Combine the wonders of this exotic Asian destination with one of the biggest celebrations on earth and you’ve got yourself a trip of epic proportions. No one does Chinese New Year better than Beijing, China.

A celebration filled with color, energy, food, and history, Chinese New Year in Beijing hosts a number of fascinating local events to make your journey truly unique and unforgettable. MSW offers you an essential travel guide to some of the best attractions, activities and restaurants in Beijing during Chinese New Year.

Beijing Chinese New Year Winter Attractions

Fireworks

Each year, Beijing’s skyline erupts in a colorful array of fireworks for nights on end, while daytime hours are filled with noisy fireworks being fired all across the city by residents. The resulting cacophony is deafening and the city literally reverberates for days on end.

The most popular venues for setting off fireworks – and watching the pandemonium that ensues – are around the Drum and Bell Towers in the Houhai Lake district. During the day, this Beijing neighborhood is a perfect place for visitors who want to learn about traditional hutong lifestyles.

Nightlife

Houhai Lake District

If it’s Chinese culture that you’re looking for, start your night off with a rickshaw tour of Houhai Bar Street and its surrounding area. There are an ample number of bars and boutiques situated alongside a picturesque manmade lake; the area is dotted with gardens, ponds, traditional Chinese courtyards and ancient temples.

After you’re finished exploring, warm up with a hot beverage or a nightcap at the nearby Drum & Bell Bar. Overlooking the courtyard between the Drum Tower and Bell Tower, this rooftop bar provides a great view of the lake. In recent years the Drum & Bell Bar have provided a great place to view the fireworks on Chinese New Year’s Eve.

Another local favorite, the East Shore Jazz Café, comes highly recommended as the most authentic jazz in town. The café’s rooftop terrace offers views overlooking Houhai Lake.

Sanlitun Bar Street

Sanlitun Bar Street boasts some of the best nightlife activities in Beijing. Known as THE entertainment district of Beijing, Sanlitun has a wide variety of venues, including nightclubs, sports bars, pubs, coffee houses, and cafes.

As one of the most popular nightclubs in Beijing, Mix Club is the perfect place to dance the night away. The ultra modern 2-story nightclub regularly features international DJs who spin the latest music in a trendy setting that resembles some of the hottest clubs in LA.

The Bird’s Nest

Home to the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the National Stadium, also known as the Bird’s Nest, hosts several celebrations in honor of Chinese New Year.  During the Spring Festival, visitors can enjoy an artificial Winter Wonderland that includes skating rinks and mini ski slopes.

Skiing and Snowboarding

If you tired of sleepless nights in a city that sounds like it’s under siege, try hitting the slopes for a day or two.

Just 30 minutes outside of Beijing, Nanshan Ski Village has one of the best snowboarding parks in the country with five kickers jumps, a mini half-pipe, and over 12 boxes and rails. This winter wonderland also boasts some of the best man-made snow in the world. Experience it for yourself on any of Nanshan’s 12 ski trails, or try your hand at tobogganing or snowmobiling.

Less than a 4-hour drive from Beijing, Wanlong Ski Resort boasts a snowboarding park and 22 ski trails of man-made snow. As China’s largest ski mountain, Wanlong sees over 1000 skiers every weekend.

Celebrate Chinese New Year in a Traditional Village

This tour, hosted by the China Culture Center, takes visitors into the suburbs of Beijing to experience Chinese New Year in a traditional village, where lively street entertainers, folk dancers, puppet shows, sword swallowers, story tellers and magicians spin their magic and showcase their mesmerizing skills. Visit a traditional Chinese home and learn how fire is used to cook and heat the bed. Guests learn how to make dumplings and steam buns. The tour even includes a visit to local artisan who makes life-size paper replicas of horses and carts for Chinese funerals!

Experience Beijing’s Temple Fairs

Chinese New Year in Beijing is a noisy, colorful and busy occasion. If you’ve never experienced the temple fairs of Beijing, then this should be at the top of your travel itinerary during Chinese New Year.

The first temple fairs in Beijing date back to around 1000 AD. Vendors would often set up shop outside of the temples where pilgrims came to pay tribute to the gods during traditional festival periods such as Chinese New Year.

Today, Beijing’s temple fairs attract thousands of visitors from all over the world. Each year, organizers invite hundreds of performers and artisans from all over China to participate in the Chinese New Year temple fairs that are held near the temples and parks of Beijing.

These lively carnivals offer an opportunity to appreciate traditional artwork and local delicacies, spectacular variety shows from rural areas of China, dragon and lion dances, boys and girls on stilts, life-size puppets, waist drum dancing, lotus blossom fairy dances, Peking opera, acrobatics, and tea culture displays. If all that entertainment makes you hungry, you’re in the right place. You’ll find plenty of snacks and Chinese delicacies to sink your teeth into.

