I woke up, looked over my notes once more, and then took my test. Now that I’ve taken the test, I wish that I would have studied a little more for it, but then again, I don’t know what I would have studied. The test was much like all of the other 6 tests that we have taken thus far, but there was one interesting essay on the test that I would like to share.
The topic of the essay was Kung Fu Panda, and the crux of the essay was that China was “selling its culture and history” in order to make money. When faced with this question, we have to ask, is that even a bad thing? What were the 2008 Olympics? What is part of the motive for Chinese investment in Africa and other parts of the world? As is the case with Kung Fu Panda these other activities are also means of China increasing their prestige and recognition across the globe. What I did find interesting in the article was that I Chinese person would even say that Kung Fu Panda was a Chinese movie at all. It was made in the States by American designers, produced in the States, and then marketed to an American audience…
After the test, I came back to the room for a little while and talked to Morgan on Skype before going to eat at the Chinese table. Today was took our lunch at a small SiChuan restaurant beside The Legend of Spice. Today’s Chinese table was unlike the other ones that I have attended; there were only 5 of us total at the meal, 2 teachers and 3 students. All of the groups were like that. My group consisted of Christina and Yuki, and the teachers were Teacher Sun and another 3rd year teacher whose name escapes me. We ordered belt-fish, green beans with peppers, eggplant covered with bell peppers and onions, bok-choy, and spicy tofu. We each complimented the meal with a bowl of white rice, and I ordered none other than Beijing’s finesse Yanking Beer. The best part of the meal was that we didn’t have to put in any money of our own. Food always tastes better, drinks always drink better, when you don’t have to pay for it yourself.
We didn’t get back to the dorm until around 2:00 in the afternoon, and I had an hour before I was going to meet my host mom. Over the past 5 days, I have been texting her about borrowing a bike from them, if it was not too much trouble for them. She said that she could definitely get a bike for me; I had but to wait a few days for them to get it to me. I met her at the back door of the dorm (which has essentially become to front door of the hotel due to the construction), and the bike switched owners. My steed is a little woman’s style Giant with a basket on the front, a rack over the back wheel, and front and back fenders. That set-up – basket, fenders, and rack – seems to be the standard in China, and I am still getting used to having it.
When I got the bike, it was adjusted for my host mother who is more than a foot shorter than me. After parting ways with my host mom, I rode the bike over to a bike-fixing shop on campus, and the guy there lifted the seat up for me. I had my own bike! There was only one thing that I could do in a situation such as the one in which I found myself: I had to go on a bike ride. I rode north, looking for HaiDian Church, as I’d never been there save by subway or taxi. I wanted to see what was in between the MinZu and the church, and I found a lot of cool stuff. Riding a bike to the church is definitely the way to go: it only took me around 15-20 minutes to get there, which is less than half the time that it takes on a subway.
From there, I took a ride up to the ZhongGuanCun electronics emporium, and then I turned south to ride back in the direction of campus. I took an alternate route back towards MinZu, following a road that parallels ZhongGuanCun South Street, which is the street that I see when I look out of my window. I am looking at it now, as a matter of fact. I passed the school, then traveled farther south, looking at a park on the south side of the school, and then riding up a back street to get to the East Gate.
I came back up to the room, showered, checked the location of my dinner date tonight, and then walked over to the subway station. Jesse, Mark, Jocelyn and I had decided to eat at the world-famous Li Qun roast duck restaurant. We took the subway to the QianMen stop, and Jesse informed us that we would be meeting another one of her American friends – Biscuet. I have been hearing about Biscuet for the last three years, and to finally get to meet him is a little surreal. You can thank the students of Auburn, and also Passion, for building up a legend around this guy. I was not disappointed. He works for English Learners in China (or some other company who goes by the acronym ELIC), splitting his time between China, Vietnam, North and South Korea, and the US. His work sounds like a dream. Mark, Jocelyn, and I got to know Biscuet a little better while we were walking to find the famous restaurant.
Li Qun Roast Duck is in a hutong, in the backside of nowhere southeast of Tian’An Men. We passed the restaurant once, and had to retrace our steps and ask directions on no less than three occasions. We finally found the restaurant, and believe me when I say that it was one of the best-smelling places that I have smelled in China. We had to wait a little while to get a table, and in the meantime, we ordered two ducks for the 5 of us. The restaurant was a little on the pricy side, and I was a little doubtful when we finally sat down and looked at the menu. But we were already sitting down at the table; there was nothing that I could do at this point. Then, they brought out the food. This was the food roster: two roast ducks, the “dark” meat roasted – one covered in cumin and the other in Chinese BBQ, eggplant, egg rolls, lotus, peanuts in vinegar, and a lot more that I can’t even remember. I immediately cast aside all of my doubts about the price of the food. It was amazing, and they hadn’t even brought out the duck yet. When they finally did, I was a believer. Li Qun deserves the name of being the best roast duck restaurant in this city, and possibly even the best roast duck restaurant in the world.
We, to be frank, gorged ourselves on the meal, myself especially, as the food at Chinese table left something to be desired. We chatted for about 1-½ hours while we ate, as dining at a Chinese restaurant always takes a little while.
Then, walked back towards the QianMen station. On the way, we talked about the state of the church in China, and Jesse had some very intriguing perspectives about house churches and the “hidden” church here. We literally sat in the subway station for 45 minutes, talking about the Church. Then we hopped on the subway back to the dorm. I said goodbye to Jesse and Jocelyn at my subway station (Mark and Biscuet had already parted ways with us), and then went back to the dorm to write a letter and emails.
I’ll write soon!
Love,
Jamey
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