Trying Local Stuff

Just for fun I have been purchasing things at the stores that I would not be able to find at home. So far it has been drinks, but maybe I will try some candy or something fun like that. I then rate the product, giving it a score of 1 to 5.
1 being I could/did not finish it.
2 I am glad that I tried it.
3 being that I probably would not purchase it again.
4 I will and want to purchase it again.
5 I will be bringing some home with me.

You can see the pictures and ratings here:

Chinese Food Ratings

Day 4

I wake up and spend some time in the bathroom. Yeah I am still sick. Bummer. I take a Pepto and the Chinese Medicine

I decided to eat that pastry with peaches that I bought the day before. The pastry tastes like something a Dane would make. As I am finding out, the Chinese invented everything first. Maybe they invented the Danish before the Danes? While I am enjoying the pastry I look out my hotel window and I see men learning to jump the pommel horse.

They are not that good and I watch several of them rack themselves. I am laughing pretty hard, and for awhile I forget that I am sick. My friend arrives and we watch together, both laughing pretty hard. These guys hurt themselves pretty bad and they double over in pain, and then they get right back in line to do it again. This tenacity is a cultural trait that I think makes the Chinese very strong as a culture.

Off to work, we take the taxi, nothing to eventful because we are heading in to work later to miss traffic. I am not feeling all that well and the trip goes by in a blur.

Lunch comes faster then I want it to. I am not all that hungry, but I do not want to offend my gracious hosts. We head out to another of their favorite restaurants. They order vegetable dishes so that I will not get any sicker. The food is great and I try everything but I do not eat too much. The tea is beautiful, I believe it is full of chrysanthemums. We are given sugar crystals to put in our tea, it becomes humorous how much sugar one of us puts in her tea. Most of us just put one crystal, and she puts in spoon fulls.


Lunch over with we walk back to work and notice that the gray sky seems like it may have clouds in it. In fact it does and it rains a little while later.

We work late, trying to catch up on lost time because of my illness. While working I notice how close the women are. They will touch each other affectionately. Not in a sexual manner, more like hanging over the shoulder, or holding hands when walking close. I am reminded of my cultural anthropology class where I learned that in some cultures the individual can feel a loss of identity if there are too many people. The people regain their identity through the touch of others, they don't feel so alone. Anyways just an observation I had as I watched these women interact with each other. I also noticed it as I watched women walk beside the roads, many of them held hands or interlocked their arms.

When I leave the office I notice all of the nicely dusted cars are dirty. The rain has all evaporated but left everything dirty. The dirt kind of feels sticky, I think I now understand why I see so many people dusting the exterior of their cars.

On my way home to my hotel, we hit traffic and I finally get a picture of these bicyclists that haul huge loads around town. It is not a great picture, maybe I can get a better one later. But these guys have to be tough. They have what looks to be a solid steel framed bike, with two rear wheels. On the back is stacked tons of stuff. I have seen bricks, wood, sheet metal, garbage, you name it and these guys haul it. I have also seen a bunch of horses pulling this type of stuff also. Although this is much rarer.


Back at my hotel we debate over what to eat. I break down, I am hungry but I just do not want to risk anymore Chinese food right now. I decide that we are going to go have Pizza at Mr. Pizza - Made for Women. I, uhmmm did not see the "Made for Women" tag line until I received the bill. I still have no idea why this pizza is "Made for Women" but if I find out I probably won't tell you because of the embarrassment. It is interesting to note that this place seemed to be a haven for non-Asians. Seeing so few people that look like me I said hi to a couple of them, forgetting that there are a lot of people that look like me and do not speak English. Man I can be pretty dense at times.

The day ends with me still not feeling that well. I am sweaty and just overall miserable. Thanks god for the baby wipes that someone made me put in my suitcase.

Day 3

I wake up at 4:10 unexpectantly. I make the run to the bathroom, uhh oh not good. I am sick. Sick like something I ate was bad. Or maybe I had too much oils and fried food. I am not used to this, my cook at home usually cooks without frying or boiling in oil. I try to go back to sleep, but I keep on visiting the bathroom. I have to tell you, that is one nice bathroom.