Temple Fair Tour

The China Culture Center offers a temple fair tour in Beijing each Chinese New Year. Visitors learn about the history of Beijing temple fairs and then they are taken to two or three temple fairs where they will get a chance to sample local snacks, purchase traditional handicrafts and view various folk performances and traditional handicrafts.

Eat

Chinese New Year celebrations generally begin with a family feast at home, but many families are breaking away from this traditional custom in lieu of eating out. Hu Zhifu, the secretary general of the Beijing Food and Catering Association, states that having Chinese New Year’s Eve dinner at a restaurant first became fashionable in 2003. The number of families that host their New Year’s dinner at restaurants is growing annually.

Popular Beijing Restaurants

Dumplings – Din Tai Fung

When food is renowned as much for its flavor and appearance as it is for being a true work of art, you know you’ve attained perfection in the culinary world. Din Tai Fung got its start in Taiwan in the 1980s, but since then it has expanded to 42 locations in nine countries worldwide. The Beijing restaurant does a brisk business, and many people say that they offer some of the best dumplings in China.

Visitors come for the paper-thin xiao long bao, (steamed dumplings) which are stuffed with vegetables and meat or mashed red beans. Beijing does not have a high concentration of xiao long bao restaurants, and food critics have claimed that the difficulty of finding good xiao long bao in Beijing makes their high prices worth it.

Weighing in at just five grams, the outer-skin of each dumpling is thin as tissue. Each skin is then stuffed with approximately fifteen grams of meat filling. Served with finely sliced pieces of ginger and a soy-based dipping sauce, the end result is sheer art. The tiny bundles bulging with a delightful combination of flavorful soup broth and meat simply burst with flavor.

Mongolian Hot Pot – Donglaishun

After a evening out in the cold Beijing winter air, warm up with a hearty meal of Mongolian Hot Pot at Beijing’s most popular hot pot restaurant, Donglaishun. This northern style hot pot restaurant has been serving Chinese Muslim fare since 1903, and the restaurant is thought to have some of the best shuanyangrou, (instant-boiled mutton) in town. An integral part of northern Chinese cuisine, hot pot is traditionally served in a copper potfilled with soup broth. Meat, frozen bean curd, vegetables, and noodles are added to fill the broth out. Once cooked, a final dip into a sesame butter sauce gives the meal an extra burst of flavor. As Beijing’s most famous hotpot restaurant, Donglaishun may be a little pricey, but its 40 locations throughout the city attest to its popularity.

Peking Duck – Quanjude

No visit to Beijing is complete without dining on glazed and roasted Peking duck. Crispy skin and tender, juicy duck meat is wrapped in paper-thin pancakes and topped with a thick, sweet hoisin sauce, scallions, and radishes.

Locals may argue vehemently on their picks for the best duck in town, but there’s no denying the popularity of Quanjude Roast Duck Restaurant, a seven-story building at #32 Qianmen Dajie. The unique presentation of the food and the traditional interior design at Quanjude has been attracting roast duck lovers for more 146 years.

Shop

Shopping in Beijing is a veritable paradise for bargain hunters. Add Spring Festival fever into the mix and you’ll find yourself looking for deals of the century. Many shops and vendors hold sales to celebrate the New Year, so shop to your heart’s content and don’t forget to bargain!

Hong Qiao Market

One of the best places in China to buy pearls, coral, turquoise and other semi-precious stones lays a short distance from the Temple of Heaven’s main east gate. Prices at Hong Qiao Market are very reasonable owing to a number of vendors selling the same goods, so smile, have fun and bargain hard for your Chinese souvenirs.

GuWanCheng (Curio City)

This four-storey building on the 3^rd Ring Road behind Pan Jia Yuan harbors treasures waiting to be discovered. The store offers upscale Chinese antiques with prices to match. The management makes every effort to avoid selling fakes and low quality goods, but please remember the rule that applies to all antique shopping in China: Let the buyer beware.

A Note About Travel During Chinese New Year

Mainland China sees more interurban trips during the Spring Festival travel season than the total population of China (1.3 billion as of mid-2008). Masses of people begin rushing home in time to have a reunion dinner with their loved ones on Chinese New Year’s Eve, and all modes of public transportation are thrown into chaos every year. It is almost impossible to book any kind of travel tickets during Chinese New Year, and if you do manage to lay your hands on a ticket, beware that it might be a fake and don’t be surprised to learn that you are paying double the price for a ticket that allows standing room only.

The best advice we can give you about travel in China during Chinese New Year is to plan ahead and don’t try to travel by rail outside of Beijing. On a positive note, since most people stay at home with their families during Chinese New Year, you will be able to take advantage of fewer crowds at some of Beijing’s tourist attractions. Just remember to call ahead to make sure that they’re actually open! Furthermore, if you can beat the crowds, it is a great time to observe local Chinese New Year customs and traditions.

