Lighting Incense at the Buddha Llamasary in Beijing

At the Buddha Llamasary, like many temples, you can purchase incense to burn as an offering.  Here I joined numerous people who knelt in prayer to the Buddha.

Lighting the incense was tricky, as was trying to get the flame down to just smoke.  It was like one of those trick birthday candles that won't blow out! Below is the video of me trying to stay serious as my incense keeps reigniting. Watching it now I laugh through the whole thing because of that! So much for a serene and pious moment, I guess ;)

Tiananmen Square (4): The 1989 Protests and Massacre

Let's not leave Tiananmen Square without paying respects to the thousands of people who protested and died here in 1989.  Like many things in China, information about this event is censored.  They do not teach it in the schools so, much like the memory of the American internment of the Japanese-Americans in the US during WWII (which my family experienced), which was  swept under the rug, there is fear that future generations will not be aware of this important event in history.  

I remember this event and the world-wide news coverage playing on television and my very politically aware friends in outrage.  Although I was young and couldn't understand the full details of the event there were several things that stuck in my memory.  The fact that these were the people of China standing up to their own government.  A government that chose to fire openly onto crowds of unarmed civilians.  News cameras showed ambulances blocked from entering the are to help the injured and a few of the ambulance drivers were also shot by the government. Of the many people killed or injured that day many were innocent bystanders, not even involved in the protests, which you can see in this BBC video from 1989. Probably the most memorable image from this time was a man they called "Tank Man".  News cameras documented him standing alone in front of rows of tanks preparing to roll into Tianamen Square. 

(Photo by Jeff Widener)

The Chinese government does not acknowledge whether this man was killed either at the scene or as punishment for his offenses, nor do they confirm the exact amount of people killed.  The record from the Chinese Government listed 241 dead and 7,000 wounded, while their own Chinese Red Cross listed 2,600 dead by the next morning.  NATO listed 7,000 dead and the Soviet Union claimed 10,000 were killed.  Despite the discrepancies in the head count, the fact remains it was a cruel and unnecessary tragedy.  Tiananmen Square contains many important landmarks, has been host to numerous important historical events and is sure to be the the center of many more to come, but hopefully none that end in this kind of tragedy. You can read more about the Tiananmen Square protests and massacre here.

Tiananmen Square (3): Mausoleum of Mao Zedong

The Chairman Mao Memorial Hall, or the Mausoleum of Mao Zedong, as it is also known, stands on the previous site of the Gate of China that was demolished in 1954.

Although Mao requested to be cremated, he was embalmed after his death in 1976.  His body is displayed in a crystal coffin and people line up every day to view his body and pay tribute.

People from all over China contributed to the design of the Mausoleum as well as to the materials themselves including granite from Sichuan, pebbles from Nanjing and rock samples from Mount Everest.

The sculptures in front of the museum, sometimes called the Workers' Revolutionary Statues, are part of a group of four "teams", two in front and two in back of the building.  Altogether there are 62 figures measuring 3.5m.  

 





















The entire group of sculptures took 5 months to complete by over 100 sculptors from 18 different provinces in China. 

Tiananmen Square (2): The Architecture and History

Tiananmen Square holds a lot of cultural significance due the political events that have occurred there, particularly the Tiananmen Square Protests in 1989, the proclamation of The People's Republic of China by Mao Zedong in 1949 and the May Fourth Movement in 1919. And that's just the last 100 years. (Pictured above: The Monument to the People's Heroes and the Great Hall of the People).

While the Tainanmen (Qianmen) Gate to the Forbidden City was built in 1417, the Square itself was not built until 1651.  In the 1950's it was enlarged to four times its original size, becoming the largest public square in the world (440,000 m² - 880m by 500m) and can accommodate up to 600,000 people.  

The Square lies between the Tian'anmen North Gate and the Zhengyangmen (Qianmen) South Gate which leads into the Forbidden city.  

Pictured here: The Monument to the People's Heroes.

On the west side of the Square is the Great Hall of the People (above) and the Monument to the People's Heroes  and on the east side is the National Museum of China (below), which focuses on Chinese history before the May Fourth Movement in 1919).

