January updates

My 2013 got off to a busy start! I started the new year in Sichuan, where I attended my cousin's wedding and saw tons of relatives whom I had not seen since 2004. All of the cousins around my age are of course grown up with jobs and/or girlfriends, and all of the cousins 6-12 years older than me are now parents. This also means that those new babies or toddlers.

It was also nice to appreciate the noticeably slower and more relaxed pace of life in Sichuan. I first went to Chengdu, which is the capital of Sichuan and considered to be a medium-sized city. Wikipedia says "Chengdu outnumbers Shanghai in the number of tea houses and bars despite having less than half the population. The inhabitants have a reputation in China for having a laid-back attitude and for knowing how to enjoy life." It's difficult to me to judge, as I work in Beijing and have only ever vacationed in Sichuan. After many visits, rounds of food, and a visit to the giant panda breeding center, I moved on to Deyang, a suburb one hour away from Chengdu, where I continued to see my aunts, uncles, and cousins, enjoy the relaxing Sichuan lifestyle, and eat way too much. Although I was only in Deyang for 3 nights, I definitely got a feel for a typical night: dinner, then a bar or KTV where drinks and more snacks are ordered, and then to a restaurant for a "midnight snack." I should emphasize that the KTV snacks were not snacks in the Western or even the Beijing sense; these snacks ranged from spicy pickled seaweed to chicken wings to ginormous fruit plates. The midnight snacks I tried were dumplings in a sweet and spicy sauce and roasted meats. I think I averaged a gain of 1 kilo for every day that I was in Sichuan.

A typical bowl of 5RMB Sichuan noodles.

I think this quote very accurately describes giant panda habits: Panda spends 98 percent of their time eating or sleeping. The other two percent, according to a Chinese book, is spent “wondering and enjoying.”

A plastic glove wasn't enough to keep our clothes from the drippy, spicy, oily goodness. But it was worth it.

With the cutest nephew ever:)

I also took a trip with my mom to Singapore and Malaysia. Unfortunately, the sudden changes of climate that I was putting my body through (-5 and dry in Beijing, 1 and humid in Chengdu, back to -5 and dry in Beijing, and 30 and wet in Singapore) didn't help my cough and I ended up getting a throat infection. Anyways, Malaysia has been a crossroads of East Asian, Southeast Asian, Middle East, and even European cultures for hundreds of years. The biggest influences are by far the Chinese, Indian, and Malay, and this is especially evident in the cuisine but also in the architecture, culture, religion, and every aspect of society. It was pretty amazing that 3rd or 4th generation Chinese were still quite in touch with Chinese culture, and because of the Chinese presence (as locals and as tourists) many Malaysians who were not from Chinese descent also were able to speak Mandarin.

A protest in the Chinatown of Kuala Lumpur

Cambodian style temple

Getting colorfully covered up at the National Mosque

Back in Beijing, we had an extremely polluted month. After having lived here for several months already, I was already used to smoggy days with very low visibility, little to no wind, and PM2.5 levels 2, 3, or 4 times the WHO recommended level. This time, it was especially bad as the weather conditions caused the pollution to accumulate for almost a week. Not only were flights delayed because of the low visibility (including our flight back from Singapore), but there was even a fire in Shanghai that went unnoticed for 3 hours because it just blended in with the pollution! If you want to read more, there's plenty on the internet, and my friend S sent me this article which does a good job of describing the situation. Anyways, the pollution I guess is one of the worst parts of living in this city, since it really can affect so many aspects of your life. Living in California, the air quality has always been something that I (and most other Californians) take for granted, and it really is a basic human right to live in a clean and safe environment.