I drink some water, take a shower and get ready for work. We decide that today we are going to take the Subway. I am excited, my brother said that this is cool.We are taking the subway later in the day because we do not want to deal with rush hour on the subway. I am still surprised at how many people are waiting for the train. (check out the picture of the american I snapped, doesn't he look out of place)


The trains are packed full of people. I carry my backpack on one shoulder and I pull it around to the front of me. This is not very fun because my laptop is heavy. We are jammed in. There is not a side of my body that is not being touched by someone else. I must be touching 6 people at the same time. That has to be a record for me. I can see over everyones head, this is nice.

In order to get to the office there are two transfers that we need to take. Finally the third train is not as packed. But there is somethign just as annoying going on. A lady has her cell phone playing music as loud as it can play it. It is cranked and super tin'ie from the small speakers. The music is like a slow rock but in Chinese, I respect the fact that she wants us to hear her music but please get a better speaker system. We move down further on the car and there is another person doing the same thing, although not as loud. Weird.

One thing the subway trip makes me realize is that the Chinese people are not as backward as I thought. They all had their cell phones and their IPods, and some had laptop bags. This country and its people are tech savy and as modern as any US city. One cool this was looking out the window coming into one station, a comercial was broadcast on the tunnel wall. The comercial was not the cool part, the cool part was that we were moving and we could see the commercial on the tunnel wall as if we were standing still. Hopefully that description makes sense, because it was cool.

We end our journey, I am feeling worse, we walk a ways and arrive at work. It turns out that others are not feeling well either. We do some work for a couple of hours, I do not break for lunch. Just water for me. We leave work earl and take a taxi back. I take some more pictures of the buildings during the taxi ride:



The buildings are so impressive to me,

We arrive at my hotel a different way. I take a picture:


Cool huh?

I realize that I need to rest. I am a sweaty mess and I feel like crap. I take some pepto that someone real cool made me pack. My friend runs out to a couple of stores and comes back with a Chinese remedy. I take it also. He leaves and I pass out for the next 13 hours. What a waste of a day. I am depressed that I eas not able to explore or see great new things.

Day 2

My day started out by waking up again at 5:15 am local time. What the heck. I always prided myself in my ability to sleep. For some reason that is not possible in China. I read my email and did some work on my blog. While typing away I watched some BBC which was enlightening on why America is so awful. I guess I never knew.

At around 9:00 am I spoke with my friend who was coming to my hotel via cab. We decided to take the cab into work. We have been warned that the traffic is real bad in Beijing. Apparently there are 3 Million cars in the city. That is why we are going into work so late.

The taxi ride was not that exciting of a ride. Maybe it was because we were moving so much slower. There were a couple of times where I braced for impact, but it never came. Maybe I will have better luck next time.

As we drove through the city I was so amazed at the size of the buildings that are here. It reminded me of walking the Las Vegas strip. You think that building is right over there but then you realize that the building is hugs and it is not close to you at all. I took a bunch of pictures of these buildings. You can view them here:

Beijing Trip - Day 2 Buildings

The pictures are not that great because I was in a moving taxi. You should note the cool architecture of some of the buildings. I could not take pictures of all of the buildings. Needless to say Beijing is huge and so are the buildings. It seemed as if the city goes on forever.

It seems to me that all of Beijing is under construction. On my way into work I saw so many cranes erecting new buildings. And the sounds of jackhammers are everywhere. It is interesting to note that you will see so much manual work being done along side machinery that could be used to do the work in much less time. It is almost as if China employs people just to employ them. There are guards everywhere. People to open the door for you, people picking up trash, people wanting your empty water bottle. I have not seen anybody begging for money. I am approached all the time by people, but they all want to sell me something, or to do something for me. American beggars should take a lesson from them. This genral attitude is what I think makes this country impressive.

Arriving at work, the first thing I noticed was that the AC was not on. Crap, I should have put on more deodorant, and why the hell did I dress up. Long sleeve shirts suck in the heat. Introductions were great, I gave away my business cards with both hands, I pointed out something interesting on the cards. I admired their business cards. Just like I was taught. I met the team, 11 girls one boy. I am immediately curious as to why in the tech field there would be so many women. Everyone is excited to see me and they have gone out of their way to make me happy. Some have moved desks so that I can have a place to work. I give away the gifts I picked up at the company store and they are accepted with many smiles.

