Bar in a van...

We ate at Gonpachi on Saturday night with Ben's friends from school who now live in Tokyo, and some of their colleagues.  Gonpachi was, allegedly, the inspiration for the Kill Bill films, so obviously, I whipped out my camera for a tourist shot!

 

Dinner was great, and afterwards we headed for a drink and passed the most hilarious 'bar in a van'.  It was literally a bar... in a van.  It doesn't get much better than that!

Japanese intrigue and ingenuity

We were struck by the inventions all over Japan, and their different ways of doing day to day things.  Here are a few of the ones I noted down, and a couple of pictures to go with them.  Apologies that the photos are grouped together - the curse of blogging via email...

 

1. Turn-able train seats - so you can always face forward, so you can swivel to face your friends, just for fun.... administered by the fuwuyuans in pink between train journeys (see picture).

 

2. Pyjamas provided in all the hotel rooms - though not always a good fit (see pic!).

 

3. Taps coming out of the toilet cistern - maximising space in a city with loads of people per square metre.

 

4. Toilets in general - heated seats, bidet functions, electric flushes, blow-driers - hours of fun, and strange yelps being emitted from the bathroom!

 

5. Clothes for dogs - shops and shops full of these (see two pics) and hilariously dressed dogs all over the place.

 

6. Tiny bars that (seem to be) privately owned - seat 6 people, essentially the bar owner's mates, and are open from early evening until 6am when the trains start running (see pic of Ben 'enjoying' the fish guts in sake...!)

 

7. Magnetic plugs! - pop right into the socket on the back of the kettle, etc. Genius!

 

And many, many more - but I kept losing track!

Trainer heaven

Ben and I are just back from a trip to Tokyo, where we indulged a passion we never knew we had - shopping for trainers!  Now second only to eating and drinking, and just ahead of people-watching on our list of all time favourite holiday pastimes...

More Japan posts to follow - too much to be said!

Burns' Night in Beijing...

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

Harbin's incredible 11th Ice and Snow Festival, 2010

Dave and I took a weekend trip to Harbin Ice and Snow festival, 2 hours by plane NE of Beijing in Heilongjiang province, where the temperature has been known to drop to -40C in winter.  Luckily for us, when we arrived at midnight, it was a relatively balmy -23C, and we happily skidded on sheets of ice across town in pimped up taxi.

 

I have never been anywhere like Harbin, or anywhere that cold and wintry, so I found it particularly interesting.  In fact, I felt like an intrepid explorer in all my layers and with self-heating wonder packs tucked under my bra straps to keep me warm from the core!

 

The Songhua river completely freezes over, and essentially provides a massive new expanse of land on which to create a winter playground, including your usual, run-of-the-mill-for-us-Beijingers chair-skating and ice-biking opportunities (see previous post), ice slides, snowmobiles, buggies and a rally track on the ice! (Very Top Gear...)

 

The ice festival was simply the most mind-boggling thing I have ever seen in China, and definitely one of the best.  The photos above give some indication, more of mine can be found here and here, and some of photographer R. Todd King (who goes every other year to take pictures!) can be found on his website, and give a good idea of just how impressive the festival is.

 

There were ice Terracotta Warriors and an ice Forbidden City (both decidedly better than their stone counterparts!), as well as other famous buildings and recognisable objects, such as the World Cup trophy, the Colosseum, the Temple of Apollo and the Great Wall of China.  All made out of ice (natch!), and with some reaching over 50 metres high.

 

The festival is now in its 11th year, and I would be interested to know whose idea it was in the first place to mine all of this ice, and sculpt it over a period of weeks in temperatures that get as low as -40C.... Rather them than me!  Of course, all the Chinese love it when the sculptures are all lit up, but I am glad we went early to see them in the daylight and the sunshine, as in the evening, while impressive, the effect is a little tacky for my tastes!

 

We also visited the bizarrely-named "Sun Island", where the Snow Sculpture Art exhibition/competition is held.  Unfortunately, the weather was quite overcast on Sunday and so the light was not the best for viewing these sculptures - but even so, they were very impressive.