Twelve Tips for Enjoying Chinese New Year in Beijing

1. Book your hotel well in advance of Chinese New Year.
2. Avoid traveling by rail during Spring Festival.
3. Find out where the local performances are being held before you set out on your journey.
4. Bring warm clothing. The weather is bitterly cold in Northern China.
5. Call ahead if you’re planning on visiting any major tourist attractions since many places close down for a few days during Chinese New Year.
6. Catch a lion or dragon dance at one of Beijing’s many temple fairs.
7. Firework displays are de rigueur in China during Chinese New Year. Go somewhere special to enjoy the show!
8. Buy some chunlian. These temporary decorations are embossed with happy and hopeful messages for the coming year.
9. Buy a Chinese-style coat, or purchase some rabbit-head hats and shoes for the kids to usher in the Year of the Rabbit.
10. Visit a temple on Chinese New Year’s Eve to pray for a prosperous New Year. Don’t forget to light some incense to send your prayers to the skies.
11. Travel a few days before Chinese New Year to avoid getting stuck among the crushing millions of people who are traveling home to be with their loved ones.
12. Since many popular Beijing restaurants are booked months in advance, many restaurants recommend that customers book a lunchtime meal instead.

Article Resources

NIGHTLIFE - As of this writing, these establishments have not confirmed if they will be open during Chinese New Year’s Eve 2012.

• Drum & Bell Bar: #41 Zhonglouwan Hutong - Telephone: 86-010-8403-3600
• East Shore Live Jazz Café: Houhai, 2^nd Floor, 2 Shichahai Nanya -Telephone: 86-010-8403-2131
• MIX Club: Workers Stadium, North Gate, Chaoyang District, Beijing Open 8pm to 6am. www.mixclub.sohu.com - Telephone 86-010-6530-2889

 ACTIVITIES

• The Bird’s Nest National Stadium: Olympic Green Village, Chaoyang District
• Nanshan Ski Village: Shengshuitou Village, Henanzhai Town - Telephone: 010-8909-1909 www.nanshanski.com
• Wanlong Ski Resort: Honghualiang, Chongli Xian, Hebei Province 031-3478 5111  - www.wiski.com

RESTAURANTS

• Din Tai Fung Beijing: #24, Xinyuan Xili Zhongjie www.dintaifung.com.cn Telephone +86-010-6462-4502
• Donglaishun Dongcheng Branch: Xin Dongan Plaza, 5F, Wangfujing, Dongcheng - Telephone: 010-6528-0932
•  Quanjude Jinsong Branch: #826, Jingsong Eight District, Guangming Bridge - Telephone: 010-67711211
•  Quanjude Hepingmen Branch: #14, Qianmen West Street - Telephone: 010-63023062
•  Quanjude Qianmen Branch: # 32, Qianmen Dajie - Telephone: 010-6701-1379

CHINA CULTURE CENTER
Kent Centre A 101, Anjialou, No.29, Liangmaqiao Road, Chaoyang District  -  info@chinaculturecenter.org  - www.chinaculturecenter.org

Telephone +86–010-6432-9341 
Fax: +86–010-6432-0145

Celebrate Chinese New Year in a Village

February 5, 2011. RMB 350 per person. The bus leaves the China Culture Center at 9am and returns at 4pm. Call 86-10-6432-9431 to reserve your spot. Book early because tickets sell out fast!

February 4, 2011. Tour price (RMB 200 per person) includes admission tickets, lunch, and transportation. The bus leaves from the China Culture Center at 9:30am and returns at 4pm. Call 86-10-6432-9431 to reserve your spot.

Who says Shanghai skies are never blue? I was lucky enough to witness clear blue skies and fluffy white clouds for the duration of my trip to Shanghai (One week!) in November 2010. The downtown city skyline completely blew me away. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything quite like this on any of my travels.

Luckily, I had a business meeting in one of Shanghai’s iconic landmarks, Jin Mao Tower. After my meeting was over, I cruised up to the lobby of the Hyatt Hotel and took in a bird’s eye view of the city. The 88-floor skyscraper is located alongside a ring of other towering skyscrapers in the Lujiazui area of the Pudong district of Shanghai.

It’s almost impossible to fathom that this district of Shanghai was agricultural land in the 1980s. Today, it is blessed with wide sidewalks, beautiful landscaped parks, bicycle lanes, and underground tunnels.

This skyline, one of the most impressive in the world in my opinion, is a true testament to the genius of mankind.

BANK OF CHINA BUILDING – This is the building that Tom Cruise bungee jumped from in Mission: Impossible III.

