Winner!

I'm excited to announce that Glen will be my first visitor!  He will be touring around China and stopping by Beijing for a few days.  Yippee!

Glen is traveling on business class with his miles... lucky guy.  I didn't even get business class for my flights.  I got to pick the airline though, which was good enough because I got a whole row to myself on the way here. 

When Glen called me the other day on Skype, he said, "Wow, you sound like you are right next dwahr!"  I almost cried hearing that familiar accent.  Never thought I would admit that I miss it.  It's funny how that works.  Although I enjoy my time in Beijing, I do miss everyone back home.  I miss the rhythm of work and play.  In some ways, it was too rhythmic and predictable.  However, I have gone to the extreme opposite and now my life is like a Eliot Carter piece, full of surprises and complexity. Is this what I really wanted?  I can't really answer yet. 

Today I got to witness for the first time what a Chinese-style work meeting is like.  The usual suspects were all there: the client, in this case, the power plant owner; the architect; the mechanical; the structural; and the acoustical.  It's funny how you can tell who the structural engineer is, they always have this serious, scholarly look about them, no matter what country you are at.  I guess it's because they carry a lot of responsibilities. Then there is the lazy mechanical engineer (sorry) that does not want to change his design for noise even though the architect needs additional space and is pushing us to cut back. 

What is different is how the discussions went today.

Our main acoustical engineer prepared a really nice presentation with all the issues and solutions for the project.  Everyone except for one person came on time.  The owner strolled in 30 minutes late and sat right next to me.  He reeked like an alcoholic. Without listening to the presentation, he started rambling about how these solutions better work, or else this and that.  He had this low, boisterous voice, and it stirred everyone else when he complained about something.  The next thing I know, everyone is yelling across each other over the conference table.  Since the room is all plaster, pretty soon it sounded like a pound with a lot of dogs barking at each other.  What was supposed to be a civilized presentation turned into a build-up of noise.  People cut each other off while they are still talking, and an hour later I wasn't sure how much was accomplished by yelling. 

You want a build up of tension with dissonance and end with a bang?  You've got it.

I'm not done yet. 

After the meeting, some of us went out for dinner.  Our manager invited one of the power plant designers.  Big mistake.  He loves to hear his own voice, although I do have to admit that he tells great stories.  He talked about politics.  Actually, almost every conversation I've had over dinner with anyone (especially with some liquor) involved politics and/or history.  There are a few common points regardless of the person:
1.  They always asks me what I think of Obama
2.  They asks me why America has to be involved in other people's business (regarding Libya)
3.  They like to tell me that Taiwan and China are like brothers, and that they are part of the same family.  They also think that America should not be involved in our family business.

After a long tirade and the whole table seemed tired except for this guy, I saved everyone by telling him that I've got to tend to my US clients by going back to the office.  Lucky me!

I should go to bed.  I've had sensory overload for the last few days and have had trouble falling asleep. 
This is going to be an interesting year indeed.

The disappearing Flying Pigeon

Most of you are familiar with my beloved Gazelle Classic, and know how I refuse to get on a faster, lighter bicycle because I love riding my Gazelle in the city.  I love it so much I even got one when I was in the Netherlands two years ago working at DHV.  Although I struggled up the hills on Martha's Vineyard last summer, I still didn't regret riding my Gazelle. I thought about getting the Chinese Gazelle-equivalent here in Beijing, called the Flying Pigeon. 

But I hesitate.

Beijing was and probably still is the city with the most number of bicycles in the world. Once upon a time, the Flying Pigeons were so high in demand, that one would need personal connections to acquire one.  Today, the Flying Pigeons are quickly disappearing and replaced by motorcycles and cars.  When I was here back in 2007, I still thought there were a lot of bicycles.  People would somehow float on the road with their bikes en masse, as if they were in a large group of fish.  I wasn't sure how one would exit out of the pack to make a turn, but they somehow manage.  

What I see now are cars crowding the streets, filled with new drivers that barely know how to drive.  Imagine a sea of teenage drivers.  They barely stop for pedestrians, so why would they be stopping for bicycles?  How safe would one feel riding on the bike lane that is also now used by the motorcycles and cabs?