 

On the food and evening entertainment front, Dave and I were a little less successful...!  First, we were exhausted by the cold weather and the lack of food (for some reason, the pot noodles and cold plates of sausage and fake cheese didn't provide much sustenance...).  Then, we headed to a bar recommended online (NB: it looked a lot of fun, with photos of people dancing on the bar etc!) but on arrival, we found it to be completely empty and freezing cold.  Top that off with a beer that is half empty before it's been served to you, and you'll understand why we polished the beers off with a quick game of "lowest card drinks" before heading back to the hotel for some quality time with Jack Bauer.  In hindsight, we may have been better off aiming for a bar which warns of the frequent and violent Korean vs. Russian brawls!

Kodak - beautifying the billions

I have to apply for various visas for mine and Ben's upcoming trip, and needed to get some passport photos done - always a traumatic experience.  *sigh*

I duly headed for my local Kodak shop, where I was shown to a mirror and hairbrush, before being led to a seat in front of a big white screen.  The shop attendant used a DSLR with a soft flash to take 6 pictures, which I then got to analyse on a large TV screen.  So far, so good.  I eventually opted for the one in which I looked least suspicious (here, suspicious of the camera holder, not suspicious serial killer as per my UK photo) and in which she had coerced a faint (albeit confused) smile out of me.  Then, lo and behold, she arranged for me to collect them the next day - allowing her time to photoshop the results!*  Amazing.

And if any further proof were necessary, yesterday I got it.  I went to the Vietnamese embassy and handed over two photos, as per the requirements on its website.  Whereas the three people before me in the queue  had had one photo returned at this point, the man behind the counter instead requested to keep mine for 'personal use'.  Ahem, thanks and I'm flattered - but no!  Nice one, Kodak - can we have this in London please?

* NB: this is common practice, not just for me - thanks, people.

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.....

GIANT SPACE VEG!

This is amazing. I read about it on the kids' page of the Times 2 that mum and dad brought with them last week (thanks!), and them immediately had to look it up....

It's not news per se, seeing as it happened in May 2008, but the genius Chinese decided to send some vegetable seeds into space to see what would happen (as you do!), and BAM! Giant vegetables were grown. Like pumpkins ten times their normal size, weighing the same as a man! For pics of this, see here.

Read more on the science on this website and this one.

I am troubled that the world food crisis hasn't yet been solved by these gigantic veg, so I will endeavour to find out what's happened since May 2008, and keep you posted....

On the same track, I'm wondering why we haven't taken cloud-seeding to Africa. Maybe we need to learn how to artificially create clouds first - anyone?

Beijing's first snow of winter 2009/10 - updated

Updated: I'm pretty sure you will have heard about the cloud-seeding and weather-fixing that is all the rage in China, so I thought I would update this post and include some info/links. The snow I posted above was Beijing's earliest winter snowfall since 1987 - and an unusually heavy one at that. The Times had a pretty interesting article which you can access here, and Time.com wrote with a slightly more techy focus - see this link.

Inevitably, there is a lot of controversy and debate (both informed and baseless, as far as I can tell) about the safety and morality of inducing rain and/or snow and playing with the weather in general. Silver iodide is the chemical of choice, though any of you trying this at home could substitute this with dry ice or salt, and then just find yourself a passing plane or rocket to do the business. Wikipedia doesn't say it's toxic, and I can confirm that the snow is white and does not glow in the dark or have any other peculiar qualities. I have a tendency to believe that such experiments are safe, or they wouldn't have been done... Any chemists want to offer enlightenment or invoke fear?

I understand that the 1st November snowfall was manufactured in order to combat Northern China's drought problem. However, I also heard that the snowfall was meant for the area northeast of Beijing, and the intention was not for the city itself to be covered in half a foot of snow, so maybe some fine-tuning still needs to be done. However, from past experiments, artificially inducing bad weather can certainly be effective in producing brilliant blue skies - for example, just look at the 2008 Olympics and this year's National Day celebrations!

More snow fell yesterday and still more is forecast for tomorrow, which is obviously pretty strange for a city that usually sees only 3 to 4 snowfalls per winter. However, word on the street that the government is keen to show off Beijing at its sunny best when Obama arrives in town on Sunday….. Oh to have that kind of influence when I go on holiday! Check out this weather forecast if you still aren't convinced - a coincidence? I think not.