A hazy day in Chaoyang

So, that provided a nice segue into my work life, as all of the projects that I'm working on have some kind of contribution to energy efficiency or emissions reductions. At the end of January my supervisor B was in Beijing on mission from Vienna. I attended some meetings with her and definitely got a better understanding of UNIDO projects, relationships with stakeholders and counterparts, the frustrations that come with the slow pace and inefficient bureaucracies that are unfortunately typical of the non-profit or governmental sectors, but also a personal satisfaction of contributing to a greater cause that the private sector doesn't really provide. Working on an international level is also exhausting, as one must be aware of the constantly changing politics and minutiae of cultural sensitivity. This isn't the case in China, but oftentimes the project team and stakeholders invest time and effort into creating a meaningful relationship with a certain government organization, and all that work is wasted with a change of government. Anyways, B is quite young and has had a variety of experiences in the private and public sector and lived in several countries and continents, so she always had some interesting stories and spot-on advice.

Finally, what would a January in sub-zero temperatures be without a snow and ice festival? Even though Harbin was too far and overwhelming, and the mere thought of -35C was enough to scare us off, my friends and I still managed to go to the Longqing Gorge Ice Sculpture Festival. 

back to biking

Earlier this week, I attended a talk about bike culture in Beijing. This is a really interesting topic that I can’t help but muse about, considering how connected the bicycle has been with Beijing. But before I talk about Beijing’s relationship with biking, I’ll talk about my own relationship with biking. Despite having learned to bike as most young children in the US, there was a lack of biking throughout most of my life. Bicycle culture has always been associated with a small set of the population, and you can go days in Southern California without seeing a single bike (obviously, certain roads and parks are more bike-friendly but in general it’s not so common to share the road). Mainly my experiences in Europe were what brought biking back into my life. Biking isn’t just a distant idea, or for semi-professional riders, but rather an everyday activity, a hobby that anybody can enjoy, and most importantly an extremely convenient and healthy way to get around. During my year in Valencia, I whole-heartedly embraced biking which became a part of my everyday life. I used Valenbisi (the extremely popular and successful bike-sharing program in Valencia) all the time, bought my own bike when Valenbisi was not enough for my transportation needs, and took mini-trips with friends in Valencia and in the surrounding area. I met quite a few people who were new bike enthusiasts or recreational bikers or semi-professionals, but they all shared a passion for biking which was captivating and infectious. Biking became a social activity and something that I could share and find in common with pretty much anybody in Valencia. And when my 1-year Valenbisi subscription expired my last night in Valencia, it was nothing if not symbolic of time in Valencia.

So, after coming to Beijing, it’s disappointing to say that I haven’t biked at all. Compared to the extremely small and easy to navigate Valencia, Beijing is enormous and scary. It took me weeks, if not months, just to understand the traffic patterns and be able to cross confidently. How would I ever brave the crowded streets that are filled with massive groups of pedestrians, motorcycles traveling in every direction, and cars that never seem to respect any traffic law? There are other reasons (or excuses) that I had for avoiding biking… the cold, the wind, the pollution. I would never want or be able to drive a vehicle in this city, but the buses and subways are effective enough to get around in Beijing. This leads me to the bicycle culture talk, which first highlighted the extremely quick decline of biking in Beijing and then discussed the current bicycle culture, and where biking will stand in Beijing’s future. In the past 25 years, the role of the bike has changed from the mode of transportation used by the majority of the population to a “backwards” symbol. The car has by far become the preferred mode of transportation and a status symbol, to the point where young men must have cars to find girlfriends. (Most famous example is a Chinese dating show contestant who said "I'd rather weep in a BMW than laugh on the backseat of a bicycle”… this is extremely disturbing to me but a good representation of how modern Chinese society feels about bikes and cars). And even though people realize that traveling by a bike will get you to your destination more quickly than a car, they wouldn’t want to trade the efficiency or speed of a car for a bike. Despite the fact that there are still many people who use bikes for transportation or their business (e.g. selling fruits, magazines, gloves, etc.) in the city, bicycles are on the decline in a city that certainly does not need more motor vehicles. So, the good news? Recreational bike culture and fixed gear culture are becoming popular in China, and the government is also realizing the importance of bikes and using initiatives such as bike-loaning programs to promote cycling.

