Joanna's blog

When I think of Beijing in November and December, I think cold! I quit my part-time job working for New Oriental in October, as I was tired of rushing about all over the place at the weekends. However, it was a great way to see lots of places in Beijing, and every week would be another 'adventure' trying to find the place where the centre was. Not to mention meeting Chinese English teachers who were usually very friendly. So one dark windy autumn evening as I was heading home through the traffic and the leaves I just decided no more. This was the time when I developed a really bad cold and got acquainted with Chinese medicine.

Many people say that autumn is the best time in Beijing, because the skies are clear and the temperatures are lower after the baking summer. I also like autumn because it's melancholy and this time was mostly just about settling in with life at school while the days got cooler.

However, holidays were just around the corner! Some time in November or December you'd notice Christmas trees going up outside shopping centres, or other Christmas decorations. Of course, China doesn't celebrate Christmas, but it doesn't stop them decorating or playing Christmas music. I think it's more of a shopping thing.

With Caroline arriving on 30th September in time for the week-long National holiday, we set about cramming as much of Beijing in two weeks as possible. The full list:

Day 1: We had a welcome lunch of baozi (bread dumplings stuffed with meat or vegetables) and milk tea. A visit to the Silk Market was on the cards so we could buy the material to have dresses made. However, not before a fun visit to the local police station to register my foreigner friend within 24 hours of arriving. Somehow, conversing with limited Chinese to the sour policelady on duty, we came out of it alive and legal. Hurrah! We also enjoyed some 'sticky sticks' which are a traditional old Beijing snack in the colder months consisting of sour fruits covered with candy on a stick.

Day 2: October 1st was China's National Day, it's 60th anniversary. Like most people, we decided to watch the Tiananmen Square military parade on TV at home. First though, we took a walk around the Tian Tong Yuan community. Caroline was impressed with the grand local park and bizarre 'friendly police' signage. And already we met some interesting locals. The parade was super-organised and an impressive dislpay. There were lots of men and women in uniform, lots of tanks, and military displays, including a celebrated all-female Red-Arrows style one.In the evening was the much anticipated fireworks display over Tiananmen Square.

Day 3: In the morning we visited the old, but recently (controversially) renovated Dashilan Street, in Qianmen and browsed the famous brand shops selling silk, tea and traditional shoes, stopping for a snack in an old cinema turned cafe/museum and getting measured up at a tailors for our own qipao traditional Chinese dresses. Next up was our pedicab tour of the hutongs - old residential alleyways - in nearby Xuanwumen area. In the hutongs you can get a real sense of old Beijing and local people. It's also amazingly peaceful while still full of people going about their daily lives. After our tour we went to the most famous roast duck restaurant chain in Beijing, Quanjude, to have roast duck. And then we decided to take a walk from Qianmen to Tiananmen Square which was closed off due to the holiday and packed with people with police and soldiers trying to keep order. But still, we had our obligatory Chinese flag and got into the spirit. It was a bit of a crazy welcome to China.

Day 4:Today was Mid Autumn Festival in China, a day and night where families get together and gaze at the full moon. Oh, and eat mooncakes. Which we did - the cake was ok but we weren't so keen on the egg in middle. Then, a trip to the famous Silk Street market and to Qianmen to enjoy the lanterns and feel of history in the air, plus a Starbucks. We bought some traditional Chinese shoes.

Day 5: An early start as we took a taxi to Tiananmen Square to catch the flag raising ceremony which takes place at dawn. Passing through security we gathered with the crowds to see the guards raise the flag with the Chinese national anthem playing. It was an interesting experience; as far as I could tell, we were the only foreigners there. Afterwards we walked around Tiananmen Square which was still decorated from the National Day parade with the 56 pillars (one for every ethnic minority in the country), and the floats. Just next to the Square - the Forbidden City. And then the old Panjiayuan market to hunt for treasures.

Day 6:Another trip to Tiananmen, Qianmen, and, in the evening, a cheesy but great Kung Fu Monk show.

Day 7: Ignoring any signs of tiredness, we were up early again to meet a friend at the Temple of Heaven, another of the most famous must-see sights of Beijing. Then we took a bicycle tour around the hutongs near Houhai lake, finishing the evening with a boat trip on the lake to the sounds of traditional music.

Day 8: Today was more relaxed with a late afternoon trip to the old Summer Palace, Yuanmingyuan. It's a really peaceful park with relics, lots of lakes and pagodas. In the evening we had dinner with my boss in a Xian style restaurant.

Day 9: Another full day began with our trip to the Great Wall at Mutianyu which of course is another must-see. On the way down we took the toboggan ride and didn't buy any overpriced tat from the vendors. Next was the Ming Ruins, the place where many Ming dynasty emporors were buried, which again was worthwhile and full of history. Arriving back in Beijing, we decided to see the Olympic venues - the Birds Nest and the Water Cube - at night. With the lights and the music, especially the fountain show, it was a great sight and good fun for everyone, including friendly volunteers.

Day 10: In the morning we went to the Lama temple, a popular Buddhist temple in Beijing. Lunch was an interesting boiling pot affair at a restaurant in Wangfujing, followed up with a treat from Wangfujing snack street. Then it was back to Qianmen to the famous Lao She teahouse - for a variety of performances of Beijing opera, dance, etc, with tea and snacks.