Tour Groups

I papped these unsuspecting souls outside the Chaoyang Theatre, where there is a good acrobatics show on twice a day. After the show, Ben pointed them out and said: "Hey, I spotted those people earlier. Do you think they're all wearing the same hats because they're in a tour group?!"

Ahhhh, China!

Last weekend was a bit of an "I-heart-China" affair - I'm not sure why, but I imagine it was largely to do with the beautiful warm weather that came as a surprise after the threat of imminent ice age conditions! I've not been able to post about it until now as I've been quite busy at work (the injustice!), but here goes....

We took a stroll along Nanluoguxiang, where there was a street festival going on. Lots of tourist tack and a huge number of people, but tasty Chinese food in an open air rooftop cafe and pretty decorations all the same - *snappity-snap*:

Then we hit the outdoor gym for a workout. I love these outdoor gyms, and this one even had weights and a massage machine! Genius. We attracted some funny looks, but this is all part of the fun of being a redhead in China....

These gyms are often to be found in the central area of apartment buildings, and families gather there in the mornings and evenings to enjoy the outside space and take some exercise. Ben's friend has been importing these for use in the UK. Coming to a town near you! Thoughts on whether they would be used? Or how long until they'll be vandalised? I'll get a project update and let you know.....

Also popped by* an enormous fruit and vegetable market, where I bought the biggest youzi known to man. It's about twice the size of my head! This in itself made me very happy, but then, when I was looking for a link to describe this fantastic fruit, I found this website - and I am thrilled! An entire youzi festival! Life just got a little bit sweeter.

* read: "eventually-stumbled-across-after-2-hour-wild-goose-chase-led-by-Dave"

what a wedding!

WOW!!! Dave and I just got back from a fabulous wedding in Shanghai. First things first, and that's a massive thank you to Jiong and Binhong for inviting us to share their evening celebration! It was a fascinating and fun experience, and I'll talk you through it with pics and tips below.....

TBH, it got off to a bit of a bad start when Dave rocked up at the station in Suzhou at 3pm to be told that the next (2hr) train to Shanghai left at the time the wedding started. A bit of haggling later, and Y350 worse off, he was en route but estimated he would be about an hour later, so I made the executive decision to go it alone (I have never been very good at slipping in unannounced, and especially not in China - I blame the hair....).

And so it was that, clutching my hongbao, I arrived and was thrust into a photograph with the bride and groom. I signed in on a big piece of red cardboard and wrote my 'wishes' in a small gift tag. All, while desperately offering my now-obviously-cheap-and-tacky-version-of-a hongbao to everyone and anyone in the vicinity until it was eventually taken off my hands..... *phew*

I headed straight for my spot in the seating plan, predictably on the laowai table, and watched in amazement and trepidation as a huge variety of foods were set out before us. *tip* At about 7pm the formalities began, and from 5.30 until then, the food and drink was off limits - so plan carefully!

As far as I can tell, Chinese weddings work differently to those in the UK. For example, you need to register and the marriage itself is a brief civil ceremony that does not attract much attention. Most important are the subsequent celebration-come-party-come-food-fests, with a range of traditions and anomalies thrown in for good measure.

The wedding ceremony was carried out by an MC with a microphone - this chap really was an all-singing, all-dancing marry-maker who I feel would not be out of place in Vegas. Keep an eye out for him, where's Wally style, below.