JUXTAPOSITION

SHANGHAI WORLD FINANCIAL CENTER

JIN MAO TOWER

Image source

Thinking of teaching in China? The ESL industry in China is booming and the demand for qualified English teachers is going up every day. If you’re one of the thousands of ESL teachers who have decided to make the leap to life in the Middle Kingdom, you’re in for an incredible adventure of a lifetime. Here are 12 tips to keep in mind during your first few weeks abroad in China. These tips should be second nature in no time!

Visit Reach To Teach Recruiting and ask their team of experts for more information on teaching in China!

1. Westerners stand out in China, and they can be easy prey.  Be careful when you’re out and about.
2. It’s OK to go out alone, but for your first few weeks in China, it’s better to hook up with friends or ask them to meet you before you head out.
3. Keep a business card for the school you work for and a name card with your address so you can remember how to get home.
4. Be wary of over-anxious English speakers you haven’t been introduced to.  There are scam artists everywhere and some of them speak English quite well.
5. Expect to pay more at markets than the locals do. If you’re not sure how to make purchases at the local markets, try standing behind someone and watching what they’re buying. Try offering the same amount as the previous buyer, but don’t get upset if you’re asked to pay more. Paying a ‘foreigner’ price is a fact of life in China.
6. Most taxi drivers are honest and fair, but sometimes you’ll meet one who wants to take you on the scenic route.  If you can’t express that you know you are being cheated, and you don’t want to pay the few extra RMB he is scamming you for, just shout out, “TING, TING, TING”, and the driver will stop.
7. Never carry more money on you than you can afford to lose. As in most cities, pickpockets are everywhere.
8. Don’t drink the tap water.
9. During eat street food during your first few weeks in China. Wait until your system has had time to adjust properly.
10. Markets are best in the morning, especially for things like meat and fresh produce. It’s ok to bargain when you shop.
11. Always take tissue or toilet paper with you when you go out.  Most public facilities do not have toilet paper.
12. It isn’t necessary to carry your passport and residence card with you.  Make photocopies and leave the originals at home.

Author Bio: This month’s guest post comes from Josh Summers, author of the Xinjiang blog Far West China.  Josh and his wife lived in China’s far western province for almost four years as English teachers, using every opportunity to pack up their tent, hop on their motorcycle and explore Xinjiang’s gorgeous countryside.  If you’re going to be traveling in China this year and think you might drop by Xinjiang while you’re there, check out Josh’s new travel guide for Turpan, which he is offering free on his site for a limited time.

5 Dirty Cities in China You’ll WANT to Visit

If cleanliness is next to godliness, then China is…well, it’s an atheistic country.  Many of its largest cities are perpetually covered in a cloud of pollution that would make even a chain smoker’s lungs cringe.  So why would anybody in their right mind consider making a special trip to visit one of China’s dirty cities?

The answer: because this dirt is different.  It’s not pollution.  It’s not steel and concrete.  It’s all beautiful mud.

Welcome to Xinjiang, home of the famous Silk Road.  It’s the largest region in China and contains some of the most incredible mud cities you’ll ever find yourself wanting to visit.

1) Kashgar’s Old City

For centuries Kashgar’s Old City has proudly stood as a monument to the rich culture of the Uyghur, Xinjiang’s largest minority ethnic group.  Narrow alleyways paved with dirt and stone wander for kilometers between the sun-baked mud walls that make up these ancient Uyghur homes.

This city may not stand much longer, however.  Already large portions of it have been torn down by the local government over safety concerns and will soon be replaced with concrete complexes.   If you hurry, you’ll still have time to see sections of the old city before it’s completely gone.

2) Turpan’s Jiaohe Ancient City

Perched on a narrow plateau between two converging rivers there is an incredibly well-preserved city that hasn’t been inhabited in over six centuries.  While walking along a recognizable pattern of crisscrossing streets, it is possible to examine old government offices, residential areas, cemeteries, and monasteries.

It was through this city that many merchants traveled during the height of the Silk Road.  Ancient relics including pottery, tools and religious manuscripts are still being unearthed by archeologist today.

3) Karamay’s Ghost City

Even though the Ghost City is the only place on this list that never was a literal city, it’s still fun to visit.  It’s here in the middle of the Jungar Desert that what’s known as Yardang landforms randomly stick up out of the ground.  Most of this is formed by the wind that erodes the dirt away leaving large pillars behind.  It’s this very wind and the eerie noise it makes that prompted locals to give it the name “Ghost City” although now it is most famous as a movie set location for international hits such as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

4) Tuyoq Valley

Pronounced too-yoke, this small town outside of Turpan is nestled in a valley between the beautiful Flaming Mountains.  The residents’ primary source of income is grapes and the only kind of building material they use is mud bricks.  The outside of these buildings may feel like a boring, sometimes monotonous brown color, but inside the people of Tuyoq decorate their homes with colorful carpets and stunning hanging tapestries.

