Archive for July, 2008
Thursday, July 31st, 2008
Religion in China
When in Inner Mongolia I was able to visit a Buddhist temple that is actually still somewhat close to its roots despite being open for tourists. The Dazhao Temple is a lamaist temple built in 1570, and was the official temple of Manchu Emperor Kangxi. It has beautiful sculptures of Buddha and the goddess Guanyin, [...]
1 Comment » - Posted in BS, Culture!, Inner Mongolia by Caitlin
Thursday, July 31st, 2008
China is booming, but…
Life in rural areas of China is quite bleak, and Inner Mongolia is a good example. The primary industries there are farming and metal manufacturing. Hohat is a large city, it is relatively unpopulated compared to the booming metropolises of prosperous China.
Even within cities the prosperity can vary wildly within blocks. The below two pictures [...]
1 Comment » - Posted in Inner Mongolia, Life by Caitlin
Thursday, July 31st, 2008
Inner Mongolia
Last weekend we went to Inner Mongolia, an autonomous province of China. Inner Mongolia represents an interesting mix of Beijing governance and indigenous culture. The Mongolian people are very proud of their culture, and seem to often have a different political and historical viewpoint from the majority Han Chinese. For example, our tour guide repeatedly [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Eccentricity, Inner Mongolia, Tourist Noobs by Caitlin
Sunday, July 27th, 2008
Engrish of the Week: 4, Mongolia Special Edition
As you may have heard, due to the Olympics authorities in Beijing have been cleaning up a lot of the really bad Engrish. However, their iron grip of logic, grammar and spelling has not quite reached Inner Mongolia.
A sign in the train lavatory:
The sign at the top of the gondola out to the sand dunes:
Perhaps [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Engrish, Jeff Lee, Mysteriousness, humor by Caitlin
Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008
798 Art District
This weekend, we went to the 798 Art District in Beijing. Originally a factory, the warehouse were turned into gallery space several years ago, and now boast dozens of great galleries. It was truly a breath of fresh air to see Chinese modern art. The media in the district are varied, and include painting, calligraphy, [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Beijing, Culture! by Caitlin
Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008
Olympic cleanup
I’m sure there are numerous reports in the west about the Olympic cleanup/crackdown going on in Beijing right now. The truth is, most of the most drastic measures were taken in the last several months, and the August push is just icing on the cake. This Olympics is the most expensive in history, to the [...]
No Comments » - Posted in BS, Beijing, Olympics, Tourist Noobs by Caitlin
Sunday, July 20th, 2008
Engrish of the week: 3
No Comments » - Posted in Beijing, Engrish, Mysteriousness, humor by Caitlin
Sunday, July 20th, 2008
NLB’s cute boy of the week: 3
This week we went out with the kingfu instructor for our program. He is 20 years old, and can probably jump off of walls and kick your butt. He has mad ninja skills.
No Comments » - Posted in Beijing, Eccentricity, humor by Caitlin
Sunday, July 20th, 2008
The Olympians have landed!
The American Olympic athletes are staying on the BNU campus, and their vans have come to unload equipment into the gym. Pictures and more info to come.
No Comments » - Posted in Beijing, Olympics, n00b by Caitlin
Tuesday, July 15th, 2008
I am so proud
Last night I went to a movie with friends after eating dinner. As it is quite hot here and I tend to drink a lot of water, by the time we got to the movie theater, I really had to “go.”
Accordingly, I used a squatty potty for the first time ever, and without incident. Aren’t [...]