The speaker also tried to dispel some of the misconceptions surrounding the health effects of biking in polluted areas. He cited some studies that show that the air quality is better outdoors than inside of a car, where the air is polluted with fumes from your own car engine as well as the fixtures and upholstery of the car. He also recommended for bikers to ride at slower speeds to avoid accidents and keep their heart rates low.

In the end, it’ll be up to both city governments to make bikers feel safer and take advantage of the already-existing wide bike lanes, as well as grassroots organizations to promote biking as a healthy and trendy alternative to cars. And as for me, I probably won’t be making my daily commute on a bicycle but I’ll be looking for opportunities to get over my fear and get out biking!

Valuable lessons from a dinner of zaatar, hummus, and conversation in Beijing

1. Affordable, authentic international cuisine does exist in Beijing... you just have to look in the right places  

The truth is that I haven’t tried too many foreign restaurants in Beijing, but I’m a skeptic. Coming from Southern California, and especially after living in LA, I’ve been spoiled with cheap and authentic ethnic foods from all corners of the world. Mexican, Korean, Chinese, Ethiopian, Salvadoran, Brazilian, Persian, Japanese... the list goes on and on. You can see why I’d rather just stick to Chinese food in Beijing. I did try Japanese near my work (mediocre and a rip-off), Korean near Chaoyangmen (not bad but that was more thanks to the situation rather than the chef, since I was freezing cold and they basically put paste, noodles, and kimchi into a hot soup), and Mexican food in the hip hutongs by Lama Temple (not great and pricey). The common factor? I won’t be going back to any of these places. However, last night’s find left me full and satisfied- my friend YJ and I chatted with the restaurant owner, the food was extremely affordable and yummy, and it was clearly quite authentic as Arabic was spoken much more than Chinese.

2. Who says Chinese is difficult? 

Arabic speakers have the capability to dominate the Chinese language within months. Hey, if you already speak the #1 most difficult language to learn in the world, the #2 should be cake. Or honey-soaked baklava 

3. Flight tickets are made easy by Gaza hackers

They’re capable of more than just attacking Israeli websites- identity theft and purchasing flight tickets has become a big money-maker for Palestine hackers.

Here’s how it goes down: Let’s say you're going to purchase an Istanbul-Tokyo flight. You talk to your friendly Palestinian hacker bud, who can purchase this ticket using someone else’s credit or debit card, and being in Gaza, I guess Interpol isn’t able to track their activity. Generally they target individuals with $100,000+ in their account, who are less likely to notice when $2000 disappears. Then you pay them half of the value of the ticket, so you’re pretty happy about the deal that you just got, and of course your friendly hacker has just made $1000 at the click of a mouse. 

My reaction? First, shock and anger. Identity theft is so common that it can and does happen to anybody- I can think of 3 instances off the top of my head. Oh yeah, and stealing is also a crime- the pathway may be completely wireless but there’s always an entirely innocent victim on the other end. My next reaction was, oddly, kind of smug. The world has been screwing over the Palestinians for over half a century, of course not just politically but also economically and socially. At least the identity theft business is one way for them to screw over the rest of the world, if in a circular way the victims of identity theft are reimbursed by their financial institutions, which are the same entities that control much of the high-level international politics that makes decisions that affect Palestine. Yes, it's a stretch. Anyways this brings me to my final reaction- conflicted and helpless. The crime of identity theft is still being committed against innocent victims, just as the Palestinian conflict has taken the life of so many innocent victims. There’s no way that these two (or other) injustices can be compared, and even if we could, two wrongs still do not make a right. It’s unfortunate but much of society is how it is because somebody benefits from screwing over someone else. 