After some video clips of the bride and groom each talking individually about how they met, how they fell in love, and what the other's person's flaws are, there was a parade down a neon-flashing runway to the stage, which was decorated in sparkly pink, and came complete with a bubble-making machine:
There was some more MC action, before the exchanging of the rings. It took us a while to work out what was going on when an enormous gold box was placed in front of the happy couple, but when it was opened, helium balloons flew out, and each of the bunches that were left tied on to the box held a ring! Genius. I can't help feeling that this kind of stunt has disaster written all over it, but no calamities in this case...Then came the cake-cutting and the more spectacular pink champagne fountain!
At this point, the couple were pronounced married and *tip* this is the cue for everyone to start eating and drinking the vast spread in front of them (see separate post!). This merriment continued until the MC takes to the stage and begins part two, involving speeches from most people in the room - mothers (see below on the flashing catwalk), fathers, grandparents - and presentations of flowers. *tip* The etiquette at this point seems to be to eat, drink and carry on as normal, paying a modicum of attention to the proceedings if you feel like it (unless you are under the age of 10, when it seems to be your duty to cause as much disruption as possible).Stage three is where things start to get exciting - especially if you are a guest who has yet to participate! A small tree was produced with greeting tags on that everyone has written on arrival, and then it starts off with family members being called to stage to pick one, and then that person reads his wishes out and wins a prize!More and more people are called up from their tables at random ("pretty girl, come on down!") until the prizes run out, and completely bewildered laowai are encouraged to stutter some Chinese on stage, to raucous cheers, applause and prizes (cuddly toys and handbags):And last but not least is the cake-feeding game. Apparently, the tradition used to be for groups of people to go round to one of the family homes and play this game until there was no cake left, but here we made do with three couples on stage, one of each who was blindfolded and being fed cake. The quickest to eat the cake, won! Hilarious, but perhaps less so if you are chosen for this game and wearing your Sunday best, so *tip* get involved earlier on if you can!
Everyone finally turns back to the dinner table, while serenaded by family members and the MC (obv), and the bride and groom go around each table in turn, toasting every single guest. To this end, they are followed by assistants to ensure they never run out of their drink of choice! As there were about 150 guests, Binhong was very sensible to stick to Coke! More sensible than the inevitable drunk uncle, who followed, ganbei-ing a full glass of wine with all and sundry...

What happened next was a bit odd - it was about 9.30pm and suddenly the room emptied, without rhyme or reason! We decided to follow suit, but several people still had their hongbaos to get rid of (*tip* give them to the groom or one of the mothers!). Dave and I ended up in the bar on the 88th floor of the Jinmao tower for a cocktail and a dissection of the evening's events before heading home.

欢迎欢迎!

This bird speaks Chinese! What a genius. For the budding ornithologists among you, he can be found in the lanes near Taikang Lu in Shanghai. He gives lessons for 50RMB a pop...

hot pot Beijing-style....

Ooooooh I am looking forward to the weather getting cold so BGD and I (and any other friends we might have made by then...) can hole up around a hot pot for hours on end! It's a really fun way of eating, so Dave, Benny and I took Mary to Guijie, near where I lived in 2007, where part of the street is bedecked with hundreds of fabulous lanterns, behind which lie a whole host of delicious hot pot venues:

Once there, we copied the locals and kitted ourselves out with some aprons:

Beijing hot pot (火锅), as I know it, involves ordering a big bowl of soup, which is heated from a gas canister in the table. Your soup pot can be divided into several sections so that you can order different types and spiciness-levels of soup. Our spicy soup looked particularly furnace-like, a dark red liquid bubbling much more furiously than the others, and a selection of angry looking chillies puffed up and floating on the surface... eek!

We ordered a selection of raw ingredients: thinly sliced meat, various seafood items and plates of sliced vegetables, eggs, noodles, and so on. And some beer, obv! At the place we went to you could get entire small frogs and a variety of intestines, so be sure to know what you're ordering or you may be in for a nasty surprise...

The next step is to pop the noodles and vegetables into the soup to cook, and to swirl pieces of meat in the soup with your chopsticks (or risk one of your hot-pot-soon-to-be-ex-buddies stealing your prime beef...), dip it in garlic or sesame sauce - et voila! Dinner is served. A very sociable way of eating, that can go on for hours. The heat generated by the furnace makes hotpot a winter winner, but a rather sweaty summer soiree.....

An alternative venue for the more faint-hearted is the Hot Loft, a sister place to the Noodle Loft (see previous post), where I went with my parents in 2007 and had a tasty, cleaner and slightly pricier version of the same....

Karaoke (part 1)

I have numbered this post seeing as there will, no doubt, be many a repeat KTV epic over the next six months. Our trip to Melody (of which I am now a member) this week reminded me about all things good about karaoke, and in China especially. Take note Lucky Voice, you have a lot to learn....

Over three hours, Mary and I successfully* busted out tunes from Elton, Gloria and Whitney, with some Black Eyed Peas and Lady Gaga thrown in for good measure (Mum mum mum mah!). Great times!

* debatable, obvi....

I wish crockery came out of my dishwasher wrapped in cellophane like this!