I've just rented out a bunk bed in a 6 bed hostel dorm room in the city of Dalian, where I anticipate staying for the next month.
No, I have not gone broke betting on football. It's actually a part of my latest effort to learn Chinese.
After three weeks studying Chinese characters in Tianjin, I've moved on to the city of Dalian, a coastal city in northern China. The people of northeastern China are known for having the most standard Chinese accents and, in my short time here, I've found it much easier to practice my speaking here than in other parts of China.
As far as the dorm room is concerned... Although I have frequently been staying in hostels throughout my trip, I have until now always rented my own room or stayed with friends. I am normally a very private person and not the type to strike up conversations with strangers. But by thrusting myself into the same living quarters as a bunch of random Chinese travelers, I will pretty much be forced to speak the language.
A few months ago, I would have recoiled at the thought of sharing the same bedroom and bathroom as a bunch of strangers. I grew up an only child and have an OCD like phobia of public bathrooms. I don't share well with others.
But I guess a month in western Sichuan sleeping in barns and villages has hardened me to a certain degree. Besides, I figure that sometimes the most worthwhile experiences in life occur when you push yourself outside your comfort zone.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Language Immersion
I have decided to renew my efforts on learning Chinese.
Over the past few months, my language skills have stagnated. Although I have technically been "living in China" for almost 5 months now, for the most part, I have been taking the easy way out... staying mostly in tourist-friendly westernized cities, living out of hostels with English speaking staff, and spending most of my spare time hanging out with dirty foreigners. Even when I was studying Chinese full time, I was doing so in Yangshuo, one of the most touristic spots in China.
The level of my Chinese remains embarrassingly low So I'm trying to immerse myself in a non-English speaking community surrounded by nothing but my study materials and Chinese people until I can speak this language at an acceptable level.
I've rented out a room on the outskirts of Tianjin. There are two universities nearby and the area is developed, but I am pretty sure it is the least touristy place on the face of the planet. The air quality in the big Chinese cities is almost uniformly horrendous, but here in Tianjin it is literally tear-inducing. And, other than the universities, there isn't much to see here besides ugly industrial districts. But most importantly I haven't seen another foreigner in a week and the locals don't speak a lick of English.
Unfortunately, the Tianjinese people speak Mandarin with a fairly thick local accent, which even my Chinese friend sometimes has trouble understanding. So it's possible that I may be moving to the frozen northern plains of Dongbei soon, so that I can learn in an environment where everyone speaks "standard" Mandarin.
But for now, I have been spending my days studying Chinese characters (I'm up to over 1000), occasionally going outside to eat street food and chat with the street vendors.
Once I learn 1500 characters and can start trying to read newspapers in Chinese, I am pretty sure I will have turned the corner and it will be all downhill from there. :)
Over the past few months, my language skills have stagnated. Although I have technically been "living in China" for almost 5 months now, for the most part, I have been taking the easy way out... staying mostly in tourist-friendly westernized cities, living out of hostels with English speaking staff, and spending most of my spare time hanging out with dirty foreigners. Even when I was studying Chinese full time, I was doing so in Yangshuo, one of the most touristic spots in China.
The level of my Chinese remains embarrassingly low So I'm trying to immerse myself in a non-English speaking community surrounded by nothing but my study materials and Chinese people until I can speak this language at an acceptable level.
I've rented out a room on the outskirts of Tianjin. There are two universities nearby and the area is developed, but I am pretty sure it is the least touristy place on the face of the planet. The air quality in the big Chinese cities is almost uniformly horrendous, but here in Tianjin it is literally tear-inducing. And, other than the universities, there isn't much to see here besides ugly industrial districts. But most importantly I haven't seen another foreigner in a week and the locals don't speak a lick of English.
Unfortunately, the Tianjinese people speak Mandarin with a fairly thick local accent, which even my Chinese friend sometimes has trouble understanding. So it's possible that I may be moving to the frozen northern plains of Dongbei soon, so that I can learn in an environment where everyone speaks "standard" Mandarin.