5) Hemu Village

The most picturesque of all these destinations is Hemu Village, located near the Kanas Lake in northern Xinjiang.  This town never got the memo that the world had moved into the 21^st century, so their houses are still made of logs and their roads are still paved with dirt.  The fall season is an especially opportune time to visit the village as the surrounding forest puts on an exhibit of colors that would make a painter think he’d died and gone to heaven.

You won’t find all of these “dirty” cities in the major travel books, but that also means you won’t be fighting the tourist crowds that can ruin a trip to any destination.  Do yourself a favor: give your lungs a breath of fresh air and discover a part of China that most people only read about in history books.

An American in the Far East

This month’s guest author is Graham Woodring, writer of the beautifully-crafted blog, An American in the Far East. Although Graham is a relative newbie to China – he just moved to Asia in February 2009 – he writes as though he’s an old-hand at teaching, traveling, and keeping the rest of us informed on life as an expat in China. Graham is one of a few bloggers writing about his couchsurfing experiences in China, which makes his blog very unique. His most recent post on the techniques he uses to stay safe while couchsurfing is especially useful to anyone thinking of taking part in a couchsurfing experience. Today, Graham takes us on a tour of his favorite city in China.

The train slowly pulls into the station. Amid the river of disembarking people and the muffled grunts of exertion and unintelligible cries, you step out into the afternoon light in a new city.  Where you came from doesn’t matter any more; you’re moving on.  Where you are going next doesn’t matter either; you are living in the moment.  The sun beats down on your neck and shoulders as you huddle over your guidebook, searching for clues to the next step in the chase: the chase of adventure, something new and exciting, of living the life outside the cubicle and free from the shackles of your daily life.

You read each word of your book deliberately, carefully pouring over each entry in an attempt to divine the optimal route on your journey.  But there’s no time for that; you have to keep moving.  As you break away from the throng of people jostling for a way into or out of the station and hail a taxi, only one thing echoes in your mind:  You are in Xi’an, and you have 48 hours.

Day 1

Photo by Graham Woodring

The Great Mosque of Xi’an: Nestled deep in the Muslim Quarter, the Great Mosque is one of the oldest and most well known mosques in all of China.  Within the walls of the mosque it is eerily quiet, providing a great retreat from the hustle and bustle of the surrounding area. The construction is completely Chinese in style and architecture, but there are some Muslim influences scattered about if you look; there is even one stele with both Chinese and Arabic characters on it.  The massive prayer hall is still in use today (mostly by the Hui people) so it  is barred from the public, but even from the outside it is an impressive sight.

Sha’anxi History Museum: Construction began in 1983 on this Tang style museum that opened to the public in 1991. With an area of 55,600 square meters and a collection of 370,000 objects, there is something for anyone interested in the long and culturally rich history of China.  The museum is actually free to the public, but tickets are limited to prevent over-crowding.  Make sure you show up early or you will miss out on what is generally considered the second-best history museum in all of China (after the Shanghai history museum, of course).  The museum is closed on Mondays. Address: 91 Dong Xiao Zhai Road

Food: Yangrou Paomo The most famous dish in Xi’an can be found almost anywhere.  Yangrou Paomo is a mutton soup with vegetables, noodles, and the distinctive flat bread that is so common in the city.  As Xi’an is situated at the beginning of the Silk Road, obvious Arab influences abound in this culinary delight.  The flat bread is broken up into pieces and dropped into soup, and is then eaten with pickled cloves of garlic.  This dish is a hearty, filling meal that is usually not very expensive.

Photo by Graham Woodring

Big Wild Goose Pagoda:  Originally built in 652 during the Tang dynasty, the pagoda has suffered much damage and has been rebuilt and renovated many times over the years.  The last time being in 1964 so that it now stands at 210 ft (64 m) tall and is one of the most recognizable symbols of Xi’an.  Regular visitors pay 25 RMB to enter the Temple of Great Maternal Grace, which surrounds the pagoda, and another 25 RMB to enter the tower itself.  Some consider the double tickets a cheap scam to get your money and the views from the top are less than spectacular.  The novelty factor of climbing to the top is what gets most people inside.

