The Terracotta Army

Xi'an's biggest tourist attraction is undoubtedly the Terracotta Warriors. This 3000 year old, completely lifesize ceramic army was only discovered about 30 years ago by a local farmer digging a well. Today the site is still an active archeaological site with thousands of broken and standing soldiers of all ranks, life-size horses, and a full array of ancient weapons spread over half a mile in 3 plots.

Some of the best restored figures are on display on site with real weapons found alongside the soldiers. There were thousands of actual spears, bows and arrows, swords and knives, and crossbows as well as fully equipped chariots.

The sheer number of warriors (over 8,000) is impressive enough, but what really shocked me is the amount of detail in each and every soldier and weapon. Every figure's face and hair is completely unique and retains traces of a once vividly colorful past. Their uniforms, armor, and vestments all have a surprising amount of detail and movement. All weapons are ready for use against any potential enemy, all armed and ready to protect the tomb of Emperor Qin, the first emperor of unified China.

More Fireworks!

We received the new year nearby at our friend Emelie's house. She and her roommates live in the hutong; the old, disappearing Beijing neighborhoods. Her home has a rooftop balcony which allowed us a great view of the night's fireworks.

These are the rooftops and lanterns typical of the hutong (胡同)

Ross

Silvia

Fireworks!

Chinese New Year, called 春节 ( pronounced CHOO-en jiE, means Spring Festival) is in my opinion the best time of year in China. Chinese people go crazy with fireworks for days and days. Here are some pictures of the pre-midnight fireworks we saw from home.

from Silvia's room

upstairs from the open balcony, a bunch of fireworks going off right inside our complex

A Nice Taxi Ride

Beijing is a city with great public transportation. Subways and buses get you anywhere you need quickly, cheaply and reliably. However taxis are a whole lot more fun! They're the most expensive form of public transportation, but sometimes the views are well worth the price. Here are some pictures from a particularly nice taxi ride Ross and I took from a friend's house in the Guomao (国贸) area to our home in BeiXinQiao (北新桥).

This is GuoMao. One of the major commercial areas of Beijing, it's known for it's tall buildings, lights, shops and lots of other things every hyper-consumer and tourist needs.

The three pictures above show the new CCTV (Chinese Central Television, the ONLY major source of tv in China) Tower. It's one of the buildings the Chinese use as a symbol of their prosperity, acheivement, and giant strides into modernity. It was completed in time for the Olympics along with the JinMao building (in the last picture, the tapered building on the right), the tallest building in Beijing.

Spring Festival!!!

We have some time off coming up for Chinese New Years this weekend. New Year's Eve is on Sunday the 25th, and on the 26th we're all flying to Xi'an ( 西安, pronounced SHE-AN in a high tone) . It's the ancient capital of China, and most famous for the Terracotta Army. Our friend Ruby is originally from Xi'an, so she's going home for the holiday and we're all tagging along. SHe'll be showing us around, so we have a great tour guide with us. Will post photos as soon as I can...

A garden in Winter

I've claimed the downstairs balcony as my own and made it into the apartment's garden. Right next to the living room, it's quickly become the object of my affection during these increasingly cold and dry Winter months. With the exception of evergreens, the city is pretty much depleted of all green things. From high up, looking down at the city often resembles a sea of sharp brown tree branches. In just a few weeks the season's brown/grey colors will start to be replaced with with the colorful explosions from plum and cherry blossoms like the pink plant centered in the picture above. Their blooming coincides with Chinese New Year and seem to brighten up daytime the same way fireworks light up nighttime's skies.

The succulents

I have mostly tropical plants because they remind me of home. My favorite is the one pictured above near the top left corner. It's a tropical vine of sorts with a kind of cup trap at the tip of each leaf it uses to catch bugs for nutrients.

There are a ton of plants around the house, not just in the blacony. The plants in the foreground are inside the house, and there are also plants upstairs and in my bedroom.
On the wall on the top left corner of the picture above is a sign that these days is a common sight all over China. It's a red and gold sign with the character 福 (read fu, in a rising tone as if you're asking a question) hung upside down in celebration of the Chinese New Year, it simply says good fortune. It's hung upside down to confuse evil spirits and generally keep them away. The one we have on our front door was a giveaway from KFC, with a giant 福 and tiny little KFC logos all over the background.

Ice skating

Being the proper Florida boy I am, I've only ice skated about twice in my life. Near my home in Beijing there is a huge ancient artificial lake that freezes over from December to February. Said lake is called Houhai (后海), and while just 15 years ago a typical neighborhood, today it's a big bar and restaurant center complete with ancient ceremonial towers...and in Winter ice skating. Silvia, some friends and I went the other afternoon, and I learned to ice skate!

So while we skated, on this one opening in the ice some old Chinese people thought it would be perfect to jump in. I've only seen things like this on television, and now feeling how cold days like that one really are I remain more confused than ever on why Chinese people will only drink hot water all year long, then jump into a frozen lake in Winter for health purposes.

Christmas Crafts

I taught a special Christmas class early Christmas week. All the kids loved it because they got to make ornaments and cut out snowflakes. Here are some of my favorite students and their artwork.

A visitor

A good friend of mine from high school, Jackie, came to Beijing last week. She's a dancer at the
Martha Graham Dance Company and made it here on tour. I saw her perform last Friday night at the Egg, here next to Tian'anmen Square. It had been a really long time since we'd last seen each other, but everything was just like high school. In fact better, because we're both pretty damn happy where we find ourselves in our lives. We caught up and laughed a bunch, and I took her and her company friends out when they weren't performing.

My favorite breakfast place in Beijing, Cafe Zarah. We met up early one morning and had a fantastic breakfast. My coffee (on the left) is a café au lait served in a bowl, something Jackie found funny.

雍和宫 (YongHeGong) is a temple just half a kilometer north of my apartment. It's one of the most famous sites to see here in Beijing, and embarrassingly, I'd never been it. So Jackie and I went together.

We had so much fun. I miss her so much already :(

Her swank hotel in the financial hub of the city set up a n awesome gingerbread town with lights and all kinds of delicious looking stuff. The first sign of Christmas...

Thanksgiving Weekend

Early in the week, I made traditional Thanksgiving hand turkeys with my kids. I think they get it, but I'm not too sure. Thanksgiving's symbols are mostly alien to Chinese people so trying to tell them why they should care about pies and Pilgrims sometimes gets muddy.
FUN FACT: the Chinese word for turkey is 火鸡 [huǒjī] which is literally "fire chicken"

Thanksgiving happened at our local Friday's. It was a fairly trashy choice I guess, but we enjoyed it. A bunch of appetizers and a bunch of long island iced teas helped make this Thanksgiving memorable. It was a dream come true of sorts to have a fancy cheeseburger Thanksgiving dinner.

Friday morning we saw a sheep get killed just down the block. I think Ross noticed it first just outside my bedroom window. Some of our neighbors (I figure) brought the sheep into our complex, laid it onto the ground near a sewer drain, and slit away. I must tell you this is the first time I see anything like this by here. I must be lucky.