Capitalism at its finest

Since BLCU is under construction, about half the school's entrances are closed off. This has led creative students to develop their own pathways....  This 201 (my class level)'s primary teacher, Sun Laoshi. This afternoon she led us on a field trip to a wholesale market where you can barter for what the salespeople are convinced are 100% authentic Hermes bags and Versace apparel.

During the day this becomes a produce stand. The family lives here at night too though.

The shopping mall right next to school.

Josie bought a bag that has speakers in it- you can plug your ipod right into the bag and have a modern day boombox!

These contraptions are bicycles with cagelike/carlike exteriors placed on top of them. Often the driver will take you where you want to go, for a fee. So it's kind of a startup-type taxi service.

This is my favorite hole-in-the-wall (literally) smoothie store.

Shop-a-holics! You won't believe what you can buy...

You can eat anything here... and you can buy anything too!  After all that wonderful clean air (and interesting food) on the plains, we're back in Beijing for our last few days before going back home.  Everyone is interested in finding just the right souvenirs.

(My mother says *NO*!! I can not bring this souvenir home!!!)

First we need to get some money out of the local ATM.

 

Where do they make all those Chinese knick knacks?  Here's a factory where the workers are handpainting the goods to be sold.  We were allowed to give it a try too.

My mom says I can't bring home one of these either ...  a Chinese tutor who also sells matchmaker services!  And, check out how all the little tabs have been torn off.  Popular service!

Ok, you asked. Food.

You really can find just about anything you want to eat in China. Here I am eating one of my favorites, stir-fried eggs and tomatoes.

Here is the marketplace with an endless variety of grains, nuts, dried fruit, and other delicious things that made me imagine I was actually at a Middle Eastern Market.

Remember growing up when you were told to eat everything off your plate so that nothing went to waste?  Well.....  The Chinese shopkeepers make sure that nothing goes to waste, especially out on the plains.  Close your eyes and skip the rest of this post if you're a little squeamish!

Above, the shopkeepers have the task of making sure no part of the animal goes to waste.  Yes, look closely, and you do see some hooves.

Below, left, this is Peking Duck.  The point of this delicacy is this crispy, crackly skin and the savory fat beneath it.  You dip it in that brown sauce on the side.  And, yeah, that's the head and you can eat it.  Remember, nothing goes to waste!

 

Like I said, NO PART of the animal goes to waste. You could probably find some brain and entrails soup around here somewhere if you went looking for it. I know we ate the intestines of the sheep we watched get slaughtered out on the grasslands. Generally I have found that Chinese are much more willing to eat animal body parts that Westerners won't touch. For example, I have twice been to restaurants here for the main course is where they give you plastic gloves and you go to work on individual joints of sheep spine.  First you worry the meat off the bones and then you suck the marrow out of the tube in the middle of the bone. And this is fun! This is the main attraction of the restaurant! It doesn't sound like anything you'd find in America, does it?!  The way we eat meat in North America we don't often think about where the meat came from.  It's hard to forget the origin here.

 So how about some Domino's pizza?

Traditional moves

One of the greatest pleasures, and occasionally embarrassments, of traveling in a different country is learning some of the traditional entertainments, especially music and dancing.  

 The costumes are beautiful, the songs delightful, and some of us definitely have more natural grace in motion than others!

As for Inner Mongolian feasts, the mess hall was adorable too.  If you want to know how I felt about the food, send me an email or ask me when I get home ..  :)  ..  :) ..

MONGOLIA!

Have you ever said somewhere was so far away it was like going to Outer Mongolia?  Well, that's how the Chinese feel about it too.  When Imperial China "conquered" Mongolia, they realized there was essentially no way to keep those Mongols out roaming the plains under their imperial domain.  Outer Mongolia became the country of Mongolia, and independent entity today (and not exactly best friends with the Chinese).  The Mongolian plains near Beijing did stay within Chinese dominion, and are now called Inner Mongolia.  Just like traveling across the plains of central North America, this land seems endless.  Can you see the village in the distance?

We were fortunate to have a several days to visit this Inner Mongolian village, experiencing life in a modern day yurt. 

Ohhh, so cute!  

Comfy commodes too.

Now for the weird part:  There was a moped with an Ontario license plate -- ONTARIO!  That's 50 miles from my house in Michigan, here out on the Mongolian plains!

Ingrish and some odd cultural translations at the Museum of Inner Mongolia

Sometimes it's easy to see how the Chinese translations to English don't.. quite.. hit.. the.. mark.  But sometimes there are some interesting cultural translations too.  Notice how Obama is depicted in Socialist garb.  This isn't a comment on politics, remember that Socialism is thought of as good in China.  The t-shirt is not promoting Obama as a Socialist, but portraying him in a favorable light, perhaps due to the current friendly relationship the two countries have, especially when compared to other points in history.

It's worth taking some time to read some of these translations, found on plaques in the Museum of Inner Mongolia.  Don't tread on me, anyone?!

If you're a fan of George Martin's "Game of Thrones" book/HBO series, feel confident that it really happened, here in China and Mongolia. Do you recognize this furniture style?  

How about this head dress, style used by George Lucas to outfit Padme!

Mao memories

Chairman Mao died in 1976, but he is still remembered with reverence throughout China.  We visited an old Chinese home and saw evidence of Mao's continuing hold on Chinese memory as his official picture (1967) still reigns in a position of honor on the wall.

Looking for a new hobby?

This is the advertisement for the Chinese workshop we had on Dragon Boat Festival Day. Mahj, papercutting, Red songs, Chinese Chess, and zongzi, sticky rice wrapped in leaves.  Which, or all, would you choose?

Nobody's perfect...

...especially when they are practicing their Chinese homework.  Look closely, and you will see plenty of corrections on my worksheet :)

You get extra credit if you can tell me what I was trying to say!

More neat eats

I love the yummy fresh fruits that we have every night for dessert.  Overall the food is healthy and tasty.

 There are many yummy teas to try from the school cafeteria!  Since it's about 6.3 yuan to the dollar, it's really cheap too.

You can buy sugar can juice!  It wasn't fantastic but was pretty good.  They grind it right in front of you!

















This is Oreo milk tea, from a local cafe.  Milk tea is a DELICIOUS Oriental specialty, but it turns out that oreaos really detract from the flavor.  Look closely at the back of the Oreo cup.  There are many examples of "Ingrish" to be found everywhere!