Gone to Gansu

I think that it's safe to say that the majority of the western world doesn't know much about the different locations in China beyond Shanghai and Beijing. Being the second largest country in terms of total land area, there is obviously A LOT that people are missing out on. Beginning tomorrow morning and lasting for the next 6 days I will be journeying to Gansu, a province in the North of China. I will be traversing the province by bus, overnight sleeper train, horse, and camel, starting in the southern-most part and ending in the North next to Mongolia. The trip will take me through cities, grasslands, and eventually the Gobi Desert before I return to Shanghai next Wednesday evening.

During the trip I will be visiting a local Tibetan tent home, visiting a monastery, and going to see some of the northern most parts of the great wall. One night of the trip will be spent camping in the middle of the desert. 

I'm planning on taking A TON of pictures and of course I will be posting about some of the highlights after I return in a few days. 

Here is a map of China and I've circled Gansu in red and there is a yellow star next to Shanghai. 

ren, yi, li

I'm taking a course this semester titled "Ghost, Gods, Buddhas, and Ancestors." The course focuses on religions and traditional belief systems in China and how they exist in Chinese life and culture today. The class is excellent because there are a lot of on site field trip interspersed between all the normal lectures. This week we are studying Confucianism.

Confucianism is a system of ethics, morals, and virtues, largely based on the idea of humanism. Confucianism is less a theistic system of belief and more on based on the idea that a person can better themselves through learning, and move towards perfection in their life. The three main ethics of Confucianism are ren, yi, and li. Ren is an altruistic obligation to the community at large. Yi is having a generally moral disposition and the drive to be righteous and do good things. And li is a sort of system of rules, customs, morals, and etiquette that exist in everyday life. People who practice Confucianism don't identify themselves as Confucian, instead they follow a religious system such as Islam or Buddhism but also ascribe to the moral values associated with Confucianism.

Confucius, the founder of the ethical system, lived during the Spring and Autumn period in Ancient China. There is no proof that anything that remains of ancient texts about Confucianism came from Confucius himself. More likely his teachings were written down and compiled by his disciples, the most famous of which are The Analects. Today, Confucian temples have become places of wish making, and many people come to pray for different hopes and wants to come true. One of the things praying to Confucius is supposed to ensure is good grades in school. As you can imagine this interested many of the people in my class.

 A statue of Confucius in the Temple.

Prayers and wishes left by visitors to the Temple. They were written in every language.

This is a picture of the main alter. The walls of the room were covered in inscriptions of The Analects.

 This piece of natural cut stone was preserved because it naturally represented the landscape of the earth while also coming from the earth.

 Natural rock formations such as this one were collected by Confucian literati. It was important to pick a good stone that naturally represented some symbol. This specific rock is called "Cries of Dragons and Tigers." The part at the top brings to mind images of crying dragons and tigers while the bottom is supposed to look like dragons whispering.

 A view of the pond with a pagoda in the background. The pagoda comes from Buddhist architecture and has been adopted into Confucianism. 

 The pond is filled with coy and turtles. The coy represent wisdom and the turtles represent longevity. In ancient times fish would be taken alive from the fish mongers and released into the ponds in something called "liberation of animals." This was a sort of ritual sacrifice.

 And this...is just a statue I thought was really cool. The mouth looks almost like this animals tongue is sticking out but it's actually a moveable sphere located inside the mouth. 

The temple was very interesting and is the most impressive Confucian temple inside Shanghai. Although it was nearly destroyed in the Cultural Revolution it has been largely returned to it's glory. It's an impressive example of architecture and of Confucian thought that should definitely be explored on any trip to China.

Martial Arts: A flexability test of body and language skills

Today I had my first martial arts lesson at NYU Shanghai! There are a bunch of cultural classes that you can take, including Chinese painting, traditional Chinese knot tying, and some traditional Chinese musical instruments. I chose martial arts both because I have a Taekwondo background (of sorts) and because I thought it would be a fun and different way to get exercise and meet some new people.

Although I have no idea what this form of martial arts is called, thanks in part to the language barrier and in part to my poor memory, it definitely bares some resemblance to what I remember from Taekwondo. There are forms to learn, kicks to practice, and self defense take-downs to master. And if that didn't sound like a handful, try learning it all in a different language!

I wanted to change into shorts and a t-shirt (I was wearing jeans) and the instructor told me it wouldn't be necessary. I used my own form of judgement and decided to change, and boy was I glad I did! Obviously these guys instructing us are all flexible and are used to doing these things on a daily basis, so maybe for them jeans would haven been ok. But for me outside, in the 80 degree heat, in jeans, practicing kicks definitely would have been a challenge.

We jumped in without any warm-ups or stretches and sank into low stances holding our arms in certain positions. It's mostly a process of trying to imitate and then having them come over to move your limbs for you since it's difficult to translate what exactly is wrong with the form. We held those positions for a considerable amount of time and finally as my muscles were beginning to ache we moved on to kicks. This is where I would have like some stretching beforehand, as my legs flew into the air, kicking up towards the sunny sky, my muscles screaming in agony. Yes, I definitely strained some muscles today.

