再见!

So, the time has come to leave Beijing (for the time being at least) and I am terribly sad to go. Every time I leave I have this sinking feeling, but I know deep down that I'll be back! Especially now that Ben has been bitten by the proverbial Beijing bug, and would not be averse to spending some of our (married - eek!) life together out here… so I'll have to hold him to that!

 

We had a lovely last weekend here, involving, manicures, massages, Xiao Wang Fu's duck and a dose of KTV - can't get much better than that!

I'll be keeping up the blog as and when I can over the next 7 weeks, as we embark on our trip round Cambodia, Vietnam, Tibet and Nepal.  Until then, 再见!

Beijing explodes for CNY

After a fantastic dinner at the Ritan park branch of everyone's favourite restaurant, Xiao Wang Fu, we headed to the area around Nanluoguxiang and the Drum and Bell towers to observe the complete chaos and craziness of Chinese New Year's eve.

 

Unlike in most countries, there do not seem to be any safety regulations that govern the purchase or use of fireworks and firecrackers, or at least none that are heeded to by the general public.  Therefore, everyone who's anyone takes it upon themselves to buy hundreds of fireworks, and let them off across the city 24/7 (yes, even in daylight) for the duration of the holiday period.

These fireworks are set off (see above pics) on every street, by children and adults alike, with no regard whatsoever for nearby people, buildings, or even police cars...!  The noise is incredible, and made for plenty of amusing shouts of 'take cover!' and corresponding dives behind lampposts, etc.  But fear not, 'fire engines' are on hand should anything get out of control...

For midnight itself, we went to the bar on the 86th floor of the Park Hyatt, from which we could see the entire city exploding with fireworks.  It was amazing, and very surreal to see so many fireworks going off in every direction from a height.  The fireworks began in earnest at dusk, and peaked at midnight, but continued well into the morning, when there was a pause for a few hour's sleep, before they were resumed at about 6am - and so this pattern continued!

The chaos got me wondering about fires and accidents caused by the the Spring Festival celebrations, and I'm pleased to report (see this article) that the number was down by almost 50% since last year (when the half0built Mandarin Oriental near the CCTV tower was set on fire by a 'stray firework').  However, according to the Ministry of Public Security, that's still 7,480 fires across the country, which killed 35 people and led to direct losses worth 28.5 million yuan (c. GBP 2.7 million).  Perhaps it's time for those health and safety regulations after all....?!

新年快乐!

Chinese New Year's day fell on 14 February 2010, welcoming the year of the tiger - for all of your born in 1950, 1962, 1974, 1986 or 1998, this is your year,  so best get out your red undies!*

 

On 13th February, and after a big dim sum brunch, we decided to hit Ditan Park temple fair, the biggest and busiest new year temple fair in Beijing, during which the entire park is decorated with red lanterns.

 

I'm not quite sure what I was expecting, but it certainly was not the hilarious tack-fest that was in store!  The main attraction at the temple fair, at least early on, was about 1,500 stalls selling a multitude of zodiac-related tack.  Items were mainly centered on the tiger (tiger ears, masks, costumes, toys, muffs, giant paws, etc...) but also included things clearly left over from previous years (mouse ears, toy dogs, ram memorabilia and dragon paraphernalia, etc).  We spotted a prime opportunity for comedy, and set ourselves a Y25 budget each for acquiring accessories for the day (see above pics...).  On our way around the park later, I splashed an extra Y15 on a comedy all-(Barbie Girl)-singing, all-flashing, all-dancing white and pink ram, which was worth every penny...

 

Later in the day, there were performances by dancers, people on stilts, dragon/tiger dancing etc, and a huge selection of fairground games (on which we won a red tiger toy) - so all in all, a funny and pleasant way to while away the new year's eve.  新年快乐, everyone!

 

* Traditionally, those whose zodiac year it is should wear red every day, all year long, though practically speaking some opt for red underwear in order to protect yourself against the hazards of benming nian (meeting your zodiac year)...

Common taxi advert.....

"Enjoy the luxury experience of breast augmentation....."

This chap has a microphone and all the power at the dim sum restaurant at the South gate of Ditan Park. This was taken on the morning of the first day of the Temple fair for Chinese New Year, so he had his work cut out!

Spotted at CNY: an unusual bus traveller!

Beijing deserted...

... for Chinese New Year:

How I've managed to avoid this hilarity is beyond me....

Burns' Night in Beijing...

.... and we ended up at a Ceilidh in a hutong - with David on the bagpipes, natch!

Beijing: Jingshan Park

Behind the Forbidden City to the North is a small (and presumably man-made....) hill in the middle of Jingshan park, from where you get a fantastic view:

Wangfujing Snack Street

Just off Wangfujing (the main "shopping street" in Beijing, although I don't know quite who shops there...) is a snack street (this is different to the Night Market), where you can buy a wide variety of chuan'r () - see below for the delicacies on offer! It's a bustling little street, and has a surprising number of people actually purchasing and eating the food - though it has to be said that the normal meat skewers seem to be the most popular, no matter what the stallholders tell you.

A little interesting aside is that the character for chuan is 串which looks just like a skewer....Here are some candied tomatoes and small apples - you often see them being peddled around on the back of a bike:This chap has a selection of candied everything!Some of the more normal skewers...And some of the more unusual! (Though I'll admit I have never, ever seen anyone eating a seahorse or live scorpion....)This lady is selling the homemade yogurt that comes in small clay pots and is available from small shops all over the city - the chap in the right is the star of one of the above photos, and was a very keen subject!

Photo shoot

Every so often around town, you will spot a photo shoot with a moody/nonchalent/freezing model. I love these!

In action:
Off camera and freezing cold!

CUTE!

In Tiananmen Square, of all the iconic places in China, we stumbled across this very happy family from the Chinese countryside on holiday to see the sights that Beijing has to offer. We had some (slightly confused and confusing chat), the outcome of which was that they were just about as interested in us as we were in them - cue lots of photos.... The only one who doesn't seem to be so happy is the kid (in the best outfit I've ever seen) and I'm going to out that down to her discomfort in all those layers:


Check out how rigid she is! And note the slit in the jumpsuit..... poor thing - at least she was blessed with a nappy than is more than can be said for the rest of the toddlers we saw that day!

Another cutie!

OCCB Christmas Ball

Dave and I had organised tickets to the OCCB Christmas charity ball, in aid of Smile Train (which, incidentally, I think is fab and urge you to donate to) - and it was a chance to get dressed up nicely in a city that is usually so casual!

We had a Christmas dinner, which was all very nicely presented but the turkey was too dry, which was a shame eeing as this is practically my only festive event pre-Christmas! There was an auction, and a speech by the British ambassador about his time in China, spanning c. 30 years, which was fascinating - so much so that I was prompted to introduce myself and tell him exactly that!Then, OBV, it all went a bit downhill... or uphill, depending on how you view it!

Karaoke (cont.)

What is life without a warble? Lisa, Sophie, Dave and I have been joined by various others at Cashbox Partyworld, our KTV joint of choice, at several recent outings, lasting 4-5 hours a time. If you estimate about 45 minutes per person, everyone should leave satisfied!

Classic tunes turned out to be My Way, Macarena, My Humps, Mambo Number 5 (the machine is a little difficult to use, so it seems we worked our way largely through the Ms...). And while we attempted some Cui Jian, it has to be said that, on my part, it was only my stance that resembled him.

I'd like to pay tribute to the efforts and stamina of all involved, as evidenced below - take your bows please!

And my personal favourite.....