Zhongshan Park: A lesson on dating in China

Zhongshan is your typical park in China- you can enjoy great views of the Forbidden city while strolling by a lake, wander among the centuries-old trees, and of course visit some temples and pavilions. However, the REAL attraction that we found two weekends ago was the weekend afternoon dating gathering. (Perhaps parent-led dating auction would be a better term...)  In one little area of the park, there were at least 300 Chinese, generally of the 50+ demographic, looking for potential sons- and daughters-in-laws. Yep, these parents are either so concerned that their children will stay forever single, are too eager for some grandchildren, or just bored that they gather in the park to meet others with a common purpose to trade info and set up their kids.  The typical participant was sitting with a description of their still single daughter or son: DOB, city, something education or career related, height, and in some cases a photo or even a monthly salary. Even though the demographics might imply that Chinese males have trouble finding a spouse, being at Zhongshan Park told me quite the opposite. I'd say over 80% of the ads were for daughters rather than sons, because not only is there societal pressure on females to be married before the age of 30, but there's also the biological clock ticking and the fact that males can easily date and marry when they're older without being considered an old maid.

Although this phenomenon may seem completely strange to a Westerner, in both an awful and entertaining way, it's really not so strange in other parts of the world especially in Asia. Dating and marriage are treated so differently in each culture, and it's quite fascinating how expectations and the family's role change in each place. I'll give you a typical Chinese example. My aunt and uncle have been working on a set-up for awhile now; the girl is my aunt's co-worker and friend and the guy is my uncle's acquaintance from the gym. My aunt kept quizzing my uncle about this guy: how tall is he? what do his parents do? how educated are his parents have? where did he graduate from? These questions may not be on the top of the list for an American girl, but they do represent the Chinese priorities. I was shocked to find a father list his daughter's monthly salary (a respectable 5000RMB/month)- these private details, along with age, are such a no-no in the American dating world that there's people who have been dating years and still don't know their boyfriend or girlfriend's salary! Western society and Hollywood are always reminding us to look beyond the physical, material, and financial to find true love, and this guy is ADVERTISING his daughter's salary?!? This is definitely going to attract the wrong type of golddigger husband, I thought. However, looking at this from the Chinese perspective, adding this piece of information makes a lot of sense; neither this girl nor her father will consider a potential husband who makes significant less than her and on the flipside, the potential husband would most likely suffer a blow to his ego if his wife was a bigger bread-winner. To them, a salary is actually a very practical thing to advertise.

Lately, there's been some even crazier dating phenomena. Social media and advertising have been taken to a whole new level... read more here.

Dating and networking frenzy

A more peaceful part of Zhongshan

around Beijing

Despite some rainy days, I’ve been venturing out despite rainy, windy, snowy, or just plain cold weather. Here are some of the sights in and around Beijing that I’ve visited so far.

National Museum: By far the most thorough security I’ve gone through ever for a museum. My bag went through 2 different metal detectors, and everybody was given a thorough pat-down before entering. Otherwise, the museum itself was pretty interesting- not too overwhelming but some nice exhibits. As always some were difficult to appreciate for foreigners as there was no English.

Confucius Temple: A popular sight in Beijing where offerings and sacrifices were made to Confucius. We also stumbled across brief dance performance in the temple! I ended sacrificing my gloves to Confucius though...

Shanhaiguan (山海关): My first trip to the Chinese seaside! This is also where the Great Wall meets the ocean. Even though I had been away from any kind of sea or ocean for about two weeks, the sound of the crashing waves and the smell of rotting seaweed made me ecstatic.

Beijing Zoo: My last couple of zoo visits have been disappointing, and I’m becoming more and more convinced that my frequent childhood trips to the San Diego Zoo and Wild Animal Park were the cause of this. Am I really being so picky when it bothered me that you could see the surrounding buildings while you were at Valencia’s Bioparc? It’s hard to get into the “I’m in the great African plains amidst giraffes” mood if right behind you there’s a couple skyscrapers. I didn’t expect anything spectacular at the Beijing Zoo, but I was even more disappointed- by the fact that the domestic tourists had brought food to feed the animals. There were apples, lettuce, carrots, and junk food being fed to almost all the animals. Even when there were 10-feet high walls, that didn’t stop them- they simply tossed the food over the fence. As all this happening around me was a bit depressing, I took very few photos.