Before any real work can start a couple of the girls want to take Henry and I out for lunch. we agree, thinking that we will be going to a cafeteria or something small. Nope they take us to a nice formal sit down place. Both of these girls did receive their masters in England (I forget the schools names) so their English is pretty good. I let them order explaining that I would like to try what they like to eat. We drank tea, and one of the girls explained that she would like to show my friend and I how to make traditional Chinese tea. She says it will take 30-45 minutes. We have never seen this and we both agree that we would like to see this. Hopefully this will become a reality. Apparently there is a lot of equipment and work that goes into it.

The food arrives:

Wow what a feast. I try everything and I like it all. We all fill up and there are so much left overs, it is crazy. One of the things that I notice with other patrons is that they all have a 2.5 liter soft drink on their table. It is the same diameter as one of our 2 liters just taller. It looks like a miniature bomb. I have to get one of these, imagine what a pinched whistling pete would do in one of these. I am still eating with chop sticks, I will not eat with a fork. I get a couple of giggles, but for the most part I am successful. The whole trick is to get low and next to your food. My mother would kill me if I did this at the dinner table. You must also slurp the slimy noodles otherwise you will never get them into your mouth. Everyone else is doing it and so do I. The bill comes and I want to pay, but it gets put on their company. That was nice of them.

The rest of the work day is spent with me training them in a small conference room, with no AC. The only exciting thing that happened was when the wind blew through the window and knocked the white board down onto the back of my head. That got a lot of laughs, but then again someone getting hurt is universally funny.

The whole group is excited, they all are going to take me out to a nice restaurant and the company will pay for it. I am the guest of honor. I am excited and nervous at the same time. I want to make a favorable impression, but my eating skills are not that great, and I am not as familiar as I wish I was on their customs surrounding the formality of dinner. We arrive at this very nice restaurant, that has all of the food laid out in the lobby. It seems weird but I guess you know what you are getting. Here are several pictures so that you have an idea of what I mean:



I have no idea what most of this stuff is. There is also the section where the live food is kept. The group thought that this was very special, I thought it was weird, but I knew I was in for a treat. Here is what I mean:


Just to make my moms happy here are the veg tables:

The head of the group chose the dishes and we all went up to a room that had been set aside for us. There were two waitresses that stayed in the room with us and filled our tea and beer whenever it was half full. We sat around and chatted for awhile and the food started rolling in. There were two tables each with a lazy susan on them. The food kept rolling in in waves but nobody started eating, we just kept chatting away. Finally, my friend tells me that I must give a toast wishing everyone well and wishing something for them personally. Uhhh what? I can try, but why don't you show me... Haha got him. Well not really, I grab my beer and we stand up, he says some words about prosperity, a good future to them, and then I say "thanks to the people that provided us the food, and that I hope that it nourishes our bodies". Basically it is the Catholic grace but substituting them for god. Nobody notices and I am saved by the grace of god.

Finally we start our eating. Here is a picture half way through the meal:

I tried everything and I did it with chop sticks. I am so awesome I think. My friend would not eat the boiled fish (bottom right in pic), I did and then I laughed at him, and when the women started laughing at him. He put up and tried it himself. He loved it, and had seconds. Me? Not so much, it was way too oily and I really do not like fish eyes and other weird parts. There was one thing (top middle right)that I took a huge bite of and it had all of these small bones in it, I tried gracefully to spit them into my small napkin but there was too many of them. Plus it was kind of slimy and mushy. It tasted alright, but I was just not sure. Something was not right. I asked what it was and I was told I just had a bull frogs head.... Uhhh what the hell. They asked me if I was going to be sick, I said no, but I sure wish they would de-bone the next frog head that I eat.

We finish dinner and take pictures. I get several comments on how big I am. I am thinking that they mean my gut, but then when I look at the picture in my camera I think I see what they mean:

I may only leave this picture up for a little while, I am trying to keep this posting as anonymous as possible.

Dinner done, I take a taxi back to my hotel. Along the way I feel like I am in Tokyo through the Electronics district in Beijing.


The day ends with me going to a supermarket to buy more weird drinks (more on that later) and a bunch of water. I will call today an huge introduction to Chinese cuisine.

Day 1.5

I am now finishing the where I left off. Maybe I can even write about the exciting things that happened to me to day.

The taxi took us to Tian'anmen Square, which is surrounded by to the Forbidden City, Chairman Mao's Mausoleum, the Great Hall of the People and the Museum of the Chinese Revolution. In the Center of Tian'anmen Square is the Monument to the People's Heroes. to say that this square is big, would be correct. Let me say that again, it is big.