But for now, I have been spending my days studying Chinese characters (I'm up to over 1000), occasionally going outside to eat street food and chat with the street vendors.
Once I learn 1500 characters and can start trying to read newspapers in Chinese, I am pretty sure I will have turned the corner and it will be all downhill from there. :)
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Shanghai
I just settled into a new apartment in Tianjin where I will be staying for the next week or two. I will say this about Tianjin… it's a good place to catch up on my rest and relaxation. The lack of any remotely interesting tourist activities keeps the tourists away and the cost of living down. While the cloud of toxic pollution that blankets the city prevents me from actually wanting to go outside. What better place to stay inside and catch up on my blogging?
………………………………………….
After docking from our cruise in Yichang, my mom and I made our way to Shanghai. I wasn't very keen on visiting Shanghai this time around, as I had already visited the city twice last year. Furthermore, the World Expo was in town, so the city would be swamped with tourists and hotel prices would be even more expensive than usual.
But I must admit that it is an impressive city. When I was here last summer, huge swaths of the city had been under construction in preparation for this year's World Expo. The riverfront along the Bund (the old colonial city center along the Huangpu River) has since been transformed into a modern commercial and tourist district. A couple new subway lines have been added ( I was told that in the past seven years, the number of subway lines in Shanghai has gone from 3 to 11). A number of new skyscrapers have gone up, making the Pudong skyline even more striking than when I first saw it. And, of course, a huge block of land right in the heart of the city was cleared out to make way for the Expo grounds.
Here are a few highlights of my trip to Shanghai:
World Expo 2010
I was originally going to write a blog entry about the Expo and all the different pavilions that we visited, but to be honest, it didn't really make for provocative blogging material. The lines to all the popular pavilions were long and the pavilion exhibits themselves were kind of a letdown. I guess I am a bit harder to impress with pictures and video displays, since I've been visiting so many amazing places firsthand.
The crowds have thinned out a bit since earlier in the summer, but it was still unpleasantly crowded. We waited an hour and a half to see the German pavilion, which was the most impressive that we saw but still not worth the wait. We were told the line to see the Japanese pavilion was three hours. At the Saudi Arabian pavilion, I watched as a crowd of Chinese tourists bowled over some uniformed security guards for their spot in line. For the arena sized Chinese pavilion, you needed to reserve passes a day in advance, for which you then received the privilege of waiting hours in line in the summer heat jockeying for position in line with thousands of sweaty Chinese tourists and chattering tour groups. No thanks!
We ended up visiting a lot of the more obscure pavilions such as Turkmenistan and the Kyrgyz Republic. The pavilions were filled with exhibits where you could read and learn about the various countries (I learned, for instance that there is a country called the Kyrgyz Republic).
Still it was an interesting experience. The architecture of some of the pavilions was spectacular. And the size of the expo grounds was incredible to behold. Even the crowds are interesting, from the viewpoint of a bemused spectator.
Overall, I give it a 6/10
Fabric Market
For the most part, I could care less about shopping much less shopping for clothes. But since my mom kept raving about the great deal she got on her tailored clothes, I thought I would put in a good word for the Fabric Market, a massive complex of small tailor shops located near the Bund. She got several dresses and a cashmere coat custom tailored for her in less than a day, all for less than $200.
I'm a guy that wears t-shirts and shorts every day, so you'll have to take my mom's word for it… 8/10
Vue Bar at the Hyatt
I met up with a friend that took me to a fancy rooftop bar at the Hyatt called Vue Bar. The atmosphere was a bit more upscale than I am used to and the drinks were a bit expensive… but WOW the view! Just an amazing view of the Pudong skyline from across the river. And they even have a jacuzzi up there!
Best rooftop bar I've been to so far… 8/10
Xintiandi
Lastly I will mention Xintiandi, a small shopping district in the former French Concession that for some reason is sometimes mentioned as a tourist attraction. After walking around and taking a look at the shops and architecture, which took all of 15 minutes, I wandered into some Pinkberry knockoff to buy a frozen yogurt. Now I could tell by all the pretentious westerners and Chinese yuppies hanging around that it was going to be on the expensive side… But for a small cup of yogurt that would have cost me all of $3 at Yogurtland in Irvine, I was charged about $7!