Dinner at Delhi Darbar – Cuisine of India: This little restaurant can be found just across the street west of the Big Wild Goose Pagoda.  Though I have never been to India, this place has the best Indian food I have ever eaten.  But the icing on the cake here is that the beer is guaranteed to be the coldest in Xi’an.  Anyone living or traveling in China knows how hard it can be to find ice-cold beer. The food is excellent, the beer is cold, and the owners are friendly and more than capable of helping people of all nationalities.  What more can you ask for? Address: Huan Ta Xi Road and Da Tan Tong, Yi Fang

Park Qin Bar: Unless you are looking for a nightclub to spend your evening, then this bar is the perfect place to take a load off from your long day and have a cold beer.  Park Qin offers many different beers (imported and domestic) on tap and from the bottle, as well as a wide variety of liquors and mixed drinks.  The beer tower is a favorite, which is a long tube that holds about 7 liters of beer and has a spout at the bottom.  It’s not really cheaper than buying individual beers, but it is ostentatious enough to have a good time with.  As far as patrons, Park Qin mostly hosts foreigners and occasionally some Chinese.  The number of people from all different walks of life with all different stories of travel and adventure can make for a long, long night.  If you’re up to it, of course.

Accommodations: Shuyuan International Youth Hostel If you went to Park Qin Bar for drinks, you won’t have to worry about a long  journey back to your hotel. The Shuyuan IYH is right upstairs and definitely on my top list of best hostels.  Sitting right inside South Gate and next to a major bus stop, it is in a perfect location to allow you to explore south of the city-the museum and the pagoda­-as well as take a short walk up to the Bell Tower and the city center.  This hostel boasts the quality, standards, and amenities one can expect from Hostelling International-accredited lodging.  All of the staff speak English and they can help you find a guided tour, book a trip or arrange for a hostel in another city.  They even provide free pickups from the train station!

Photo by Graham Woodring

Day 2

Breakfast at the South Gate: Just to the East across the street from Shuyuan hostel is an area packed with art shops, trinket sellers and travel souvenirs. The area is lined with small food carts.  Popular breakfast foods in Xi’an include Baozi (steamed dumplings) or Bing Guo (flat pancake-like wraps with food stuffed inside).  The Bing Guo is particularly good because you can pick and choose which ingredients you want.  The base stuff is normally a fried bread or cracker topped with scallions and shredded potato and some kind of peanut sauce.  From simple scallions and potato to pickled cabbage, seaweed, or sausage, there will always be a great selection to choose from.  The Terracotta Warriors can be a long trip and you might miss lunch, so I suggest that you stock up on some extra food and snacks here (the flat bread and baozi are great for this).

The Terracotta Warriors: A trip to Xi’an is not complete without a visit to the world famous Terracotta army.  Commonly billed as the eighth wonder of the world, the sheer size of the army and the unique detail of each soldier are simply mind-boggling.  To stand in front of the hundreds of warriors and breathe in the cool, dry air permeated with thousands of years of history is an experience one does not soon forget.  There are three hangars where you can view the warriors.  Though you can go in any order you want, the best path is to go in reverse; that is, first to #3, then #2, and then #1.  #1 is the biggest and most impressive of the bunch, so saving the best for last makes the experience more enjoyable.  There is also a small museum adjacent to the hangars, which gives you some history of the warriors and a short film on Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China and for whom the army was constructed.  From the train station, you can take local bus #306 or 307 for a mere 7 RMB and the ride is about 45 minutes to an hour.

A Bike Ride on the City Wall: The city walls of Xi’an are some of the oldest and most well preserved specimens in all of China.  What better way to explore this massive structure than to ride a bike around it?  To get onto the wall you enter at the South Gate and it costs 40 RMB, and to rent a single bike for 100 minutes is 20 RMB (40 RMB for a double).  The people renting the bikes speak English so there is no problem there.  But before you leave, make sure you check out the bike: the tires, the breaks, the seat, etc.  Also, bring some extra water because the people selling cold drinks and snacks will try to charge you exorbitant prices (5 RMB for a bottle of water in my case!).  The walls are about 14 kilometers around so you will get plenty of different views of the city.

Photo by Graham Woodring

Food: Hot Pot is one of the most popular dishes here in Xi’an.  There are a seemingly endless number of hot pot restaurants in all parts of the city.  Anywhere you go in Xi’an, you will find one of these eateries.  The best place for hot pot is in the Muslim quarter.  The Muslim quarter offers all sorts of restaurants and many styles of food, hot pot being the most prominent.  A hot pot meal involves picking your meats and vegetables to go into the soup.  At some restaurants, you can choose from a few different varieties of broth as well as a couple different dipping sauces for your cooked meats and vegetables.  Or, you can just get a mix of everything!   Sitting at an outside table around a bubbling pot of hot pot, sipping ice-cold beers or hot tea, all the while watching the chaos of the Muslim quarter at night pass you by is an experience you won’t soon forget.

Photo by Carrie Marshall

The Muslim Quarter: After eating dinner in the Muslim quarter, you will have the perfect opportunity to explore this fantastic area.  This nighttime experience is a highlight of any trip to Xi’an and comes highly recommended.  Even if you can only squeeze this into a daytime visit, it should not be left off your list.  There are an endless variety of goods to look through to keep you interested: fruit, candy, snacks, toys, chopsticks, art, clothing, and much more.  The seemingly infinite number of lights strung up from building to building and across the streets really adds a magical effect to the night.