Another sign of China's continued control over monitoring the activities of its citizens can be seen here.  The lamposts here sport video cameras and policemen in uniforms and plainclothes patrol the area.  

Hmmm... I guess not so different from some Chicago neighborhoods, eh?

Tiananmen Square (1): Qianmen, The South Gate

Qianmen is the colloquial name for Zhengyangmen, which is the South Gate of Tiananmen Square. It once guarded the entry to the inner city and, after the walls were destroyed in the 60's, only the gatehouse and the archery tower remain.

It was originally built in 1419, during the Ming Dynasty and, after the Communist victory in 1949, it was occupied by the People's Liberation Army.  Since it was vacated in 1980, it has become a tourist attraction and the architecture is extremely well preserved.

As a military structure, its fascinating how much care was taken in designing the decorative details as well as the practical aspects.

Street Scenes - Beijing: Literally... in the street

I'm not sure what these folks are playing, cards, mah jong or checkers, but there is most likely some gambling going on.  More shocking than gambling in the street, is that they are literally "in the street".  Chinese love their fresh air and living in close quarters with one another necessitates sitting outside, especially in the summer.  But these folks took it one step further taking over a little corner of a median strip in the center of a busy four lane street.

From the looks of it, this is their regular spot.  They've got their little stools, shirts off, dogs leashed to the lamp post.  Even grandma is having her "settin' time"... while tempting fate in the incoming traffic.

Location: Near the Pearl Market, Beijing, China 

Street Scenes - Beijing: Bamboo Baby Bjorn

How much did you spend on that Baby Bjorn? Seriously.  Because this kid looks pretty content and I think I could make this for you out of Lincoln Logs.

Location: Temple of Heaven, Beijing.

City Lights: Night View from the Park Hyatt, Beijing

When in Chicago, I often take out-of-town guests to view the city lights at night from the restaurant and lounge in the Hancock Tower.  Not because its a great restaurant (sorry), but more for the view.  So I was excited to learn about this restaurant, The China Grill at the Park Hyatt, Beijing.

The China Grill at the Park Hyatt in Beijing is a similar to the Signature Room, in that you mainly come for the view because the food is only "good enough".  It wasn't bad, just about on par with a nice restaurant in any major city.  Although D noted that many of the restaurants on Beijing, even the nice ones, seem to be lacking in consistency of service and no one seemed to be able to understand how to time the arrival of dishes to the table. The saving grace for me were these two dishes:  the spicy/crispy calamari and a glass of citrus sorbet layered with frozen citrus slices, which served well to cut the oiliness of the rest of the meal.  

The view, however, is spectacular.  My pictures here cannot do adequate justice to the beauty of the city lights of Beijing at night.  Here is a video of this view, which I captured as best I could with my Flip Video.  Click here for the YouTube link.

Located on the 66th floor, its not as high at the Signature Lounge at the Hancock, but the China Grill is the highest restaurant in the city and has 360 degree views of Beijing. And the views couldn't be more different.  The lights in Beijing are much more colorful on the buildings as well as the signage and the streets curve in rings, rather than the grids of more modern cities.  Beautiful.

These pictures look like code from the Matrix, but if you look closely you can see that these are the windows of some of the smaller residential buildings and their reflections along with the brightly lit Chinese characters in the commercial signage.  Its like a painting.

Here are a few images of the interiors.  One of the stairs leading from the elevators near the lounge and one of the lobby interiors.

More to come ...

Donghua Men "Snack Street" (3): Food Challenge #2... Scorpions!

After the snake skin I wanted to try something a bit more challenging. But there are so many choices.  The starfish looked impressive, but I heard they can be a bit tough.  There is sea urchin, but I can get that in the states.  That offering to the right is, I think, some animal "maleness", if you know what I mean ...

Those are cicadas up above, but I've heard mixed reviews about those as well.  Maybe too much guts for my first bug. The crickets look appropriately intimidating, but maybe I want something a bit more sinister.  Like Scorpions!  

Yikes!  Do you have anything a little smaller?