Eventually we got to my favorite part which are the take-downs. People pretend to strangle you or punch and you practice blocking their advance. I'm not actually good at this part, but I get a great sense of accomplishment from actually managing to land someone on the floor. Of course this means I get thrown to the ground a few times myself.

We ended the lesson learning the proper way to make a fist, and got a little language lesson learning the names of the parts of the fist and the names of some of the stances we learned.

All in all the lesson was interesting and although I couldn't really communicate with the instructors they all seemed nice and we had three instructors to ourselves with a group of 6 so we got a lot of one on one time. It will be interesting to see how the lessons progress through the rest of the semester and I'll be sure to keep you all updated!

I'm posting some pictures that were taken at the interest session that took place last week. I practiced some stances and got taken down by my friend Delrisha White who took the pictures!

Throwing the Punch

 

 Floored!

 

 I look so happy! Don't worry, this is not what I wearing for today's lesson. 

Remember to click on the pictures for the full size! And thanks again to Delrisha for the amazing pictures!!

Puxi to Pudong

Shanghai is one of only four municipalities in the People's Republic of China which has provincial-level status. They have 19 county level divisions, and as if this weren't confusing enough Shanghai is further divided into cultural sections. Some of the most famous of these are the French Concession, Puxi, and Pudong. My internship is located in the French Concession which should be the topic of an entirely different post, so today's post will focus on the historic and cultural areas of Puxi and Pudong.

Puxi is located on the West side of the Huangpu River which is exactly what the name means, and Pudong is on the east side. Pudong is new financial district of Shanghai and it's skyline is probably what everyone thinks of when they think of Shanghai. The best place to view Pudong is from the other side of the river in Puxi on The Bund, a walkway that lines the Huangpu river on the West side, and that's where I started my excursion today.

I hopped on line 2 of the metro, which is closest to my apartment and rode about 5 stops to East Nanjing Road, the biggest shopping road in all of Shanghai. It is often called the Times Square of Shanghai because at night when the signs are all lit up it bears some resemblance to the famous plaza in NYC. This is the closest metro stop to The Bund so I had to walk about 15 minutes down the street in order to finally reach the river but I enjoyed the scenery along the way.

When I started out the sky had been clear and sunny and I left in a good mood knowing it would be a perfect day to get some pictures of the Pudong skyline. Unfortunately by the time I rode the subway and walked all the way to The Bund the sky had fully clouded over and a fog had settled over the river and I had to make do with the shots I could get.

As you can see, the Pudong side of the river is very modern looking. This is in stark contrast to the Puxi side where the architecture is of an older nature.

The highlight of the Pudong skyline is without a doubt the Oriental Pearl Tv Tower.

In order to get a closer picture of the tower I had to traverse the river which can be done in a few different ways. You can cross over land by Taxi or by bus or you can go under the river by way of the Shanghai subway system or by way of the Tourist Tunnel. I decided that I would try the tourist tunnel which while expensive (60 kuai or $10) might be the most interesting and I think I was right.

Yikes.

The ride was Willy-Wonka esque in it's use of colorful lights and in it's use of terror. Random words were announced at intervals through out the ride. Words and phrases like, "magma", "meteor shower", and "Heaven and Hell." And at one point creepy clowns on springs blocked your path...Do I regret taking the tourist tunnel? No. Will I ever take the tourist tunnel ever again? Undetermined. 

Once safely through the tunnel and on the other side of the river I made my way over to the Shanghai World Financial Center, the second tallest building in the world. It also hosts the world's highest observation deck with views at the 100th floor from 1,614 feet. The path to the observation deck was cool and slightly futuristic with lighted floor tiles that flashed and changed color and an elevator that tracked your height and flashed lights faster and faster as you ascended the tower. The elevators take you from the basement to the 95th floor in 66 seconds, so it's pretty fast, and from there you proceed to the 100th floor. Unfortunately the day was so foggy I was basically sitting in the clouds but it was sufficiently terrifying. 

 

View from the ground.

 Parts of the floor are glass so if it hadn't been so foggy you could have seen to the ground.

 Part of Pudong from 1,614 feet above.

It was definitely cool and I would be interested in going back on a day when it's clear enough to see the entire view. I also ran across a cool Apple Store, actually the first one I've seen, in a shopping area in Pudong. 

Exhausted from all the walking I did I made my way back to my apartment and was greeted by with suitemates with some Pomelo. 

Pomelo, like Moon Cakes, are traditionally eaten during the Mid-Autumn Festival. They are a citrus fruit with a taste somewhere between that of an orange and a grapefruit. It was a delicious end to a day, and a good precursor to the Mid-Autumn Festival which is tomorrow!

(Don't forget to click on pictures if you want to see the original size!)

Jing'an Temple and Yu Garden

I spent the better part of this slightly rainy day in Shanghai going out and doing some touristy things, namely the Jing'an Temple and the Yu Garden. Somehow I managed to miss when everyone else went to these places so I ended up making the trip alone. (Be sure to click on the pictures to see the full size of the photo!)

First Stop Jing'an Temple.