Our plan was to meet the friends and go see Chairman Mao's Mausoleum. As we stood there we realized that there were too many people milling around to Just find someone. We did what all of the locales seem to do, we used our cell phone. One of the friends was apparently standing next to us but we could not see her. We walked around and realized that this place was too big, we needed to be very specific where we were standing for her to find us. This worked and we used specificity for the next friend.

Now that we were all together, it was time to see Chairman Mao. We asked one of the many security/military guys that watch everything that is going on. Chairman Mao's Mausoleum is closed for building renovations. Bummer. I spent some time taking pictures of the Monument to the People's Heroes just because it looks cool.

We decided to go see the Great Hall of the People, which is where the politicians go to make laws and talk to each other. This building is huge. I have been to Washington DC and seen most of the buildings there and this building is easily twice as big as the Capital building. We could not take any bags into the building so we had to pay someone to watch the bags. There was one line to give them money. In return they give you some sticks, that you take to another line. You turn in the sticks and your bags, which they go through, and they give you a receipt for the cubby hole that they cram your stuff into.

It was a short walk to the buildings main entrance, where we went through a security check. Once we were actually in, you immediately feel small. Everything is marble and huge. The chandeliers are crazy big. The artwork might as well be a billboard it was so big. The carpet is bright red, this color of red is everywhere. I bet that they would put this color on their flag if they could. There are many rooms that correlate to the different provinces of China. These rooms are decorated with art that corresponds to the native work of the province. You cannot walk around and look at the furniture or the art work, but you can stand back and take pictures. Everything is very ornate and beautiful. As you follow the path through the building you come to a hall that looks like a concert hall. You are forced to be in the balcony but you can look downstairs and see where the important people sit. The hall is dark but impressive how big it is. Close to the end there are a couple of displays that show old pictures and the things that the politicians use. The pictures have Mao prominently displayed. They also show the making of this building.

Some interesting things started occurring on a very frequent basis to me. When we first reached Tian'anmen Square I was taking some pictures, some people came up and asked to take a picture with me. I was going to take a picture of them, but they said no and handed the camera to one of my friends. Then the couple each grabbed a hand, held it while our picture was taken. I thought this was weird, But then in the Great Hall of the People it happened three more times. I kept on checking my wallet, but it was there. I guess they have never seen someone so weird looking as me. Or maybe they think that I am Brad Pitt, yeah that is probably it.

We left the square area deciding that we should get some shopping in, and grab some food. My friends, being the gracious tour guides that they are, take me to a shopping district that is a very tight street crowded with shops. I am told to keep my backpack close. The girls see a famous silk store that they have to show me. This store opened in the first part of the 18th century and is still selling the same type of stuff. There are bolts of every type of fabric. I am asked numerous times if I want to have them make me something. I decline not wanting the silk market to suffer from the loss of that much fabric.

We then move on to a restaurant. I am determined to eat whatever is picked out for me. After I sit down I realize that I am not that hungry, I feel a little strange. I then realize that the three bottles of water that I drank are not keeping me hydrated enough. It is hot out, 35 Celsius but the sky is gray. I have a mild case of heat stroke. I try all of the food, but I did not eat very much. Most importantly I drink a huge thing of water. We then move around the shopping district just to see what is out there. What an experience.

After we finished our lunch and shopping expedition we decided to walk to the Forbidden city. It looked like it was just over there. Not true. The large picture of Mao on the wall is huge. I read that this is one of the last places that his picture is displayed so publicly. The street that runs in front of the Forbidden city is very wide and the cars fly through it. There are tunnels underneath the street that allow you to go from one side to the other. In these tunnels people try and sell you everything. I could have purchased some blob thing that you can throw on the ground, some beads, some little motorized things that flip around, the red book and all sorts of stuff. They all told me that I could come back later, when I said no.

The entrance to the Forbidden City has five bridges that go over the mote that surrounds the city. The center bridge is reserved for the Emperor and you can't walk on it. I was bummed. I really wanted to walk where only he could. Surrounding the five bridges is two totem like structures. Seeing them makes me thing of Pacific Northwest Indians. They were made in the 11Th century.

