A Little Sad...

Picture of Dawangjing Village from last Saturday.  

To continue the story about the migrant school, a friend of mine called CMC and found out that the entire village will be torn down to make way for new real estate developments.  I guess this is the normal way of life for the migrant worker.  

While I'm all for economic development and prosperity, I feel sorry for those who lost their homes and must pick up and leave.  I met a little girl last week who was really adorable, and I wonder what's going to happen to her.  

It doesn't seem fair to see people like her who must uproot themselves constantly.  Meanwhile I'm sitting in a comfortable apartment building which probably sits at a place where at one point was another migrant workers' village.

So Much For That...

Just when I started to think about my lesson plan for Saturday's class, the volunteer coordinator called me tonight and delivered the bad news. The school that I was assigned to teach at was KNOCKED DOWN! The other volunteers in my team were pretty shocked as well. Without a school to teach at, we're on standby until further notice.

Oh well. So much for that. Soooo China....

Tokyo and Mount Fuji anybody?

My family and I will tour Japan during the first week of August, so I'm thinking about going to Tokyo a few days earlier to hang out in the city and climb Mount Fuji. I hear it's an awesome climb, anybody can do it, and July/August are the perfect months to go. Who's with me?

Introducing...my favorite restaurants in Beijing

I've decided to keep a running list of favorite restaurants in Beijing. Check them out!

Must you be so honest?

Sometimes I wish the Chinese weren't so honest.

While hosting a couple of guests tonight for dinner, a laowei said to me, "You look like you're seventeen."

Before I had a chance to feel good about myself, a Chinese lady blurted, "Yeah but look at her hands. She's not that young."

::sigh::

Funeral Chong!

This morning, while I moved into my new office and unpacked some of my belongings, I found a box that hadn't been opened since Shanghai. Upon opening, I discovered...FUNERAL CHONG! For those of you who don't know, I had a mini-me clay replica made at Yu Gardens back in Dec 2007. I think I got ripped off and paid 150 RMB for the clay figurine, and I wasn't pleased with the results at all. The artist gave me really baggy eyes and a giant nose :( maybe that's what I really look like.

Anyway, one day when Jamie came into my room, she saw mini-me propped up on the TV next to an incense burner. LOL...of course, being the superstitious girl she was, she nicknamed it FUNERAL CHONG and told me to put it away! So FC was shoved into a drawer, and followed me up to Beijing. Except when I opened the box this morning, I found her shattered in pieces!

Now what? FC...sort of died! Help! I need to burn some good luck oil or something!

Before: Posing with FC at Yu Gardens

After: FC no longer here!

Miss Chong is back!

It seems like my latest wish to teach again has been fulfilled :).

I came across an article the other day about an NGO called Compassion for Migrant Children and decided to check it out. Turns out, CMC offers several social & educational programs to address Beijing's migrant children population. There's a volunteer program on Saturdays, and volunteers can teach English or Art classes for a few hours/week.

Hmm...sounds like the perfect volunteer opportunity for me :).

Anyway, I had an interview today (it really wasn't an interview) and learned the following:

• There's about 200 million migrants and 2 million migrant children in China
• 500,000 of them live in Beijing
• Migrant children are sometimes coined as "China's forgotten children" - they face sub-par education, inadequate healthcare, unstable residence, extreme poverty, poor hygienic conditions and low self-esteem
  
• The schools they attend are usually dilapidated, overcrowded, and lack clean drinking water and proper lavatories
• There was a 360% increase in the migrant children population from 1997 - 2004, ages 5-14
• According to UNESCO, migrants have contributed to 16% of China's GDP over the past two decades

Pretty depressing right? The list can go on and on...

Orientation & training will start next week. I'm going to teach 2 classes per Saturday, about 25 kids per class.

This will be a very different experience than SHSID.

I <3 Shanghai and Beijing!

Whenever I tell people I've lived in both Shanghai and Beijing, someone will usually ask me, "Which city do you like better?" For some reason, the Shanghainese and the Beijingers have a pretty fierce rivalry, and it can get pretty ugly sometimes. The locals can't stand each other, and the expats will get into heated arguments over which city is better. Even worse, when I tell people which city I like, it's usually followed with, "Oh, I can tell what type of person you are."

Quite frankly, I like both cities. As a former New Yorker, Shanghai is probably closer to home, but Beijing isn't exactly suburbia either. Some will argue that Beijing has more culture and history - after all, it does have the Great Wall, Forbidden City and China's national treasures. It is the capital of China and has been since the Ming Dynasty. But to say that Shanghai is completely devoid of culture is unfair as well. I used to love walking through the French Concession areas and wandering thru the lane houses built by the French, British and Russians and imagine what the city was like during its Lust,Caution-esque days. You can catch the subway up to the Hongkou area and wander thru slum villages and watch people bathe and do their dishes out in the open, just like the Beijing hutongs. Some will say that the Shanghainese are better looking (ok, they do dress better down there...sorry!), but the Beijingers are also a nicer bunch. And you know what? Beijingers have central heating systems while the Shanghainese (unless you're rich) rely on the little itty bitty wall units, which I absolutely hate. Yuck.

Anyway, whenever people pick on either city, I find myself getting defensive. I was at a cocktail event in Shanghai this past Thursday when an older fellow started to trash Beijing. He went on and on about everything that was wrong with the city, to the point where I got irritated and thought, "Don't trash my city." I kept my mouth shut until a woman cut in and said, "Well, I live in Shanghai and I like Beijing better." As weird as this may sound, I instantly bonded with her.

I refuse to choose sides. I have to admit, I'm still adjusting to life in Beijing, but it certainly has its pockets of unique and cool places that are unlike any other. Like seeing the Forbidden City late at night while on the way to dinner. Or eating authentic Russian food that's only steps away from my apartment (really good borscht!). Or eating some of the best Korean food (and tonkatsu!) in the Wu. I also love going to the hutong bars and restaurants, for those are unlike any other places in the world. And you know what? I love Shanghai too. I miss going to Paul's at the Ritz, eating(notice I do a lot of eating!) at Mesa Manifesto on the rooftop terrace, eating 5 RMB niu rou la mian at the Muslim noodle shop (sometimes upgrading to the 8 RMB ji dan la mian) and many, many other places. I miss getting my nails done at Frangipani, then spending 150 RMB at all-you-can-eat Uminosachi and then visiting the bag lady Kong Li. I miss grabbing coffee at the Starbuck's at XTD, working out at Alexander, and grabbing drinks at Fountain. And of course, I miss the kids and the teachers at SHSID. When I really think and look back, I realize the one thing that has made all of these past and current experiences memorable are the people.

So thanks to all of you who made and continuously make my journey so wonderful. And the next time anybody asks which city I like better, I'm going to tell you, I love both.Dinner this wknd with Kanako at Afternoon Tea, XTD, Shanghai

Laughing with Amy & Mike at this greeting card in Beijing. Anybody know a Gay?

Wondering what Britney has to do with APEC Leaders Pledging Quick Action on the Global Financial Crisis (if you look closely, that's the headline on the magazine cover!)

Having brunch at La Creperie, near the Hengshan Lu/Dongping Lu area
Catching up with Will at La Creperie

Eating brunch at Azul Viva with Mike

Eating Taiwanese desserts with Joyce at Shin Kong Mall in Beijing

Eating Vietnamese food at Le Little Saigon in Beijing

Hanging out with Mike at M1NT in Shanghai

Laughing at Kanako's darts throwing skills (she got a lot better later on)