 

The Jing'an Temple was originally built in 247 AD and has since then been relocated to it's current site in 1216 and refurbished. It is designated as one of the national key temples of Han Buddhism. the center of the square has a large bell that people toss coins into on a regular basis now as donations for the monks who run the temple. The surrounding rooms contain large statues of different gods and of course a giant Buddha statue. the center of the square was full of people burning incense and praying to Buddha. 

 

The Temple's current location in the middle of busy Shanghai is interesting. It's hard to believe this was built in 247 AD when it's surrounded by skyscrapers and Vogue advertisements. 

My next stop was to the Yuyuan Garden commonly referred to as simply the Yu Garden. I got off the subway and couldn't immediately locate the Garden. Instead I found myself amongst a huge area of shops selling traditional Chinese items for tourists. I unknowingly had found myself in the Yuyuan Tourist Mart, a large area around the Garden filled with shops selling all sorts of things. 

 

 I got to practice my bargaining, although all I ended up buying today were some postcards and stamps. The shops were very cool though and very cheap! I'm definitely going to be going back before I leave to pick up some souvenirs for my friends and for myself!

I did finally find the Yu Garden, but when I arrived I was told that parts of it were closed. I still went in since tickets were only $7 but I definitely didn't see all there is to see of this 5 acre Garden. The parts that I could see were beautiful though and I can see why it's regarded as one of the most beautiful gardens in this area of China. Hopefully I'll be able to go back on a day when all of the areas of the garden are open. 

Chinese Food?

I made the decision to avoid eating any sort of Chinese Food in America during summer before I got to Shanghai. This proved to be an excellent decision because the majority of the time the only things available to eat are dumplings, beef noodles, or kung pow chicken. Yes, you heard me right, kung pow chicken. It turns out that it exists outside of the United Sates and it's actually very similar to what you find in the United States. That being said it hasn't been too difficult to find things to eat. There are always American staples to fall back on if it becomes too much. And although things like chicken feet and pigs hoof are available on every menu, they are easily avoidable.

Probably some of the strangest foods I've seen haven't been found on menus in restaurants or at street food stalls, but inside my local French turned Chinese supermarket Carrefour.

 Green Tea Oreos. They're...interesting.

 Hong Kong Fish Ball Pringles which I did not personally try.

 Giant pile of chicken feet at my supermarket. Available right next to the pig hoofs!

 I almost want to buy this just to see what it looks like inside the package.

Blueberry chips? I'll pass. 

Aside from these gems the labeling in restaurants can be misleading and sometimes you don't know what you're going to get. I went on a field trip with my Chinese class yesterday and saw a food item labeled "Cooked Salamanders" I wasn't planning on ordering this but it turned out to have nothing to do with salamanders at all; they were chicken feet! This same menu had another item that was labeled "Marajuana Bread" the look on our teacher's face when we told him what it meant was priceless and he quickly told the owner about the bad translation.

I'm hoping to get out to a food market soon to see some of the really crazy stuff they have here like fried honey bees! Not looking forward to possibly running into dog meat, but I've actually been told it's not in season, apparently winter is the season for dog. 

Yikes!

Zhong Qiu Jie - Mid-Autumn Festival

I awoke this morning to what I thought were gun shots outside of my 10th story apartment in the Changning district of Shanghai. After conferring with some others who had heard similar noises we realized that the noises we were hearing were actually coming from fireworks. People were celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Although the actual festival isn't until Monday, there are been signs of the up coming holiday since our arrival in Shanghai. The biggest and most obvious sign of the holiday is the sale of Moon Cakes, a traditional pastry like food, eaten during the festival. Almost every store in Shanghai sells it's own version of the heavy cake, including American brands like Starbucks. Everyone wants in on the action. I received one at my internship on Friday and after tasting it I have to say they're not at all to my taste. They're truly meant to be shared rather than eaten as a whole because they're very dense. Traditional Moon Cakes are filled with a sort of egg yolk which I don't find very appetizing, but newer versions come filled with fruit and nuts. Haagen Dazs is even selling ice cream Moon Cakes which bare little resemblance to the original except in look. I happened to pass by a promotion that Haagen Dazs was running today for their Moon Cakes and their line wrapped around the store.

Aside from these moon cakes the main activity associated with the festival is staring at the moon...no, really. The Mid-Autumn Festival is also known as the Moon Festival, hence the name Moon Cakes. This comes from the story of the moon goddess Chang'e. The story is interesting but very long winded. As always, wikipedia proves to be an excellent source of information. I'm not sure if I'm going to spend Monday night staring up at the moon, or if I'm going to be eating anymore Moon Cakes, but I will enjoy having off from school for the National holiday on Monday!

膀 跟 邦

"Bang gen bang" could mean a lot of things depending on how you say it. The subtleties of the Chinese language never fail to amaze me. In this case the words and characters represent my journey with China for the next 180 days. Literally, "To flirt with a nation" This is how I think of my next few months spent here. With a culture, people, and language, as diverse as that found in China all you can hope to do is flirt. And although our romance will be fleeting, I have a feeling the things I discover will stay with me for the rest of my life.