The Eyes

Ha! I’ve been going through some of my old papers, journal entries and emails from my three years spent in North East China. I came across this list of gems and I thought I’d share with you as it makes for some entertaining reading. It would take ages to explain everything to you, so if you’re not sure or feeling inquisitive about any, please feel free to comment. The following is a list of things I experienced on a daily basis in Changchun between 2003-2005.

Don’t freak out when…

• - you wash your clothes for the first time and your rinse water is black
• - you blow your nose and your snot is black (coal is used in Changchun and the air is full of smoke)
• - your water is turned off
• - you can’t flush your toilet
• - someone of the same gender holds your hand or asks you to dance ( these are signs of friendship)
• - people in crowds get up close and personal (Our sense of space is different from theirs)
• - everyone cuts in front of you in line or you get pushed out of the way
• - people rummage through your grocery cart while you are shopping
• - people randomly shout out, “Hallo!” and then giggle
• - cars, buses, bikes and mule carts do not wait for you to cross the street. Pedestrians do not have the right of way here.
• - you end up driving with a taxi driver who seems to have a death wish
• - people put food on your plate
• - your empty or near empty glass is refilled to the brim
• - someone wants to touch your hair or the hair on your arms and legs
• - people call you fat to your face
• - people stare
• - someone asks you how much money you make
• - someone raises your sweater or shirt to see if you are wearing enough warm clothes
• - you are greeted at the door by family members in long underwear
• - you get on the train and realize everyone is in their long underwear
• - people smoke in the hospitals
• - you visit a doctor in the hospital and your examination room is full of strangers and other medical people
• - the doctors ask you to lie on the table, pull your shirt up, pull your pants down and give a stool sample with 20-30 people watching you
• - the person in front of you spits a big wad of phlegm on the ground
• - someone farts or burps in public
• - you are staying in a nice hotel and in the middle of the night, you get a phone call asking if you need anything special like a massage or a glass of water
• - you experience overt corruption like bribes to police officers or ticket sellers
• - you take the train and everyone uses the bottom bunks, sometimes yours, as the common sitting area
• - the stairway leading up to your apartment is filled with bicycles, trash, vegetables and other assorted pieces of junk

A street vendor from the Muslim Quarter in Xian, China.

Just before John and I left China for good at the end of 2005, we decided our next big journey through China would definitely have to include a few events at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. We decided we would do everything in our power to procure tickets for our favorite events. This is going to be our honeymoon trip, despite the fact that it’s happening before the wedding. We figure it’s a great way to start married life. We’re returning to the place it all began just before we get married. How appropriate eh?

Just before Christmas, we managed to get our names on a waiting list with CoSport, an official website for Beijing Olympic tickets and hotel accommodations. Having our names on that list allowed us to get in line for a final bid on an event auction being held later this year.

In April, we were contacted by CoSport with a list of available tickets, events and dates. We spent hours trying to work our favorite events into a four day time slot. Regulations state we are required to purchase any of the tickets we initially bid for, which means if we bid on 50 tickets and we get 50 tickets, we have to take them. Alternately, if we only get a third of the tickets we ask for, we are still required to take them.

My first choice was an athletics event which includes the men’s or women’s 100m, 400m, 800m and a few field events. John and I both agreed one or two of the swimming and diving events should be included. Basketball tickets are cheap, so John decided to purchase almost a dozen tickets for us since his parents will be joining us in July 2008 to attend the events with us.

Earlier this week, we found out we’re going to the Olympics! We’ll be attending two of the athletic events we bid on and several basketball games. We didn’t get any tickets to the swimming or diving events.

We have a huge weekend of planning ahead of us. In addition to trying to finalize wedding details with the resort in Mexico, we are also trying to plan our schedules around next summer. First we have to decide whether we want to try to purchase more tickets through live sales at the end of this month. Then we have to decide whether we can swing a few weeks in China before heading back to Taiwan for a few months. 2008 is going to be one helluva year.

Hoo-Yah! We’re going to the Olympics!

Artist: Mandy Wong on GFX Artists

It’s an exciting time of year in Taiwan and the rest of Asia as everyone is gearing up for Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as The Moon Festival or Mooncake Festival.

Mid-Autumn Festival is celebrated every year when the moon is at its brightest, on the 15th day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar. This year, we are celebrating the festival on the 25th of October. Our school has given us a four day holiday. John and I are going to Kenting National Park with some of our co-workers and will be back on Monday to join in the festivities.

Everyone has been chowing down on mooncakes at the office. While beautiful to look at, I’ve never developed a taste for them. My co-workers ooh and ah over how delicious mooncakes are and look at me with disapproval and dismay whenever I decline. I think they taste like sweet oily cardboard.