That's better!  These look like just the right balance of scary and manageable!  One stick costs about 15 Yuan or a little over $2 USD.  Once ordered they are dropped into hot oil and salted, which can make almost anything palatable! How do they taste?

Surprisingly good!  I'd eat more right now if I could!  They taste salty and crunchy on the outside and meaty and a little nutty on the inside.  Not stingy at all ;)

Here is the video of me eating them and talking to some people in the crowd.  

Click here for the YouTube link.

Donghua Men "Snack Street" (2): Food Challenge #1... Snake Skin!

Sure, its a bit strange that in a place filled with ancient culture and historic treasures I am fixated on my food challenges, but I blame it on all the travel/food shows where they challenge the host to eat crazy stuff.  But I think that, if the local culture eats it, I'll give it a try.  Especially if it gives me a chance to shock the audience a bit ;)

The hardest part was choosing.  Here are some of the more tame offerings...

This looks a little more interesting.  Squid,  and ... are those crayfish? 

Beautiful and probably very tasty, but I had to choose carefully, since I only had a limited time here (my BF was not having as much fun with this as I was and it was very crowded).  But finally I saw my first choice...

Snake skin!  Aside from making creepy western wear, they can apparently be a good snack.  

Honestly, it wasn't great, but it wasn't bad.  It was very oily and a bit ... scaly, but overall not bad.  I figured I eat eel, so why not snake?

Here's how they cook it on the grill.  They press it under a hot iron, fanning it with a paper fan:

Posing with my snake skin kebab... and trusty Flip Video camera, on which I recorded this video of me eating the snake skin!

Click here for the YouTube video.

Donghua Men "Snack Street" (1), Beijing: Everything from Soup to Bugs...

I don't know what it says about me that, amidst ancient temples, Chinese opera and the Great Wall, one of the high points of my trip thus far is Donghua Men Street, where you can find every exotic snack from the mild (fruit kebabs) to the challenging (bugs)!

 I know that you are waiting to see me eat bugs, and I promise not to disappoint!  But for now, let's take a walk past each of the stalls and choose a snack...

Click here  for the YouTube link.

Beijing Smog: A Fashionable Solution...

Supposedly the smog has gotten much better since the clean-up efforts that surrounded the Olympics.  But people who live here will still say that the smog is a serious concern. During humid times of year the fog can be of equal concern from a visual perspective, but at least the rains that follow help clear the air.

I tried to take the following pictures from approximately the same place, so as to illustrate the differences in air quality.  Here is a picture of a typical smoggy day:

Here is what it looks like on a rainy day (smog + fog):

And here is a picture of a rare, but beautiful clear day.  This is what they refer to as "Blue Sky" days in Beijing and you can measure the air quality by the number reported in a year.

If you are looking for an ironic and fashionable solution to the smog problem, from a personal approach at least, you can protect your lungs a bit with a cotton face-mask.  But rather than going around looking like a surgeon on lunch break, you can instead opt for a stylish cartoon face-mask, like this one I found at an "all panda" shop in one of the busy houtongs!:

Notice the little skully-carcinogen looking bad guys inside the panda?  He is saying "No,no!" and looks very perturbed.  Priceless.

In order to see what it looks like on, I have engaged this individual to model it for you.  For his sake I have protected his identity ;)

WangFu Jing Street: Dichotomies at their best...

If you are looking for a place to buy your upscale European gear and still be able to grab some fried cicadas and silk worm kabobs on the way home, WangFu Jing Street has it all.  If you start at one end you can buy your Prada and Burberry, then weave your way through the crowd to the far end, turn the corner and you're on Donghua Men Street where you can snack on fried bugs until you come to your senses!

WangFu Jing street has actually been around since the middle of the Ming Dynasty and has housed commercial activity nearly the entire time.  the area was originally settled by eight aristocratic estates who located there when a particularly special water source was discovered he the well there.  The name "WangFu" means "aristocratic residence and "Jing" means "well".

Sorry some of these pics are a bit blurry, but that's what happens when you are trying to keep up with a long legged white man in a crowd like this ;)

  Next post: Donghua Men Street!