Houhai: The renovated area along the lake is now filled with bars, cafes, and bougie restaurants. It was very wet and freezing cold when I was there, but the lake is still gorgeous at night.

Wonderland Amusement Park: One of my favorite excursions so far, I went with an awesome group of CS’ers to this abandoned amusement park in the outskirts of Beijing. The plan was that this would be Asia’s largest amusement park but after some conflicts and financial issues, they abandoned the project in 1998. The weather was beautiful, the park was empty (obviously), and we explored the building interiors as well as the surrounding cornfields. A couple of us even climbed up the spiral staircase of the rocket-like castle. 

Ritan Park: One of the only free parks I've visited, but still very pleasant! It's like a 25 minute run here from my workplace, so I've come once on a jog.

A panorama on a sunny day (half of the pond is actually frozen though!)

Trending in Beijing

Beijing is in my eyes a society of high-consumption, where products and fashions are constantly changing for better or worse. Here are some of the newest trends I've noticed and could perhaps spread to your neighborhood very very soon.

-plastic hairties: You know those spiral plastic bracelets (usually neon yellow) that are attached to a keychain that you use to make sure you don't lose your keys? Those spirally bracelets have taken over Beijing as hairties! Who would've thought?

Some spirally hairties on the bus...

And the subway. Yes I was being a creeper.

-motorized bikes: Apparently they're dirt cheap (like 2000RMB from what I've heard). Some of them are really really quiet and extremely dangerous.

-hipsters: Beijing has few hipsters, but what it lacks in quantity it makes up in quality. None of this indecisive, kind of hip, I'm an artist in my spare time crap. The hipsters that I see embody hipster in every possible aspect. Sad I didn't have some creeper photos of Beijing hispters.

-angry birds: Definitely a fad that I don't think will be around in 2 years. But now is definitely the time if you want to deck yourself out in with an angry birds sweater, backpack, hat, bracelet, wristwatch...

-sex shops: Maybe I was just too innocent to notice before, but sex shops are all over in Beijing! The density of sex shops is much higher than any other city I've visited (ok, obviously not counting the red light district of Hamburg and Amsterdam). I've also noticed these shops a lot more in Chaoyang, but that could be because I work there and a lot of time there.

-wintery trends: Now that fall is definitely over and the daily temperature high is no more than 6C, I've been noticing a lot of winter apparel trends, with the most obvious one being the reindeer and moose motif. This motif can be found on sweaters, tights, and scarves generally on females between the age of 16 and 35. The latest shoe and boot trends can also be found on this demographic; roughly 40% will be wearing knock-off uggs, and another 25% will be wearing fake-heel boots. I discovered this unfortunate trend while boot shopping several weeks ago and now I notice the two inch built-in heel everywhere.

i heart my smartphone

For two particular reasons. Well, make that apps. I was a very very latecomer to the world of smartphones (the lime green pebble my roommate gave me 3 years ago was great!) but I have to say that my smartphone has been my faithful partner in my daily Beijing commute.

I've already read three books on my smartphone in about 5 weeks. I never used to have time to read but commuting for 2+ hours a day really changed that. Right now I'm reading Sea-Wolf by Jack London, and I haven't enjoyed a novel this much since Hunger Games (sarcasm). But seriously, it's so amazing that I find myself rereading chunks and also slowing down my pace to savor Sea-Wolf.

