GFW

There has been a serious lack of blogging over the past 2 wks as Blogspot has been GFWed (Great Fire Walled)! I suspect this is due to the upcoming June 4th anniversary.

I am now only able to get around the GFW and write this cause of a proxy site I discovered. I feel like a prisoner who has managed to find a small mouse hole in the prison wall....just enough to drop this msg.

Anyway, hope things are good outside the GFW and will try to write as much as possible b4 the GFW police discover the hole!

Xi'an Trip: City views

Select photos from Xi'an, mostly taken while cycling on the excellently preserved city wall (dates back to the Ming Dynasty).


Panorama taken from one corner of the city wall, stitched together from 3 pics (better viewed large).


I think Xi'an models are as skinny as HK models...


I love the laundry peeking out among the roofs of these old Xi'an homes.


These are the drum stands at the drum tower.


Another well-preserved street seen from the city wall. I believe this is the school district.

Xi'an Trip: Cute park signs

Sign poetry painted on stones seen strewn around the park paths at the Big Wild Goose Pagoda. Whoever came up with these must be adorable!


"The plants are just beginning to sprout, to walk upon them is shameful no doubt."


"Happy is the tender grass when here your feet do not trespass."

Xi'an Trip: Shanxi Snacks 陕西小吃

Xi'an consumables:

Paomo 泡馍 - shred 2 pieces of bread...


...then add some lamb soup...not much different from lamb noodles.


Sour & spicy cold noodles 酸辣凉粉 - not bad but difficult to eat standing in the street.


Persimmon cakes 黄桂柿子饼 - deep fried, sweet with different fillings...


...a bit oily but the yummiest snack in Xi'an!


Some deep fried meat-filled pancake


Some kind of sticky cake 小镜糕 - cute steamed cakes...


...kindof like sticky rice with sweet toppings

Xi'an Trip: on the train

To get there, took the overnight hard sleeper train. Left at 930pm, arrived around 9am. In the 6 bunk cabin, got the top bunk. Note to self: if cabin-mates are smokers, trade for the bottom bunk.

Used the site Huochepiao.com to buy the ticket, very convenient, delivered right to my door within a day!


Anyway, the train was comfortable enough and is comparable to European trains. Would not mind taking the train again. Cost: 256 RMB.

Xi'an Trip: Terra-cotta Army 兵马俑

Made a weekend trip to China's ancient capital of Xi‘an 西安 back in April. Xi’an is actually a large city of 8 million+ people, more than HK. Of course the most famous thing in this city is the massive tomb of Emperor Qin 秦始皇 - the first Emperor of China and the life-size terra-cotta army 兵马俑 guarding it.


Upon entering the tomb area, we are greeted by a sign proclaiming the tomb to be the 8th Wonder of the World. At first I thought no way this can compare....but after seeing the sheer scale of the tomb, I believe it is worthy of debate.

Only an absolute dictator could have ordered such a massive necropolis built (50 square km!!!???). At present, 4 pits have been unearthed, filled with an estimated 6,000 terra-cotta soldiers. But there are still many pits that have yet to be unearthed, the most important being the Emperor's tomb itself which is said to have rivers of mercury running through it and gemstones inset in the celing as the stars.


In addition to the sheer number of warriors, the level of detail on each is amazing. Here you can see intricate hairstyle of this one. Each worrior had unique facial features, hair-style, armor and weapons. They were even painted in full color but due to oxidation, the color on these have faded.


Here is a higher ranking general, you can see that his hands were specially carved with the index finger pointing as if in signal to the army under his command. His hands originally rested on the pommel of a sword that had probably been looted.


Our guide said that there are about 50 full time archeologists working on restoration of the warriors. Each piece must be painstakenly examined and fitted together, the ultimate jigsaw puzzle.


No small detail was spared, even the horses are strikingly life-like, as if poised to gallop into battle.


The tomb is definately a must see in Xi'an. I hope to come back here in another 30 years. By then, how many other pits will have been unearthed? With new technology, will we see an army regiment preserved in full color? Will the mystery of what is contained in Emperor Qin's tomb finally be solved?

The end of spring

The hot weather in Beijing (25C+) over the May 1st holiday weekend seems to mark the end of spring....bring on the heat!

Taken at Summer Palace 颐和园

North Face 10km run completed!