Over the bridge, we rub one of the 81 door knobs for good luck. 9 is a good number and 9x9 is even better, good enough for the emperor. Through the gate, which is a long tunnel, we enter a courtyard. It is very long and on each side are a series of small house-like structures. Asking around we found out that these are the concubines housing. Wow that dude had a lot of women. As we walk through the court yard to the next gate, I see something that I have not seen before. A mother letting her small kid, drop trousers and piss right there on the path that we are all walking. Mental note, don't step in puddles in China.

We make it though the next gate and this is when we realize that we have been walking for way too long. We also realize how big the Forbidden City is. Not that the name gives it away, but the damn place is as big as a city. We ask around and find out that we only have a couple of hours and we should come back when we have the whole day to see the place. So we walk our weary feet back to find a taxi, which takes an hour.

The taxi takes us back to my hotel and the friends all come in to check it out. We rest and recount the day. Sipping on ice cold water from my fridge. We all are tired and they all part ways, two to the subway and one via taxi. An amazing day in an incredible country. These people and their culture are impressive. I have never experienced something like this. What a gift.

Day 1

Well I made it to Beijing and I have to say I am impressed. My flight was a long one that was only broken up by a brief stop in Tokyo. I wish I could have stayed there. All I go to do in Tokyo was watch sumo wrestling on TV. Interesting but that should be another entry because I do not understand the rules.

I arrived at 9:45pm local time in Beijing. That meant that I had been up for 48 hours with only 3 hours of sleep. After going through the check to get into the country, which was a slow moving long line (yes there were a bunch of them, but they were all moving slow). I gave the three different cards that I filled out on the plane about my health and recent contact with poultry, I was allowed in. I guess I was not sure what I was expecting, but the whole process seemed a little tame, my body cavities were not searched, and everyone I spoke to; spoke English and was very friendly. The guy that I was supposed to meet, was not in our agreed upon meeting spot. So I began to walk around, I was approached by many taxi drivers that would say "You want taxi?" and when I would say "No" they would always reply with "Maybe later then." I of course tried to explain, thinking they knew English, but apparently they only knew two phrases and expected only two responses.

My friend showed up with a taxi driver. Phew, I was relieved because this ariport was crazy packed with people creating a chaotic atmoshopere. The cool thing was that when we walked up to the taxi, he was cleaning his early 90's Volkswagen Pasat. The car was in great shape and very shiny from his attention to it. I could tell that his livlihood depended on this vehicle.

The ride to my hotel was very different, lanes are guidelines, and apparently changing lanes into on coming traffic is all right to do. Signals are optional, and honking should be done a lot. Pedestrians apparently can walk anywhere they want and are not phased by cars driving amongst them. Where I come from there would have been several dents in the taxi's hood from the driving that I witnessed.

I finally made it to my new home, it is called the Grand Hyatt Beijing. The taxi driver told my friend that this is the nicest hotel in Beijing. My company is paying for it and I would have to say, that I am very lucky to work for them because this hotel is really nice. I have a living room with a den in the corner, a small kitchen and a beautiful bathroom with a shower and a deep bathtub. The bed is King Size and the comforter is silk. I will be happy here. I unpacked and fell right asleep. That was around 1am or 10am where I come from.

I woke up at 5:25 am local time. What the heck, I want more sleep, I should need more sleep. I tried to go back to sleep, but it did not work. I pitter pattered around and tried to go back to sleep several times. I did not have any reading material because I had read it all on the plane. Reading would probably have worked, but sleep was not to be had. I got ready and called my friend. We met in the lobby and went on a hunt for breakfast. We found a big shopping mall. I was amazed to see all of the high end brand name shops. Tag Haur, Rolex, and several others. We found a place and got some cream filled pastries, then we decided to get stuffed roles with beef, some steamed soy milk that we dipped some fried bread in. It was also used to satiate our thirst. The food was good and we ordered too much of it. Oh well it only cost about $5.00 US. What a wastefull US citizen I am. To make me feel better I will call it experimenting with the local cuizine, now I don't feel like the lousy US citizent that I am.

We left the mall and went back to my room to call in some people that I would be working with during the next few weeks. We took a taxi to Tianmen Square to wait for them. I was surprised to see that taxi riding could be even more exciting. Our taxi driver had a cage around him. The cage looked to be protecting him from passengers, but it also looked sturdy enough to protect him in a crash.

I will finish the rest of this story tomorrow, as tomorrow will be spent mostly with work duties.