I know Shanghai is expensive by Chinese standards, but come on, this is still China! Who knows how many gallons of Tibetan yak yogurt I could have bought last month for that kind of money? :) 1/10
………………………………………….
After docking from our cruise in Yichang, my mom and I made our way to Shanghai. I wasn't very keen on visiting Shanghai this time around, as I had already visited the city twice last year. Furthermore, the World Expo was in town, so the city would be swamped with tourists and hotel prices would be even more expensive than usual.
But I must admit that it is an impressive city. When I was here last summer, huge swaths of the city had been under construction in preparation for this year's World Expo. The riverfront along the Bund (the old colonial city center along the Huangpu River) has since been transformed into a modern commercial and tourist district. A couple new subway lines have been added ( I was told that in the past seven years, the number of subway lines in Shanghai has gone from 3 to 11). A number of new skyscrapers have gone up, making the Pudong skyline even more striking than when I first saw it. And, of course, a huge block of land right in the heart of the city was cleared out to make way for the Expo grounds.
Here are a few highlights of my trip to Shanghai:
World Expo 2010
I was originally going to write a blog entry about the Expo and all the different pavilions that we visited, but to be honest, it didn't really make for provocative blogging material. The lines to all the popular pavilions were long and the pavilion exhibits themselves were kind of a letdown. I guess I am a bit harder to impress with pictures and video displays, since I've been visiting so many amazing places firsthand.
The crowds have thinned out a bit since earlier in the summer, but it was still unpleasantly crowded. We waited an hour and a half to see the German pavilion, which was the most impressive that we saw but still not worth the wait. We were told the line to see the Japanese pavilion was three hours. At the Saudi Arabian pavilion, I watched as a crowd of Chinese tourists bowled over some uniformed security guards for their spot in line. For the arena sized Chinese pavilion, you needed to reserve passes a day in advance, for which you then received the privilege of waiting hours in line in the summer heat jockeying for position in line with thousands of sweaty Chinese tourists and chattering tour groups. No thanks!
We ended up visiting a lot of the more obscure pavilions such as Turkmenistan and the Kyrgyz Republic. The pavilions were filled with exhibits where you could read and learn about the various countries (I learned, for instance that there is a country called the Kyrgyz Republic).
Still it was an interesting experience. The architecture of some of the pavilions was spectacular. And the size of the expo grounds was incredible to behold. Even the crowds are interesting, from the viewpoint of a bemused spectator.
Overall, I give it a 6/10
Fabric Market
For the most part, I could care less about shopping much less shopping for clothes. But since my mom kept raving about the great deal she got on her tailored clothes, I thought I would put in a good word for the Fabric Market, a massive complex of small tailor shops located near the Bund. She got several dresses and a cashmere coat custom tailored for her in less than a day, all for less than $200.
I'm a guy that wears t-shirts and shorts every day, so you'll have to take my mom's word for it… 8/10
Vue Bar at the Hyatt
I met up with a friend that took me to a fancy rooftop bar at the Hyatt called Vue Bar. The atmosphere was a bit more upscale than I am used to and the drinks were a bit expensive… but WOW the view! Just an amazing view of the Pudong skyline from across the river. And they even have a jacuzzi up there!
Best rooftop bar I've been to so far… 8/10
Xintiandi
Lastly I will mention Xintiandi, a small shopping district in the former French Concession that for some reason is sometimes mentioned as a tourist attraction. After walking around and taking a look at the shops and architecture, which took all of 15 minutes, I wandered into some Pinkberry knockoff to buy a frozen yogurt. Now I could tell by all the pretentious westerners and Chinese yuppies hanging around that it was going to be on the expensive side… But for a small cup of yogurt that would have cost me all of $3 at Yogurtland in Irvine, I was charged about $7!
I know Shanghai is expensive by Chinese standards, but come on, this is still China! Who knows how many gallons of Tibetan yak yogurt I could have bought last month for that kind of money? :) 1/10
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