First time in a race for me this Saturday, ran the North Face 100 endurance challenge in Changping 昌平. The race was divided into 100km, 40km, 10km (obviously I did the 10km).

I completed the race in about 1 hour which was my rough goal. Here's the route map, the green route is the 10km race (I think this pic expands if you click on it).


For 50RMB I got:
- 2 TNF t-shirts
- 1 TNF cap
- 1 red bag
- 1 snickers bar
- 1 bottle of water during the race which I threw away after 2 gulps.
- beautiful scenery in Chang Ping
- hellish wind (one of the windiest days I've seen in BJ)
- knowledge that my left knee is not very strong
- satisfaction

I just found the 100km winner won in 6:52!!!??? How the hell do you run 100km in mountainous terrain in that time????

Mima, cafe no, bookstore yes

After reading this interesting piece, I went hunting for Mima Cafe by the east gate of the Old Summer Palace 圆明园东门. Unfortunately when I got there, the cafe gate was closed and hung with a sign "Renovation".

Fortunately, all was not lost, I found this peaceful bookshop the One Way Stree Library next door, opened by the same people.


Here's the entrance, I like the bamboo fences, very green / back-to-nature. This place is an oasis in the middle of the hustle & noise of Beijing. An out-of-the-way but great place to relax!


The bookstore is a long rectangular shape with shelves filled with books reaching the ceiling.


Inside, the books were mostly Chinese (of course) and with a design / academic focus. The customers were mostly students, sitting on the 5 couches studying. There were also guys sitting outside on these lawn chairs just chilling in the outside yard. Too bad this place doesn't serve coffee.


I asked the bookshop keeper if she knew when Cafe Mima would re-open, but she didn't know. Apparantly it's been under rennovation since the fall.

Painting with a camera

Here's my 1st attempt at a watercolor effect with a camera. These are actually blossoming trees in Yuanmingyuan 圆明园.

To make this effect I set the shutter speed at 1/5s and panned the camera vertically, trying not to make any horizontal movements. I wanted to keep the lines of the tree branches in tact.

Here's a pic of the actual trees.

War games, BJ style

This past weekend went to Majoy in Babaoshan (八宝山) to play war games Beijing style! This is sort of a bad pun, as Babaoshan is the city's most famous cemetery, when you say "I'm going to Babaoshan" 我要去八宝山 you're saying "I'm gonna die".

Anyway, war games here means laser tag. This is because paint balling is illegal within the city. But this is not your father's laser tag, it's super high tech digital laser tag! In addition to the sensor vest & helmet, everything is tracked by the central computer including number of bullets, hit stats, kill stats, health points, shield points, etc. Each player carries a PDA where they can check their hit points, ammo, shields and first aid kits. And get this, whenever you make a kill, the dead guy's ammo & first aid kits gets added to yours! It's like being in a live computer game!

We played some games inside the Majoy building (small) and also outside in the public park. I bet it was quite a site seeing uniformed & armed people running around like mad in the park alongside moms with baby strollers & grandpas taking their morning walk.

All in all was good fun but not as fun as paintball, the fear of pain makes a BIG difference.

Cost: 150 RMB for half a day

Spring blossoms

Blooming blossoms seen at Yuan Ming Yuan 圆明园

Slope Tunes

Totally off topic post, I'm doing this only so that I don't lose the link to Gizmodo's pumpin' snowboard soundtrack mix x 3. I'm always looking for new music to ride to so I'll definitely be checking out these tunes later.

Incidentally, here's my own mix, mainly rock & alternative, that I've been boppin' to on the slopes this season (yes, I bow to the Foo Fighers):

What's your favorite song to ride to?

Cycling Route 2 - Tsinghua -> Xiangshan

Chingming Monday was another beautiful day. Didn't want to stay indoors so took the old bike out for a peddle, this time Tsinghua -> Xiangshan or Fragrant Hills (清华－香山). The whole route is about 25km and flat. Btw, why is Tsinghua not spelled Qinghua?

Xiangshan is famous for its red leaves in the fall and blossoms in the spring. Didn't go inside this time, way too many people. Xiangshan is also next to the Botanical Garden that I have yet to goto. Will definately visit next time.