Next, PLECO. If you are traveling/living in China or want to learn Chinese or all of the above, this app will be your best friend. It allows you to write in Chinese characters to look for the meaning, gives you all different kinds of ways to use characters or phrases, has voice recognition, and if you have a data connection will even translate text for you after you take a photo of it. I've made lots of flashcards already of the words that I'm currently working on or that I see often, and this app is singlehandedly responsible for many characters that I've learned or re-learned in this past month. (Googletranslate ranks pretty high on the list too)

my first Beijing autumn weekend

I spent practically the entire last weekend with R, my friend from my master who's doing her thesis research in Beijing Institue of Technology. On Saturday we went to Xiangshan (Fragrant Hills Park) along with two of her Spanish friends B and V who live in the same dorm. Xiangshan is famous for its red autumn leaves and also there's a great view over all of Beijing from the top. Unfortunately the entire city of Beijing decided to go on Saturday afternoon as well. The first Xiangshan bus was totally packed and we decided to wait for the next. The next one was also totally packed, but somehow R and I managed to cram ourselves on (and not fall off or get stuck between the doors). B and V weren't able to get on and ended up taking the next bus. So we were awkwardly crammed in that bus for about 45 minutes, and  as we were nearing Xiangshan there was a huge gridlock that most of the passengers got off and walked the remaining 2-3 km to the park. En route and inside the park, it felt like we were in some kind of amusement park because of all the crowds! This is definitely one of the biggest downsides to traveling in China. Inside the park, by chance we found B and V and then we climbed up the mountain together. It wasn't an easy hike, but at the same time I think we've all done worse. Along the way, we saw some interesting displays of Chinese culture... for example, a guy climbed onto a persimmon tree inside the park, broke off a large branch, and all the by-standers rushed over for the up-for-grabs persimmons. As always, there were women climbing the mountain in crazy stiletto heels. And of course, everybody came super prepared and everywhere I looked, people were snacking on fruit, chips, popsicles, whatever!

The next day, we met up to visit the Beijing Underground City. There's a huge network of tunnels and rooms that Mao built in case of nuclear warfare with the Soviet Union, and apparently the tunnels lead all the way to Tianjin and there were huge storerooms and even a movie theatre. This was definitely well thought-out, and perhaps a tad more extensive than UCLA's. The lonely planet told us where to go, but when we finally reached the unassuming grey house in a hutong, it was closed. I guess the government has been closing many of the tunnel entrances. We were disappointed but determined to not let that get us down, so we continued exploring the little hutongs in that area. In the end, the rain forced us to go shopping in the shopping centers.

first week in my (supposed) last internship

"Industrial development in China? They need help in that? They should be helping US develop!" This was a response I received about my internship with the UNIDO (United Nations Industrial Development Organization) Regional Office in Beijing. And my response? Obviously China can get by just fine without support, but the purpose of UNIDO is to provide external assistance in sustainable development that is not locally available, and make sure that their policy and technology in energy efficiency, renewable energy, environmental protection, and carbon emissions catch up to the development. 

I've finished my first week of work and so far, so good. The first project I'll be working on is increasing energy efficiency in industrial heat systems. This project will work with several agencies within China to improve how the government inspection of heat exchangers and boilers, as well as train companies to better manage their energy consumption and optimize their heat systems. Another project is the Taiyuan GHG project which helps the local government reduce emissions. A main component of this project is monitoring, reporting and verification of emissions, and creating a network for companies to benchmark their emissions.  Capacity building is a very important concept in UNIDO and for all development projects- basically, helping the local organizations increase their own capacity for improvement. UNIDO partners with local agencies or organizations to provide resources and support that they otherwise wouldn't have.

I'm excited about this internship because these projects incorporate a little of everything from my background- the boiler and heat exchanger design from cheme, development project experience from ewb, carbon emissions from both my undergrad and masters, and even measurement and verification methods from my masters thesis. 

Now for the downside, because it's inevitable... in my case, it's the commute. I live in Haidian on the west 3rd ring of Beijing, and UNIDO is located between the east 2nd and 3rd rings in the Chaoyang District near all the embassies. It seems like there's an infinite number of ways that I can make the commute, and I'm still trying to figure it all out. So far, I've been taking bus-metro-bus. Anyways, "urban jungle" does not suffice the ruthlessness and chaotic nature of Beijing's buses and subways. All I can say is there's always people-watching to do, and I make use of my one hour+ commute to read on my phone. I finished the rest of Picture of Dorian Grey, read Metamorphosis, and in the midst of Treasure Island right now.