Beijing in 2.5 Days

It's the Holidays but I find myself still talking about my trip to Beijing. It's as though I visited a city, a country, on the verge of a big shift and I can't stop marveling.
Some highlights:

First stop was the Beijing Zoo. First and Foremost I wanted to see pandas. It was in fact my initial desire to put in volunteer work in the Wolong Natural National Panda Reserve.. but I have to confess, I chickened out due to weather and possible disease. So instead I saw them at the Zoo. And with only 2 and a half days in Beijing, I could've spent the entire time just watching these amazing animals.
This is one of the 8 panda cubs that were brought to the zoo for the Olympics.

A grownup panda is really just mostly interested in munching down snacks. Still fascinating to watch. Note that all the pandas look much cleaner in photos! ha!

It was onto the magnificent Forbidden City after that. A good portion of the structures were refurbished, again for the sake of the Olympics and boy could you tell! There were the proverbial crapload of pictures taken that day, but I'll just leave you with this one.

Cleanliness and hygiene could be spotty in certain attractions and establishments. This restaurant calmed my western squeamishness with its shrink-wrapped serving set; but when I saw Dog Stew on the menu, well, let's just say the squeamishness came back.

Another sight on my list was the National Centre for the Performing Arts, also known as The Egg. Another amazing building designed by a French Architect that was not without its own controversies. You may notice by this point that I'm wearing the same thing in a lot of the pictures. Well, I'm a Californian and I was bloody cold there. I wore the same beanie, jacket, and gloves pretty much every day.

And here we are. The Great F&ckin' Wall. It does go on and on, as far as the eye can see; humbling anyone in its presence. And look how incredile those mountain ranges are in the distance. I've never seen anything like it.

I can't even really tell you much more about this picture than: Me + Llama = Awesome!I'm not usually a Starbucks drinker, but at the Great Wall? I had to do it. And with the milk crises going on, the default was soymilk. Perfect!
Definitely a highlight of my trip. I had to visit the 798 Art Zone.
A decommissioned military factory, it is now home to a thriving modern art community. And by chance there was an exhibit melding Christian Dior haute couture and Chinese artists. Here were curtains of pearls you had to walk through to begin the exhibit. This completely blew me away.
Some minor example of Shock Art. Naked chick on a bike (not me!).

I couldn't resist!

Olympic Fevah Ends

Well its over. Two amazing weeks of international competition. I'm an Olympics geek. I cry. And watching the Closing Ceremonies tonight was no exception. I sobbed.

Many pooh-pooh the commercialism of the Olympics. NBC always gets grief for poor coverage. And this year, China got much criticism for the exorbitant amount of money spent (43 Billion dollars!!), its politics, and for giving a cherubic gap-toothed young girl the Milli Vanilli treatment. I've even read some articles playing down the monumental accomplishment of Michael Phelps' 8 gold medals. Are you KIDDING me??! You try having 17 swims, in a variety of 4 different strokes, against the best swimmers in the world. I normally enjoy rooting for the underdog, sometimes the inevitable wins by the United States can make me cringe... but he swam and won with such sincerity and humility, you just had to root for him.

And here it is, are we so defiantly jaded that we cannot enjoy these Olympics? Are we so vehemently so opposed to the thought of the unifying power of the Olympics? Is there possibly a dry eye in the house when you see Iran and Iraq athletes marching in the parade of nations back to back? How about when you see the female athletes marching in for Afghanistan?

I normally love the Olympics anyway. I love seeing the one athlete arriving, proud to compete on behalf of their country. I share the heartbreaking joy when an athlete has their dreams come alive. I cry when I see the agony of a dream dashed in a mere second of a mistake. And this year, I was even more touched watching China stake its claim in history.


As a Chinese-American, I was so absolutely proud to see my countrymen produce such a jaw-dropping spectacle. I teared when I heard Yao-Ming say "I've waited for this day my whole life. Not just me, the whole country." And I can say my entire family was glued to the competition, well into the morning light. For 2 weeks straight I finally saw Asian people, Chinese people on TV. I saw them being competitive, strong, full of life and grace. The Today Show actually highlighted Chinese without accents speaking of fashion, cuisine, culture. I saw small pieces of me finally reflected back, and yes it felt great.

The Beijing Olympics meant so much to its Country and its People. It was opportunity to show the world what The People are all about. And here, on the other side of the world, I think the Chinese community waited with bated breath, hoping we would be proud of what we saw. And, underage gymnasts aside, by no means do I think we were disappointed.