Everyone thinks Xiangshan is so far but actually it's very close to Summer Palace 颐和园. Start from Tsinghua west gate and keep going west, follow the road boardering the north of Summer Palace and then you will hit Xiangshan Road 香山路. Follow it all the way there, easy! You should be sharing the road with the public buses.


This time I was on my normal everyday bike so the going was slow. On the way there got lost so took about 90min to get there. The way back was much quicker, about 50min.

Cycling Route 1 - Cyclosports

Went for a bike ride with Cyclosports on sunday. Every weekend, these guys meet near the south gate of Chaoyang Park to go cycling. For 100 RMB you can rent a proper road bike (super light with many gears) and helmet. If you have your own bike, you can just join for free! Sunday is better for the beginners as the 60km route is flat and therefore easy.


Here's a map of the route we took. The first bit is on the street with many cars but after the first left turn you are into village / river scenery, very nice! I only got halfway before my front tire blew out, I think a pebble got stuck in the tube and caused it to pop. Anyway, was great fun, I felt like I was in a cycling race! Gonna try again, gotta finish this route!

What should I eat in Beijing?

Lately I've been reading food blogs and here are some of the better ones I have found to answer this most important question:

Appetite for China - Reviews of restaurants in China and recipes
Too much food in Beijing - One man's journal about eating in Beijing
Boom Beijing - Beijing restaurant reviews (bilingual)
Chowhound China - Public discussions about where to find the best food in China.

SiuYeh - HK food blogger, writes about travel too
ChaXiuBao - HK food blogger, witty commentary

Spicy Peanuts 麻辣花生!

For a quick fast hit of Sichuan spice, these Mala Penuts 麻辣花生 are perfect! They go great with beer (recommend yanjing 燕京) or baijiu 白酒. Would never find a snack like this in quick-gimme-some-water-can't-handle-spicy-food-HK.


Carmina, snowboard buddy / short-story writer / podcaster extraordinare, introduced them to me on the ski slope (checkout her dark fiction here). I finally found a pack in my local market and they cost just 2.50RMB!

This brand is called 玉辉牌 but I'm sure many other companies make them.

Art or Tomato Abuse?

Another visit to 798 blah blah. This time went to a British art gallery opening.

Here's a cool display, the letters are all airport codes. Being ex-airline industry, I can recognize most of them. CTU = Chengdu; FOC = Fuzhou. Anyway here's a website I always used to use to decode.


The highlight of the gallery was this super-weird performance art involving tomatoes! Here the artist is facing the wall throwing tomatoes. Yes he stood there bouncing the red veggies off the wall while his partner was blending them into juice. Then he would pour the juice all over the head of Van Gogh!


Handstand time, note the video also stars tomatoes.


Pouring fresh tomato juice all over his pants...room smelled like V8 juice.


Tortured artist drenched in tomato juice then starts crawling around on the floor of the gallery! Is this art or tomato abuse?

Review: Made In China

My dear friends Kylee and Steph came up for the weekend to visit, so we all went to Made In China for dinner last Friday to sample their famous Peking Duck 北京烤鸭.

Made In China is a modern Chinese restaurant located in the Grand Hyatt. As such, the decor and ambiance is top notch. The restaurant itself is not very big at all. Coupled with the much-buzzed-about open kitchen, it gives the place a cozy, comforting feel.


Spices for duck.


Making dumplings.


Of course we had to order the duck. These birds are rosed in a large woodfire oven just behind the kitchen.


Great maple-brown glaze!


Steph waiting for her duck. In the meantime, the raspberry ice tea was very yummy.


We were quite disappointed with the duck. The taste was just ok and they only gave us 3 plates of mostly skin. The rest of the duck was quickly whisked away somewhere never to be seen again. Also there were only 3 condiments (sweat sauce, garlic, sugar). At 200+ RMB per duck, I expect a lot more (see rival restaurant Da Dong).


Also ordered their famous Beggar's Chicken. It is wrapped in clay and cooked. Got to break open the clay with a wooden hammer!


Meat was falling off the bone. Very tasty, complex flavor with a tinge of wine. I thought it was better than the over-hyped duck.


Bottom line: Not worth the 200 RMB per person. Can pay slightly less for more food and better duck at Da Dong. If you must come here, skip the duck and order their regular dishes. Drinks were very good.

Ok no more blogging at 4am, gnite!