tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-276854362012-02-10T13:46:32.485-08:00Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08654770225487196179noreply@blogger.comBlogger661100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27685436.post-56640319978349145192010-03-12T00:49:00.000-08:002010-03-12T01:07:18.322-08:00

Back in Beijing I once met an Arabic-speaking woman who used to work in a foreign aid organization. "China helps Africa so it can get natural resources," she told me. "Westerners actually care."My experiences in China make me think that's probably the case, but it's beside the point if China's methods are more effective. Western aid is supposed to be well though out, even scientific, with all the

Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08654770225487196179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27685436.post-55499864583460694532010-03-12T00:46:00.000-08:002010-03-12T00:49:13.471-08:00

Since life in Taiwan is simply no where near as interesting (and frustrating) as life in China, I haven't had much to write about here. I just decided however to simply write about what's on my mind, which hopefully shouldn't take too much of my time.

Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08654770225487196179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27685436.post-63891106859703980792008-05-23T09:48:00.000-07:002008-05-23T10:08:04.318-07:00

A rare article on Taiwanese culture. (Technically it's Chinese, but since it doesn't exist in the mainland anymore it's really Taiwanese). They even have puppet TV shows, replete with sword fighting sequences and special effects (which are quite corny). I think I wanna apprentice...It's a really cute museum, by the way.The National History Museum had a big exhibition of puppets a month and a half

Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08654770225487196179noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27685436.post-62149589264563877242008-05-23T00:59:00.000-07:002008-05-23T01:35:27.663-07:00

Nice to see Taipei's metro get its due.Its only drawback is that it's a really small system- 67 stations, compared to 470 in New York. But even then it's so well designed that you can take it almost anywhere you'd want to go in Taipei. I'd even go so far as to say that it has character, if not as much as New York's. If they let musicians and breakdancers perform in the trains and stations maybe

Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08654770225487196179noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27685436.post-41804459032370665092008-05-22T03:32:00.000-07:002008-05-22T04:07:23.382-07:00

Reuters recently had a short article on what might be Dadaocheng's quirkiest sight.I've actually passed this guy before, near the intersection of Dihua St. and Minzu Rd. He looked very happy.

Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08654770225487196179noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27685436.post-57908212432694191822007-10-11T22:52:00.000-07:002007-10-16T08:12:49.713-07:00

I was told that the order of what happened in my blog is not clear, so here’s a quick timeline to get things straight.Before China-Fall of ’05 to spring of ’06- taught Chinese at ExeterJune ’06- went to sister’s graduation in ScotlandJuly-August- taught Tae Kwon Do at day camp in New YorkTraveling to Tibet-September 17-22- went to Beijing, spent nearly a week thereSept. 22-25- flew to Chengdu,

Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08654770225487196179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27685436.post-53501136199744205702007-09-06T10:13:00.000-07:002007-09-06T10:21:35.450-07:00

Just making sure my blog doesn't go under... I will start updating on of these days...After half a year of Beijing, I got sick of the hassles and decided to move to Taipei, which will happen probably next month. I have a lot of misadventures to catch up on =P

Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08654770225487196179noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27685436.post-21692397951717067372007-06-29T02:48:00.000-07:002007-06-29T02:50:42.875-07:00

Going back to December last year…My main problem after getting back to Beijing wasn’t getting a job, but getting a visa. I was on a tourist visa that would expire in mid-December. I had enough money to survive in Beijing for a while. But there were other (quasi-legal) ways to get visas.The best way, I thought, would be to get a Chinese company to write me an invitation letter for a business

Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08654770225487196179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27685436.post-65637121121376341312007-06-05T02:20:00.000-07:002007-06-05T02:21:08.085-07:00

I don’t think it is right to tell Chinese people what they should think about their own government, and I don’t think the US should try to lecture China. However, I see nothing wrong with writing my opinion, especially when I read something both stupid and infuriating.According to the New York Times, Ma Lik, the leader of Hong Kong’s pro-Beijing party, stated that the Tian’anmen Square Massacre

Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08654770225487196179noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27685436.post-7524806275907895912007-06-02T20:58:00.000-07:002007-06-02T21:02:38.325-07:00

The first day I met Lily I asked her if she liked Beijing.“No,” she said. “People here are dishonest- they tell you one thing when they think another. Beijing has too many Hans, and I don’t like Hans.” Hans are ethnic Chinese, as opposed to minority groups like Tibetans, Mongolians and Koreans. I had assumed that Lily was a Han herself, like most Chinese people.“I’m half Tujia and half Miao,”

Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08654770225487196179noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27685436.post-47986151104206233022007-05-25T22:16:00.000-07:002007-05-26T19:48:45.976-07:00

(The view from Lily and Azalea's apartment)After I turned down the job offer from the nursing school I realized that I actually did not need a regular job. Money wasn’t a problem since I had saved a lot from working in the US, and I could easily make more tutoring English. The only problem was getting a new visa, and now that I knew a visa agent I had a way around that. I didn’t have to get a

Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08654770225487196179noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27685436.post-18508517350062909912007-05-15T06:01:00.000-07:002007-05-26T19:55:20.638-07:00

After figuring out where I was going to live I had to figure out what kind of job I wanted.My main goal was improving my Chinese, so I wanted a job that would give me a lot of chances to speak Chinese. I applied to some translation jobs, but my Chinese wasn’t good enough yet, and I didn’t have experience or qualifications. I wasn’t sure what else I could do other than teach English, which to me

Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08654770225487196179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27685436.post-72071671904198046132007-05-07T10:23:00.000-07:002007-05-26T19:54:24.426-07:00

Beijing is the most disappointing place I’ve ever been. When I first came in 2004 I was expecting to see a clean city of parks and hutongs nestled between gleaming skyscrapers. What I found instead was one of the least pleasant places I’d ever been.The most obvious problem is the pollution. There are days where it is so thick you can’t see more than a quarter mile or so. Exercising outside is

Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08654770225487196179noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27685436.post-41602259936412507272007-04-27T21:10:00.000-07:002007-05-26T19:54:24.427-07:00

Alright, going back to where I left off before…Returning to Beijing meant returning to my normal life, which was a little chaotic. First of all, I had to figure out my living situation. I was expecting to be able to move into Lily’s room after I got back from Tibet, but it turned out that Lily wasn’t able to move out.That spring Lily had married an Israeli and had planned on moving to Israel in

Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08654770225487196179noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27685436.post-29794565524101562422007-03-18T00:15:00.000-07:002007-05-26T19:55:20.639-07:00

I’m going to fast-forward to last weekend for this post.In January I moved into an apartment with a friend from college named Azalea. As I was moving in Azalea’s previous roommate, a Chinese woman named Lily, told me everything I needed to know about the apartment. One of the things she mentioned was a burn mark on the floor in Azalea’s room that I hadn’t noticed before.“My last boyfriend did

Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08654770225487196179noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27685436.post-89103443719954735942007-03-06T01:42:00.000-08:002007-07-13T08:06:14.044-07:00

A week after the prostration kora Alex finally left. We had talked about doing a kora around Bonri, a mountain holy to the Bon religion, which predated Buddhism in Tibet. However, Bonri was far away (near Bayi) and was in a military zone that was difficult for foreigners to get permits for (though it was supposedly easy to get into without a permit anyway). Also, Alex was short on time, I was

Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08654770225487196179noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27685436.post-42605488889336486562007-03-01T08:58:00.000-08:002007-03-01T08:59:55.205-08:00

The day after we did the prostration kora Rachel and John left for Nepal (they did the kora earlier on the same day that Kirk, Alex and I did it, like Rachel wanted to). Kirk left two days later, leaving just me and Alex. Alex and I hung out together over the next week, eating, enjoying Lhasa and resting. My muscles ached for days after the kora and even getting out of bed was painful. Also,

Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08654770225487196179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27685436.post-22655409904576864582007-02-26T20:25:00.000-08:002007-02-26T20:26:52.137-08:00

Alex and I shared an obsession with food. I had come to Lhasa in part because I wanted good food. Alex had spent most of his time over the past month trekking and needed good food even more than me. Lhasa is hardly a world culinary capital, but it did not disappoint.Lhasa probably has one of the more diverse food scenes of any small Chinese city. Obviously there’s a lot of Tibetan food, and

Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08654770225487196179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27685436.post-30952392135081943122007-02-24T08:31:00.000-08:002007-05-26T19:50:36.187-07:00

Happy Lunar New Year to y’all! I’m going to interrupt my tales of Tibet again to write about the New Year in Beijing.Almost everyone I know in Beijing is out of town for the holiday, but I have to stay in the city- I’ll explain why in another entry. I was worried that it would be boring on my own, but it turned out to be the most exciting times I’ve had in Beijing. At first I planned on going

Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08654770225487196179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27685436.post-51006061698393958312007-02-09T22:15:00.000-08:002007-02-16T20:42:23.256-08:00

While I was hanging out with Kirk, John, Alex and Rachel in a bar in Lhasa one of us suggested doing a prostration kora. It was an insane idea, but except for Kirk we were all instantly set on it. Kirk wasn’t as excited as the rest of us, but he tentatively agreed to do it.Usually Tibetans walk koras around holy sites like temples, mountains and lakes, but those who are especially devout will

Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08654770225487196179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27685436.post-20868231450013174402007-02-08T18:38:00.000-08:002007-02-08T19:26:03.811-08:00

A quick break from my exploits in Tibet for an interesting article in the Washington Post:http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/06/AR2007020601713.htmlA lot of Chinese people have told me how interested they are with Jews because they are supposedly so wealthy and powerful. They are also find Israel fascinating because of its resilience while being surrounded by enemies.

Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08654770225487196179noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27685436.post-34359568483999949822007-02-01T21:30:00.000-08:002008-05-22T04:02:39.086-07:00

One day that weekend John and I finally set off to find that weed. We knew that the two kebab sellers had some hashish; that was why John and Rachel were sitting at their cart the first night I met them. The kebab sellers- brothers named Muhammad and Ali- were a little weird about it, but then they were weird in general. Every evening when they set up their stand they would yell “Xinjiang

Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08654770225487196179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27685436.post-38191136701474273852007-01-28T04:11:00.000-08:002007-01-28T04:12:10.412-08:00

I spent most of the next few days hanging out with Kirk, Alex, John and Rachel, and occasionally with some other travelers we ran into. After meeting so many people who had done so many hardcore treks and trips both around the world and in Tibet I started feeling that sneaking into Tibet wasn’t so special. It did at least give me something to talk about, among all the people who had hiked

Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08654770225487196179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27685436.post-32411891312272536032007-01-27T22:15:00.000-08:002007-01-28T03:37:36.080-08:00

Before getting back to Lhasa we stopped by Ganden. I didn’t mind taking a second look, and Kirk and Erica hadn’t seen it yet, though in the end Erica decided to give it a pass and just wait for us. Even this visit was cut short, as Losang came looking for Kirk and me before we even finished the kora. The road up to the monastery was closed (Kirk and I had to take a monastery van to get there)

Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08654770225487196179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27685436.post-5476050074695562622007-01-24T08:01:00.000-08:002007-01-24T08:03:34.395-08:00

We had two more stops to make on the last day of our trip: Drigung Til Monastery and Ganden. I had already seen it, but Kirk and Erica had not, and anyway I was more than happy to go back. In the end we did not go into Drigung Til, as they forbade tourists to walk the kora which for Kirk and I was the main attraction of the monastery. I had developed something of a kora addiction, because they

Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08654770225487196179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27685436.post-74542332863345839932007-01-23T18:41:00.000-08:002007-01-23T18:45:04.377-08:00

After we arrived at Reting we had a decision to make. Losang announced that unless we wanted to stay there overnight we would have to leave after only an hour and a half. After driving for about 5 hours in our cramped jeep none of us were eager to leave so soon, so we took a look at the monastery “guesthouse.” It was pretty bad- it made Pelpung’s guesthouse look downright luxurious. The real

Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08654770225487196179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27685436.post-19835103083150771502007-01-21T02:43:00.000-08:002007-01-21T02:45:10.042-08:00

After my second week in Lhasa both Zoë and Kamal left. Kamal had been in Lhasa for a month, and had to go meet in-laws in Yunnan. Zoë was going to Nepal to look into business opportunities- she had quit a boring job with Intel in Shenzhen to do this. She had told me that a lot of her friends thought she was crazy; Jasmine suggested that she would like to do something similar herself if she

Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08654770225487196179noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27685436.post-8553771636036254782007-01-16T21:53:00.000-08:002007-01-17T00:45:55.540-08:00

One of the worst parts of being an American in China is what I call “the interrogation.” A Chinese person, almost always a middle-aged, lower-middle class man will approach me and, upon learning that I can speak Chinese, aggressively question me about all the bad things about the US does. This isn’t some attempt to hold a discussion or voice opinions; on the contrary, any attempt to refute what

Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08654770225487196179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27685436.post-88156563089792090802006-12-18T21:24:00.000-08:002007-01-13T06:05:50.596-08:00

Even though I stayed in Lhasa for nearly four weeks before I left, I didn’t spend nearly as much time talking with local people as I should have. Part of it was shyness and laziness on my part. Even in a (relatively) westernized, cosmopolitan city like Beijing I find it hard to get to know Chinese people, and after spending most of my first month traveling talking mostly with Chinese and

Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08654770225487196179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27685436.post-87555544179533996892006-12-08T17:05:00.000-08:002007-01-13T05:20:30.390-08:00

After Nam Tso I needed to take a break from sightseeing. I was thoroughly exhausted and had a cold to boot. I had never really rested after my long dash to Lhasa. Instead I spent most of my first week there dragging myself out of bed far earlier than I should have to do some intense sightseeing, which in the case of Ganden and Nam Tso involved going to very cold places that I was not properly

Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08654770225487196179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27685436.post-12107241097035654482006-12-06T17:56:00.000-08:002007-01-13T05:02:51.102-08:00

On the way back to Lhasa from Ganden I met some people planning on going to Nam Tso. Nam Tso is one of Tibet's holiest lakes and premier tourist sights. However, it is a four hour drive from Lhasa, and since there are no buses going there tourists have to hire a car. Zoe had already been there and Jasmine and Jared weren't sure if they would go, so I figured I ought to see if it was possible

Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08654770225487196179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27685436.post-79641733317441516212006-12-05T22:20:00.000-08:002007-01-12T21:27:13.152-08:00

There are three major monasteries in the Lhasa area- Sera, Drepung and Ganden. I went to Sera with Jasmine and Zoe to watch the monks do their afternoon debate, but since we weren't willing to pay the entrance fee and couldn't find a way to sneak in we simply did a kora and then climbed the hills around Sera to check out the views.Later I went to Ganden with Zoe. Jasmine was visiting other

Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08654770225487196179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27685436.post-39027811645834357052006-12-05T07:31:00.000-08:002007-01-12T21:15:19.340-08:00

Next up was the Potala. Again I went to see it with Jasmine. Seeing the Potala involved a lot of hassle- you had to go a day ahead of time to pick up your ticket, which specified the time you could visit. A ticket cost a staggering 100 kuai, or $12. For those who don't know, the Potala is the premier sight of Lhasa, and one of the most famous buildings in Asia. It used to be the palace of

Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08654770225487196179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27685436.post-76807968207392433082006-12-04T19:24:00.000-08:002007-01-12T20:02:44.602-08:00

I didn't go into the Jokhang until my second day in Lhasa. Jasmine and I woke up early in the morning, in the hope that we could sneak in with the pilgrims, who got in for free when the Jokhang opened at 8. I had heard that at least half of the income from tickets to monasteries in Tibet went to the local government, so I didn't feel especially guilty about not paying the steep 70 kuai ($8.75)

Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08654770225487196179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27685436.post-62845329050626771632006-12-03T19:39:00.000-08:002007-01-12T19:50:19.519-08:00

Finally I made it to Lhasa! After so many plan-changes and so many last-minute decisions, I felt downright thrilled to be there.Once I was actually in the city, however, I couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. I'd heard a lot of people say that Lhasa really isn't a Tibetan city anymore, and I could see what they meant. Going to any new city in China can be disappointing because they

Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08654770225487196179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27685436.post-36943784236253372572006-12-02T22:55:00.000-08:002007-01-11T22:01:31.029-08:00

Heading over to the bus station the next morning I still felt a little dissatisfied with my plan to just head back to Ganzi- sneaking into the Tibetan Autonomous Region sounded like a lot of fun. But I knew that if I did go into the TAR it wouldn't be easy.Visitng Tibet the "proper" way required getting a permit from the Tibetan Tourism Bureau, which could only be acquired through travel

Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08654770225487196179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27685436.post-16767829041185245062006-12-01T18:25:00.000-08:002007-01-11T20:45:46.642-08:00

After the Duobugou trip I was ready to move on. Dzongsar and Duobugou had been interesting, but also a little disappointing. That night, when I wasn't kept awake by the dogs, I dreamed about pancakes, chocolate and Jack Daniels. When I finally did wake up I knew it was time to not only get out of Dzongsar or Derge, but to get somewhere where I could relax. I had been alone for four days, and

Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08654770225487196179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27685436.post-63049900093749211172006-11-30T03:45:00.000-08:002007-01-11T20:14:55.380-08:00

Before heading off, my guide- who could only speak a little broken Chinese- offerred me some tsampa in his house. It had been long enough after my last tsampa experience that I thought I could stomach more, though I knew I wouldn't take much pleasure in it. I'm not sure I even really had a choice anyway.The guide's tsampa was a bit different from the tsampa I had previously eaten. Instead of

Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08654770225487196179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27685436.post-86750806587119153072006-11-29T17:11:00.000-08:002007-01-11T19:59:56.015-08:00

When I came down from the monastery I found the driver talking with the guesthouse owner. He apparently didn't know that I didn't go to Duobugou, and asked me how it was. When I told him I didn't make it he offered to take me the next day, but for 50 kuai more. I asked him why it would cost more."Because I'd take you in my van. That way you won't get a cold from riding on the back of a

Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08654770225487196179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27685436.post-72843344050132390192006-11-28T18:13:00.001-08:002007-05-28T03:17:02.215-07:00

My first night in Dzongsar was pretty tough. The guesthouse I was staying at was freezing- like Pelpung it only had cloth windows, though at least there were wooden shutters. Also, throughout the night I could hear the wild dogs barking and fighting outside. During the day they were quiet, and spent most of their time sleeping. During the night they took over the street. They would howl,

Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08654770225487196179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27685436.post-1164695114461491052006-11-27T21:22:00.000-08:002007-01-10T00:27:36.867-08:00

Most of the small villages and monasteries near Derge were not connected to Derge by bus, so to get to them you had to hire a car yourself, as I did with Thomas and the Chinese couple when we went to Pelpung. There were also a lot of foreigners trekked from village to village. Hiring a car was too expensive for me to do on my own, and I didn't have a tent so trekking was out. I figured that

Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08654770225487196179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27685436.post-1164602716192224212006-11-26T18:57:00.000-08:002007-05-28T03:15:44.615-07:00

Early the next morning Thomas and the Chinese couple left for Chengdu. They all had to get to work in a few days, and had long bus rides ahead of them. I was again on my own.Before moving on I wanted to rest for a day in Derge. After spending so much time in cars and buses over the past week I needed a break. Also, there was that kid from the monastery, named Zerencanzhu, who wanted me to

Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08654770225487196179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27685436.post-1164363005722834982006-11-24T00:55:00.000-08:002007-05-28T03:17:02.217-07:00

After checking out the printing monastery we wandered around Derge for a little while. Like Ganzi, Derge was divided into a Chinese section that served as the town's commercial center and a more run-down Tibetan section. The town was ethnically even more Tibetan than Ganzi, and much smaller. Every once in a while someone would drive a herd of yaks down the main street. The most interesting

Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08654770225487196179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27685436.post-1164180146628540962006-11-21T23:13:00.000-08:002007-01-07T08:32:05.537-08:00

My next destination was Derge, the closest town in Sichuan to Tibet that I could legally visit. I thought about getting off at Manigango, a small town halfway between Ganzi and Derge (and described by the Czech girl in Ganzi as "so bad it's good") but when we passed through it was snowing, and there was already nearly a foot on the ground. I was planning on hiking and didn't feel up to trudging

Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08654770225487196179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27685436.post-1164086595815097732006-11-20T19:46:00.000-08:002007-05-28T03:15:44.617-07:00

The next day we finally left Danba. I felt like I had been there for months, rather than just a week. All five of us got on the bus heading west, still quiet and exhausted after the ill-fated trip to Dangling. We were all going in the same direction but all had different desitnations. I wanted to slowly work my way towards Derge, on the border with Tibet. Li Tong and his wife were going to

Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08654770225487196179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27685436.post-1164016722315619322006-11-20T01:30:00.000-08:002007-01-07T07:49:37.177-08:00

The next day we all slowly dragged ourselves out of bed and recommenced the previous day's main activity, namely sitting around in the cold and wet and being miserable. We all had headaches, were all sore and none of us were well rested, but we were also not as grumpy as we were the day before. Knowing that we were about to leave made us just a little more cheerful. We left as soon as we

Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08654770225487196179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27685436.post-1162806682581493292006-11-06T01:45:00.000-08:002007-01-08T22:33:39.001-08:00

After going back to Danba from Zhonglu (partly by hitching a ride on a tractor), I felt I had had enough of village hopping around Danba. Li Tong, however, had to wait for his wife, and suggested that we could move on together since we were going in the same direction. We spent the rest of the day hanging around Danba doing nothing, until Li Tong's wife arrived in the evening. However, having

Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08654770225487196179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27685436.post-1162551675496835452006-11-03T02:36:00.000-08:002007-01-06T01:32:41.757-08:00

Li Tong had planned to stay in the Danba area for about a week, and I wasn't in a rush to move on, so after getting back to Danba we decided to check out another small village, called Suobo. Wang Bo did want to leave soon, but he had time for this one last sight.Suobo is famous for its fortress towers. Until the Chinese invasion Kham was never really controlled by one government; instead it was

Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08654770225487196179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27685436.post-1162033700480471022006-10-28T03:24:00.000-07:002007-01-06T01:19:41.732-08:00

An aside before I go on:One of the things that surprised me about going into Tibetan areas for the first time in 2004 was the way they recieved Americans compared to Chinese. That time, I was in the Tibetan region of Amdo, currently Qinghai and southwest Gansu, and was on the edge of the Tibetan and Chinese worlds. Almost everyone spoke good Mandarin; many a good deal better than some Chinese

Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08654770225487196179noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27685436.post-1161661501705947802006-10-23T20:41:00.000-07:002007-01-06T01:15:23.338-08:00

