Archive for September, 2010

« Older Entries

Just a Minute (September 2010)

September 30th, 2010 by Manda | 2 Comments | Filed in Life

On the last day of every month, I take Just a Minute to reflect on what I’m currently up to.

Stepping… back from everything I was into online. Not that there was even much to begin with, compared to my epic scaling back last year. But I haven’t been a regular visitor on any of my former social networking haunts, and I feel like this isn’t going to change in the coming months. This isn’t unexpected, but I am a little discomfited by it.

Feeling… a little tired of being constantly stressed. I love my new life here in Beijing, but who said life wasn’t stressful from time to time? It’s nothing big, just little daily stresses that get a little irritating over time.

Speaking… tons and tons of 中文 (zhōngwén / Chinese) which I’m sure surprises no one.

Eating… my weight in 包子 (bāozi / steamed dumplings). There is a lady who sells the best 包子 I’ve ever had right outside my apartment. I get them every morning for breakfast, and I’ve affectionately named her as “包子 Lady.”

Exploring… Beijing nightlife every weekend, and loving my experiences so far.

Making… lots of really awesome new friends. A lot of them happen to go to colleges near mine, or live in cities near my school. This means that we’ll be able to hang out and keep in touch when we all return to the States, which I’m stoked about.

Preparing… for my epic trip to climb Huangshan this weekend!!

Tags:

白酒 (Baijiu)

September 26th, 2010 by Manda | 1 Comment | Filed in Life

I tried 白酒 (baijiu / white liquor) for the first time last night. 白酒 is essentially the Chinese equivalent of Japan’s shochu or Korea’s soju, except the alcohol content is a lot higher – 58%! It is pretty lethal stuff. Chinese women use 白酒 as nail polish remover!

I am proud to report the following two things: 1) I drank 白酒 without any ill side effects, and 2) it actually wasn’t as bad as some of my friends have made it out to be. Granted, I had it in a mixed drink and not in a straight up shot, but it pretty much just tasted like a strong mixed drink. Which is fairly obvious, as I don’t see how a proper 白酒 drink could possibly be weak.

I’ve been told that it is routine for travelers that have hard seats on long train rides to get rip-roaring drunk so that the train ride is far more enjoyable than it would be sans-alcohol. I’ll keep you all posted on the state of my liver when I get back from my long journey to and from Hefei and Huangshan…

Tags:

Hefei and Huangshan, Here I Come

September 23rd, 2010 by Manda | 4 Comments | Filed in Travel

I get several days off class the weekend of October 1, which is China’s National Day. Naturally, my friends and I wanted to spend our break traveling. After poring over various guidebooks, we decided that Anhui Province was the best place for us to visit. A group of us purchased train tickets from Beijing to Hefei, and that was that.

Except not. We wanted to go to Huangshan, but that’s not near Hefei and the trains from Beijing to Hefei take almost 24 hours. Not to mention the fact that we had already purchased our ticket to Hefei anyway, and none of us were willing to reroute our trip or spend 24 hours in a hard seat on a slow train. Things were a little dire at this point: change our plans and skip out on Huangshan? Go to Huangshan anyway and skip out on Hefei? Somehow knock out both during break, or just scrap the trip totally? After much calling, updating each other of various developments as we individually did our own research, and scouring the Internet for transportation possibilities, we finally figured out the best way to get to Huangshan. In total, the whole trip involves trains, buses, and for some, flights (because the train tickets to Hefei, and basically every other major city in this country, sold out at lightning speed).

I’m relieved that everything seems to have worked out as of now and I’m also very excited that we have plans to camp out on top of Huangshan overnight. Not looking forward to the long train ride to Hefei in a hard seat but hey, you take what you can get when it comes to traveling on China’s National Day!

All this talk about travel reminds me that I am long overdue to post photos from my time in China so far. A photo dump/picspam will come soon, I promise!

Tags:

« Older Entries