng (Incense Burner Peak), a 557 meters (1827 ft) hill with two large stones resembling incense burners at the top.

Source: Wikipedia

I was glad to see that not many people were out and about today in the park. One of my biggest fears about travelling here in Beijing is being stuck with thousands of other people at a place that is meant for peace and quiet, but with only a handful of people scattered around the park, at times it felt like I was the only one there, a rare feat here in Beijing.

The park itself was stunning, and have been told it’s even more stunning in autumn when the leaves start changing colour to reds and browns. I’ll have to keep that as a side note and come back here in October/November to witness it (and no doubt along with half the population of Beijing).

Of course I took my camera with me and took lots of photos. I’ve attached quite a few to the post, so please feel free to have a look, although I’ve decided not to give them all commentary. Transportation information and prices can be found below the photos.

Please click here to see the photos (for China residents, please you hidefap.com to view the flickr images – copy and paste the address into the site). Read more »

Previous posts that may be related:

1. China. Day 3. October 02/2006. Beijing: Lama Park. After visiting the People’s Great Hall, I was keen to...
2. China. Day 2. October 01/2006). Beijing: Temple of Heaven Park. After a exhausting half a day battling the crowds at...
3. China: Beijing. Day 3 (07/02). Beihai Park (北海公园) We woke up early on the Tuesday and headed out...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

1,300 dead in mudslides.

You may, or may not, have read about the massive landslides that have been happening here in China. So far, nearly 1,300 people have already lost their lives in Gansu Province, in North West China, with a further 500 people still missing. It’s hard to really put that figure into any real perspective, but that’s about the same number of people that died during 9/11, so it really is a big deal. When you live in a country with a population of more than 1.3 billion people, 1,300 people may not seem a lot, but can you imagine if there was a natural disaster like this Australia and the same amount of people died?

That’s not to say the Chinese aren’t taking it lightly, on the contrary, as it covers the news here with images of brave rescue workers and soldiers all doing their part in the crisis. Even yesterday, most of the entertainment activities in the country stopped and shut down for the day as a mark of respect and mourning for those who had lost their lives. Many of the entertainment websites, including the one I use to watch 99% of my TV, were down, and instead plastered with black and white images from the areas affected.

Let’s hope that the weather is more favourable in the coming weeks and no more life is lost.

Previous posts that may be related:

1. Huge Earthquake in China. Last night, before going to bed, I quickly noticed that...
2. The value of passing away. It’s quite amazing to see how the whole Heath Ledger...
3. RIP Michael Jackson. Hole crap… Michael Jackson is dead! It’s fair to say...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.