I found a good piece of writing on Bicycling Magazine about the Flying Pigeon worth the read.  At the end of the article, it talks about a bride and groom riding off their ceremony on a Flying Pigeon and sidesaddle.  Not too bad of an idea :)  I can imagine Sarah and Michael riding off on a tandem bike or something like that.  Ha!  (Michael you know you want one)

Another vehicle that I notice on the streets is the passenger tricycles, aka the Flying Coffin.  These are not as well known as the Flying Pigeons, but apparently the locals and the visitors all agree on the name.  Some Flying Coffins are motored, but there are still some pedaled by man power.  It's somewhat similar to an old school rickshaw, except that it has three wheels.

The reason these are called Flying Coffins is because they are so dangerous, even the locals do not like to ride them.  I often see a group of Coffin owners hanging out at a busy street corner playing cards, waiting for customers.  The only advantage?  They maneuver fast.  They can ride on the sidewalks, or even ride down the wrong direction on the street.  When you wait for a bus or get stuck in traffic for hours in a cab, sometimes this is the only option to be at a place on time.  As many suggested, only ride it when you are desperate.  At least you are facing backwards and can't see the insane course that the driver takes you through.

Surprise Weekend!

I was going to hang out around Beijing last weekend, so on Friday night I got connected to the local cable and watched a bunch of Chinese TV series.  The cable box guy came and installed the setup within 30 min. (wayyyy faster than the Comcast guy).  It works like a Tivo box, which is really nice.  3 hours later at 2AM, I was all in tears from the drama on TV (yeah I'm lame, I know).  I cry very easily when I watch TV and movies.  I even cried watching 127 Hours. 

The next morning I woke up by the ring on my phone.  Hunter and I were going to go hiking on Sunday but then he told me that he couldn't.  I called him and gave him a hard time.  

What else could be more important than getting out of Beijing for a hike?  I said.
Sorry, my friends told me last night that we were going climbing instead. We will be gone for the whole weekend, he said. 
What?  That's even better!  Why didn't you tell me?  You don't remember that I'm a climber?  I asked.
Oh, that's right, I forgot.  Like I said, it was totally unexpected and I only found out at midnight, he replied sheepishly.

After figuring out that I could meet up with them by bus and a cab ride, I packed my climbing gear and ran out the door.  I was so excited about the prospect of climbing outside that I didn't really care how cold it was, and how long it might take me to get there.  The trip looked something like this (almost faster than going to the climbing gym in Beijing):

Subway (30 min) -----> Waiting in line for the bus (30 min) ----> Express Bus ( 1 hour) -----> Taxi (45 min)

The taxi guy stared at me when I sat on the passenger seat and fastened the seat belt.

You don't have to fasten your seat belt, he said.
I said, Thank you, but I think I'm ok with the seat belt fastened.

Going through the mountain roads at 80 km/hr, I was rather glad that I made that decision.  The driver takes up both lanes as he makes the turns, honking as a warning to make sure that the other side won't come colliding.  Exactly the same experience that I had in Sichuan a couple years back.  It was pretty scenic despite of the horrific driving.  I even saw some remnants of the great wall along the way.

After about 45 minutes, the taxi driver dropped me off by the river called Baihe (White River) in a small village.  I saw a few people climbing across the river, and the adrenaline seems to rush in a bit just looking at the rock faces. 

The taxi

I found Hunter and his friends by the river in one of the crags.  There was a guy name Mantou (steamed bun) and his girlfriend Gaga.  And another guy name Daxue (big snow).  I don't know why everyone has nicknames here, but that's all I know about them.

Mantou leading

Mantou is clearly the strongest climber of the group, and he lead most of the climbs that we did.  His girlfriend Gaga is also an amazing climber, and they have only been climbing since last summer!  Sigh - I need to work on my techniques.  Big Snow is really out of shape and currently a bit overweight, so he really couldn't get up much.  It was Hunter's first time climbing outside, and really his first week climbing, but he weighs only about 10 lbs more than me and climbed up most of the 5.10 climbs relatively quickly.  We all agreed that he's got talent, and that he should really join us and be as obsessed as we are into climbing.  Ha!

The rocks are relatively slick and I needed a lot of adjusting.  Although we were all freezing our asses off in the cold, it was a great first weekend out climbing.  I'm super psyched to have met these people, and I hope I will be able to make time to come out every weekend with them to Baihe!