Back in the P.R.C.

After turning in my final grades, I spent December 10 through 16 in Beijing, where I visited Chris, visited friends, and went shopping.  Since I have more time these days (with no classes), I can be a little reflective about my visit to Beijing.

I hadn't been in Beijing since June of this year, and going back was a little bit like visiting your high school many years after you left- very familiar, and yet also very strange.  Beijing felt like it always did, but I felt different.  Beijing was my first experience living abroad, my first experience with China, and my first experience with teaching English as a Foreign Language.  It was a lot of firsts.  Macau, while technically part of China, is as different from the mainland as a different country.  My view of China has expanded, and Beijing is not the whole of that view anymore.  Beijing now feels like a comfortable, worn pair of shoes...good in many ways, but I have newer ones that I'd rather wear just now.

After this visit, if I had to give Beijing a word, it would be "BECAUSE.".  That's the kind of answer you get when you're three and learning to ask "Why?"  Eventually, the adult tires of your constant stream of "whys" and will cut you off with "Because."  I came to this conclusion after talking with a former colleague and friend of mine, whom I visited in Beijing.  He was relating to me how he has befriended the front-desk staff in our former dorm (he still lives there).  He will often ask them weishenme (why?) about the happenings around campus.  Sometimes they simply answer:  bu weishenme (there is no "why").  We both laughed because that is very true in our experience around Beijing...there often isn't an explanation for why certain rules and regulations are in place....they just are.

Another BECAUSE is that people live in Beijing because it's a place of opportunity.  If you ask someone why he / she is in Beijing, there is usually a BECAUSE followed by some practical reason (my job, better schools, better resources, etc.), but few people say they are in Beijing because they love the city and find it to be an inspirational, creative place.

Being in Beijing, I did a lot of thinking about my time in China, and of course, considered that ever-nagging question of where I should work next year.  Beijing is still an option, as is Macau and the United States.  I'm trying to spend some quiet time with that question this break.  I know you all anxiously await the answer. :)

I took a lot of videos this visit.  I didn't do commentary on some of them but I just wanted to show the surroundings and give a clearer sense of Beijing.  It was cold and windy (usual for this time of year) and felt even colder to me, since I've been away for awhile.  The pollution didn't seem too bad but did make my nose a little sooty.

Despite the cold and the ponderings, it was a relaxing, reflective visit that I enjoyed very much.

I flew to Beijing from Zhuhai, the closest Chinese city to Macau's north.  To get to the airport, I had to first cross through the border gate (Gong Bei) into Zhuhai and take a shuttle bus (1 hour).

This video is of the city of Zhuhai, taken from the shuttle bus.  Everything is very lush and green in Zhuhai (and Macau).  That's one of the reasons I love it down here.

Again, on my way to the Zhuhai airport.  We're outside of the city proper now, and there's a lot of roadside vendors and banana farms.  At one point, we drove on a dirt road.

The Zhuhai airport is surrounded by mountains and water.  When we made our "final descent" when  returning from Beijing, I didn't see land appear until the last minute.  It was nerve-wracking!

These little oranges looked like the satsumas Molly has growing around her home in south Georgia.  Actually, I was thinking they probably were purchased from some of the farmers we passed on the way to the airport.

 
I have no idea why this pile of trash was in front of an otherwise neat and tidy apartment complex.

This video is of Zhonguancun.  ZGC is a nearby neighborhood to Tsinghua.  It's where I attended church and would often go shopping.  Chris and I are on our way out for lunch and a movie.

These are some of the strangest veggies I've seen.  I always love trying new vegetables, and so Chris picked these "square beans" from the menu.

A cross-section of the square beans.  Crunchy and good.

I have a weakness for this spicy Sichuan-style fish soup.

I went shopping in Xidan, the biggest shopping area in Beijing.  The hotel where I stayed was very close to here.

Stopping by the "Belle" store in Xidan.  Actually, one of my students this semester called me something that sounded more like "Belf" than "Beth."  I have adopted this funny new name and added it to my list of nicknames, much to my roommates' delight.

Back in the Wu!  Wudaokou is the neighborhood just outside of Tsinghua's gates.  It's the place where students hang out the most and where I spent a lot of good times.

Chris and I visited one of my favorite restaurants and had to sample the fish.

I thought this picture might creep out some of you.

I went to the suburbs to the Decathlon outfitter's store.  For all the time I spent in there, I bought very little.  It always refreshes my spirit to go into an outfitter's store, though.  I end up dreaming of all the hikes I will do.

This fountain of the twelve zodiacs was just outside of Decathlon.  I like the way the zodiacs pop up sporadically around China.

The Thinker's Bookstore.  A favorite hangout of mine (back in Wudaokou).  I spent my 28th birthday drinking coffee and petting the resident cats in the adjoining cafe.

This one's for Jess.  She gets kinda worried about the kids on scooters in Macau.  In Beijing, the kids ride on the back of bicycles (no helmets and no seat belts).  If they're lucky, though, they get this little tent to protect them from the wind.  

This kid's not so lucky.

Chris, me, Tina, and her boyfriend.  Tina was my Mandarin tutor for the last year.  She is a kind-hearted friend with an awesome, furry hat.

My last meal in Beijing was at this quirky little restaurant.  The crazy Santas in the window and the blue lights made me feel like I was in "A Christmas Story."

Slightly bad footage of me leaving Beijing on the airport express subway.  I took this same route the first time I arrived in Beijing.  The stands of ginkgo trees, bare of leaves, painted white, are very characteristic of Beijing.  I was also reminded of another trip to the airport, going home for the Chinese new year, when our cab broke down on the side of the road.  Early morning in January on the side of the road was not fun but makes for a fun memory.

Another bad shot - this time of the border gate to Macau.  It's good to finally see it after a week of travelling.