Day 11: This day was spent at the Summer Palace, where we rented a pedal-boat, bought cheap snacks of sweetcorn (only 2 yuan) and looked around the impressive remnants of the empress' summer retreat. For dinner we found a hotpot restaurant which was very good but maybe next time we'll go for bu la - not spicy.

Day 13: For our last day we went to the Confucius temple which is more quiet and secluded than the Lama temple, ideal for sitting under the willow trees and listening to the sparrows. For our last dinner we must have the real Chinese food, dumplings, so we walked from the temple to Ghost Street. In this red-lantern covered long stretch full of restaurants open all hours, we tried to find a jaozi restaurant and by some miracle didn't have to look for long before enjoying our last supper of dumplings. Then, with our newly made qipao dresses, we made the subway journey home.

Last July I decided I hadn't seen enough of China, so signed a new job contract. My new job is in a junior school, teaching Grade 6. I like it a lot because the kids are great, and I have an apartment near the school.

I live and work in Tian Tong Yuan, a large community in the northern Changping District of Beijing. It's at the opposite end of subway Line 5 to my old apartment. But although further away from downtown Beijing than my old apartment, it has a lot of amenities such as a local supermarket and fruit and vegetable (and live fish and noodles) market. The community is pretty quiet but a short walk away there's the usual food stalls at all times of night.

I can always take the bus to the main shopping square, where there's a Carrefour and the usual McDonalds, KFC, Starbucks, etc. There's also a huge market selling everything you could possibly want or need. 3 months living in my new home and I'm liking it very much. I've put some photos of my new place on my Flickr page.

During July I was invited to stay with Amy, one of my students, in her home in Gansu province which is the north west of China. It's one of the poorest provinces, but it's dryer and cooler than Beijing in summer which is a good reason to go in itself.

To get there we took a 30 hour train journey from Beijing Railway Station. Spending so long on a train actually wasn't so bad. We took the hard sleeper option which is 6 beds to a cabin, and it was a comfortable way to pass the time as we passed through several other provinces.There was a bathroom and hot water so you could wash and make instant noodles. So new experience number one was travelling by train, and overnight.

We arrived the next day in Zhangye which is a small city in Gansu. I met her family and we went out for a drink near the town centre. In fact, over the whole time there was a lot of eating out and a lot of drinking of baijiu, which translates as white wine but it's more like Chinese vodka. I also got to go to KTV (kareoke) for the first time and ended up going back a couple more times. In the evenings, especially in summer, everyone likes to be outside either eating or drinking, or dancing to music in the square, or playing with their kids in the park. In this way, I think Zhangye could be like any other Chinese city - just people enjoying their lives with their families.

While in Zhangye we visited the largest indoor sleeping Buddha, at the aptly-named Big Buddha temple. We also went to the local park which in China always seems to be a big affair, with a lake and rides for the kids. It makes UK parks look pretty small-scale. Gansu must also be China's noodle capital because we must have tried every sort going: Lanzhou beef noodles, clay pot noodles, noodles made of rice, noodles made of beans...

Over the next month, we went with her friends and family on several trips. First we drove a couple of hours to the mountains and met some ethnic minority people. They live in the mountains and make a living by welcoming visitors at their camp and offering traditional snacks such as yak butter tea and yoghurt, which is very nice! They also entertained us by singing folk songs and dancing. As part of the welcome they gave me a white scarf and invited everyone to have some baijiu. This experience was definitely worth the perilous and bumpy drive up the mountain.

On another trip we went to Sunan, or the Sunan Yugur Autonomous County, which has a majority of Yugur minority people. It was fascinating to see one of China's 56 national minorities in one of their hometowns - different clothes and people riding horses through the streets.Towards the end of my stay we went to her cousin's wedding in another city. As well as attending the wedding meal (a huge room full of family and friends, traditional speeches, much toasting/drinking of baijiu) we made a stop at Jiayuguan, which is the most western part of the Great Wall. So after five months in Beijing, I did go to the Great Wall, just at the other end.

In all I spent about a month with Amy and her family, and as well as all the natural scenery and minority people, what I remember most is how welcoming her family were, lots of dinners, noodles, baijiu and KTV! Photos here.

I live in an apartment complex near Kai Yang Qiao (qiao means bridge) in the south of Beijing. Here is a handy map. My room is well equipped by Chinese standards - it has a shower, fridge, washing machine and western style toilet and it's all pretty modern. I've never seen any other foreigners around this area so I think I'm the only one, hence all the stares when I go to the local shop!

With such a large population many people live in apartments like this - young families, professionals, old people - and a lot of them are really nicely decorated inside, unlike the outside which can often look a bit run down. For the benefit of the community, lots of outdoor spaces are provided, such as parks, fountains, pagodas, and adult exercise equipment which is great fun. In the evenings people gather outside and you can often see people exercising in the garden or playing with their small dogs or children. (I think there's a rule where only small dogs are allowed in central Beijing, so they are always small and cute - the children are also small and cute).

To get to the subway station I take the bus, which costs 1 kwai (about 10p), or if I'm late/being lazy I get a taxi or small motorised cart (10-15 kwai which is £1 - £1.50). So I can get to the centre of Beijing in half an hour. In all, it's a pretty nice area for 1800 yuan a month (about £180), though with my new job it will soon be time to move up north...Anyway, you can see some pictures of my apartment here.