Initially after getting to Danba I wanted to go to the village of Zhonglu, which the hotel owner in Chengdu recommended to me. The most famous village in the Danba area is Jiaju, but the hotel owner told me that it really wasn't anything special, and in fact was really only for official photo ops and the like. However, Li Tong was going to go on a three day hike around a mountain near Jiaju

Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08654770225487196179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27685436.post-1161578424512014532006-10-22T20:43:00.000-07:002007-01-06T00:50:42.251-08:00

After a weekend in Chengdu my first stop was Danba. I hadn't heard of it before but the owner of the hotel I stayed at in Chengdu recommended it to me. Danba isn't mentioned in any English China guide that I know of, and it only became a tourist destination in China in the past two or three years, so it is still relatively short on tourists, especially foreign tourists. When I got there it

Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08654770225487196179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27685436.post-1161425811760460832006-10-21T02:58:00.000-07:002007-01-06T00:46:11.786-08:00

This may all seem kindof boring, being old news and all, but I'm going to just start writing about my trip from the begining.I left Beijing on the 22nd of September for Chengdu. Chengdu is my favrite large Chinese city, and it's the best place to get plane tickets to Lhasa. Not much special happened while I was there, though I had a great time nonetheless. I stayed in an exceptionally friendly

Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08654770225487196179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27685436.post-1159519138477625242006-09-29T01:33:00.000-07:002006-11-28T20:15:42.503-08:00

After considering my money situation and and talkng to another experienced traveller, I changed my plan to this:ChengduDanba(in the Danba area; Jiaju, Buke, Zhonglu, Dangling)BameiDaofuGanziManigangoDegeManigangoShiqu(then into Qinghai)YushuNangchenYushuXiningMachenXiningBeijingNo pics til Beijing, im afraid.

Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08654770225487196179noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27685436.post-1159366600647778372006-09-27T07:09:00.000-07:002006-11-28T20:16:09.435-08:00

Right now I am in a town called Danba in northwestern Sichuan. I came here after spending a week in Beijing, about 3 days in Chengdu, a night here, another night in the village of Jiaju.This is my plan:ZhongluBameiTagongDaofuLuhuoGanziManigangoYushu area, QinghaiDege (back in Sichuan)BaiyuBatangLitangYadingKangdingChengduI might change things around a bit, especially since I'm not sure my money

Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08654770225487196179noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27685436.post-1158639067033013592006-09-18T21:02:00.000-07:002007-05-26T19:53:38.112-07:00

I got here a couple days ago, and so far it has not been great- today the air pollution is among the worst I've ever seen in Beijing, and my nose is feeling it. If I try to sniff the air- which is pretty painful just right now- it smells like cigarettes.Aside from that, and jet lag that just won't go away, things aren't so bad. It actually feels good to be back in Beijing, surprisingly enough.

Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08654770225487196179noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27685436.post-1157596012612869932006-09-06T19:21:00.000-07:002006-11-28T20:17:28.543-08:00

Them commies are up to it again- apparently Chinese customs authorities on the China-Vietnam border are confiscating copies of the China edition of Lonely Planet because, of all things, its map does not color Taiwan the same as China, and it marks Taipei as the capital of Taiwan. I think any comment on this is unnecessary.Here are the sites I found out about it on:http://www.filination.com/blog/

Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08654770225487196179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27685436.post-1155957079909761982006-08-18T20:07:00.000-07:002006-11-28T20:18:00.119-08:00

I took these pictures in February of 2004, during one of my first walks through Beijing, down Chaoyangmen Wai Avenue from my school at Hongmiao to the Forbidden City. I took a detour down a small alleyway, which quickly led me to this intersection of three hutong.

Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08654770225487196179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27685436.post-1155607180082941512006-08-14T18:55:00.000-07:002007-06-29T01:49:38.157-07:00

Interesting article in the Times today that you may have missed- it was for some reason hidden in the business section. I didn't feel as distressed as I should have reading it; I guess I assumed these kinds of views were widespread anyway. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/14/technology/14link.html?ref=business

Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08654770225487196179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27685436.post-1155351882210306302006-08-11T19:45:00.000-07:002007-05-28T03:15:44.618-07:00

I seem to have found myself a new job at the day camp. Several weeks ago, the head counselor for the kindergarten group at the day camp where I'm working came up to me. The second session of the camp had just begun, and there were a lot of new campers. Two of the new kindergarteners, however, could only speak Chinese, and the head counselor was worried that it would be a problem. "Actually,"

Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08654770225487196179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27685436.post-1155004877426880442006-08-07T18:39:00.001-07:002007-01-06T00:37:48.416-08:00

I'm planning on going to China in September to work on my Chinese, and to make a little money in the process I want to teach English. It's supposed to be easy to get a job teaching English in China but since a lot of the jobs can be of a pretty low quality, I decided to take a Teaching English as a Foreign Language certification course. I have a friend who did something similar so I mooched off

Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08654770225487196179noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27685436.post-1152935072615401882006-07-14T19:49:00.001-07:002007-05-26T19:57:00.407-07:00

Aside from eating and drinking, I did actually do other stuff in Scotland. Since I was with my parents, I had to do spend time with them, but I still got in a lot of my own stuff.We landed in Glasgow, which I thought was a fairly elegant city, though probably because I've never really seen a European city before. I was especially entranced by all the Victorian architecture. I had a few hours

Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08654770225487196179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27685436.post-1151894899120636592006-07-02T19:44:00.000-07:002008-05-22T04:03:44.568-07:00

Last month I went to Scotland for my sister's graduation. It was probably my best vacation in in years- much better than China, though unfortunately also more expensive. But my parents were paying, so I didn't have to worry about any of that. (That's Edinburgh castle, btw, the old capital of Scotland)My favorite part of the trip was the beer. According to my guide book, all Americans really

Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08654770225487196179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27685436.post-1149730715974379762006-06-07T18:27:00.000-07:002006-06-09T11:42:16.033-07:00

Though I have big important things on my mind, I'm too downright lazy to write about them. Writing about them would be too productive. However, I will share with my general readership (all 1 of you!) what has been preoccupying me these past few days since classes ended: webcomics!The classic is of course www.sluggy.com. It has its bad days, and sometimes its bad months or years, but usually, if

Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08654770225487196179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27685436.post-1147800005294427192006-05-16T09:48:00.000-07:002006-11-28T20:23:05.970-08:00

This has been a pretty grim week. No sun since last Monday- though we got a few feeble rays this afternoon- and heavy rain for most of that time. Yesterday afternoon classes got cancelled because the rain caused a lot of flooding, and day students and some teachers had trouble getting to the campus. I wasn't really effected because my building is on high ground. The flooding is probably the

Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08654770225487196179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27685436.post-1147017604934468412006-05-07T08:20:00.000-07:002007-01-06T00:20:56.745-08:00

Like many New Yorkers who grew up in the city, I am pretty sad about many of the changes that have taken place since Giuliani became mayor. A lot of outsiders who came to NYC since then find it hard to understand why- New York now is glitzy, rich, safe and shiny, if still crowded and more expensive than ever. Who would want to live in a city as crime-ridden, dirty and dangerous as the old NYC?

Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08654770225487196179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27685436.post-1147009763339084392006-05-07T06:37:00.000-07:002006-05-16T12:43:08.736-07:00

Now that I'm finally almost done with my drudgery in Exeter, I finally feel like writing about it. But first a statement of purpose:I'm writing a blog cos I want to make available to the world my thoughts on things that matter to me, namely, New York City, Mandarin (and Asian languages in general), China, international politics, language education, movies, race relations and ethnic trends,

Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08654770225487196179noreply@blogger.com1