Mooncakes come in all shapes and sizes with a variety of fillings to choose from. Some are filled with red or green bean paste, or lotus seed paste. They also come filled with nuts, fruit and dates. I’ve even heard of green tea mooncakes! Some of them have an egg yolk in the center to represent the full moon.

If you’re interested in seeing yours truly with a mooncake, take a gander at Joanna’s blog. I did a photo shoot at the end of August with her for Discover Taipei magazine.

There are several stories and legends that are told about the Festival. One of the most famous stories is thought to have played a direct role in Chinese history. During the thirteenth century, mooncakes were allegedly used to hide and pass along plans to rebel against the Mongols when they invaded China. The rebellion took place on the day of the Moon festival, and families were instructed not to eat the mooncakes until that day arrived.

Another ancient legend tells of ancient times when there were ten suns in the sky. The Emperor ordered a famous archer to shoot down the extra nine suns. The archer was rewarded with a magical pill that would make him immortal. Of course, his wife found the magical pill and took it. She was banished to the moon and now lives there as, “Chang’e, the lady living in the moon.” She is most beautiful on the day of the Moon Festival when she comes out to dance on the surface of the moon. That’s why people moon-gaze. Not only are they looking at the brightest, fullest moon of the year, they are also hoping to catch a glimpse of the fabulous lady of the moon!

The eighth lunar month is the busiest month for marriages and the fifteenth day is the most popular. Another legend tells of the “Man in the Moon,” who carries a writing tablet and records the names of all the happy couples who are destined to get married and live happily ever after. He’ll be writing my name down on his tablet this year!

Whatever your reason is for celebrating Mid-Autumn Festival, I for one, will be out moon gazing with my friends and loved ones. Happy Moon Gazing to all!

This is the second part of a two part series at the Taipei City Hospital with Dr. Tzu Ying Lai for Joanna Rees Photography.

After Joanna finished shooting the cupping session, Dr. Tzu demonstrated a scraping method called Gua Sha. Its principles are similar to those of cupping and has similar effects on the body.

Gua sha involves scraping the skin with smooth, pressured strokes. Doctors apply a lubricant to the skin and use a smooth edged tool to scrape the skin. Dr. Tzu used a piece of buffalo horn to scrape long four inch strokes on my upper shoulders. Coins, soup spoons and pieces of polished plastic can also be used to administer this treatment.

Scraping was not a pleasant experience for me. I didn’t like it at all. I think even Joanna was a little shocked when my skin broke out in a red rash within seconds of starting the scraping. My skin felt ultra-sensitive as the toxins were rushing to the surface. It was a strange experience and one I am unlikely to repeat.

When I got home, I decided to delve a little deeper into the mysteries of scraping. I found a website called Gua Sha, by Arya Nielson. She is the author of Gua Sha: A Traditional Technique for Modern Practice and a professor and licensed practioner of East Asian Medicine. Her website states:

“Gua Sha is an East Asian healing technique. Gua means to scrape or rub. Sha is a ‘reddish, elevated, millet-like skin rash’ (aka petechiae).

Sha is the term used to describe Blood stasis in the subcutaneous tissue before and after it is raised as petechiae. Gua Sha is one
technique that intentionally raises Sha rash or petechiae.

In Vietnam the technique is called Cao Yio, in Indonesia: Kerik, in Laos: Khoud Lam.

Gua Sha is used whenever a patient has pain whether associated with an acute or chronic disorder. . There may be aching, tenderness and/or a
knotty feeling in the muscles.

Palpation reveals Sha when normal finger pressure on a patient’s skin causes blanching that is slow to fade. In addition to resolving
musculo skeletal pain, Gua Sha is used to treat as well as prevent common cold, flu, bronchitis, asthma, as well as any chronic disorder
involving pain, congestion of Qi and Blood.”

After looking at Joanna’s pictures, I was able to see a distinct pattern arise. At the time, I wasn’t thinking about it. The darkest areas on my back are problem areas for me. I carry a lot of stress in my neck and right shoulder. This became evident to the doctor within a few seconds of beginning the treatment.

There is a significant difference between my right and left shoulder. Honestly, the pictures look much worse then they are. The redness died down in three days. This technique was a little painful for me, perhaps because it was on an area that is sensitive for me. I had several acupuncture treatments on my shoulder and lower back while I was living in China after getting injured in an accident. I haven’t had many problems lately, so I was really surprised to see it flare up so quickly.

To be honest, the cupping was okay, but I didn’t like the scraping at all. I didn’t find any immediate sense of relief, but as Dr. Tzu said at the end of the session, “All patients are different. Everyone reacts in a different way.”

I think I’ll stay away from the scraping from now on.

For more photography by Joanna Rees, please visit her website at Joanna Rees Photography.

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